Review: Durston X-Mid 2 Solid

The wife bought one of these for her 40th and generously let me use it on my recent hunting trip. Before this, we'd just used it on the lawn. We bought the Solid version as we want to have the extra warmth for mountain trips.

The campsite was a small clearing on the summit of a ~600m mountain in the foothills of the Tararuas. Beech forest.

Setting up was really easy. The first time we used it we put it away with the footprint attached to the inner, and the inner attached to the fly.

Once I cleared the site of a couple of ladder ferns, it was as simple as putting in 4 pegs, making sure the corners were at 90 degrees, taking off the rubber feet and baskets of my 2 trekking poles, and extending them until the fly was taut.
2 secondary pegs held out the vestibules and we were done. Total pitching time was under 5 minutes.

The vestibules (1 per side) easily held our 60l packs, daypacks and boots with plenty of room still to get out without tripping over gear.

Sleeping wasn't so good, but that was due to the site, which sloped on two axes (x and z), towards the feet and also to the right. This meant both of us slid down to the bottom of the tent in the night, putting pressure on the line connecting the top right to the fly. The connector unclipped just before dawn, leading to a mild collapse of that corner of the inner, but not a collapse of the tent.

I was glad it wasn't a tear or snap because it's a new tent.

There was some wind in the night, but it didn't even cause a ruffle, let alone a flap, so a plus on that.

My hunting mate was super impressed by the roominess of the tent, the vestibules and the smart design. These were what sold me on the tent too, and it didn't disappoint. At 1.1kg the weight was super low.

Pros (only ones directly experienced):
Massive vestibules,
Lightweight,
Good headroom
Quiet fabric
Easy to erect
Quality stitching

Cons:
Lightweight means more fragile
Too small to strap on the outside of my pack (taking up valuable space in the pack)
Slippery fabric means easy to slide down if pitched on a slope
Footprint of a 3 person tent (but can hold heaps of gear in those vestibules)
Need to buy trekking poles (but these are useful).

The marketing also says they're very stable in wind, can shed snow well, and have decent waterproofing.

I’ve got one and echo all your points. The slippery floor can be annoying trying to find the perfectly flat campsite

My hunting mate suggested surfer's wax might help with my slippery sleeping mat which slid down. Maybe it would help with the tent too?

I've run small beads of silicone on the underside of my sleeping mat to give it extra grip.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RUMPY

I've run small beads of silicone on the underside of my sleeping mat to give it extra grip.

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I just did this to my daughter's sleeping mat after the weekend . Silicone dots on the bottom and flat beads on the top. Works a treat.

I think I'll buy one of these tents. Definitely seems to tick all my requirements.

I think theyre great IF you're already using trekking poles. Order straight from the durston website. The 2p has quite a large footprint. I use the 1p standard model and find it great. Double vestibule keeps all gear covered and dog can sleep under one side. super quick to setup. Can even tie the peaks to trees or overhead branches instead of using poles if you forget them or want to use them during the day.

Owners of the Durston tents how have you found pitching over uneven ground? Are there any other situations where they become hard to pitch?

Looking at getting one myself, thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SoreLegs

Owners of the Durston tents how have you found pitching over uneven ground? Are there any other situations where they become hard to pitch?

Looking at getting one myself, thanks

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I haven't had an issue great tent heaps of room easy to pitch.
I brought the poles rather than using trekking poles.
I have 2 now as the Kea attacked mine.

Sent from my CPH2531 using Tapatalk

I haven’t had too many problems. One of my campsites is not the best, flattish for the inner but sloping for the outer, can still pitch it reasonably well. It is worth watching a few of the “how to pitch” videos on YouTube.

I quite like the look of the new Durston X-dome. Worth a look if you’re not keen on the trekking-pole style.

I'd wait until they update the xdome once people have put it to the test and picked it apart. Looks like a cool piece of kit though. Would make more sense buying that if you don't use trekking poles.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SoreLegs

Owners of the Durston tents how have you found pitching over uneven ground? Are there any other situations where they become hard to pitch?

Looking at getting one myself, thanks

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As per my review, my site was tilted on 2 axes. Pitching was fine, but there was some roll together due to the slippery floor. Will be doing the silicon bead modification.
You can lengthen the peg loops so it can deal with undulation, but the integrity of the pitch depends on the corners being square. If not, you'll need to guy it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TimC

I think theyre great IF you're already using trekking poles. Order straight from the durston website. The 2p has quite a large footprint. I use the 1p standard model and find it great. Double vestibule keeps all gear covered and dog can sleep under one side. super quick to setup. Can even tie the peaks to trees or overhead branches instead of using poles if you forget them or want to use them during the day.

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The footprint isn't hugely different to other 2P tents. I posted this in another thread somewhere, but here is a scale drawing I did of it compared to my MSR Hubbahubba. Ill be pulling the trigger on an Xmid before my 2025 roar trips.
Attachment 261882

I have a spare x-Mid solid outer I'm willing to send if someone wants to have a look and try it.
Just pay courier and return it but happy for someone to borrow if they are thinking of one.
I have poles for it

Sent from my CPH2531 using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TimC

I'd wait until they update the xdome once people have put it to the test and picked it apart. Looks like a cool piece of kit though. Would make more sense buying that if you don't use trekking poles.

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We bought trekking poles for it using the money saved by buying it direct from Durston. It takes a but of getting used to, but using the poles saved my legs on my last trip. I intend to make an attachment to turn the trekking pole into a shooting stick.

Yeah I really rate trekking poles or even just one to help with coming down a hill with a heavy pack. I never used to use them until my knees started packing up but now I've always got at least one on me or in my pack. Great to sit the binos on for steady glassing too.