In 24’ I started with a smaller tent and upgraded to the Durston X mid Pro 2+ at Shenandoah. Mine has sil poly floor. Room to set up was never an issue. There was one place just north of Mt Washington where we had to use a wooden platform. Two tents per platform. I had to wrap a corner or two over the edge of the platform. It still worked great. I enjoyed the extra room especially on the rainy evenings/mornings. I have consumed the Durston koolaid. I won’t go back… 🥾
Ricky Bobby
Edit: the location was Mizpah. Also I ended up moving to my own platform later same evening when the sites didn’t fill up.
I've mostly ditched dome tents for pyramids for their lighter weight and using my trekking poles instead of dedicated tent poles. IMO, campsite selection is more important than tent strength. Don't setup on a high ridge, mainly because you don't want to be caught in lightning, but also to stay out of direct wind. Even at high elevation I can always find protected spots.
If it's not buggy, I prefer my floorless Seek Outside Cimarron. I've used this a lot at elevation through all sorts of bad weather and it's been great. Have to take some care to ensure stuff is off the ground when the rain is really coming down.
If bugs, then my Durston X-Mid Pro 2+. This is a newer tent so I've only used it once, but I have no concerns about longer term durability. To be clear, it's not bomb proof, you have to careful will most backpacking gear. Like don't set it up on jagged rocks, stand on it with boots, force zippers... common sense stuff.
Hey, zpacks fre duo is outstanding in wind. It barely moves. I also have the plex solo, it is also really good in wind. it’s my go to for summer fall above tree line. I had it in 80-90 km winds I had to get up and out a couple times to re set things and beef up the lines as the wind was a surprise, my friends big Agnes was destroyed, poles where actually snapped. One thing is, unlike my fre duo the plex has 10 steak outs so it takes a bit of time to set up but I always found a way. It’s under a pound so that’s awesome. I’m gonna get hate here- I also have xmid 2p+, fantastic tent but it’s a sail in the wind. Had it in sustained 80+ km winds while my son had the fre duo, the duo again barely moved! And was quite. He slept most the night! Me in the xmid! Holy shit ! That thing was as if I was in a wind tunnel, the noise was defining, and cut through 3 steak outs, I was able to repair on the go so it would continue to stand. But.. it did stand. Yeah not good in big wind, if I know for sure there is wind, big wind- first choice - fre duo, last choice- x-mid.
The build quality on the Durston X-Mid is phenomenal as is their company support. I had the X-Mid 2+ And it's nothing shorter will built tent. The one issue I had with it was promptly addressed by the company and to more than my satisfaction.
However, I just don't think the Durston is a good fit for the AT. The walls of the fly are so low to the ground and the vents at the top are just not sufficient enough to get air flowing through the tent to remove humidity effectively in a high humidity environment like the Eastern United States. I personally carried mine from Harpers ferry West Virginia to Kent Connecticut and found myself rapidly switching back to my Z-Packs triplex - The 2+ and the Triplex we're bigger because I was hiking with my daughter so we could share a tent. The zpacks triplex has a lot more ventilation and let a lot more air through so I didn't have to worry about it raining inside with condensation on the inner tent walls compared to the Durston. If I did hiking out west like the Colorado Trail or the PCT or the CDT or fill in the blank where there's less ambient humidity I would without hesitation take the Durston back out there. But my opinion take it for what it's worth or feel free to ignore it is the Durston just does not breathe well enough in the Eastern United States to keep interior humidity under control. Too many mornings I woke up with a wet sleeping bag because it was raining inside the tent... And that's not because there was any sort of leak or poor construction.
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The North Face
Wawona 6
86% positive of 132 users
Spacious vestibule, strong in storms, but rainfly tricky solo.
FrugalATHiker
