Durston - X-Mid 1 Solid

I have an elixir 2, hubba nx and xmid 1 solid. The xmid is much better in windy conditions but it requires a good pitch. Dan has an amazing youtube video on how to pitch it, it’s pretty versatile. It’s super spacious for a 1p tent, the vestibules are huge and the inner has lots of headroom. The footprint is quite big but i haven’t found it an issue, neither has condensation. It’s replaced my hubba nx for solo trips. I ordered mine direct from Durston Gear with stakes and it came out to £320 after import fees. Their customer service is also amazing.

I was lucky and found a hubba 1p on clearance for £100 at go outdoors. It’s a decent tent but there’s no way I would pay full price for it. I massively prefer my x-mid

Xmids are extremely easy to pitch. Watch the Dan Durston pitching video on YouTube, it’s very versatile. If you pitch it square and taut it’s pretty sturdy, I’ve camped above treeline in torrential rain and it’s held up perfectly with a little seepage through the zipper. For stuff like summit camps i would use a sturdier 4 season tent though. It can be pitched inner only with the stargazer kit.

Are you sure? I got my x-mid solid a few years back for \~£200, it's still showing up on the Durston shop site at £205 shipped to the UK. Can't be that much more on to the continent surely? Are you on the official site? [https://durstongear.com/products/x-mid-1-solid?variant=48282912096547](https://durstongear.com/products/x-mid-1-solid?variant=48282912096547) and not the Pro (which is lighter, but far more expensive and arguably less durable). It's a solid tent, can be erected in the rain without exposing the inner, mind you'll need to buy the poles separately, I have Durstons z-flips as I use it for motorcycle camping more often than not.

I have a Durston X-Mid 1 Solid, packs very small. 26x15 cm, with good headroom and comfort.

The Solid is unnecessary for the AT. I got a X-Mid 1 Solid for hiking in New Zealand this year from January to June (I did the South Island Te Araroa and a bunch of shorter hikes). It was particularly lovely for fall/early winter in New Zealand, but I think you'll appreciate more mesh for hiking the US East Coast from spring to fall. It gets hot and humid on the AT and you'll want as much ventilation as you can get. The X-Mid 1 is quite spacious! I'm 5'6"/150 lb and the tent has SO much room for activities. Unfortunately that does mean it has a larger footprint than a lot of single-person tents. Its size felt like its main drawback, because the space for camping along the TA (or the AT) is sometimes very limited, especially if you're in the bubble. I'm a big fan of the tent. I love that I can set it up with just five stakes most of the time (4 for the corners and 1 for the door that I'm going to use), but I can also use like 20 stakes in super high wind (holy shit is New Zealand windy). I love that the rain-fly goes up first and comes down last, which means that my stuff doesn't all get soaked if I'm making or breaking camp in the rain. The tent inner was fantastic to keep the sandflies off in New Zealand and will do wonders to keep mosquitoes away in the US. It works better than most tents above treeline, but it certainly doesn't work anywhere near as well as a proper mountaineering tent for high wind. This definitely isn't a concern for the AT, but it's something to keep in mind. Have a great hike!

Alpkit does good value tents, you could save ~500g with the Soloist more with trekking pole Tarpstar. I imported an X-Mid 1s from the US distributor pre-tariff, but now they're sold by Dan directly in Canada you can fib about the country of origin and reclaim the duty. There are a decent number on the used market here too.

I have the xmid v3 solid and a tarptent notch solid. Both tents are trekking pole , so you have to consider that. Both pack down small and are great quality well made backpacking tents. The xmid has a larger footprint and is slightly more tricky to put up than the notch, but nothing is that arduous or too large most of the time. I bought the notch in great condition off ebay and the xmid direct from durston, price was less on the notch as it was used , but new is slightly similar. Both are double wall with vents and you can adjust the fly height so condensation is dependant on the conditions. Have tested the ximid out in angry conditions just this weekend with some very strong gusts and it impressed me, though I had to add two extra guy lines , so 10 pegs total. The notch can get away with 4 .The xmid has more interior space as it stays square around the perimeter whereas the notch tapers at the ends. If you can see a notch for a good price i'd consider it, its lighter , and easier to pitch , but it feels tighter inside than the xmid. For near £300 the x mid is amazing. I don't plan to sell either as I will chop and choose when to take each. The x dome was my first choice as it was free standing, but the solid inner has just became available with a price increase.

UK hiker here too. X-Mid Solid 1 is a great UK option, and as u/Craven123 says you can [claim back most of the import fees](https://oddmanandthesea.co.uk/content/x-mid-pro-too-x-pensive-save-some-s). Alternatively, a friend of mine has the Lanshan 1 and isn't likely to change it any time soon; it more than survived the Cairngorms a couple of months ago. An UL tent will take a lot of weight off, so apart from the other comments re: sleep clothes, dry bags (a pack liner and freezer zip locks for ditty bags is the way I do it), you're off to a great start! I for one will never give up my comfy S2S Aero premium pillow and wide pad; I find it's best not to obsess over being truly 'ultralight', it's more of a journey in finding out what you really want to prioritise/sacrifice. Some other things to add to you list just so they're accounted for: * pegs (not sure if your tent weight includes these) * MSR groundhogs are a great option; for my X-Mid I use 4 full size ones at the corners and then a bunch of minis for the doors/other points * separate 'dirty' water bottle/reservoir for the water going through your filter * keys, cards, etc. * depending on what variety of Brit you are, you may at some point decide to take a hip flask/a few cans into the hills You'll notice the base weight creep up as you add things you've missed/not accounted for (e.g., you might decide you want a separate cup for coffee as well as your cook pot), but that's nothing to be despondent about: base weight under \~8kg is admirable for multi-day UK camping, and worlds away from other people!

I wouldn't bother with the solid version for the AT, unless you plan to do some of your hike in winter. The regular mesh version is plenty weatherproof enough for most of the sort of camping you'll be doing on the AT and you'll appreciate the extra ventilation if hiking through the hot humid summer. You _might_ want to consider going for the 2P version for a little more space which can make a lot of difference when the weather and/or bugs have you hemmed in. Or personally, I preferred the X-Dome 1+ for the AT (I own all three i.e. X-Mid 1&2P _and_ the X-Dome 1+). Even tho the X-Dome is a little heavier, and takes a little longer to pitch, I found it to be a good size & easy to find pitches (the X-mid 2P can be a bit big sometimes). I also enjoyed being able to easily pitch just the inner on those hot & humid nights - even tho I have the stargazer kit for the X-mid I found I was rarely inclined to bother with the extra faff for some reason. It's also much easier to pitch the X-Dome on tent platforms that you'll end up using in some locations (I actually don't have a problem pitching my X-mids on platforms but some people do & there's no doubt the X-Dome is easier in these situations). I _love_ my X-Mids, and have spent hundreds of nights in them, but for the AT specifically, I felt like the X-Dome more often better fit my needs on the AT.

I have the XMid 1P 2025 - non pro. I'm pretty sure it would work for you at 6'3. The 2025 XMid 1P has more interior room than the earlier editions. Here's my write-up on it - [https://www.reddit.com/r/DurstonGearheads/comments/1juo3sx/the\_2025\_xmid\_1\_for\_taller\_hikers\_yes/](https://www.reddit.com/r/DurstonGearheads/comments/1juo3sx/the_2025_xmid_1_for_taller_hikers_yes/) LMK if you have questions.

Very true however the new 2025 models take up I think anywhere from 15-20% less space due to the higher interior height, and while it’s a smaller footprint the interior area of the Mid1 is actually bigger. Just got mine back from its first trip and it’s pretty darn close to perfect for my uses