Durston - X-Dome 2

Thats true, cheap tents waterproofing doesn’t hold up to extended periods of rain, but a good tent might go 10 years or more. REI has the Mountainsmith Cottonwood 6p for $220 in their outlet which means you can get an additional 20% off if you are a member. That a great price at $176, and much better then a Coleman in terms of quality (good waterproofing and aluminum poles). Then you can get a higher end backpacking tent for yourself. The Nemo Dragonfly mentioned earlier is 30% off at several online retailers. 3P is plenty of room for two adults, though I’d still get the 2p and make your friends get their own tent. Or for a little more money get the Durston X Dome 2P w/ Aluminum poles.

The X-Dome is commonly recommended because it’s the lightest freestanding tent on the market when equipped with the carbon poles while still being spacious. Their 2P actually fits two, so you’d have to compare that with many other 3P tents which makes the weight really stand out. Personally I’m not a fan of Carbon poles as they seem more fragile than aluminum and am ok with a little extra weight. Fortunately Durston sells the tent with aluminum poles now. The 2p is still about 6-7oz lighter then the Nemo Dragonfly 3P with aluminum poles but a bit more expensive then the current sale price of the Dragonfly. Personally I’d go with the Dragonfly since it’s on sale. Also the OSMO fabric is supposed to have very long lasting waterproofing. It’s too new to be sure (came out in 2022 I think) but I’d guess these tents will go 10+ years typically before re-waterproofing. The fabric is also a big reason why I’d choose that over MSR, BA etc. I hate tents that sag and most manufacturers use nylon which sags. Nylon also absorbs water which makes packing it up really messy if the fly is still wet. OSMO and Poly fly’s (Durston uses poly, as does Mountainsmith) can be shaken dry before you put it away.

Ill get bashed for suggesting it, but if the ordering wait isnt an issue (around a month) The X-Dome 2 from Durston is $480 and much lighter. I get not caring about if your ultralight, but if there are no clear downsides to going lighter, why not? Price is less then the hubba hubba and marginally more then the hornet, and living space is the same. (32sq ft for the Durston and MSR, 27.5 for the NEMO) So if price is the same, living space is the same, and it weighs much less, why not?

Not that the option is bad, just saying its better is bad. Just throw in abit of stats and reasoning and suddenly its alot more attractive

Recently I have finally received Durston X-Dome 2. Very happy with it: palace inside, 2 entances & vestibules, freestanding, total weight <1.5kg, light poly so no sag in a bigger rain, short very packable poles that fit nicely in a backpack / moto bag. There is an option for solid interior for windy weather.

I also enjoyed Mongar 2 as a not expensive but quite roomy tent for backpacking. Recently update to x-dome 2 and I enjoy it - even more spacious, still has 2 entraces & vestibules and is over 1kg lighter (I had mongar polyester 240 version).

ive got the x dome 2, its very nice and light, sea to sumit has a similar one (telos tr2), that is a bit heavier, aluminum poles, and has a more conventional floorlayout, they sell it in a bike packing kit too. durston also has short pole option, replaceable interiors for like 130-160. id recomend just getting the groundfly too or diy one, the floor is sorta thin but im used to cheaper/ older tents. with the way the durston sets up its a bit more involved going from no rain fly mode to rainfly mode, ther tr2 is a more traditional rainfly ontop of frame vs suspended. ill say the durston is one of the fastest tents ive put up and im normally a slowpoke

Buy once cry once. I did. Opted for the x dome 2. Glad I did, such a quality lightweight tent

A lot of good points about it’s gonna come down to him. As a big guy (6’6” and not skinny with very wide shoulders) it is very important for me to have head room when sitting up and being comfortable when laying down. I only backpack with my 2 person tent so I am looking for light 2ish pounds or less and roomy enough where I could fit 2 wide 25” sleeping pads although generally just room for me and my stuff to stretch out. I really like the xdome 2 and the packs triplex which I find to be just a large 2 person tent. The zpacks is not affordable at all and I don’t even own one I’ve only borrowed. The xdome I own but it is still around $500. The only budget friendly tents ive tried all lack in one way or another so it’s going to come down to his preference. Good luck to you!

This is what I carry: https://durstongear.com/products/x-dome-2-ultralight-tent 2.7 lbs Compact stowed Very fast pitch (can pitch fly and tent in one go after first pitch) Freestanding Works well with 2 and tall people Great vestibules Great company I switched from hubba hubba for many of these reasons

I have an X Mid Dome 2 freestander: https://durstongear.com/products/x-dome-2-ultralight-tent It’s much pricier at $470 but weighs only 2.7 pounds. One great feature is after the first time setup, you can keep the fly and tent connected and pitch it all at once quite easily. I had a Hubba Hubba 2 person (much heavier, a little bit cheaper) and used it a lot. I keep thinking about a 1 person or the X Mid Dome 1+ but in the end I keep coming back to loving the room to stretch out (esp nice if you have to hunker down in bad weather).

*Context: I am also currently thinking about 1P or modular 1-3P setup for MTB-bikepacking in mountains.* Trekking pole tents make little to no sense for bikers. When you bike, you don't carry trekking poles, so you need to take them or the universal poles, what denies the weight saving and introduces more problems when setting up on a hard / rocky or very sandy ground. (The same applies to tarp + bug bivy setups if you can't set it up using only the bike) While single wall tent will be more or less okay for a single person even in humid conditions, with two people inside you may have a hard time. Condensation will be a huge issue. If you know you won't have problems with staking the tent, you can look for some tunnel tents with a single arc pole. That will be the lightest configuration for given materials. As others said, most likely Durston XDome-2 will be a no-brainer for you. For heavier winds you may need to add a few more guylines and stakes to your set (or add more weight and take extra poles). With extra floor it should be a bit lighter than Hubba Hubba, I guesstimate it will be around 1500g with the ground cloth and around 1300g without it. Freelite, just like Dragonfly has issues with poor fly coverage in rain (and messed up entrance design). Cheaper but slightly heavier -- NH Star River 2 or Mongar. If you expect winds to be really strong in areas you plan to use it (which definitely goes beyond the tents discussed generally on this sub), Salewa Litetrek Pro may be a good compromise. Much lighter than Vango Hydra or some Hilleberg or Marabut tents, but still semigeodesic. *Late EDIT: I have checked and compared XDome 1 vs Hubba 1. If we take the same stakes no matter which tent, and we add missing guylines to the XDome, the final weight gets nearly equal. Magic of marketing :)*

From north of Europe here. After getting winds through an MSR tent once I woved to stay with local brands, of whom you have several.  Hilleberg, Fjellreven, Helsport and Barents Outdoor are all made for rough conditions. But not ultralight, even if lighter versions.  A few years ago we went above the arctic cirkle with a local brand dome tent, and a Durston Mid trekking tent. We got really strong gusts that hit the camp, and the local brand poles snapped straight off, while the Durston stood firm. I was really impressed.   Personally I prefer dome tents, as they are easy to move about, and can stand without any plugs if fair weather. Also can pitch anywhere, unlike those that rely on plugs.  If I was in the market I would try the Durston Dome now. The lay out off outer vs inner tent gives the greatest length and height on the market, by far. Get the 2p and you can lie even more diagonally inside. 

Durston dome! Apparently the 2p version can hold both you and your bike. I did not believe the hype at first, but got a mid 2p and it is impressive. Packs down real small, weighs nothing, smart usage of space inside, and all that room!

Durston X-dome 2. You wont regret it. It 0acks up to 2.1 pounds. Take about 7 minutes to set up. External poles so you can set up in the rain *