Dan Durston X-Mid 1p Tent Review: Light For On the Go

Dan Durston is a big thru-hiker and has built a winner in the X-Mid 1P tent for those on a thru-hike who want to have personal space to live in on their months long journey.

One of the most amazing things is that they didn’t use Dyneema so this tent may weigh a little bit more than other 1P Dyneema tents but for those who choose not to spend $4-600 on a tent this is a home run!

Additionally this is a double-walled trekking pole tent so the overall weight is still sub 2 lbs and packs down amazingly small. This lightweight tent allows you to set up the fly prior to the inner to keep dry in rain!

Here’s a rundown of what we’ll provide in this X-Mid 1P Tent review:

• First we’ll share the features and benefits that you’ll find useful
• Next, we’ll take a look at the drawbacks you might need to know about
• Then, we’ll tell you a bit about Dan Durston
• And finally we’ll provide a sampling of actual customer and Independent reviews to give you better insight into the product.

Sound good? Let’s get started!

Features and Benefits of the Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent

• ULTRALIGHT SHELTER WITH PLENTY OF ROOM: Designed to be the best double-wall solo shelter supported by trekking poles (NOT INCLUDED). All told, it’s simpler, roomier, and more functional than its competitors—and at just 28 ounces, it’s lighter, too.
• SPACIOUS TREKKING POLE SHELTER: The X-Mid offers a generous living space with dual doors and an easy setup using four stakes, no guylines, and interior ridgeline pocket provides handy internal storage. Dual vestibules provide easy access and gear space.
• SIMPLE PITCH: Pitching the X-Mid is similar to pitching a single-pole mid tent. There’s no guesswork with pole locations or pole lengths, because the fly naturally limits the length of the poles. Simply insert them into the grommets and extend until taut.
• INNOVATIVE DESIGN: Innovative design with a diagonal inner inside a rectangular-based fly. This allows the poles to be moved inwards without interfering with doors and living space, eliminating vertical, wind-catching walls and the need for peak guyouts.
• STORM WORTHY MATERIALS: The tent is made of 20d 420T 100-percent polyester with a 2000mm sil/PU coating. Tested under extreme lab conditions simulating 1.5 months of continuous high winds and heavy rains, the fabric still came out above 1500mm.
• MADE FOR THRU HIKERS: Tent pitches fly first so inner stays dry even during setup in the rain, inner is fully protected from falling rain during entry and exit, Packs into a short 12″ x 5″ package that stores horizontally inside a pack, fully seam taped
• DAN DURSTON: the X-Mid is the brainchild of Dan Durston, an experienced thru-hiker and established member of the ultralight community. Carefully crafted and designed for real trail conditions with an emphasis on simplicity and durability.
• NITTY GRITTY: Fly Weight 18oz, Inner weight 9.9oz. Fly Dimensions 67 x 100 x 46in., Inner peak height 43in. Floor Dimensions 28 x 86in, 16.8 sq. ft. Packed Size 12 x 5in. Trekking Poles Required for Setup NOT INCLUDED

Special Features (Pros) of the Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent

When Dan sat down to design this tent he went on an adventure nailing numerous things that help this tent fulfil numerous needs while keeping the costs down and light in weight.

Simple Four Stake Setup

This tent is able to be setup in almost all circumstances with ONLY 4 stakes, basically only needed one for each corner to set in place. This will allow the tent to work in most cases without the additional guy lines, typically reserved for super windy areas.

Unique Design Provides More Space

This tent while set up in a square from the outside the inner runs more corner to corner allowing far more space instead of being limited by an edge to edge setup.

Fly Only Setup

If you wanted to cut the weight down more and knew you didn’t require the inner you could set this up fly only and drop a decent amount of weight. If this isn’t how you would use the tent this feature allows you to set up the fly first so you can set up your inner out of the elements!

Double Door and Double Vestibule

This tent features 2 full vestibules with their own full doorways that allows you to have more space within the tent that allows for gear to be better spread out to dry or be sorted.

Two Pop Open Apex Air Vents

Both vestibule areas have a pop open ventilation that can help get some additional airflow in the tent, these also can be closed if you want to limit the air flow into or out of the tent.

Tall People Perfect

For many who are close to 6′ finding a tent which can take their height can be somewhat challenging. From the reviews, as I am just under 6′, I have seen people up to 6’5″ say that they are able to fit comfortably in this tent.

Drawbacks (Cons) for the Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent

As with the positives with any gear there is going to be some drawbacks that may or may not concern you. To help you be informed though we wanted to make sure you were aware of the shortcomings.

Not Incredibly Lightweight

For many people who are looking to hit that magical number of 1 lb per person this tent is just a shade over. Though to go lighter would require a restructure into a single wall tent or a conversion to Dyneema.

Changing to Dyneema would bring the cost on this tent much closer to the other “specialty” tents at the $500-700 mark.

No Additional Color Choices

This tent comes in only s single color, it is not currently available in any color but the green from the image. For many this may not be a concern but it is good to know going in if this color doesn’t work or appeal to you.

The actual dye is “desert sage” which is a greenish-grey. That link shows the actual dye, but then the fabric can look slightly different than the dye itself and of course lighting matters. I think it’s roughly that color, but more pale because poly doesn’t take up dye that well.

Dan Durston on Reddit

Video: X-Mid 1P Tent Review and Impression

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About the Dan Durston

Canadian-based thru-hiker Dan Durston hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2014 and, with his wife, recently completed the first yo-yo thru-hike (1,500 miles) of the Great Divide Trail in the Canadian Rockies.

When he’s not on the move, he blogs at IntoCascadia.com, provides gear feedback for small brands, and reviews gear for Backpacking Light.

He’s a well-known member of r/Ultralight, Backpacking Light forums, and many other ultralight hiking communities.

Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent Reviews

Looking at the features and benefits is great, but taking a look at what real-and-actual customers have to say about a product offers a deeper dive of insight. Here we’ve curated reviews that reflect the Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent, providing feedback from product users and reviewers on independent review sites as well as on Amazon.

Independent Reviews and Recommendations for the Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent

Hikers can feel confident using this tent for 3+ seasons based on the configuration of setup. It’s lightweight, spacious, simple to set up, and sturdy once it’s pitched.

This isn’t a super well-known tent, especially with the two-person model, so we were happy to get it out for a test. And even more happy with its performance by the end of our AK trip!

Adventure Alan

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The tent is a nice size for two, rather than being a tiny UL tent, so the footprint is necessarily larger than some UL tents. This larger footprint is a valid critique but it’s not way out of line with other tents (e.g. it has the same footprint area as a TT StratoSpire 2 and is a bit smaller than an SMD Lunar Duo).

This comfortable size does make the space:weight really good. Does fit surprisingly well on tent pads though because the rectangular shape closely matches the typically tent pad shape.

Reddit Thread

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It can be set up fly-first to keep the inner tent dry in the rain, comes seam-taped, and is completely outfitted with guylines and linelocs so you can use it as soon as it arrives.

If you’ve been wanting to slash your gear weight or try a trekking pole tent, the X-mid is a great option because it packs small and has plenty of room inside to store gear.

The inner tent is comfortable, both doors can be opened for enhanced airflow, and there are kick-stand vents (that work) for extra ventilation in stormy conditions.

Section Hiker

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What Amazon Customers Have to Say About the Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent

Rated year-after-year consistently with good reviews on Amazon the X-Mid 1P tent in the 1P and 2P versions comes highly recommended.

The sentiment from the customers on Amazon is that this is an amazing simple to setup tent that can be done in less than 2 minutes. It requires getting the fly staked out square then insert poles and lift until fly is taut.

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Overwhelming amazement from the people that only four stakes could hold up a tent through a heavy rain and wind overnight without dropping any rain inside the tent.

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The ability to hold 2 25″ pads and two people comfortably versus other, supposedly two person tents. The positive feedback from people who are 6’3″ and still able to fit comfortably laying and sitting in the tent means tall people have found a match!

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Final Thoughts on the Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent

I have been using a 3F UL Lanshan 2 tent for the last 9 months which I have enjoyed but it does have shortcomings in the overall space and that sil-nylon relaxes and you have to continue to pull it taut multiple times.

If you are looking for a very good high value tent for around $200 then this is a perfect match for those budget conscious hikers and campers out there. I am looking to purchase the 2 Person version for my long distance hikes due to this tents price to benefits.

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