X Mid - Dan Durston

[north-north-west]

Seriously wondering how hard it would be to use a bit of material from an old inner to solidify the top and sides of a 2p version.

But I don't need another tent!!!

[Tortoise]

Seriously wondering how hard it would be to use a bit of material from an old inner to solidify the top and sides of a 2p version.

But I don't need another tent!!!

I confess I've wondered the same thing! And I don't need another tent either!!! But....

[Lamont]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3VZHXS2spM
Good snippit.

[Xastorm]

Tents are like sleeping bags, you always need another one

As per email; We expect your order to ship by Tue Nov 12 2019.

[Warin]

Tents are like sleeping bags, you always need another one

As per email; We expect your order to ship by Tue Nov 12 2019.

Less problems selling on a tent.. as you can see all of it. Second hand sleeping bags are harder to assess.

So .. add, say, 2 weeks for delivery and that would be Tuesday 26th November.. Should be here before Xmass.

---------------------
Adaptations? Make a new inner for the 1 p tent .. to make a 2 p inner... you loose the vestibule on one side. But you now have a very light weight 2 p tent.

[Drew]

As per email; We expect your order to ship by Tue Nov 12 2019.

Already shipped, 5 days ahead of schedule! I wonder if, by some miracle, it might appear before my walk next weekend... Probably not.

[slparker]

Don’t be surprised, I bought a watch of mass drop and it arrived within a few days.

[dandurston]

A few updates:

1) I finished a pitching video for the X-Mid. See that here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVboRcwY6P0

2) For the solid inner and possible DCF version, I'd love to do these variants but it comes down to willingness by Drop since they are the ones actually funding the R&D and producing the tents. Right now those versions seem to be on hold (not cancelled) as Drop is evaluating their priorities. I don't think the delay has anything to do with the X-Mid specifically, but just that they are growing company with a lot of competing objectives and these aren't high enough up their priority list right now. I hope that I can convince them to finish development on these, but as of right now I'm not sure how it'll play out. I'll keep asking them about it.

3) Getting the fly as low as possible ("limpet mode") is largely the result of staking the corners of the fly as low as possible. For a low fly you want to adjust the corner cords as short as possible before staking it out, or if you're really keen for a low pitch you can stake it through the grosgrain/webbing behind the LineLoc. Regardless of how long or short you have these cords adjusted, you want to follow the two keys highlighted in my video of staking a rectangle that is (1) accurate and (2) tight. A tight rectangle will allow the fly to limit the poles to the correct height, whereas a loose rectangle will let them overextend which distorts the shape too tall and results in loose sides. You can also measure the poles instead of letting the fly limit them (117 cm normally unless ground is uneven or the tent is very high/low). If you do have fixed length poles that might somewhat limit your ability to pitch the fly extra high or low (e.g. if you pitch is high but your poles are too short for that, it'll be loose).

4) The X-Mid is available as an in stock item now at Drop. I'm not sure of their exact stock situation, but I think they have a moderately sized batch so it should be in stock for a few months until that sells out (perhaps 3 months). Once it sells out there will likely be another long wait for more because as far as I am aware they haven't placed the next order yet, and the lead times on that are 6-8 months (of course they could have without telling me).

[Drew]

Don’t be surprised, I bought a watch of mass drop and it arrived within a few days.

I was getting pretty confident that it would arrive for the weekend after the tracking told me it left for the destination country 4 days ago. But no news since! Must have taken a boat instead of a plane...

[Warin]

It took a plane. Probably to Sydney? Tracking seems to stop once left USA.

As delivered weight 906 grams. Includes pegs eight by 8 grams, inner, fly, stuff sacks, guy lines, etc.

Immediate reductions?
Zip lock bag (for pegs) 4 g, manufacturing tags and instruction tag 0.6 g.
Possible further reductions?;
'pole' guy lines two by 6 g (reduce by using spectra cord for most of the length)
zipper pull cords eight by 0.4 g (reduce by half - lengths can be shorter)
Possibly more as I come to them.

Comparison? Intentoutdoors one man, one pole tent with inner is ~821 grams, it is as smaller tent but uses heavier pegs, not as storm worthy and costs less. For smaller spaces and good weather (not Tasmania or the snowys) the intentoutdoors may be a better pick. https://www.intentsoutdoors.co.nz/colle ... -wall-890g

[Drew]

Don’t be surprised, I bought a watch of mass drop and it arrived within a few days.

I was getting pretty confident that it would arrive for the weekend after the tracking told me it left for the destination country 4 days ago. But no news since! Must have taken a boat instead of a plane...

Finally arrived. It wasn't slow really but it would have been nice to have it for the weekend. Anyway, just had a quick pitch and it seems great. Very easy pitch (certainly easier than the Stratospire 2 that I own).

[Xastorm]

Mine arrived today but I’m overseas for a few weeks and won’t have a chance to try it for another month!
I live in apartmentville so no chance to set it up unless I head to the local park

[onward]

Mine arrived yesterday and I'm not overseas so I put it up in the front yard. Fast and easy to erect, less than 3 minutes for a first time. Would agree easier the the Stratospheres and own the 1 & 2. Well made, the si-poly is a funny feel material. Will swap out the Ti skewer pegs in favour or something more robust. It does feel strange to lay in the inner which sits at an angle to the outside! All in all looks and feels like a promising tent. Two weeks in the alps starting 1 Dec we will see how it goes, but will be at least as good as the Stratospheres (and lighter) I suspect and more room than my Locus Gear Khufu. Oh and I Like than it packs sideways into my pack!

[Mark F]

For anybody wavering Drop have the 1 person X-mid on special for Black Friday.

[Joynz]

Just US $180!

I paid US $200 a couple of weeks ago (equal to Aus $300). So US $180 is a bargain.

It’s a nice tent. Haven’t camped with it yet, but really easy to pitch. And it works with Pacer poles.

[Flipper Hands]

I ordered one a little while ago @200 as well. It's a lot of tent for 180!

[Drew]

Just wondering if anyone who's given their X-mid a bit of use has had any issues with the 2mm guy rope cord slipping? When I got my Stratospire I swapped the guy ropes to 3mm cord as I read in numerous places that the supplied 2mm could slip under strain. (People said the same about the strut tensioners and I didn't swap those. I haven't had problems with those slipping.)

I haven't used the X-mid yet but am wondering if the same applies to this tent?

[Lamont]

re

[dandurston]

Just wondering if anyone who's given their X-mid a bit of use has had any issues with the 2mm guy rope cord slipping? When I got my Stratospire I swapped the guy ropes to 3mm cord as I read in numerous places that the supplied 2mm could slip under strain. I haven't used the X-mid yet but am wondering if the same applies to this tent?

Yeah the same applies. The stock cords are 2.5mm which is at the lower end of the range that LineLoc3's are designed for, so the stock cords will slip under lower loads than 3mm. They can slip in practice in more stressful conditions (e.g. high winds) so some folks in windy environments (e.g. UK) have noticed that and replaced with 3mm.

[jobell]

Thanks Dan for the link to your set up video, very handy. Can’t wait to get it out there next year once I finish up work for the season.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Joynz]

Drop has just advertised the Dan Durston X-mid-1 tent for US $160. Bargain.

https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-dan-dur ... id-1p-tent

[Xastorm]

BUY!
Mine had it’s maiden outing last night and I’m really pleased. I’m fairly short (5’5) and there is a decent amount of room at each end to stash things inside.
I thought I wouldn’t like the full mesh inner but was pleasantly surprised as it was a warm night and nice to sleep with the fly doors open and feel the breeze. If I take my other summer tent out on a warm night I can sleep with the fly off, which is great for star gazing, but not as good for airflow as the X Mid.
(I like the roof storage too!).

A nice addition to the quiver!!

[slparker]

$160 US at the moment on Drop.com

[Drew]

My X-Mid had its debut on the Western Arthurs last week. Very happy with it. I wasn't sure if it would be a pain to pitch a non-freestanding tent on tent platforms but thanks to the X-Mid's super easy pitch it was fine. It was actually even easier to get a good pitch on platforms because there are nice straight lines to line things up and get the edges square before inserting poles.

I pitched in strong winds at High Moor and while there was a little bit of flapping the tent was very sturdy. I had considered swapping out some of the supplied cord for 3mm but didn't do this (I had some with me just in case). I think that a couple of the line-locs slipped a little over the course of the windy afternoon/evening, so it is worth considering for windy places/exposed campsites. I just tightened them before bed and the wind dropped overnight.

My X-Mid and my friend's Triplex at High Moor, Western Arthurs.

high_moor-1.jpg (245.17 KiB) Viewed 27869 times

[keithy]

Took my x-mid 1p to Chile and have been generally pleased with it. After 8 days of pitching in various conditions however, I came back to find my tent in a heap flapping on the ground.

It wasn't the windiest day but I had stowed my gear inside the mesh for a day walk.

I thought a gust had yanked out one of the stakes but on closer inspection one of the linelocs had failed.

20200117_185601.jpg (128.63 KiB) Viewed 27459 times

Anyone else seen this? I have fixed by attaching the cord using this slidey tension knot directly to the tent viewtopic.php?f=15&t=22358&p=290854&hilit=Slidey+tension#p290854

And for the past four nights in much more windy conditions it has held up fine.

I have also found the stock cords as mentioned above slip in gusty conditions and I will replace them with 3mm cord when I return.

[keithy]

Also I noticed a small hole in the mesh along the zipper the other day.

20200119_134543.jpg (148.96 KiB) Viewed 27457 times

Any recommendations on how to patch this on the trail? I have gorilla tape and some McNetts tape.

View of the tent 2 nights ago

20200121_062401-01.jpg (153.96 KiB) Viewed 27457 times

[Warin]

I thought a gust had yanked out one of the stakes but on closer inspection one of the linelocs had failed.
Anyone else seen this?

vlog report of a lineloc failure on a Zpacks one in Scotland... So Linelocs are not the most reliable of things.

[Jazzman56]

Hmmm been on the fence about this tent for a while !! Looks like its the real deal. Shall have to wait and see if i can get it on special ? Any specials that people know of that are coming up for massdrop ?

[dandurston]

A quick note to say that the X-Mid 2P has arrived. Pre-orders shipped out earlier this week and are arriving now. Drop re-opened new orders on their X-Mid 2P page:
https://drop.com/buy/drop-x-mid-2-person-tent-designed-by-dan-durston

I'm not sure how many they have so I can't advise on when they will sell out, but I don't believe they have more on order so when these do sell out it'll be another 8 months or so for more. I doubt they ordered more than about 1000, so with 400 gone already that might sell out in a month or so.

Keithy: Interesting to see the LineLoc failure. I wonder if maybe it cracked during the higher winds of the prior days and then gave out a bit later? Two other possibilities are (1) a rogue wind gust, or (2) someone walked by a tripped on it. I suppose the silver lining is that at least the LineLoc gave out before the tent's guyouts, which would be much worse. For the mesh hole, there are mesh patch kits. Tenacious Tape sells a stick on mesh patch that works well. Sewing mesh is a pain.
https://www.gearaid.com/products/tenaci ... h-bug-mesh

Drew: Nice job pitching on the platform. That's a great looking pitch. Also neat to see the comparison with the Triplex. I wonder if the Triplex roof always pull that low, or if that's just a lot of tension on the guyouts relative to down the ridgeline. Do happen to have a full resolution version of that image you wouldn't mind me using? Would be handy to show the X-Mid on a platform, and to show relative size versus other tents. If you do wish to share, you could email it to dan@durstongear.com

Jazzman56: I have no inside info on Drop's future plans, but looking at history what we see with the 1P is that Drop did include it in their Black Friday sale (10% off) and Decade End Sale (20% off). Those were broader sales on a lot of their stuff and not specific to the X-Mid. IMO it didn't make sense to offer the X-Mid at a discount because they just sold out faster and now are out of stock for several months, whereas they could have sold them out anyways at regular price. Anyways, the point is that there's a chance Drop includes the X-Mid in future sales but I'm not aware of any sales that they have other than near the end of the year. I also don't think the 1P will be in stock then. They have 1000 coming in June/July with about 300 of those pre-sold now and they'll all likely be sold out no later than July. Beyond that I don't think they've ordered more, so likely spring 2021 before the next batch of the 1P. If someone wants a X-Mid 1P for the next summer in Australia, getting in on that July batch is likely the only option.

[FNM]

Yes! I got notification that mine had shipped! Pity I didn’t get a headsup that it was ready to send. As I’m travelling I was waiting for that notification to update my delivery address. As it turns out, I’m living in Canada and it’s being sent to Australia. At least it’s going to my sister’s address.. maybe some chance it works out in my favour as taxes are very high when bringing things into Canada. Can’t wait to get my hands on it.. long time coming!