Before deciding on the Durston X-Mid 1P, I had specific criteria for my new ultralight backpacking tent. Here’s how this one-person tent met all my needs and exceeded my expectations.
Why I chose the Durston X-Mid backpacking tent
When choosing an ultralight tent for backpacking, I prioritized weight, roominess, convenience, and durability. The X-Mid 1 ticked all the boxes and then some.
To make things clear – I receive nothing from Durston (or anyone else) for this post. No, payment, no gear, no discounts. I bought the tent from their website for retail price. This is my honest opinion.
About the Durston X-Mid
Specs
The full setup – with the tent & fly, stuff sacks, and 6 stakes, weighs 30.8 oz (875 g). If you’re a gram weenie, you could trim it a bit by removing stuff sacks and using fewer or lighter stakes, but this is a nice weight for such a spacious tent.
Are you a gram weenie? Watch the video (under 2 minutes)
Poles
This is a trekking pole tent – it is set up with trekking poles instead of traditional tent poles, saving some weight. If you can’t carry trekking poles, they sell lightweight poles to use with it they weight less than a trekking pole. I only carry one trekking pole, so I use one of these Z-Flick poles.
Two doors
I love having two doors – I feel like it gives me options. I can have one side with a view, and the other side as an entry and exit. One side toward the trail and one toward the ‘bathroom’. Options are good! The Durston X-Mid has two doors and two large vestibules. My pack fits there nicely if I choose to leave it outside. I store my chair there overnight. I love this feature.
Lightweight yet spacious: The Durston X-Mid advantage
The complete tent – fly, inner tent, stuff sack, stakes – weighs 30.8 oz / 875 g. This is light enough to be in ultralight territory for a 1-person tent, but it’s really roomy for a 1-person backpacking tent. I can fit all my gear in it – backpack, boots, the works – and still have room to sleep.
But of course you don’t have to put all your gear in it because it has two really large vestibules. I am very much a two-door person, and the large vestibules are great. Great for gear, and great for making the tent feel even more spacious than it is.
My first-ever backpacking tent was a one-person and I was not a fan – it felt like being in a coffin. I’ve been a two-person tent over since, until this one – and I was worried I would hate it. But the two large vestibules and the space between inner tent and the fly make it feel extra-roomy.
Easy setup and built to handle bad weather
It’s not a difficult tent to set up, though there may be a bit of a learning curve because it doesn’t work like other tents. The inner tent is at a different angle from the rainfly. Once you get how it works it’s not a problem but if you starting setting it up and trying to get things to line up straight, you will be confused! Once you get it though, the set up is easy, and the rainfly-first setup is a great feature when you need it.
There are enough guy lines on it that it’s very sturdy in windy weather and the two doors give you some options when it rains. There’s even a porch mode where you can prop open one door as an overhang if needed.
Even when I do a ‘lazy pitch’ where I don’t go back and make everything taut, I haven’t had issues with it, even in the rain.
Durston tent features: With an ultralight tent, it’s all about the little things
The X-Mid is good quality tent, with extra features in all the right areas.
Zippers
The zippers are really good quality – solid, easy-to-pull, and I’ve never had an issue with them catching the fabric (a common issue with many tents).
Reinforced pole holder
I don’t know if there’s an official name for it, but the place in the fabric where the poles rest is reinforced and very heavy-duty – I’m pretty sure it’s the heaviest part of the tent. But you don’t want your poles poking through the tent after a few uses, and it’s very secure in windy weather without having to worry about friction.
Roomy inside, packs small.
The packed size is very small for such a spacious tent and I can easily fit it in my backpack. It it’s wet, I put the rainfly in an outside pocket and the inner tent inside.
Vents
I love the vents on the Durston X-Mid. There’s one an each side and a semi-rigid flat bar that can hold them open. I’ve had no issues with condensation.
Big vestibules for an ultralight tent – nothing touches the fly.
The vestibules are quite large which is helpful for a lot of reasons. First of all, you can store a lot of gear in them. Backpack, chair, whatever. But on top of that, there’s plenty of separation from the inner tent – they don’t touch the mesh. This means that even when I do a ‘lazy pitch’ – when I’m going around making everything completely taut – they still don’t touch the edge, and I have no issues with water seeping in or condensation.
Rain fly first setup – or use only the rainfly for a really ultralight tent
With the Durston-Mid tent, you can set up the rainfly first. This means that if it’s raining, you can put up the rainfly while your inner tent is still packed away, dry. It also means you can use just the rainfly – without the inner tent – if you want. I was out on a beach with no sunscreen one day, and luckily had the X-Mid in my pack. I set up the rainfly and had a nice sunshade, avoiding a bad sunburn!
Magnetic door latches
Again, it’s the little things that make a difference. When you roll the doors open, you don’t have the usual loop and toggle closure. Instead it’s a strip of fabric with a small magnet. I love these – very easy to fasten and unfasten.
Compact and ultralight: The perfect backpacking tent
I love how small it packs up and how spacious it feels inside. I also love that it’s really lightweight for a double wall tent. I wanted one that was simple and worked well – I didn’t want to deal with having to seam seal it, or having to worry about condensation. I got everything I wanted plus some extra cool features, and honestly, it’s got a reasonable price for such a lightweight tent.
Is the Durston X-Mid 1 the best ultralight tent for backpacking?
It just might be. Roomy. Easy to set up. Lightweight. Packs up small. Sometimes I wish I had a freestanding tent, but that would mean the loss of other features I like – the it being so small and light, and the double doors with large vestibules. With its mix of features and weight, the Durston X-Mid is certainly my favorite ultralight backpacking tent.