Why Is the Durston X-Mid Every Hiker’s Favorite Tent?
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I backpacked the 100-mile Tour du Mont Blanc last month, camping each night in idyllic alpine surrounds. During my time on Europe’s most famous hiking trail, I saw countless wildflowers, Swiss cows with bells around their necks, and majestic glaciers. As well as a whole lot ofDurston X-Midtents.
Affordably priced, with a unique offset design, the X-Mid has become enormously popular within the gear-obsessed ultralight-hiking community in recent years. The secret? It’s pitched using two trekking poles (which you’d already be carrying), rather than a dedicated set of shock-cord poles, which means you can significantly reduce the weight and bulk of your pack. And it does it without sacrificing strength or durability. A more expensive version of the original X-Mid, theX-Mid Pro, is constructed from gossamer-thin Dyneema fabric that reduces weight even more.
There are many trekking-pole-supported hiking tents, but none inspire the same level of fervor as the X-Mid. “I hiked a section of the Appalachian Trail last year and was amazed to see that nearly every other tent was a Durston,” says hiking and safari-tour operatorAlex Andreichuk. “Everyone I asked about the tent said they didn’t regret getting it for a second, primarily because a well-designed tent that can withstand snow and wind for under $300 is pretty much unheard of.”
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The original X-Mid, made from waterproof polyester, weighs 26 ounces.
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An upgraded version of the X-Mid, made from Dyneema, weighs just 15.5 ounces.
Durston products are designed by a hiking-tent-obsessed British Columbian named Dan Durston, who runs most of the show himself. He personally replies to customer-service emails, is active on the Durstonsub-RedditandFacebook group, and films his own instructional videos to help users pitch his tents correctly. Durston’s website offers a very friendly and Canadian repair-and-replacement program, guaranteeing that any unhappy customers “will be able to discuss your issue with a real and empathetic person who is familiar with the gear you’re talking about and wants to find a good solution.”
Durston, who was headed for a career as a biologist before pivoting to outdoor-product design, first started thinking about backpacking tents while completing the Pacific Crest Trail. “I didn’t have a phone or anything, so I just was kind of daydreaming,” he tells me. “During long stretches, I’d think about gear. Like, what if you made a pocket here? What if you did this?” Trekking-pole tents were just starting to become popular at the time, but “they were complicated, with multiple guy lines and stakes.”
He decided to design a shelter that was lightweight but also livable: “Fun for a regular person, not just for nerds to set up.” Whereas trekking-pole tents from brands like Gossamer Gear and Zpacks come in A-frame and teepeelike shapes, Durston’s tents stretch diagonally across their poles, creating a wonky yet spacious footprint with lots of head room. Made from paper-thin yet highly waterproof polyester, the X-Mid can also be pitched “fly-first” in rainy conditions, protecting the inner tent from getting wet.
The weird angles and pitch style make the X-Mid’s layout more comfortable. There’s “significantly more internal volume than most trekking-pole-based shelters, with two separate vestibules for storing your bag or muddy gear,” explains travel and wildlife photographerJohan Siggesson, an experienced wilderness backpacker and happy X-Mid owner.
Adding to the X-Mid’s mystique is the fact you can’t purchase one at your local REI. Durston says that the co-op has tried to get him to change his mind, but for now, his range of products, which also includes ultralight-hiking poles and backpacks, is only available from his own website. The direct-to-consumer model allows him to keep prices down and maintain a relationship with a loyal customer base of ultralight backpackers who understand the tent’s appeal. “We make a product that’s dialed right into our customer,” he explains. “But if we sold them at REI and everyone took them car camping and pitched them on cement and gravel, it’d be a problem.”
That loyalty pays off. When a major German outdoor brand directly copied the X-Mid’s design and made it available at physical stores in Europe, Durston fans refused to purchase it, instead opting to pay extra shipping fees for the real thing. The brand “didn’t realize how many people had heard of us in their country,” explains Durston. They’ve recently discontinued the dupe.
Now you can find X-Mids all over the world — even in the antipodes. Mikala Whitaker, founder of solo women’s outdoor-travel blogthe Unanchored Passenger, recently moved from the United States to New Zealand and comes across fellow X-Mid campers surprisingly often: “That people are so willing to pay extra in shipping to get it all the way to this remote part of the world is a testament to how good this tent really is.”
I found myself daydreaming about the X-Mid during my own long tech-free days on the Tour du Mont Blanc. The ultralight movement has revolutionized the outdoor industry over the past decade, enabling quick and efficient expeditions that better maximize limited weekends and vacation days. But efficiency often comes at the expense of comfort. Waterproof hiking boots have been swapped for drip-dry trail sneakers that are literally designed to get wet; backpacks are no longer large enough to fit a spare change of clothes; and some thru-hikers now soak their dehydrated meals in cold water rather than carrying a stove and gas.
You sometimes hear of people breaking their toothbrush in half, only packing the brush end, in order to reduce backpack weight. Does that sound fun to you? The X-Mid is minimalist, but notthatminimalist. It’s the sanest possible version of a tent that literally doesn’t come with any poles.
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