Durston X-Mid 1 Assessment: A Newbie-Pleasant Ultralight Shelter

The Durston X-Mid 1 ultralight shelter has obtained such excessive acclaim from the out of doors group since its preliminary launch in 2018 that it’s usually offered out on their web site. The X-Mid has a novel space-maximizing geometry at an unbelievable value. I first slept on this tent on Out of doors Life’s inaugural backpacking gear check on the Oregon Coast Path again in April. However Dan Durston designed the tent within the Canadian Rockies, which is strictly the place I went to place it to the check. I hiked with the Durston X-Mid for 67 miles of the Nice Divide Path, which straddles the British Columbia-Alberta border. 

This part of the GDT produced various circumstances—rain, wind, and even wildfire smoke. I handled this tent as I’d certainly one of my very own: with respect, but additionally the expectation that this gear ought to be constructed to stay as much as the pains of heavy day in, time out use, together with publicity to excessive UV, rain, and every other parts the Canadian Rockies dared to throw at me. I used to be impressed to see the X-Mid maintain as much as the weather, my expectations, and its repute.

• Weight: 1 pound, 12 ounces
• Dimensions: 90 x 32 inches
• Peak Peak: 46 inches
• Space: 20 sq. ft
• Packed Measurement: 12 x 5 inches 
• Material: 20 denier PU coated polyester
• Guarantee: 2 years

Meeting

The Durston X-Mid shelter is brilliantly stripped down and unfussy to assemble. It’s foolproof to arrange and teardown rapidly. However it’s utterly dependable in inclement climate because of its double wall development and storm-worthy silhouette. An simply assembled tent means you get to sleep quicker and a easier going backcountry expertise. 

Geometry

At 28 ounces and 20 sq. ft of flooring area, the Durston X-Mid 1 has an awesome weight-to-space ratio. Its double wall, storm worthy design with twin vestibules, provides this shelter a livable really feel. Held up by two poles (both your personal trekking poles or Durston’s ultralight z-flick tent poles), but supposed for a singular grownup sleeper, the diagonal ridgeline of the tent maximizes inside area.

In accordance with Durston’s web site, the twin pole arrange will increase the inside quantity of the shelter by 30 to 50 p.c. This shelter in all probability wouldn’t be the primary alternative of somebody on the lookout for area to journey with a pet, or who prefers to stow their gear contained in the tent’s sleeping space, however I can sit up and alter with out hitting my head on the tent wall, and even getting my head wherever close to it. 

Worth

Regardless of its ever growing reputation, the polyether urethane coated, sil-polyester X-Mid is available in at $240, a extra inclusive, entry-to-ultralight value level than a Dyneema Composite Material shelter, which runs nearer to $500. Durston attributes this to a low mark up and direct-to-consumer gross sales. 

Testing the Durston X-Mid within the Discipline

To check the X-Mid I took this shelter again to its place of inception—the Canadian Rockies. The Durston was created for a similar rugged and various terrain of the Nice Divide Path, making it the proper place to place it by the wringer. This path runs from the U.S./Canadian border at Waterton Nationwide Park to Kakwa Provincial Park 746 miles north. For this check, I took part B north from Crowsnest Go. 

My campsites varried in terrain: a rocky ridgeline, a meadow, the damp forest duff in almost freezing temperatures. I skilled wind, rain, fog, and damp circumstances, however the X-Mid remained a steadfast shelter by all of it. 

This manner my first expertise with a tent that makes use of solely 4 stakes and no required guylines. It’s straightforward to get a taught pitch on the X-Mid, which actually paid off on windy nights. Previously I’ve usually been saved awake by tent cloth that gained’t cease flapping, regardless of my finest efforts. The X-Mid was notably silent, which meant higher high quality sleep and extra restoration time.

The Durston X-Mid’s twin trekking pole setup doesn’t require your poles to be at a hard and fast top when assembling. Somewhat, you merely insert the poles the wrong way up into the dual apex grommets and lengthen them to attain the required tensioning. In truth—the entire X-Mid meeting could be described in two steps: 

That’s it. I by no means wanted to make use of or regulate a single man line. I did change the manufacturing unit stakes with my most popular tent stakes, the MSR Groundhog Mini. The included stakes disenchanted testers within the ultralight tents check. 

The tent is so easy to arrange that I used to be in a position to get a steadfast, storm worthy pitch in only a few minutes. The within of your tent gained’t get moist if you must arrange within the rain both. The very last thing I need to do once I’m drained and hungry after an extended day on path, is fuss with an abundance of guylines to discover a just-right pitch whereas dropping mild. With the Durston X-Mid, it was arrange in document time and I might transfer on to getting fed and comfortable. 

Though one evening on path was damp and almost freezing, I had no points with condensation. I did use certainly one of twin peak vents, which simply adjusts by opening the Velcro closure, reaching in, flattening the light-weight strut, and velcroing it to the fly. There was no condensation on the partitions, ceiling, or underneath my inflatable sleeping pad. The X-Mid is manufacturing unit waterproofed and desires no seam sealing after buy. Moreover it options waterproof zippers with handy magnetic toggles to carry them apart when organising for the evening or gazing out at your view from camp. 

I appreciated the outsized stuff sack Durston contains with their shelters. Some producers require you to painstakingly fold and roll your tent to suit again right into a tiny stuff sack. However with the Durston, I used to be in a position to effortlessly stuff my shelter into its bag as I packed camp in a rush. 

The ground is product of a hearty 20 denier silicone infused polyester cloth and coated in what the out of doors trade refers to as PE—which is shorthand for polyether urethane for water resistance. PE coating is much less generally used than the PU coating (polyester urethane) and is often present in tents manufactured to face up to harsher circumstances as a result of polyester doesn’t take up water and sag like nylon, so the shelter retains its structural integrity in moist circumstances. This coating is carried all through the whole lot of the tent and matched with the double-wall design and vents, makes condensation unlikely.

Nonetheless, ought to the Durston X-Mid develop into damp, the beneficiant headroom retains moisture and condensation additional out of your head and kit. Whereas this can be a single individual shelter, the double vestibules permit for double the out of doors storage of a typical one-person tent. I can simply stow my backpack and sneakers with room to exit, and that also leaves all the second vestibule to spare. 

What the Durston X-Mid Does Finest

The X-Mid units up and tears down like nothing I’ve skilled in 10 years of backpacking with ultralight tents and kit testing. Utilizing solely 4 stakes, zero required guylines, and versatile trekking pole heights in keeping with the strain you want, the X-mid is a good choice for an individual who desires to dip a toe within the waters of ultralight backpacking with out the intimidation of a posh arrange. Moreover, the X-mid presents an entry stage value level for these concerned about making an attempt out their first non-freestanding shelter with out breaking the financial institution. 

The place the X-Mid Can Enhance

The Durston X-Mid is an ultralight, non-freestanding shelter. Meaning if you happen to break or lose a pole whereas mountaineering, your shelter might be compromised. This tent is designed for the ultralight, minimalist, backpacker. Although it feels roomy as a single individual tent with two vestibules, it’s nonetheless a comparatively small shelter with sufficient area to get better and regenerate. If you’re somebody who has numerous gear to retailer inside, has a bigger physique, restricted mobility, or a pet, you would possibly have to improve to an X-Mid 2. A small element that may make an enormous distinction: The supplied stakes for the Durston X-Mid 1 weren’t as top quality as we might have appreciated.

Ultimate Ideas

For those who’re on the lookout for a simple-to-erect ultralight tent at a good value, I extremely encourage you to take a look at this tent. I used to be persistently impressed by how effectively the X-Mid delivered on standing as much as wind and rain, whereas resisting condensation. I strongly consider backpacking and ultralight gear specifically might increase on being extra accessible to a wider base of customers, and the Durston X-Mid 1 presents a refreshing value, with out sacrificing on worth or expertise.