X-Mid Pro 2+

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.

The Pro models are single wall Dyneema, but they are a large footprint. I have the Pro 2+

I would recomend the Durston xmid pro 2+ or the solid version if you expect high winds in a dusty area. This is especially true if you guys are not in a relationship due to proximity because it’s designed to sleep head to toe and has less limitations of many tents. The 2+ version will fit two wide sleeping pads very comfortably and generally feels much bigger inside than its exterior appearance would suggest compared to other tents I have used. I have the regular two person pro version and it is a bit narrow with two wide pads and we have to be careful not to put too much pressure on the inner floor fabric. I would love to have the 2+ version but it was not created when I bought my tent. That being said it is still a huge tent compared to other manufacturers but still much lighter than competitors for similar size. What sets Durston tents apart from competitors is the location of the tracking poles right above the door or your head when sleeping or entering the tent door. It allows you to sit on opposite sides of the tent next to each door. This allows two people to sit up in the tent across from one another and have about 6 feet between your heads with the high tent ridge between you and set your gear up or play cards easily without bumping into one another . If it is raining or simply too cold to be outside, this makes a huge difference when you are in the tent, either setting up gear or hanging out . When I had my Z-Pak duplex, there was not enough room to do any of this without bumping into each other . It was literally impossible for us both to be inside the tent setting up gear at the same time let alone hang out or play cards. The Durston tent design is beyond function and has been a life changing tent experience for us. The zpacks duplex is an antiquated design but was very innovative when it came out and a pioneer in its own time and thus deserves a lot of respect! Having said that I would never recommend it unless you want to feel cramped and have your head a few inches from the wet tent ceiling versus several feet above your head using the durston. Edit: we are tall people with big feet haha… Short people can use smaller options tents…. Some camping locations may only fit small tents. Check all tent sizes to tent spots available in designated camping areas etc… https://durstongear.com/products/x-mid-pro-plus-tent-ultralight-thruhiking

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.

Yes it feels larger without the interior walls. If it is condensation from condition, then you need to stay back from the walls and be a bit careful, but if it is dry, then you have more useable space.

The main advantage of the DCF floor is further weight savings. If you’re dialed in, the extra 50 grams saved can be nice. Durability is about the same but the woven floor is more affordable. We have a FAQ on the Pro tent page that goes further into the pros and cons. The X-Mid Pro 2 is a bit bigger than the average 2P tent but not much and in a pinch you can collapse the vestibules to fit in the same spots as any 2P tent.

The common issue with zippers on the PCT is the slider wearing out, which is concerning but actually easy to service. With the X-Mid Pro we use the same #3 YKK zippers as almost every ultralight tent (e.g. same as Big Agnes, Nemo, Gossamer etc), but the sliders can wear out on the PCT because it's a lot of use and the southern part of the trail is quite dusty/sandy. They take a lot of wear in SoCal and then much less thereafter. How fast a slider wears out depends on amount of use, if there is sand in the teeth, and if someone is using door stake to take tension off or not. The slider can be replaced on the trail in a few minutes and then the zipper is usually as good as new, but most people don't know this so we are working to improve information/awareness. Zpacks has a nice video on this now, and we are working on similar video and also we'll start including spare sliders with the Pro tents shortly so it's easier to do a quick service on the trail (we also do it for free if people do send them in, but that's hard for PCT hikers). We are also going to angle the stake point on the door starting in about 1-2 months so it is more obvious to people that the door stake should be angled. We show angling this stake in our pitching video now: [https://youtu.be/fOJ4BKIoKGs?si=EnQrwlqfiel7zsGe&t=318](https://youtu.be/fOJ4BKIoKGs?si=EnQrwlqfiel7zsGe&t=318) We also used #3 last year on the regular X-Mid, but this model is going back to larger/heavier #5's in a few weeks to be more rugged, because the regular version is less weight sensitive. With the Pro people can save more weight by applying more skill, whereas the with the regular it is somewhat heavier but more durable.

Some of the things you would be getting with the X-Mid are a simpler pitch, non-sag and fast dry fabric, higher end build quality, and it’s more spacious.

Regarding your X-Mid 1P vs 2P questions, the X-Mid 1 has steadily gotten larger over time. It was 28" wide in 2018, 31" wide in 2022 and then in 2025 the gen 3 was released that is 33" wide. I think it's quite spacious for a 1P tent. It's got a lot of headroom, a lot of length, and the width is pretty good plus the sidewalls are vertical so it's not sloping narrower like some tents. The X-Mid 2 is often the highest rated PCT tent by 'couples', but gets lower ratings by solo users because it is a lot of tent for one person: [https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/pacific-crest-trail/best-thru-hiking-couples-shelters-2024/](https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/pacific-crest-trail/best-thru-hiking-couples-shelters-2024/) A lot of solo people do use the X-Mid 2 and tons of them do love having a 'palace', but if I was hiking the PCT I would go with a 1P model because you're not in the tent very much, it's lighter, and does fit into more sites. With that said, you can collapse the vestibules on the X-Mid 2 to fit into the same sites as any other 2P tent. Condensation is just a fact of life in any tent, but the X-Mid is a doublewall (aside from the Pro version) so it has a barrier to separate you from it, which is about as good as you can possibly do. \- Dan

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