Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review

My experience is with the non pro but these points will apply to the Pro as well

Many Ontario Provincial Park back country sites designate tent pads.  My regular Xmid2 fits on a pad, but requires skinny pitch if sharing with another tent which can be tricky given the pads are often fouled by large roots and pointy rocks.  Definitely trickier than my previous freestanding tent but shouldn’t at all be an impediment to purchase, its all doable and not too hard.

Other Park pitch sites can be anything from bare rock to sandy loose soil.  I switched out all the guy lines for longer to support dead man anchors on rock, and switched out the bishops hooks and Ti pegs for MSR Groundhogs to get better grip in loose soil.

I’ve taken it in high wind and rain bombardment.  In driving rain shoulder season, the short bathtub requires a trade off between splashback (pitch fly low) and condensation (pitch fly up).  I added guy line to the center end panels and carry two extra stakes to pull them out a bit to create a bit more airflow with some but not too much splashback.

I add 2 more stakes to support the peak guylines for really hard rain.  I’ve deployed all 8.    I carry a bit of extra line for drying clothes but can deploy that on the mid panels using stick and rock as dead anchor if needing to really reinforce in nasty weather, so 8 pegs is a sweet spot for me.

It can get tricky to get the 90 degree pitch if on sloped or uneven ground.  I had to do this a few times to avoid swimming in bed in the morning, but the longer guylines make it all possible.  The stock short guylines would make this much less flexible.

For Canadians, liteoutdoors carry cost effective cord, line locks and pegs.  I used their cord: it doesn’t absorb water & is far more visible than the stock guylines reducing chance of tripping.  It doesn’t slip but is stiff (dyneema core).   I also added their line locks to areas of the tent that could use them.

It’s easy to jury rig up a DIY stargazer mode using the peak guidelines.  This mode really rocks with this tent.

EDIT: Kaviso’s support is amazing.  I ordered a patch repair kit and both Dan and Kaviso were all over it and very helpful.  Dan is so responsive I wonder if he’s really an AI?

I can’t speak for the author, but I think they are saying they didn’t notice any durability issues while also noting that DCF does have general limitations. With the X-Mid Pro tents we are using pre-shrunk DCF so distortion/deformation should be less than most other brands of tents which don’t use this. DCF still has some limits to it’s lifespan though, since eventually it fatigue and start to deteriorate. Most people will never see that because it takes 100-200 nights of use, but this is why the lifespan of DCF shelters is often considered to be about “1 thru hike” (referring to the AT/PCT/CDT which take usually 100-150 nights).