Durston - X-Mid 1

I have a copper spur 2 person that I’ve taken both my kids in on separate occasions. I didn’t want anything too fragile so stayed away from the platinum models. I’ve since picked up a xmid 1p and obviously use that for solo outings. We are now at the point where we need two 2p shelters and I’m looking to add a xmid 2p+ at some point. We have a 4 person big Agnes tent but it’s a bit heavy and 4 people in a 4 person tent is a little rough when they get older. The best part of the copper spur is pairing it with a two person pad and two person quilt. The entire floor becomes a bed and is very comfortable. The two person quilt keeps the jimmy legs in without having to carry two sleeping bags, so for the person carrying it saves a good bit of weight. If I had to start over I’d probably make the same decisions. A freestanding tent is a bit easier if you aren’t used to trekking pole tents. My first outing with my xmid was on hard packed ground in the desert where it was really difficult to get stakes in the ground. The tent blew over during a thunderstorm that evening. If I were going on the same trip again I’d probably just take the copper spur. So for me it was about having some flexibility and diversity of functions when building out my gear closet.

I’ve liked mine. Echoing what others have said: does take some practice to get a feel for how to set up. Pole height and angle really affects the bathtub floor. Condensation (though it is a single wall tent. Gonna have that with any single wall.). I always use my second trekking pole to pull out the head end and if I’m feeling motivated find a stick to pull out the foot end. Interior space is good for a one person tent. For me it’s my fair-weather tent. If I were going somewhere with a lot of rain and/or wind I’d use something different. I have a xmid 1P but for me it’s too small.

Do you use hiking poles anyways? I have the durston xmid 1 tent and absolutely love it. Comes up a lot for recommendations for thru hikes as well because it's built well, and weighs - ~1.5lbs. A one man Company In Canada makes it (or contracts the factory who makes it) so prices are very reasonable, 350$ cad (250usd) for the one person. Only "drawback" is that you need to use hiking poles to set it up... but I use them anyways so it's no extra weight. https://durstongear.com/products/x-mid-1-tent-ultralight-backpacking I've slept in mine for probably about 30-40 nights now and really can't complain. My regular backpacking buddy even just bought one of his own since he liked mine so much.

I got a xmid 1, used it for like half a dozen nights, then got a girlfriend and never used it since. I wish I would have gotten the 2p version tbh. If I wanna be UL on a solo trip I use a tarp now.

Idk how big you are but I’ve got the XMID 1P and it’s plenty comfortable for me and my gear. You’ve got two spacious vestibules (I put my bag in one and then enter/exit/put boots in the other, can also cook in one if bad weather provided you ventilate well). My friend got the 2P so he and his wife can go out together and let me tell you it is HUGE, like significantly bigger than the 1P. I was shocked by how much bigger it was. He was very limited on our last backpacking trip on where he could pitch it bc of its footprint size. Mind you this was a densely forested area and we were camping at some of the marked campsites along the trail. If he was backcountry camping with no marked sites he would have had a tough time finding a spot with everyone else. Even the 1P can be challenging sometimes. Just my initial thoughts if you’re on the fence. Save the weight, save the money, save the space imo.

Kakwa 55L can be rolled down quite a lot to compress loads that are smaller than 55L but the 40L can't get any bigger than it is. Just food for thought. 2P tent might be a good choice if you really want to bring all your gear inside with you, backpack and all. Some people like to do this so critters can't get at their backpacks while they're sleeping, which they can if you just leave stuff out in the vestibule. Otherwise the 1P should be totally fine, some 1P tents get a bit claustrophobic for me but the X-Mid 1P feels fine because of the interior height, vertical sidewalls, and dual vestibules.

I’ve had the Durston X-mid 1p and a set of Durston z folding poles for a couple of years now. I primarily use it moto camping & strongly recommend, it’s quick to erect, and can be done in the rain without ingress into the inner. Has barely felt it in winds that have seen my friends pop up tents collapse. Only downside I’ve seen in it is its fairly large footprint for a 1P.

I’ve always found it quite finickity to pitch on bad/tight sites, more so than any dome/tunnel style tent. It doesn’t play well in my experience if you can’t lay it out as a perfect square (rhomboid?), or if an edge of your site slopes, the sides never taught up right and it flaps & sags a bit. Think this contributes to the feel that the footprint is quite large more than even its actual size. This is a very minor niggling complaint about what is otherwise an absolutely fantastic tent, nothing else I’d rather have. I actually pre-ordered my x-mid 1p solid off the back of Dans technical posts before it was even released.

Would definitely be some kind of hot tent for me. I’ve been eyeing up a Naturehike Massif 2 recently. Use a Durston X-mid 1 with the solid inner as my lightweight tent.

I will second this. When I’m using a trekking pole tent, the x-mid 1 is my go to. I use both a free standing Hubba hubba 2 (love that tent) and an x-mid 1 for backpacking. The choice depends on the terrain primarily and a little bit on weather.

the xmid-1 will fit you but not any other animal or human. The area under the xmid tarp is huge, even for the 1, but if you only care about the part that is inside the inner, it's about average size.

With our doublewall tents including the X-Dome the fly can be rolled back as much as you want. You can expose a corner or two (I show this in the pitching video) or the entire interior. So the X-Dome 2 can have any amount of ventilation from fully covered to 100% inner exposed. The regular X-Mid can do this too, but the singlewall Pro version has the fly and inner attached so the versatility is less.

If you are familiar with the gen 1, model, it is quite different than that since the width has grown 5” wider, 4” taller and about 7” longer. The geometry increases the volume out of two trekking poles (eg more space than a more traditional interior shape) so the current version is one of the largest 1P interiors available.

The ‘solid’ inners for our X-Mid have a panel of mesh (on the upper part of the doors) that can’t close, but with the X-Dome this mesh panel is accompanied by a second layer of solid material that can be closed to have it ‘full’ solid (no areas of exposed mesh). I don’t have a great photo of it, but [this shot](https://durstongear.com/cdn/shop/files/16_-_Durston_X-Dome_2_Ultraight_Tent_-_Solid_Inner_446.jpg?v=1757631867) shows it when the solid layer is shut behind the mesh

The short answer is that it is a combination of sewn on and zippers, and is included in the weight. The long answer is that the ‘flap’ of solid fabric is a triangle that is sewn along the bottom edge (permanently attached & part of the weight). So the bottom edge is ‘sealed’ such that any snow building up on the solid panel isn’t going to slide down into the tent. Then the other two sides are both sewn for the lowest 4-5” to further prevent wind blown snow from sneaking in, and this creates a pocket that the rest of the flap can be tucked into when it is open. Then above that, the side of the triangle along the main zipper has a zipper to zip shut. The zipper is not vertical, but angling over the flap, so it does a nice job of raising up the flap to cover the mesh. Operating the zipper is what closes the flap. As it does that, the final side near the top is pulled closed and sits shut with a bit of overlap. It is an overlap closure for the upper part of the ‘top’ side, such that the mesh is covered but the edge here is not ‘sealed’. We could’ve put another zipper here (or Velcro etc) but it’s at the top, sits shut nicely now, and is shielded by the fly. If it’s so windy it’s forcing snow through there, it’s probably not the right conditions for this tent anyways, but if a user wanted it would be easy to add a bit of velcro

FWIW, you could start with the regular X-Mid that is 1/2 lbs lighter, and then add the solid interior later if you were getting into winter backpacking.