Over the last 4+ years, we’ve had the privilege of testing many ultralight tents. This Durston X-Mid Pro 2 review comes from those years of experience and everything we’ve learned through all of that testing. Among the many ultralight tents we’ve tested over the years, a good number of them were made from Dyneema, which is a big part of the material used in the design of this Durston X-Mid Pro 2P tent.
When it comes to ultralight tents, there is lightweight, and then there is the class the Durston X Mid Pro 2 is in; truly ultralight. Coming in at an incredible 21.2 ounces INCLUDING the required stakes, this 2-person ultralight tent with a full floor, 2 doors, and 2 vestibules is a true gem. It is by far the fastest and easiest trekking pole-style tent to set up that I’ve tested, and it proved to be very storm-worthy as well.
Throughout the course of testing for the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 review, we were able to directly compare its specs, performance, usability, and overall functionality to the Zpacks DupleXL and Zpacks Duplex, which we’ve been using and testing for the last couple of years. All three of these tents offer a 2-person capacity and are made of Dyneema making them extraordinarily lightweight. These are ALL amazing tents, but the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 has some distinct differences and advantages over the two Zpacks tents, which we’ll go over in more detail below.
Looking for a 1 person, ultralight shelter? You’ll want to check out our 1P backpacking tent reviews! Check out our Zpacks Duplex review and Zpacks DupleXL review as well to see some of our likes and dislikes on those ultralight tents!
Our Testing:: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
As we always do here at Backwoods Pursuit, we put this tent through in-the-field testing for this Durston X-Mid Pro 2 review to see how the X-Mid Pro would do in the real world. Over the years we’ve put various Dyneema tents like this one through rain, wind, cold winter temps, hot summer nights, and heavy, wet snow so we can compare different tents really well.
This tent was used during summer scouting and fall elk hunting here in the mountains of Idaho, and I even threw it up during a snowstorm in the yard to see how it handled a snow load. We packed two of us in this tent (more on that below) and wanted to see if this truly had the best-in-class headroom with two people in it as they claimed.
Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Specs
One of the first things that most of us will look at when we are considering a new tent is where it stacks up in the specs department. In fact, we’ve all probably quickly looked over the specifications on a given tent and then decided against that particular tent if it doesn’t meet our set of standards for what we want to purchase. With the Durston X Mid Pro 2 tent, there’s no need to worry about the specs because it excels in every area. Before we get into the details of how this amazing tent works in the real world, here are the specs for a quick reference:
| Durston X-Mid Pro 2P Tent | |
|---|---|
| Piece | Weight |
| Tent only | 19.9oz |
| Tent with Stakes | 21.2oz |
| Height | 46in |
| Width (inner floor) | 48in |
| Length (inner floor) | 90in |
| Doors/Entry | 2 |
| Vestibule Space | 23 sq ft (2x11.6ft) |
| Packed Size | 11x5in |
| Doors | 2 |
| Aluminum Stakes | .2oz each |
| Canopy Material | 0.55oz Dyneema |
| Floor Material | 15D Sil/PEU Nylon |
If you are like me, you might scan over those specs and wonder where they cut corners, but I can assure you there weren’t any cut corners, and this tent more than meets expectations. In addition to boasting incredible specs, it flat out-performs in the field. Let’s get into exactly how and why.
What Makes It Different? Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
If you’ve done any research whatsoever, you’ve likely noticed that the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent is different. It looks different, it’s shaped differently, sets up differently, and has an incredibly unique and well-thought out design that makes this tent an absolute gem.
PATENTED X-MID GEOMETRY
Immediately upon looking at the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent you’ll notice it features a very unique design. The two trekking poles used to set up the tent are offset, creating a very aerodynamic shape that deflects wind, rain, and even snow with ease.
The first time I set up the X Mid Pro, I took it down, set it up again, and repeated this process several times. The inner floor just looked wrong to the eye. I figured it was supposed to be rectangular like every other ultralight backpacking tent I’ve used, but that is not the case with this one. With the Durston X-Mid Pro 2, the floor is in the shape of an offset rectangle, which was driving my OCD crazy at first. Once I realized that was how it was supposed to be, I reconciled that internally and went on my way.
DYNEEMA CANOPY, SILNYLON WOVEN FLOOR
Another very unique feature on the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 is that the canopy is constructed of 0.55 ounce Dyneema, while the floor is built with Sil/PEU nylon. Why, you might ask? (I know I did.) Dyneema is much more expensive, and is not as compact as silnylon, but silnylon is more puncture-resistant, so it makes sense to use it for the floor. This reduces the packed size, keeps the weight down, lowers the cost, and increases puncture resistance.
FULL COVERAGE FLY
One of the things I love about the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent is that the fly, or canopy, goes all the way to the ground for full protection. This makes this tent superior in adverse conditions as you don’t have the possibility of any rain splashing up into the interior of your tent, and it also completely blocks out drafts. This is one of the areas that the X-Mid Pro is very different than the two Zpacks tents I tested. The canopy on those ones do not go down to the ground, which gives you extra air flow inside the tent.
Now, there are certainly times that extra air flow is welcomed, like during your warm summer months. If that’s the case, you can simply raise the height of the trekking poles and loosen the four corners of the tent to add some extra ventilation, or you can simply open up the doors on the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 and accomplish the same thing since you have a fully enclosed, bug-proof interior to the tent. At the end of the day, the Durston X-Mid Pro design lends itself to more versatility.
EASY SETUP
There’s simply no other way to put it. This is the easiest trekking pole tent to set up that I’ve ever tested. Not only is it fast and simple, you only need a total of 6 stakes to maximize the interior space. Unlike most other trekking pole tents on the market, which utilize extra guy out points to increase interior space, the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 does not require any guys out. There are a couple you can use, but these truly only need to be considered in the worst of conditions.
BEST-IN-CLASS HEAD ROOM & LIVING SPACE
The Durston X-Mid Pro 2 gives you best-in-class head room and interior space due to its twin offset pole design. This is certainly one of the more unique looking tents I’ve tested, but it flat out works. In addition to being stupid easy to set up, it also gives you ample headspace and a huge interior.
My wife and I have backpacked in many a 2-person, ultralight backpacking tents such as the Zpacks Free Duo, Zpacks Duplex, Zpacks DupleXL, Six Moon Designs Haven, Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo, Sea to Summit Escapist, and others, and this one is certainly the most roomy inside. It may not offer the most statistical square feet (I’m not sure on that), but it certainly maximizes the space the best.
Now that’s not to take away from what those other tents offer as I’m a huge fan of each of those mentioned above, as some of them are much more budget friendly, but you can’t deny how well the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 uses the space, and how easy it sets up.
EXCEPTIONAL RAIN AND SNOW PERFORMANCE
The unique design of the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 creates no flat spots for snow to build up and all of the angles created by the offset twin pole design deflects wind amazingly well. Wind can be a real issue with some tents, but the way this tent is designed, it doesn’t matter which direction the wind is blowing, it deflects extremely well off the shelter.
I also really like how the canopy goes all the way to the ground. That was one of my complaints about many of the other trekking pole style shelters I’ve tested. As mentioned above, the canopy not going all the way down to the ground allows more air flow, reducing condensation and overall weight of the shelter, but it can be undesirable when the wind is whipping, and/or the rain is blowing sideways.
The nice thing about the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 is that you can raise the trekking poles a couple of inches while loosening the line locs on the four corners to raise the fly and allow more air to flow for those warmer nights when that is what you want. This just makes the X-Mid Pro 2 that much more versatile.
Non-Freestanding | Single Wall: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
The Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Tent is a non-freestanding, single wall tent that uses two trekking poles to set up. This tent can be set up with just about any standard trekking pole as the peak height is 46 inches. The tent can be set up with as little as only 4 stakes, however, to get use out of the vestibules you will need 6 stakes. I would most certainly recommend using the 6 stakes as this makes the shelter fully functional and gives you two spacious vestibules.
Being a single wall tent, condensation is always a concern, but I didn’t have any issues with condensation while doing the testing for this Durston X-Mid Pro 2 review. Given that the X Mid Pro features two ventilation ports, good ventilation seemed to occur easily, even without opening the doors at all. However, with two people in the tent along with colder temperatures (temperatures approaching freezing), you’ll notice more condensation and keeping the vents open is key. If you can open one of the doors, better yet.
Given that the canopy goes all the way to the ground, you get no air flow other than the vents. This can be a pro or a con depending on the weather, but as mentioned above, you also have the option of raising up the fly by extending the height of the trekking poles and loosening the line locs on the four corners.
Materials Used: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
Durtons Gear uses two different high-quality fabrics to construct the X-Mid Pro tent. The canopy and walls are made of .55 ounce per square yard Dyneema with a hydrostatic rating of 8,000 mm, while the floor is made with a 15D Sil/PEU nylon. Durston Gear constructs the floor with this 15D woven nylon due to its superior resistance to punctures, more compact packed size, and cost savings over Dyneema.
For more on Hydrostatic test ratings, check out our “Basics of Choosing a Backpacking Tent” article.
One thing I love about the Dyneema fabric used in the canopy is that it is naturally waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about the waterproof silicone or polyurethane wearing off.
Ease of Setup: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
The incredible ease of setting up the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent is one of the most distinct things about this tent. It’s almost counter intuitive as you stake the four corners, pulling it tight rather than leaving it loose enough to insert the trekking poles. Once the four corners are staked, simply set your trekking poles to 46 inches (or any other pole you have that is 46 inches in height), and inset them through the ventilation ports on each side of the tent. Insert your last two stakes for each of the doors, walk around the tent, and tighten down the four corners if needed, and that is literally it.
SETUP TIP
One thing to note is that the inside of the tent will be at a different angle than the exterior walls, so if you are pitching your tent on a hillside or somewhere that the ground is not level (so pretty much everywhere in the mountains), make sure you are aware that if you want your head on the uphill slope, the tent will need to look like it’s “crooked” on the outside.
The first time I used this in the field I forgot this and realized after it was set up that we were rolling side to side a bit because the “uphill” side was at an angle on the interior of the tent ,while from the outside of the tent, it looked perfect.
Large, Useful Vestibules: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
The vestibules of the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent are larger and more useful than most other ultralight tent vestibules we’ve tested. Because each of the door zippers are situated in line with the trekking pole used to hold the tent up, the tension needed to keep the tent up also keeps the vestibule from collapsing when you enter the tent (at least the upper1/3 where you are going to store most of your gear). Additionally, the angle provides you with more usable space than most ultralight backpacking tents.
A handy magnetic tie down makes keeping the “free” portion of the door out of your way when needed, and an integrated elastic cord allows you to independently tie back the door to the netting if you wish to do that.
It is nice that these two are independent of each other in the event that you want to leave the door rolled back at night to allow for additional ventilation. It would be more convenient, however, if there was a way to roll them both up together and tie them back for the times when you are setting up camp and tearing down. Having to do two different tie downs adds an extra step, small though it may be.
Offset Trekking Pole & Huge Doors: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
As you can see in this picture, the placement of the trekking pole is such that it is completely out of the way of you entering and exiting the tent. This is a HUGE convenience and makes entering and exiting the tent a lot easier. You don’t have to worry about knocking down your tent or damaging the trekking pole, or having the simple inconvenience of a pole which holds up the tent being directly in the middle of your door.
To add to it, the doors are massive as the zipper goes nearly the full length of the bathtub floor. This makes for setting up camp, tearing down camp, and general entry and exit a breeze.
Mesh Screen: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
One of the awesome things we noted during this Durston X-Mid Pro 2 review was how the inner mesh doors don’t fall on the ground when you unzip them. Given that the material hangs from the canopy, when you unzip the inner door, it hangs there rather than falling into the dirt. Sometimes it’s the details like this that make a difference.
Interior Space: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
Once again, the interior space you get in the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 is truly amazing. While not the largest 2-person backpacking tent I’ve ever tested (that would be the Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo), it is certainly one of the largest ultralight backpacking 2P tents I’ve tested. The Lunar Duo is around 3 pounds, so it’s not really a fair comparison to the X-Mid Pro, but the Lunar Duo is larger as it gives you an additional 6 inches of width.
The Durston X-Mid Pro 2 comes in at 48 inches in width, so it’s just 2 inches shy of being able to fit two wide pads, which is pretty impressive. Not many backpacking tents out there, ultralight or not, can fit two wide pads.
Build Quality: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
It doesn’t take long to see that the build quality of the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent is exceptional. The extreme attention to detail in the angles and the ease of getting the perfect pitch make it a joy to set up and use. Durston Gear uses a premium hot-bonded construction rather than sewing or cold bonding, which has proven to be exceptionally durable so far in our testing.
Dyneema is a fantastic fabric that makes for an incredibly durable and waterproof shelter. Peronally, it is easily one of my favorite fabrics in a tent.
Compact Size: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
Because the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent features a woven silynlon floor, it is even more compact than an all- Dyneema shelter. While at first I wasn’t sure about this, as I’m used to a Dyneema floor, so far it has proven to be excellent, and I actually prefer the feel of a silnylon floor. It is quieter and helps your pad not slide around as well.
Price Tag: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
While the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 is anything but an “inexpensive tent” it does save a little bit of cash over some of the other Dyneema tent options out there, all while being larger, just as lightweight, easier to set up, and amazing quality. The bottom line is that you will pay a premium for any Dyneema tent, and the X-Mid Pro 2 is not any different, even if it is a better value than others.
What I liked: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
As you can probably tell from everything you’ve read to this point, I’m a HUGE fan of this tent. While the list is very long, several of the things mentioned above stood out the most to me as things I especially like:
- Incredibly easy setup
- Massive interior
- Insanely lightweight
- Tall peak height
- Small packed size
- Two large doors and vestibules
- Extremely storm-worthy
- Comfortably fits 2 people
- Offset trekking poles
- Needs only 6 stakes
What I Didn’t like: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
There was very little that I didn’t care for in this tent. Admittedly, I was initially concerned that this was going to be a situation where two people were going to have to sleep head to toe, but that proved not to be the case as we slept two shoulder to shoulder with ease. Really, the primary critique, if you can call it that, is that it can be difficult to pitch the tent with your head uphill because the interior of the tent is at a different angle than the exterior. Additionally, the price tag is up there, but that’s the case with all Dyneema tents.
- Unique setup
- Price tag
Our Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Tent Rankings
Ease of Setup
Interior Space
Weight
Packed Size
Storm-worthiness
Overall Value
Overall Ranking
Conclusion: Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review
Simply put, the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent is one of the finest tents we’ve had the privilege of testing. I think that goes without saying since the only real downsides I could find were getting used to pitching the tent with your head uphill (so the interior is uphill) and the higher price tag. I literally can’t come up with anything else negative to say about it. It is more compact, easier to set up, more roomy on the interior, and has more usable vestibules than just about any other ultralight backpacking tent we’ve tried. Check out the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 tent, and you won’t be disappointed one bit!
Check out “Backcountry Camp Part 1: Basics of Selecting a Tent” to help select the right tent for you. Make sure to check out all of our other tent reviews as well! We’ve been testing tents for a while now, and have a good number of backpacking tent reviews.
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Thanks for the detailed review – much appreciated.
Absolutely! Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!
Just spent 6 nights in Kings Canyon using my mid pro 2 for the first time. Chilly temps and still nights were the norm most of the week. Condensation was an issue, as I believe it is for most single wall tents. Leaving side fly/doors up improved this greatly but not entirely.
One of the nights, we had t-storms with super heavy downpours, huge wind gusts and hail at 11k feet. The tent performed great, except that the rain/hail vibrated the roof such that the condensation misted down on us….but happy to be sheltered and hard to complain given what was going on outside the tent!
I also have a Zpacks duplex XL and would rate this tent higher because of the better pôle/door configuration, and easier setup.
Hey there Don! Thanks for that feedback and sharing your experience. I agree, there is always some degree of condensation to deal with in every single wall tent I’ve used, but much of time it can be managed with a little effort. Thanks for the comment!
I stumbled upon the tent somewhere and now I am hooked 🙂
Great review and very detailed and hands on.
thanks!!
Thank you Claudia! It’s a fantastic tent!
Strange how Durston never mentions the Sierra Designs High Route tent invented by Skurka years earlier and still available. That’s where he got his “new geometry” idea and the only difference is the placement of the inner tent. I am also willing to bet that similar designs occur in books written a century ago, when silk was the preferred “ultralight” material.
Thanks for the insight and thanks for reading!
I’ve noticed that too and no one seems to want to talk about it. There is ZERO doubt that he “noticed” the geometry too, then slapped a patent on it. I think Dan’s true talent is marketing and posting to forums.
Hey there! I can’t speak to that end of things, but I was certainly impressed by the X-Mid Pro 2P! Thanks for reading!