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


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Home Forums Commerce Gear Deals Massdrop Announces Dan Durston X Mid Tent: 2 People, 2 hiking poles, 28 oz, $199

Viewing 25 posts - 76 through 100 (of 589 total)
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  • #3548596
    California Packrafting
    BPL Member

    @unnamedpeaks

    Yeah, in the Summer I have had it rain overnight, and rain in the afternoon, but this is the first time a storm break as I was getting to camp. It’s intense

    #3548598
    California Packrafting
    BPL Member

    @unnamedpeaks

    This probably seems like a silly question to y’all in Pacific Northwest and East Coast hah.

    All I know is setting up without tree shelter in hard rain as it was getting dark, alone, with thunder, seemed pretty intense! I just wanted to make sure I got set up and kept my down bag dry.

    Thanks for the tips, I will try this when I get the tent…in April.

    #3548670
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    Thanks for the support. I think you’ll really like it.

    One thing I do to get more efficient and comfortable in situations like this is to go for 1 nighters near home when the conditions look really tough (e.g. heavy downpour). By intentionally going out when you know it’s going to be tough conditions, you aren’t bummed that bad weather is wrecking your dream trip, and you end up learning a lot about how to deal with tough conditions without being deep in the backcountry. I did a “heavy rain” one night trip a couple years ago and learned a great deal.

    #3548956
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    Filmed a video today showing how to pitch the X-Mid and some of the features:

    YouTube video

    #3548986
    Kevin Babione
    BPL Member

    @kbabione

    Locale: Pennsylvania

    The video is great – It has me thinking about buying one and I’ve been hammocking for the past 7 years!  Looks like I have 2 days to decide…

    #3548987
    Matthew / BPL
    Moderator

    @matthewkphx

    I’m surprised there isn’t a buckle at the bottom of the zipper. I thought the consensus was that a buckle is needed to take tension off the zipper. Why did you choose to omit that detail?

    #3549005
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    I wouldn’t say a buckle at the zipper bottom is the consensus – all tents put some horizontal strain on the zipper and mid style tents don’t uniquely put more strain on the zipper than other tent designs, yet very few tents provide a buckle here. MLD is one of the few companies doing this as far as I am aware.

    I don’t think a buckle is necessary for a backpacking application. It adds weight and is a hassle to use – especially from the inside and for virtually all folks it isn’t needed. When I owned MLD mids I never used it.

    Consider that many companies are using much weaker #3 zippers (versus #5 in the X-Mid) on tents that would have similar zipper strain (e.g. Locus Gear Khufu) and yet failures of even those zippers are incredibly rare. I would say the vast majority of lightweight tents use unprotected #3’s (MSR, Big Agnes etc) which are far weaker. Of the companies that use #5’s (e.g. TarpTent) failures are nearly unheard of. By far the most common zipper failure is the sliders wearing out on a #3 zipper, not the zipper being torn open by high winds.

    So I think an unbuckled #3 zipper is a little bit vulnerable but a reasonable choice, an unbuckled #5 zipper (like the X-Mid) can be considered solid, and then a #5 zipper + buckle would be in the realm of super beefy/overkill. A buckle would be good for those folks that like to test their tent on the summit of Mt. Washington in 80 mph winds, or those crazy hikers in Scotland that keep getting blown off the mountains.

    It’s also worth mentioning that in some rare extreme wind event you could stake down both sides of the door and pull those stakes out in a opposing directions to hold the bottom of the door closed, so in some unexpected windstorm you could still support the zipper.

    One day I’d like to do a beefier/fully featured version of the X-Mid (“X-Mid Alpine”) and this might have main zipper buckles. I’m still not entirely sold though because of the fiddling.

    #3549015
    Paul S.
    BPL Member

    @pschontz

    Locale: PNW

    Does the waterproof #5 zipper have more holding strength than a regular #5?

    #3549021
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    No I believe it would be the same as a regular #5.

    The main appeal with the uretek/water resistant ones is that you can ditch the protective rain flap over the zipper. Those flaps are prone to snagging in the zipper and don’t work very well. A water resistant zip works far better and is easier to use. Also, even if a little rain did end up soaking through the tiny slit, it would just land in the vestibules since the inner is not under the doors.

    I think they’re a more functional and professional zipper.

    #3549023
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    Looks like I have 2 days to decide…
    I believe the drop ends tomorrow evening somewhere around 8pm pacific time, 5pm out east, but I could be off by a few hours. I expect the time will switch to hours once it gets inside a day.

    #3549027
    Matthew / BPL
    Moderator

    @matthewkphx

    Dan, that makes sense. Staying down both sides of the zipper seem like a very reasonable option in a heavy storm.

    #3549049
    Katherine .
    BPL Member

    @katherine

    Locale: pdx

    the odometer just turned to 201 sold! whoo-hoo. That’s a pretty great vote of confidence. and hopefully sets you / us up for more offerings!

    #3549225
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    Thanks to everyone for their interest.

    #3549227
    Andy Berner
    BPL Member

    @berner9

    Locale: Michigan

    Congrats sir. Cool to watch it go from 200 to 250 today alone.

    For reference in the video how tall are you?

    #3549229
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    I’m 1/8″ under 6 feet.

    #3549235
    jscott
    BPL Member

    @book

    Locale: Northern California

    Dan, that’s a really good looking tent. The video brought it into focus for me in a way that just reading about it never did. It looks really storm and bug worthy and the quick set up design is brilliant. No wonder you’re selling so many!

    And kudos on using a #5 zipper (yes I’ve had fails with #3 zips). Beefy is good when it comes to zippers.

     

    #3549303
    Eric Osburn
    BPL Member

    @osb40000

    This tent in dyneema would be phenominal. A 2 person version in dyneema and I’d probably be forced to open my pocketbook for just about any reasonable amount.

    As is I can’t do it because I already have a notch, but if I were in the market for a 1 person shelter, I’d snatch it up in a second. I worked hard on a backpacking buddy of mine so hopefully he grabbed one.

     

    Great job Dan!

    #3549319
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    Thanks for the kind words Eric and for delivering some sales pressure ;)

    I bet you could sell your used Notch, buy a new X-Mid and still have money left over :)

    Yeah I’ll love to do a DCF version. First up would likely be a 1P single wall with a slimmed down feature set to really show what’s possible for 14 -15oz.

    #3549416
    Paul S.
    BPL Member

    @pschontz

    Locale: PNW

    I would love a single wall version.  I really like my Deschutes Plus but the video showing how easily and taught you setup the X-Mid but without the drawbacks of a traditional mid is what pushed me over the edge to try it.  Only 4 stakes and a perfect rectangle sounds like a dream, and no zipper flaps.

    Just under 300 units sold, pretty impressive.

    #3549457
    Kief H
    BPL Member

    @kief

    Locale: Eastside Sierra, Downeast Maine

    Full congratulations on 300 X-Mid sales, Dan. I know I’m not alone in being extremely impressed by the clarity, honesty, and thoughtfulness of the many posts you’ve made here, on Reddit, and Massdrop in response to questions and observations about your design. Well done.

    #3549470
    Greg F
    BPL Member

    @gregf

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    In the single wall design how would you treat the bug netting / door attachment?

    #3549507
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    Thanks for the kind words and support everyone. Much appreciated. It’s also kinda nice to be over since that was a little time consuming answering that many questions (BPL, Reddit, YouTube, Massdrop, and more).

    Re. simplicity: Once you’ve tasted something that is both simple and functional, it’s hard to go back to something complex. It just seems poorly thought through. I’m amazed how many people are buying ultralight shelters with 8 – 12 mandatory stakes, as if that’s necessary to go light. Quite the opposite….

    Regarding a singlewall version, basically the mesh door walls would stay and extend out in all directions on that plane to connect with the fly. The other mesh panels would be deleted (end panels, roof panels). Currently the X-Mid contains 4.8oz of mesh, so this would drop to about 2 oz. A savings of 3oz isn’t huge, but in combination with lighter DCF and less beefy features a very light version would be possible (14 – 15oz). If a second version of the 1P happens, that’s what it would be.

    As I think I mentioned somewhere (here?) I thought about possible future singlewall versions when refining the X-Mid. So the vents are on the sides of the tent rather than the ends (where they were originally) because on the ends they would be connected to the living area of the single wall version and thus require mesh to stop bugs – which hugely kills airflow. Whereas on the sides they aren’t connected to the sleeping area since the mesh door walls would exist to separate the two. The vents would still work very well since there is plenty of area on these mesh door walls to flow air out of the sleeping area. So a single wall X-Mid would seemingly be one of the best venting single walls out there.

    #3549509
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    I have moved this whole thread to Gear Deals as it has become very commercial. We have no problems with the thread, it just seemed to be in the wrong place.

    EDIT: I have received a protest about this move. Well, the thread is about commercial sales of a tent, and that normally goes under Gear Deals. However, I would be interested to hear what readers think about this. Anyone?

    Cheers
    Roger Caffin
    Moderator

    #3549637
    Eric H
    BPL Member

    @eharman

    Since the drop is over, any further discussion cannot impact sales.  Now, it would seem logically best placed NOT in gear deals.   I had to use the search bar to find the thread…

    Massdrop has an interesting effect thread categorization.

    #3549671
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    My take is that all gear threads are about products that are commercially available for sale. The key distinction is whether the thread is about the sale or about the gear. I think this thread is overwhelmingly about the gear, as virtually all the posts (>90%) are discussing the design.

Viewing 25 posts - 76 through 100 (of 589 total)
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