Durston X-Dome 2

[FuddRucker]

Looking forward to all the first impressions!

 

[StuckoYota99]

I'm also interested to see how this stacks up next to the Nemo dragonfly and BA copper spur

 

[rookieforever33]

Got my x dome 2 last week and finally had time to set it up. Due to my schedule and weather I had to set it up in my basement. I like to let anything I purchase to air out or go through the laundry before I use them.
I watched the set up vidoes before I ordered it , and purposefully did not watch them now. It took me longer to straighten out which end was which and inside or outside than set up. From opening the box to set up was 24 minutes. It took me at least 5 to figure out to set up the fly before clipping in the inner. Now that it is clipped in I am confident the set up next time will be 10 minutes or so and get faster after that.
Even though I cant stake this down in my basement I am very happy how sturdy this stands. The inner floor is a little loose and I dont think stakes will change that much. Two of my pictures show the strings attaching the inner to stake out points. There are no adjusters. The longer string that is in the vestibule has a loop I may try and put a stake into if the loose floor bothers me but it does not appear to be designed this way.
I can see how initial users were pulling the ends out of the poles when taking the tent down. If you dont have them straight they are held firmly in the slots. Durston claims to have them in better now and I am aware so I hopefully wont have that issue.
The vent seems perfect as it sits tight when closed, and has ample overlap when closed. It cannot be open or closed through the liner. Hopefully the wind doesn't shift on a rainy night when its open.
The doors and zippers are very functional and well placed. As well as storage pouches and a few loops inside the tent. Plenty of height for me on my pad to sit up and get dressed. Im 6 ft and had plenty of room for my pad and bag without touching any walls while right in the middle. The vestibules are big enough for gear and entry/exit. Possibly a little tight if you need to leave the door closed to heat up some food or water. Nobody really designs tents do that or wants to do that anyway. Im glad I got this rather than the 1 person version. The extra space to blow up my bag and move around is welcome. A palace for me and my dog and could be a cozy 2 person tent if needed. The extra vestibule over the 1p will add a ton of usable space in real world usage.
Sorry its such a long winded write up considering I haven't even slept in it. I know there has been a decent amount of hype and wanted to share my first impressions for people that are considering this or the 1p version.
Full disclosure this is my first fly first, double wall tent. Maybe these issues are inherent with all models without other compromises.
My overall first impression is this tent came to me exactly as advertised. The materials are light yet seem durable. The design is efficient and makes great use of available space. The price seemed a good value compared to similar tents in this range so very happy with my purchase.

 

[Hank101]

Good write-up! If you didn't have a dog, would you go for the 1+ x-dome? I have heard the 1+ does better in the wind. I am looking at using this tent for elk hunting.

 

[rookieforever33]

Im glad I went with 2p dog or not. I will not be doing a ton of long range backpack hunts that the extra size or weight matter. Getting inside today and blowing up my pad to try it out I can tell I appreciate space. I also like the idea of having room if I camp with my nephew. Or if out on a hunt with a buddy and his tent fails. Im pretty sure with the 1p a majority of my gear would be inside the tent as a pair of boots or a pack would fill the vestibule. It would also make entry/exit in the rain a "rain in the tent" situation for sure. There is not a ton of fly coverage right in the middle. It will be an angled entry in rainy conditions.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Thanks for the write-up @rookieforever33!

 

[coldsoup]

Awesome write-up. Really looking forward to getting my own Dome.

 

[Cannonball]

I ended up cancelling my X-Dome 2 order and going with a TarpTent Triple Rainbow. https://www.tarptent.com/product/triple-rainbow-dw/ Same footprint and weight as the Durston, but had a larger interior square footage with it being rectangular instead of the slanted mid arrangement. My thought is that I could then use it for both a roomy 2p tent for hunts with my brother in law, but also have room for backpacking trips with my 2 girls.

 

[rookieforever33]

Finally got to spend a couple nights in my x dome 2. Not very much wind but lived through a pretty good downpour for over an hour. Nothing came through the vents that were wide open. Plenty of room with just me on my pad corner to corner. No touching the walls, I am 6'. No condensation on the floor which was great considering the rain and swampy temp/humidity camping by a river in a valley. Climbing in during the rain it was hard to sit in the tent and take my boots off in the vestibule. I had to zip the door all the way down which made my boots rub the outer door fabric pretty hard when removing them.
Overall it worked great. Plenty of room to sit up, kneel, stretch, and store my stuff inside rather than the vestibule. Win #1