Durston xmid vs xdome

[503Dan]

I can’t seem to find much info from hunters comparing these two.
Looking to get a new tent. This will be for solo use only. I live in Oregon but hunt Idaho and Montana as well. Camp will be on my back roughly 50% of the time so weight is a concern as is setting it up. I’m leaning towards an xdome for ease of set up, but getting 4 stakes in hard ground might be easier then fiddling with poles.
Im holing someone with experience with both of these can chime in with what they see as the best use case for each is.

Also debating solid vs mesh. My current sleep system is a xtherm pad and 10* zen bivy so I’ll probably go mesh, unless someone thinks the 20d fly on the xmid solid is a must.

Also I am open to other options but I’ve pretty well made my mind up to go with a Durston.

 

[tipsntails7]

I can speak on a couple things.

The xmid I had was fine for general camping but was not great when I was off trail. Pitching it in less than flat locations was a bit of an ordeal at least for me. For lack of a better description, I was never happy with how it “fit places, and its footprint overall was akward. Was never really happy with the pitch. Could be a me problem. Fit and finish was great, and it was absolutely a quality product, and I know they have updated the cut and design at least a couple times since I ran mine.

I had planned on ordering an xdome, but in talking with dursten it is not a true 4 season tent. They had high praise for it regarding wind, and said they were comfortable with it to about 40mph winds, they also mentioned snow load would be an issue as well, and advised if either of those situations would be regularly occurring to look at other options.

For me, I have enough general use tents or tarps/ tepee’s that I didn’t really need another general use freestanding tent.

I opted to order an Arcdome 1 from Tarptent as a dedicated free standing 4 season shelter to try.

My personal opinion. I would not order a solid inner unless it’s going to be a winter only 4 season set up. But that’s just me.

I’m assuming you want a floored shelter as these are the two options?

Again my opinion, but I’ve found a square/ pyramid tent with a single pole, or a coffin shaped tarp much easier to place in general, and if I need a floor I’ll run either a nest or a super light bug bivy like from hyperlite inside it. In my experience fully floored shelters have never played well with uneven terrain.

 

[503Dan]

Going floorless isn’t out of the question. However I can run these floorless too so if bugs and condensation arnt a concern then I figured I’d just bring the fly.
Can you give me some more details on pitching the xmid vs a pyramid? In my mind it’s 4 stakes and a square or rectangle either way so for the fly atleast I’m struggling to see the difference without trying it myself. If it was an issue of the inner, can’t you run it loose enough that it’ll sort of float?