X-Mid 2

Love it so far

I’m actually writing this review after my first ever overnight and while I was a bit worried getting a tent like this one was overkill for beginners, I am quite happy with this tent. Had some teething problems while trying to get the perfect pitch but practice makes perfect. Hopefully I’m still happy with it when I test it in rougher conditions but I don’t see why not.

I used it in wyoming and it kept me very dry and the mesh did a great Job keeping the condensation away from my body. It provides good storage abd easy set up. The only thing I disliked is that I wish there was a way to tighten the better in the corners to provide more room by not having it to loose.

We really wanted to love this tent

My wife and I purchased the X-Mid 2 well before our 15-day Larapinta Trail hike so we could practice pitching it. We did several practice setups in our backyard and an overnight hike, and in ideal conditions the tent seemed great. However, after 14 nights using it on the Larapinta Trail, we came away quite disappointed. Our main issue was how sensitive the tent seemed to anything less than a near-perfect campsite. On the Larapinta, campsites are often rocky, uneven, and surrounded by spinifex, making ideal peg placement difficult. We found that unless the ground was almost perfectly flat, achieving a good pitch was extremely challenging. We also experienced problems in windy conditions. Even relatively light winds pulled pegs loose on multiple occasions, leading us to use every available guyline point for the remainder of the trip. Despite spending significant time adjusting stake points and optimising the fly, one occupant often had the inner mesh against their face during the night. The large footprint was another challenge. Many designated tent sites on the trail simply weren't large enough to comfortably accommodate the tent, particularly when dealing with rocks, vegetation, and limited staking options. What frustrated us most was that when we raised these concerns, the response focused on pitching techniques. We had already spent considerable time practising before the trip and then lived with the tent for 14 consecutive nights in real-world conditions. This wasn't a case of setting it up incorrectly once or twice. We aren't seeking a refund. We were simply hoping Durston might recognise that the X-Mid 2 wasn't the right tent for our needs and be willing to help us move to a different model at a reduced cost. We really wanted to love this tent. In fact, another hiker told us that by the end of the Larapinta we'd love it. Unfortunately, after 14 nights, that wasn't our experience.