Durston - X-Mid 1 Solid

I’m 6’2” and I fit but just barely. I keep my pack in the vestibule portion. You could look at the Xmid-2 or the Xdome 1+ maybe but both weigh a bit more of course.

Durston X-Mid for the win!

I'm late 50's backpacker. You want to go as light as possible. Your knees may be fine now, but maybe not in 3 years. I have problems with my knees, and hip, my lower weight really helps. You should consider weight for everything you buy. You don't need to go full ultralight (r/ultralight), but you should pay attention. The durston xmid is a very popular light tent (treking pole tent). They make a 1 person and a two person tent. Many hikers already carry poles, if not you should consider it. Many skip the footprint, it isn't needed. If you really want one, buy a piece of tivex from Amazon and cut it so that it is a little SMALLER than the floor of your tent. You can buy small pieces of tivex on Amazon for ~$20. Many hike the entirety of the PCT or AT without a footprint.

I got a solid inner with my x-mid because it was what was available at the time (they were still doing the drops, no stock on hand). No appreciable difference in condensation that I've noticed. Even if there's some on the fly, the inner stays dry. Since the inner has nothing to do with stormproof that's a wash for me. I might get the mesh inner at some point to have the option. I've also used it without the inner to have all the space inside, which is nice, I sat inside in the rain using my stove because floorless tents are cool that way. I have tyvek for use as a groundsheet under the pad.

towards the end in a larger group I was skinny pitching my 1p durston and both 2p tents in my group had 2 people in them just to fit in tent sites. honestly 2p solo tents in some of the sites on this trail felt like a selfish move. if you fit in a 1p, you aren't spending enough time in it to need extra space, save the weight.  except the very very tall, solo 2p durston owners seemed to agree it was a little ridiculous to hog that kind of real estate. it was usually their first ul tent. 1p durston owners should all know how to skinny pitch. for one thing, it saves you when your door zippers start to go. in bad weather, 1p let me sneak off to a tiny wind protected ledge and have a peaceful night. 2p would have been stuck w the brunt of the wind up on the ridge spots established by fair weather weekenders.... 

I have a Durston Xmid and love it - I also considered Six Moons Lunar Solo and Tarptent Stratospire and rainbow. They have some other tents in your budget too. Gossamer Gear has affordable single wall tents.

I have an elixir 2, hubba nx and xmid 1 solid. The xmid is much better in windy conditions but it requires a good pitch. Dan has an amazing youtube video on how to pitch it, it’s pretty versatile. It’s super spacious for a 1p tent, the vestibules are huge and the inner has lots of headroom. The footprint is quite big but i haven’t found it an issue, neither has condensation. It’s replaced my hubba nx for solo trips. I ordered mine direct from Durston Gear with stakes and it came out to £320 after import fees. Their customer service is also amazing.

I was lucky and found a hubba 1p on clearance for £100 at go outdoors. It’s a decent tent but there’s no way I would pay full price for it. I massively prefer my x-mid

Xmids are extremely easy to pitch. Watch the Dan Durston pitching video on YouTube, it’s very versatile. If you pitch it square and taut it’s pretty sturdy, I’ve camped above treeline in torrential rain and it’s held up perfectly with a little seepage through the zipper. For stuff like summit camps i would use a sturdier 4 season tent though. It can be pitched inner only with the stargazer kit.

X- mid with a solid pitch (harder to achieve on uneven sites) is quite sturdy. I carry a couple of MSR Groundhog stakes to use in looser soil.

Xmid-1. It's great! Used it on the GR54 and it was fantastic.

An incredible trail through the French Alps. We did it in 10 days and the ease of setup and takedown of the X-mid 1 as well as packability and, incredibly, the price, was enough to make me a Durston fan for life. Like the first place I will ever look for new gear is there. I've used the X Mid in the Alps a lot and there are a ton of reviews on it that can say anything better than I can but it's a legit piece of gear and I'm happy tongive his company my business. I didn't have the inner since it was summer and at altitude, so bugs weren't an issue luckily. Lived it and will look into an X Dome as well. https://www.ultimatefrance.com/hiking/french-alps/tour-des-ecrins-gr54