MASSDROP X DAN DURSTON X-MID 1P TENT

[Sammymusi]

Thanks ! Awesome product man !

 

[CougarBlue]

Ordered the X-Mid 2P for elk in September. Hoping there's no delays in production and it ships at the end of August.

Put a LOT of time into looking and testing out a variety of other tents. For ease of use, specs, quality and value, this was a no brainer in my mind.

And based on my experience with the 1P, I am beyond excited to get this out in the field.

 

[ElectricJellyfish]

Glad things are improving. A few comments:
- With regard to your #1, yes aiming for the cords to be straight out from the corners is ideal but it's not too picky on this.
- 125cm is too long. 120cm is about the max for a good pitch. If you are setting the cords longer at the corners the whole thing will pitch higher (and vice versa), it does vary from 115 - 120cm.
- The ridgeline will have a slight dip due to the "catenary cut" but it shouldn't be loose. If the ridgeline is loose, you can use the peak guylines as a stop-gap measure to tighten it, but the better solution is to loosen the two corners that are perpendicular to the ridgeline, which will allow you to pull the other two corners off the end of the ridgeline tighter to snug up the ridgeline. There is a video showing this here:

Again, thank you for the thorough answer, Dan. I'll give it another go tomorrow.

 

[TonySkyline]

Does anyone know an exact size for carbon or aluminum aftermarket tent poles instead of hiking sticks? Are their adjustable ones?

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

 

[dandurston]

Hoping there's no delays in production and it ships at the end of August.

Things are about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Should ship in about 2 weeks (mid-August).

Does anyone know an exact size for carbon or aluminum aftermarket tent poles instead of hiking sticks? Are their adjustable ones?

The 2P is slightly taller, so it's 48" vs 46.5" for the 1P, but the actual height varies on how you pitch it (setting the cord longer at the corners raises the fly for more ventilation, and vice versa) and also if the ground has a bump or dip here the pole sits.

Adjustable poles are nice, but heavier and more expensive. Main things you might want are 5 piece pole (packs short like the tent versus a 4-piece), carbon (lighter than aluminum), appropriate tip (to fit in grommet) and maybe adjustable.

A budget pole that works pretty well is the 48" pole from TarpTent, but it is 4 piece and aluminum:

Aluminum Vertical Support Pole (select length)

Strong and stiff Easton® .490 folding A support pole for all models that use vertical trekking poles. Pole diameter is 0.490 in / 12.4 mm. Poles fold to 16 in / 41 cm for 38in and sizes above 45in. 43in and 45in poles fold to 14in. Note: Poles are sold individually. The Notch and StratoSpire […]

www.tarptent.com

A nicer pole is the carbon pole from SMD which is lighter and 5 piece, but a bit flexy for serious storms, and it's 49" so it works okay for 2P but should really be trimmed for the 1P.

49" Ultralight Tent Pole

www.sixmoondesigns.com

If you're getting into trimming that, you can buy the same Easton 6.3mm carbon pole sections and end bits at the link below and assemble your own for half the price:

Quest Outfitters - Outdoor Fabrics

And then the premium option are a custom set from Ruta Locura where you can get 5 piece and adjustable plus stiffer, but costly and heavier:

Ruta Locura 450 tent poles

Ruta Locura custom carbon fiber 450 tent poles

www.rutalocura.com

 

[TonySkyline]

Sweet Dan thank you for all the information. I'm going to give it a test run this weekend with hiking sticks and I'll order a set of the carbon poles. Pumped!

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[Cheesehead]

I’ve had mine for about a year and am a big fan. I’m 5’11
Curious if anyone has had it out in more aggressive windy / snowy conditions and any feedback on how it does

 

[ElectricJellyfish]

Getting more confident in pitching the tent. I think my issue was not tightening down the base enough before inserting the poles. Still not a great pitch, but I took some pictures if anyone cares to look.

https://imgur.com/a/gdMR5ox

 

[wind gypsy]

Getting more confident in pitching the tent. I think my issue was not tightening down the base enough before inserting the poles. Still not a great pitch, but I took some pictures if anyone cares to look.

https://imgur.com/a/gdMR5ox

Pitch looks fine to me.

 

[bsnedeker]

I’ve had mine for about a year and am a big fan. I’m 5’11
Curious if anyone has had it out in more aggressive windy / snowy conditions and any feedback on how it does

Funny you should mention that! I pitched mine for the first time this weekend and we had a hell of a wind roll in that evening which I was not expecting. I woke up the next morning to the tent being totally collapsed (I was fortunately sleeping in our big tent with my girls and just left this up). All of the stakes were still in the ground so the trekking poles just got blown over. I did NOT have the guylines for the tops of the poles staked out so this was not a fair test. I do believe that if I'd had those staked down the tent would have been able to handle it based on the fact that none of the other stakes had pulled out of the ground, but more testing will be necessary.

 

[dandurston]

Did the trekking poles break? Or were they dislodged somehow (e.g. escaped from the peak grommets or the handles slid out at the bottom)? If it's the latter, often more tension on the poles does the trick (e.g extend them more vigorously so there's more pressure on the pole to keep it gripped in place). The peak guylines do help as well to anchor the peak so it moves less. In extreme winds, it can be nice to dig a bit of a dip under the pole so it sits in a small depression and thus a huge side gust will have a harder time pushing it out of position.

 

[Benjaminwill80]

With non free standing tent like this, do you ever run into issues when in the mountains (say Colorado) not being able to get stakes in the ground?

 

[dandurston]

It's possible but pretty rare. Only times that happens are if you're camping on pure bedrock, or on a wood tent pad. With wooden tent pads you can usually get creative (e.g. tie it to the wood slats), whereas on bedrock you would need to move big rocks around and tie off to those. In those situations it's handy that the X-Mid pitches with as few as 4 stakes (most trekking pole tents are 6-12 stake). But the vast majority of time you'd be camping on some type of dirt where staking works. People use non-freestanding tents all the time in the Colorado alpine (e.g. Colorado Trail).

 

[bsnedeker]

With non free standing tent like this, do you ever run into issues when in the mountains (say Colorado) not being able to get stakes in the ground?

Nope, nothing broke, just tipped over. I like the tip of digging out a small pit, I'll give that a try. I live in Flathead valley so I'll have LOTS of chances to pitch it in windy conditions! I do have to say I really love the layout of this tent. The vestibule space was the main reason I bought it and it is even more substantial than I thought it would be from reading the specs...well done!

 

[Mike Islander]

Zpacks carbon tent poles are stronger than Eastons and still weigh only 2.6 oz. 48" x 11mm. 5-segments so very compact.

$29 bargain in my opinion and experience. I have 3 that I use with the X-Mid 2P and other shelters. Nice to leave the tent set up while going out hunting away from camp with your trekking poles. I will carry my third pole and a Zpacks pocket tarp tent in case I have to spend the night away from camp. That's 7.6 oz for a shelter with vestibule