Xmid or free standing?

Alex W,

No argument there.  26 oz for a 2-3 person shelter is amazing.  Wow!

I think he’s just referring to the fly/outer portion. PreTents lists that complete shelter as having a minimum weight of 1450g (51 oz).
https://valleyandpeak.co.uk/products/pretents-mega

What ‘mid’ is that with the 4 peaks around the center pole?

Alexander, that’s a “PreTents Mega.” I bought it a few years ago from tarapoky.com, but it doesn’t look like it’s available now.

Dan is correct; the 26 ounces only accounts for the outer silnylon fly, which is how I like to use it. However, on trips with my boys and especially when mosquitoes are likely present, I’ll bring the inner.

It’s an interesting way to increase headroom. Kinda similar to the old Mountain Hardwear Hoopla 4 but with the poles in an X instead of a circle:
https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/103406/mountain-hardwear-hoopla-4-tent

Thank you Dan D. for spotting that.

That describes most of the places I pitch my Xmid 1p. The way I see it, the Xmid has several advantages that have made it my tent of choice but footprint size is not one of them. Sometimes you just have to spend some extra time to find a spot or get creative to make it fit. That said, I’ll probably add a 1p freestanding to the mix at some point for fair weather trips since I’d like another 1p anyway for bringing friends. Footprint size will be the priority for that tent and I’ll compromise roominess. That experiment may or may not last 😁.  The Xmid 1p has plenty of room for 1 person and is much easier to manage up high than the 2p; I have and use both!

Not a bad idea to have a mid stretched a bit below the peak, as it adds to headroom.  If a floorless mid is your cup of tea.  Not sure what holds the stretch points in place.  The approach was taken to the limit with the TentLab MoonLight tents:

http://www.thetentlab.com/MoonLightTents/MoonLightIntro.html

But a little bit too ornate for a KISS lover who believes simplicity is the path to light weight.

As free standing tents go, the X-Mid is mostly in a class of its own.  I have the original MassDrop 1P and used it extensively until, during a snowy windy trip in the Yukon, I damaged one of the hems which then resulted in a tear into the main panel.  The X-Mid kept me bone dry through 3 days of continuous rain and moderate snow (1-2ft total accumulation). As advertised, the poly material does not sag when soaked.  With additional guylines it handled moderate wind well  (you most definitely want to use two guylines per tieout along the main ridgeline – each about 30 degrees with respect to the ridgeline, otherwise the tent is susceptible to side wind).  The Xmid is easy to pitch for a free-standing tent but requires some practice.  However uneven terrain presents a challenge since it becomes more difficult to maintain proper tension and geometry.

I have since stopped using the Xmid and transitioned to free-standing tents.  BigSky  Revolution 1P and Big Agness Copper Spur 2P.  Most of my hiking is in the southwest where I either cowboy camp, or pitch a tent on either loose sand or solid slickrock. Pole supported tents are a hassle in both cases. The (IMO) very substantial footprint requirements are a hassle too.

If you decide to go with a free standing 1P tent I would advocate staying away from single vestibule tens, and particularly from the MSR Hubba line which is incredibly cramped.  The Xmid showed me what a good living space buys you in lousy weather and since then I have become a lot more picky in that respect.  The Revolution 1P is the only 1P tent I could find that has dual vestibules.  It is good but has a number of small and not so small nags that seem to be either not getting addressed or addressed very slowly.  Bought the BA Copper Spur 2P for camping in potentially wet crappy conditions.  Will be using is a 1P with princely amount of space and dual tieouts for windy conditions.  The extra 1lb of weight is well worth it to me.

And here it is midway through the storm.  It held up admirably but I did have to shake off the snow once every few hours.  You can see my use of dual guylines along the ridgeline in the second pic

Hi Boyan

Colour photos would have been nice . . .
(JOKE!)

Cheers