Massdrop Announces Dan Durston X Mid Tent: 2 People, 2 hiking poles, 28 oz, $199

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Looks like most of the first 1000 have been delivered. Here’s a video of someone’s first pitch that is really nicely put together:

[John Mc]

That video was really well done…..

[Russell Biser]

Can confirm 6’4”. That’s how tall I am and I am posting from inside the tent. No pad or bag but if I am flat on my pack my toes and hair touch the mesh. First pitch was a good one so I assume this is what I can expect. But it’s as long as most tents. Side to side not shoulders touch mesh when I sit up also my head touches mesh. The gaps between fly and mesh are as generous as Dan said and I am not worried about actually getting wet from touching a condensing fly. It feels quite spacious especially the double fly making it feel even more commodious. Now I need to use it and probably buy the two man as well!

[Doug Coe]

Yes, that video was really well done…and he got a very taught pitch right out of the gate. Very nice tent!

[Boyan B]

Got mine today, have not done anything other than unpack it.  One immediate feedback – I ***hate*** tight fitting stuff sacks, particularly for tents.  They are impossible to use in anything but dry weather, and the stuff sack of the X-mid is as tight as they come.  In fact, I simply unrolled the contents slightly, and am already finding it very difficult to fit it all back in the stuff sack.  Wish it was generously oversized, maybe something to keep in mind for the 2P version and future revs of the 1P.  May take it to the park tonight and pitch it there to see how it feels.  Overall the quality appears very high, certainly higher than some of the cottage shops that I have purchased from in the past.

UPDATE 1:

Took it to the park tonight and pitched side by side with its distant cousin, the SD High Route FL1 which I like,  The X-Mid is notably easier to pitch and get taught with almost no fuss.  The HR is not nearly as forgiving.  The fabric on the X-Mid feels pleasantly substantial.  All the extra guyout points along the periphery are great, in case you need to batten down the hatches.    The inner pitches very nice and taut with minimal effort, the ridgeline pocket is great. The worksmanship and the cosmetics are great.  The length of the zippers on the inner is just right for someone with a more substantial frame.

The things that I wish were different are a) the inner is tight – I cannot lie down with my hands next to me without tugging on the fabric. b) Wish the design height of the poles was 48″.  The HR is 48″ and the difference is quite notable, though I understand that this would have involved sacrifice in terms of weight and possibly some storm worthiness c) shepherd hook stakes – ugh :-) d) The vestibules feel far smaller than the drawings imply.  The outer edges are under sloping corners which really limits what you can and cannot get in there.  You certainly can’t cook there with the fabric a foot above.  If you offset the inner of the HR you get more usable vertical vestibule space.

UPDATE 2

Pitched it again in the park tonight. Security swung by to make sure I am not a hobo planning to spend the night… One feature of the Xmid that I failed to appreciate until tonight is that it is what I would call semi self supporting. In the absence of Ridgeline tension provided by the guylines both the High Route and the Stratospire will collapse. If you are sloppy with the stakes chances are you are waking up with silnylon draped over your face. Not so with the Xmid, which will stand up without guylines in good weather, and possibly moderately windy. For me at least that is the true design innovation that makes it unambiguously distinct from the other two tents. Well done.

 

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Glad to hear you’re finding the pitch easy and the tent well built with quality materials. With regard to your suggestions:
– I agree with your sentiment about tight stuff sacks. I haven’t found the stuff sack of the X-Mid to be particularly tight, but maybe I’ve just packed up the X-Mid so many times than I’ve gotten good with packing it really tight. I’m happy to widen the sack in the future if this is a common sentiment, so thanks for the feedback here.
– Yes it would be nice to have a few more inches of width in the inner tent. The design doesn’t lend itself that well to adding much more width because I don’t want to make the footprint of the tent even larger, but I think I can squeeze in another 2″ or so for future runs basically by squeezing a wider inner into the same size fly.
– I am hesitant to make it taller than 46″ because I’d have to make it wider too or the walls would get steeper. So doing this makes it either heavier or less stormworthy (as you say). Certainly even more headroom would be nice but I think it’s already pretty good (e.g. taller than most solo tents). The older High Route is taller whereas the 2019 High Route is shorter.
– Yeah shepard hook stakes aren’t great. We wanted to include stakes so people could at least set it up, but I didn’t want to include high end stakes (and increase the price) because everyone has different preferences. Most folks would be well served by adding four more substantial stakes and then using the ti hooks for less important stake outs like at the doors.
– Regarding the vestibules, do you mean you don’t think you can cook in the vestibules at all? Or do you mean you can’t cook back in the sloping corners? Certainly some parts do slope, but overall I think there’s a lot of vestibule space, and the larger parts have lots of room for cooking.

[Boyan B]

The vestibules are certainly suitable for cooking, but looking at the drawings they seem larger than what they feel like in reality. The ones on the HR FL1 are vertical which creates a lot of usable space despite small apparent footprint.  Certainly controlling the already substantial footprint was a priority for you, so I understand the limitations there.  No tent is perfect, and the X-mid strikes an overall useful balance.  When I first saw the design I was not crazy about the rotated inner, so we shall have to see how I feel about it after pitching in a tight space.

One more item for your consideration – the hooks that clip the inner to the corner of the tent feel fairly fragile.  The Stratospire uses similar clips, and when I owned one I managed to break them once a year.  It was mostly the ones on top, and your design uses a webbing strap and quick disconnect there so perhaps I am being paranoid.  The design SD made there is really great, though I understand you can’t just go copying them willy nilly.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

What does the High Route use instead of clips? I opted for the buckles at the peaks so they are more robust and adjustable, but they were too heavy to use everywhere. I’d love to come up with an alternate solution for the mitten clips.

[Boyan B]

It is still a clip of sorts, but far more substantial than a mitten hook.  On the tent side it is still a full loop, albeit one made from what feels like very hard plastic that would take a great deal of force to break.  On the inner side it is two loops like this fused together in the shape of the number 8, but part of the 8 has been cut out at an angle and clips into the loop on the tent side without a flimsy tongue that gets in the way more than anything else.  You can kind of see it at around the 5:05 mark in this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVFozeZ0P3E

I will take a picture tonight and post.

[Alex Wallace]

I think this is the clip you’re referring to:

[Boyan B]

Yup

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Interesting. Looks like a beefier hook with an adjustable length cord, but no shockcord to buffer strain.

[Boyan B]

Yes, the great thing about the clip is that it is easy to work with gloves, disconnect requires only a twist without a fiddly tongue to press on.  And it feels SOLID, darn near unbreakable.  On my own tent (original FL1) I ***always*** install the inner asymmetric, next to one of the vertical walls to create a sizeable vestibule on the other side, and have replaced the SD  provided cordage which centers the inner in the tent (with no ability for adjustment despite despite the presence of the linelok) with a a 2ft triptease on one side. The latter is unnecessary for the xMid but I may look into replacing the mitten hooks with one of these clips – assuming that the loop on the tent side is compatible.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

FWIW, if you want the mitten clips to be easy to release then clip them to the grosgrain rather than the D rings. They will stay connected to the grosgrain when the tent is pitched, but they easily slide off when packing up without fiddling with that tongue because the grosgrain is thin enough just to slide through the gap.

[Franco Darioli]

“Yes, the great thing about the clip is that it is easy to work with gloves, disconnect requires only a twist without a fiddly tongue to press on’

It’s time yet again to post my video ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPjEw2Qx3nc

BTW, you either twist the line or the clip , same idea.

It’s possible that I intuitively  did because I used to to some magic tricks as a kid and the linking rings trick works like that.

That is why I am a born skeptic, I always look for the “trick”)

 

 

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

That video is clever, as is your other one with the mitten clips and mittens:

However, both of these are still a two handed job because you are holding the string (or D ring) still while your other hand unclips the clip from it. Conversely, unclipping it a mitten clip from the grosgrain is a one handed job. Can you make a one handed video unclipped a mitten clip from a D-ring?

[Franco Darioli]

The point I was trying to make is that one does not need to “press the tongue” as apparently some do .

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Fair enough. You’re right.

[Hudson Gardner]

Sorry if this has been answered, but are you planning on a 2p now that the 1p has sold decently well?

[JCH]

Sorry if this has been answered, but are you planning on a 2p now that the 1p has sold decently well?

Start here

Then here

[Brad Rogers]

The two person has been removed from the durstongear website, but as far as I know it is still scheduled for production.

[JCH]

And a photo of the elusive beast. But of course…it isn’t real until it is real :)

[Hudson Gardner]

@pastyj-2-2

@mocs123
Thank you.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Yeah we’re working on it. It’s coming along well.

[Hudson Gardner]

@dandydan Thanks, enjoying your GDT videos. My girlfriend and I want to try it now.

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