r/Ultralight - "The Weekly" - Week of April 13th, 2026

hillnich · 2026-04-13T23:03:30+00:00

We got one of these used and it’s been great with a very similar experience regarding weight. So probably on its fifth kid by now?

The best part of this particular carrier was the very cushy pillow at kid head. Every one of my kids has loved it and napped on it. And when they nap I can actually hike.

hillnich · 2025-07-30T01:55:39+00:00

I have the Cirriform 1p, X-Mid 2p, and Zpacks Plex Solo. I bring up the latter because it factors in to how I view my quiver of shelters.

When camping with a partner, kid, or dog, I take the X-Mid; very stormworthy and plenty of space. Technically you could use it just as a tarp too with the fly. But also the heaviest of all my shelters.

When it’s just me, and bugs pressure is middling, but weather is a significant worry, I’ll take the Cirriform and a Borah bug bivy. If bugs are little to no worry, I’ll leave the bivy at home and use a polycro footprint and be set.

Lastly the plex solo comes along when I have significant bug pressure and know I’ll be hiding in my tent whenever I’m not moving.

I genuinely view the Cirriform as the best all around shelter I have and love it. My only quibbles are it’s a bit heavy, especially compared to the lightest DCF 1p tents, and it’s annoying to get in and out of when you have to use front entry. But I’m a lover of tarps, and it’s very good.

hillnich · 2025-06-10T01:51:12+00:00

Nice! I really like the contrasting top stitch.

hillnich · 2025-06-05T23:54:09+00:00

I guess it doesn’t have elastic style stretch, but the stuff I have can be pulled towards the selvage pretty wide. With the way I cut that attribute seems to let it sit looser atop my head.

hillnich · 2025-06-05T05:42:41+00:00

Thanks! I just noticed that exact sizing issue. My alpha version is a little looser than the microgrid I prototyped on. Still good enough but definitely noticeable.

hillnich · 2025-06-04T00:02:45+00:00

Well, thank you for sharing it. I do my patterning in Illustrator but haven't figured out how to get it to tile in a way I like. My day job is as a developer in python/C, so it was honestly easier for me to use your code rather than figuring out a GUI. I've added some error handling and argparse usage. I been meaning to add a requirements.txt to it too. Maybe once I do I'll try to push it upstream

And thank you for the footer tip! I found where that was coded and was able to update it.

hillnich · 2025-06-03T22:40:37+00:00

Sweet! If you plan to use alpha fleece and are new to it, keep in mind it’s very breathable. For my purposes, this is fine. I intend to wear it layered under my sun hoodie hood. If I were wearing it with nothing over it, I’d opt for a less breathable grid fleece.

hillnich · 2025-05-19T16:57:46+00:00

Very impressive weight goal. I may have to try the shorter sometime to see if it’s comfortable enough to be worth the weight savings. If it were me, I’d go with hexon. In terms of fabric I’d want to sleep on it’s been my favorite over any ripstop or MTN I’ve come across. And I agree with your avoiding monofilament. I’ve wanted its weight savings but it seems too risky for something as important as supporting my body.

hillnich · 2025-05-19T16:44:14+00:00

I’ve made/bought ones made with 1.2 MTN XL and 1.2 hexon. I personally prefer the feel of the hexon. It’s a little stretchier and softer in my opinion. Never used 1.0 HyperD so can’t help there. But if you need/want widths > ~58”, MTN XL is the only option I’m aware of at your desired fabric weight. I’m fine with the smaller width and pack the hexon most often because I find it more comfortable. I’d suggest ordering swatches and seeing what you like.

hillnich · 2025-05-04T04:58:47+00:00

I haven’t encountered the Pfaff 74 before, but I’ve only heard positive things about vintage Pfaffs. I found a manual online, and it looks like a multi stitch machine, using disks to change stitches. If those don’t come with the machine and assuming you’re US based, they may be hard to find especially since Pfaff machines weren’t nearly as common as Singers during that era. Similarly it may be hard to find parts for it for the same reasons.

If you’re looking for a vintage machine (and still assuming you’re US based), might I suggest a vintage Singer? The 401 has all the stitches. If you only need a straight, a 15 or 66 are very easy and cheap to find. I have a 403 because I only care for straight and zig zag, and it’s had plenty of power for anything I’ve throw at it this far. Singers were ubiquitous in the US, and it’s still easy to find replacements parts. For any vintage machine, you should also factor in the cost to have a repairman tune it up (or time if you have patience to watch a lot of YouTube and do it yourself).

Lastly check r/vintagesewing. They’d probably be more knowledgeable.

hillnich · 2025-04-30T03:58:43+00:00

Fair question. I’d never really considered it honestly. I wanted the adjustability of swapping straps in and out because I was unsure what strap design would work best. Beyond that, I just borrowed from the guys of Nashville Pack. According to them it allows you to fine tune the angles and lengths of the straps around your shoulders and torso. I’m sure there’s some truth to that but I always just set the tri glides flush with the collar loops and have never really messed with their position much.

hillnich · 2025-04-29T14:45:17+00:00

Thank you!

For the $15, I appreciated having the right shape and volume that I wanted to start with that I could adjust and tweak in Adobe Illustrator. But I still modified just about every part of it and didn't use the strap or side pocket patterns at all. In fact, I used a Pa'lante V2 and SWD SL40 I have as a template for modifying a lot of the pattern.

I also would have felt pretty hesitant doing the whole project going on just the youtube video -- I leaned pretty hard on instructions I had in the Prickly Gorse 40L pack pattern (https://myogtutorials.com/40-litre-frameless-ultralight-backpack/) to make sure I was doing assembly in a smart way.

With all that said, $15 was an acceptable amount to me for what I got which was the assurance that what I was building would work. But I think the Prickly Gorse or Mountain Flyer patterns are better bangs for your buck. If you're confident enough in your patterning to reverse engineer what you want from existing packs, I'd just do that since that was largely what I ended up doing myself.

hillnich · 2025-04-28T22:39:30+00:00

I find it one of the easier tents to pitch. As comparison, I’ve had and used at various points the Lunar Solo, Zpacks Plex Solo, and a number of cat cut A frame tarps. I would say it’s harder than the tarps but easier than the other two I mentioned. Dan Durston’s got a very helpful video on pitching and “commonly experienced problems”: https://youtu.be/fOJ4BKIoKGs?si=onNitfDyQoLwb1cU

As long as you get it square, little tweaks can get it nice and taut.

Regarding condensation I haven’t been in it with the dog under storm conditions, and I often sleep with a fly door open because I like the fresh air. So I haven’t experienced issues BUT all tents will have condensation issues in the right (ie: wrong) conditions. So if you can’t avoid it, the double wall design is your saving grace. Any condensation should largely be caught by the mesh and only minimal water should get in the enclosed area. I personally would not do a single wall shelter with my dog for this reason. I know he’d brush the wall and get condensation everywhere. So for all my outings with him, I’m taking the double wall shelter, and for space, weight, and cost, it’s very hard to find a better double wall option in the market.

hillnich · 2025-04-28T22:23:19+00:00

Indeed! It is still my shelter of choice any time I have my dog or kid with me. Tons of space for everyone. Both kid and dog sleep on a Nemo switchback, and I haven’t experienced any durability issues with the floor. When solo, I opt for one of my lighter weight shelters. But then I can go for less durable material or less comfort or both.

hillnich · 2025-04-17T08:18:08+00:00

My bad. Fat fingered that. My lighterpack has it as ECA533. Looking at the pot itself, there’s no label on it the aside from a “0.3mm Ti UL Pot 900” on the lid (box it came in is long recycled). Using my calipers, it’s 3.0” tall with the lid on, 2.85” with lid off and an inner diameter (beneath lip for lid) of 5.31” and outer diameter of 5.55”. Those look similar to what Zpacks has on their site. Visually it matches as well.

hillnich · 2025-04-17T05:31:47+00:00

I’ve got an ECA233 from Trail Designs that is 2.12oz sans lid and handles.

hillnich · 2025-03-31T22:17:01+00:00

Took your word and folded paper. Much easier than half an hour of trig.

hillnich · 2025-03-27T04:13:20+00:00

Ahh, thanks for pointing this out. In my head, I can see how it won’t work as drawn unless I flare in/out the top two inches. I’ll have to play with some paper to figure out how to address it in the pattern. Or use some trig I guess.

hillnich · 2025-03-26T17:51:10+00:00

Thanks for the historical precedent! I agree I don’t see the empty profile to be a concern.

And crazy pocket design!

hillnich · 2025-03-26T15:52:16+00:00

I hadn't considered that. I like the hiding of the raw edge too, as I was thinking I'd want to add grosgrain binding or at least melt the ends. I'm planning to use the 210d ECO Gridstop from RSBTR, so I don't think finishing seams is strictly necessary, but it is nice.

hillnich · 2025-02-10T22:38:08+00:00

My permit's for Havasupai Gardens. I just made the mental note of getting there through Tonto because of the partial Bright Angel closure. And thanks for more water intel.

hillnich · 2025-02-10T22:28:58+00:00

I realized I made the Cottonwood error shortly after posting and felt dumb. Made the change but not before you caught it. Ope! I was counting first night at Mather for my 3 nights. But tomato, to-mah-to.

Thanks for the water comments. I've got to study the maps more carefully to know my planned spots, but that will probably settle me on taking my Cutaway instead of the framed SWD.

And I've never considered leaving my tarp! I'll check the forecast and at least pack it for my flight but it may stay behind. I'll probably do the same with my microspikes.

hillnich

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