X Mid - Dan Durston

[Rosscodj]

I just got an email saying mine has shipped.

And realised at the exact same moment that I said yes to working the entire uni break for the next two weeks...

But at least I can look at it, right?

[slparker]

I feel your pain - I had to cancel a walk this weekend... I just know that my tent will arrive on Friday.

[Lamont]

I have ordered from MD about 3-4 times. Never once arrived within ten business days(16 total). The US postal system is a joke and all items start there. One item was lost for a month and went via South Africa or Ulan Bator or somewhere. Got reimbursed. They post OS el-cheapo rate. I reckon two weeks or near about to be on the mark. Serenity now/Keep it together.

[Rosscodj]

Actually, you make a good point. $16 for a 1kg package from the states isn't going to be a top shelf delivery...

I bought some tent stakes from there last year and they took 2 weeks to arrive.

[slparker]

I have bought quite a few things from MD. I quite like the mystery, and then the surprise, of the thing finally arriving.

By the time the socks or whatever arrives I have usually forgotten that I had ordered it.

[north-north-west]

Actually, you make a good point. $16 for a 1kg package from the states isn't going to be a top shelf delivery...

I bought some tent stakes from there last year and they took 2 weeks to arrive.

I'm waiting on a delivery from Victoria atm. According to AusPost's tracking data, it's been through customs twice and is currently sitting in a depot in Sydney.
Wish I could travel that far for only $14.

[fixa]

Wow you guys got your early! I only got the email today, I was on the first drop too. Not concerned, its been a long wait already. Please someone take pics when they get theirs!

[Rosscodj]

Mine just walked through the front door at work... the box was tiny... I thought, there’s no way that can be the tent. But there it was... under some packaging too, hahaha! I’ll have to set it up tomorrow at some point, and see how it goes!

[fixa]

Nice one! Mines arrived in the country.. somewhere...

[Rosscodj]

Yeah, my tracking still hasn’t updated from local distribution center, so yours could be close, or far.

[fixa]

Oh well that’s exciting news then! No update to mine since the 17th when it got to AU.

[Rosscodj]

Ahh, can’t be too far off. Mine got to Aus on the 17th, and I’m in Newcastle.

[fixa]

I have mine!!! Quality looks great. Haven't set it up yet, won't get a chance until next week.

[Orbita_Serenitatem]

Massdrop x Dan Durston X-MID first impressions: impressed....

Yes, I too have been reading the reviews, but still waiting on delivery in Central VIC from the December drop.

It seems like getting a taut pitch is a combination of staking out the corners to an understandable rectangle - leaving some cordage, erecting the poles, then adjusting the stakes/corners to take in the slack and push the inner out. I think Dan has realised that the inner needs a bit of TLC to pull it away from the peak - but hey - I'll wait another Public Holiday to make that call... I'm only reading reviews...

[dandurston]

"It seems like getting a taut pitch is a combination of staking out the corners to an understandable rectangle - leaving some cordage, erecting the poles, then adjusting the stakes/corners to take in the slack and push the inner out. I think Dan has realised that the inner needs a bit of TLC to pull it away from the peak - but hey - I'll wait another Public Holiday to make that call... I'm only reading reviews..."

I recently filmed a new pitching video that goes over things in more detail. I still need to edit it, but it should be up in a few days.

Basically, for a good pitch of the fly you need to (1) stake out an accurate rectangle and (2) have the poles the right height. The tent itself will naturally limit the poles to the right height if your rectangle is snug, but course if the rectangle is limp they will extend too tall. So the best/easiest strategy is to stake out a good rectangle, snug it up taut and then insert the 2 poles until they are snug but don't crank them extra tall. Then finish with a final round of snugging up the corners (via the adjusters) because when you add the poles in pulls inwards/upwards on the corners a bit so it takes some tension off the base rectangle.

When I see problems with the fly pitch, sometimes it's simply someone that doesn't value a taut pitch so they haven't pulled anything tight. But in cases where the person has tried to get a taut pitch and it hasn't worked that well, sometimes their rectangle is pretty far off which gives a wonky pitch but more often the rectangle wasn't that tight so they overextended the poles. If that happens then the sides are loose (the solution is to lower the poles and pull out the corners more).

As for the inner, it seems to be pitching well. It simply clips inside the four corners and to the two peaks. If the fly is pitched higher (via longer cords at the corners) then it needs to be loosened more at the peaks so it doesn't lift up too much. There are some comments about wanting to clip the sides of the inner over towards the doors, but this isn't problem with how it is but rather an opportunity to add a feature that would increase space. This is something I might do down the road, but it's already got a lot of space for it's class (e.g. it's more spacious than a TarpTent Notch, 2019 Sierra Designs High Route, MLD DuoMid w Solo Inner etc).

Generally, the folks over at Trek-Lite.com seems to be great at pitching the tent compared to what I often see elsewhere - perhaps they are more used to trekking pole shelters. Here's some nice pitches shared by those folks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC1og-k9omc
https://blogpackinglight.wordpress.com
http://www.trek-lite.com/index.php?thre ... 60/page-22

[FNM]

Mine just walked through the front door at work... the box was tiny... I thought, there’s no way that can be the tent. But there it was... under some packaging too, hahaha! I’ll have to set it up tomorrow at some point, and see how it goes!

I’m hanging to hear what your first impressions are after setup!

I’m a little filthy that I didn’t get on board when I had the chance - a 6+ month wait just seemed so long and it didn’t feel like an necessary purchase at the time. Regrets now. Had my head in the books and checked-in here one day after the most recent ‘drop’ sold out! Unlucky. And now, according to Dan, they won’t be available again until late this year, with delivery in 2020 .. I’ll be in US/Canada by then so might have more luck grabbing something over there.

Anyway, let us all know what you think!!

[Rosscodj]

Ahhh, that's a shame you didn't get on board. I thought about the whole 9 month wait at first, then I realised that I didn't need a tent straight away (I've got a Tarptent Moment DW, that is now up for grabs), so the wait didn't really bother me too much. I'm also hoping the success of this drop might inspire other people to go out and try and offer some less mainstream designs in other gear.

I set it up on Thursday and gave it a good once over. I'm impressed. Initial pitch was a little fiddly, it was harder to judge getting it to a proper rectangle than I was expecting at first, but once I had that sorted, then it was a breeze - it seems easier to me to stake out one of the long sides and then set the square using a shorter side. I also noticed the difference in angle on the two door side panels wasn't as pronounced as it looks in the photos, it really looks closet to an A-frame that has been twisted a little, as opposed to the Tarptent notch style that I think I had stuck in my head.

I didn't notice the lack of headroom/mesh sag that some people were complaining about. That said, compared to the Moment DW, the inner is a lot higher, and there's more space up at head and foot end of the tent when you're lying down. If you're used to an arched pole supported tent I could see how it might seem a bit restricted when you're sitting up.

All in all, I'm happy with it. I love the much smaller pack size, it actually fits horizontally inside my 25L pack (OMM Phantom 25CL), whereas the Moment had to go vertical, and stood almost to the top of the pack. I think I'll actually be able to fit 2-3 more days food now, as opposed to just a weekends worth with the Moment.

If you decide to grab one while your overseas, try and get it while you're in the USA, some of the Canadians have been getting hit with some serious import taxes.

[slparker]

I am back from NZ tomorrow... mine should be in the mail...
I already have a buyer for my copper spur... just need to sell my 'mid and TT now...

I'm Looking foward to setting it up - it has been a long wait.

[johnrs]

My Xmid went up over the weekend in the Snowies,
Impressed with the workmanship,
The first pitch was a little fiddly but that will settle.

There is an extra set of guys in the pack,
Does anyone know how they are to be used?
Maybe second guys on the two ridge guypoints??
Thanks
John

[Rosscodj]

Nice!

The ones in with the stakes? I think they were just thrown in as spares from the factory.

[dagsands]

My Xmid went up over the weekend in the Snowies,
Impressed with the workmanship,
The first pitch was a little fiddly but that will settle.

There is an extra set of guys in the pack,
Does anyone know how they are to be used?
Maybe second guys on the two ridge guypoints??
Thanks
John

I believe they are to pitch the inner on its own. I have not tried this yet.

On another note.
One of the fly zips leaked on me in the rain last week so massdrop are sending me a replacement. They only have limited replacements so I would recommend anyone who has theirs, test it in the rain ASAP.

[Rosscodj]

Oh damn, that's a shame. How does the replacement work, I'm assuming you have to post the original back?

[dandurston]

The extra guyline is mostly something the factory just tossed in, so it's not really needed. But it can be handy for a few things. If you want to stake down those grosgrain loops along the hem it would be good to add a short bit of cord there, or you can use them to make twin peak guyouts or just as spare for down the road. Sometimes guylines get damaged if you're pounding in stakes with a rock and hit the cord.

The fly zippers are YKK #5 Uretek/Aqua Guard zippers like this:
https://www.seattlefabrics.com/YKKreg-W ... p_449.html
https://www.rockywoods.com/Water-Resist ... tek-Finish

These are the top of the line zippers you'll find in a tent, but they are not supposed to be waterproof. They have a PU coating on them which does stop water but there is still a thin seam down the middle which water can slowly seep through - particularly in pounding rain. That's why they are sold was "water resistant" or "water repellant" rather than "waterproof" (see the links above). These zippers do a way better job of keeping out water than a basic zipper with a flap over it (since the flap can blow open in the wind plus it snags in the zipper) which is why they are the best zippers to use in a tent, but they still aren't perfect. Generally speaking, low end tents will use a basic zipper + flap and then high end tents will use a Uretek/AquaGuard zipper. For example, TarpTent has switched much of their tents over to this zipper recently.

To get a truly waterproof zipper you'd have to go with a YKK AquaSeal zipper (not AquaGuard) which is a toothed zipper with rubber between the teeth for a truly waterproof seal. I'm not aware of anyone using these for a tent (perhaps someone does, but it would be very rare) because they are heavy and expensive. Even $1000 tents and $700 ski jackets don't normally use these because of the added weight, cost or both. They are commonly used in dry suits. Opting for these wouldn't make sense with the X-Mid because the added weight is substantial and there's not much point to having these since the fly zippers are only above the vestibules anyways. Even if a few drips do seep through the zipper, they are only slowly dripping into the vestibules - not on the sleeping area. In this event, normally they'd run down the inside of the zipper and drop at the bottom of the zip where rain from the outside is landing anyways.

In this case, I haven't seen the zipper to know if there was a manufacturing flaw in the zipper so maybe there was substantial leaking from a YKK flaw, but generally speaking folks shouldn't expect a perfectly waterproof tent zipper in heavy rain because that technology doesn't exist. The best possible arrangement is to use these zippers and position them so they aren't above the sleeping area, which the X-Mid does. That's not guaranteed to have no leakage through the zipper, but it will ensure that if water does get through the zipper it won't get on you.

[Bluegum Mic]

Excited is an understatement. I'll pop it up in the coming days and snap some pics.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[FNM]

Ahhh, that's a shame you didn't get on board. I thought about the whole 9 month wait at first, then I realised that I didn't need a tent straight away (I've got a Tarptent Moment DW, that is now up for grabs), so the wait didn't really bother me too much. I'm also hoping the success of this drop might inspire other people to go out and try and offer some less mainstream designs in other gear.

I set it up on Thursday and gave it a good once over. I'm impressed. Initial pitch was a little fiddly, it was harder to judge getting it to a proper rectangle than I was expecting at first, but once I had that sorted, then it was a breeze - it seems easier to me to stake out one of the long sides and then set the square using a shorter side. I also noticed the difference in angle on the two door side panels wasn't as pronounced as it looks in the photos, it really looks closet to an A-frame that has been twisted a little, as opposed to the Tarptent notch style that I think I had stuck in my head.

I didn't notice the lack of headroom/mesh sag that some people were complaining about. That said, compared to the Moment DW, the inner is a lot higher, and there's more space up at head and foot end of the tent when you're lying down. If you're used to an arched pole supported tent I could see how it might seem a bit restricted when you're sitting up.

All in all, I'm happy with it. I love the much smaller pack size, it actually fits horizontally inside my 25L pack (OMM Phantom 25CL), whereas the Moment had to go vertical, and stood almost to the top of the pack. I think I'll actually be able to fit 2-3 more days food now, as opposed to just a weekends worth with the Moment.

If you decide to grab one while your overseas, try and get it while you're in the USA, some of the Canadians have been getting hit with some serious import taxes.

Thanks mate! Sounds great! I did read this when you first posted, just didn't have time to say thanks

The small packed size sounds awesome. I'm getting my gear together bit by bit and should definitely have given it a crack. As a rule, I've always been more inclined to go a 2p tent (so will be keeping a close eye on the progress of this tent with the 2p format), but would be good to have a 1p on hand as well - especially when you can get this kind of quality at the price.

Thanks for the tip re purchasing in USA v Canada as well.

[FNM]

Excited is an understatement. I'll pop it up in the coming days and snap some pics.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Awesome! Look forward to seeing it

[Ms_Mudd]

Somewhat jealously watching with interest.

[dandurston]

FYI, Massdrop has re-opened orders this morning to sell their batch coming in September.

[FNM]

FYI, Massdrop has re-opened orders this morning to sell their batch coming in September.

Hell yeah! Just what I needed to hear to overcome my jealousy

I’m already in - no mucking around this time .. it should arrive just in time for me to take on my extended trip to US and Canada! So excited.

Thanks for the heads up! Will continue to keep a close eye on the progress of the 2p format. Cheers

[Ms_Mudd]

Heck yeah, I am in!
Done, confirmation email here, very happy camper