I was looking to buy a new 2-person backpacking tent that is more compact and lighter to carry than our current tent. Our Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3 has been on many trips with us. It is fairly light but takes up a lot of room in my pack. I was looking at getting the 2-person version but kept reading and seeing videos about the Durston X-mid 2 tent.
https://durstongear.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoo649Ix7GAatC-yTBBsXNteBr2eWUgREqq2orqMsAG2j4CCLXj_
The Durston tent was getting a lot of good press, so I decided to give it a try. The Durston was $100 less and 1 pound lighter than the Big Agnes. The Durston is a trekking pole tent, your trekking poles replace the typical tent poles reducing the overall weight.
I ordered the tent and set it up in the yard a few times before taking it on the trail.
- SET UP
- Shorten corner guy lines to half, make them the same length
- Lay tent flat.
- Stake one corner at 45 degrees, stake diagonal corner at 45 degrees. Stake the remaining corners
- Open door and insert handle of trekking pole in the loop, then insert pole tip into grommet and fully extend.
- Stake out door at 45 degrees
- Stake out other guy lines
Likes
Material. Polyester does not sag or absorb water like Silnylon
Zippers on the inside of the tent and the fly work smoothly, no snags. Zipper on the fly is waterproof which eliminates the annoying piece of fabric covering the zipper. This cover always snagged on our Big Agnes.
Room, this is a true 2 person tent. Most lightweight 2 person tents are really for 1.5 people or a soloist that’s wants more room
Dislikes
Set up is a little fussy but improves with practice.
Tent comes with short and long stakes that are the same design and color. You use the long stakes first and I kept grabbing the short ones. I have a lot of tent stakes lying around from previous tent purchases. The tents wear out, the stakes don’t. I swapped out the stakes for something I think will work better.
I use the red MSR Groundhog stakes stakes for the 4 corners since the Groundhogs hold tight and the corners are the most important part of the pitch. I use the silver shepherd hooks for the doors and the next 2 silver stakes for high guy lines. I will only use these in very windy conditions. The gold stakes are used for the guy out points along the bottom of the tent.
From the Durston web site, here are potential pitch issues and solutions:
RIDGELINE FIX
LOWER POLES
LOOSEN CROSSLINE CONNECTORS
TIGHTEN RIDGLINE CORNERS
RAISE POLES
LOOSE SIDES
LOWER POLES
TIGHTEN CORNERS
RAISE POLES
CROSSLINE FIX
LOOSEN RIDGELINE CORNERS
TIGHTEN CROSSLINE CORNERS
RAISE POLES
I bought the tent last year and finally got it into the woods. Here it is in Allegheny National Forest. It was a beautiful night and I slept with the outer door open.
Final Verdict: the tents a keeper.
Oh no, since I bought this tent Durston introduced 2 new versions, Crap.
HAPPY TENTING, STEVE