Durston - X-Mid 1 Solid

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.

Yeah I could also provide you pictures of it pitched with the inner of it helps. It works great as a winter tarp in anything other than wind blown snow. As you can see in the video I managed to completely close up the front with a tarp but it isn’t the roomiest tarp to spend a lot of time under. It does shed snow pretty well and weighs around 300 grams without stakes so it is a great option for lightweight winter trips. I have upgraded my winter shelter last year to the x-mid 1p solid outer and I couldn’t be happier. It is a palace in winter and you can easily sit up inside and sleep without worrying about touching the sides. It does need a bigger footprint though and the four corner stakes need to be kind of Bomber if you really want to tighten it down.

I have the durston x mid 1 solid. I’m 6’2” and fit comfortably in it while backpacking for a week in The Tetons out in Wyoming. It was the only trip I’ve taken with it, but it was light and easy to setup/take down and pack.

I setup the tent this afternoon. My feet barely touching the tent, i had about 6” of space above my head. I think you’d be fine. It might be tight, but layout the specs on the floor with tape. That’s what i did prior to buying.

I have a Durston X-Mid 1 Solid, packs very small. 26x15 cm, with good headroom and comfort.

The Solid is unnecessary for the AT. I got a X-Mid 1 Solid for hiking in New Zealand this year from January to June (I did the South Island Te Araroa and a bunch of shorter hikes). It was particularly lovely for fall/early winter in New Zealand, but I think you'll appreciate more mesh for hiking the US East Coast from spring to fall. It gets hot and humid on the AT and you'll want as much ventilation as you can get. The X-Mid 1 is quite spacious! I'm 5'6"/150 lb and the tent has SO much room for activities. Unfortunately that does mean it has a larger footprint than a lot of single-person tents. Its size felt like its main drawback, because the space for camping along the TA (or the AT) is sometimes very limited, especially if you're in the bubble. I'm a big fan of the tent. I love that I can set it up with just five stakes most of the time (4 for the corners and 1 for the door that I'm going to use), but I can also use like 20 stakes in super high wind (holy shit is New Zealand windy). I love that the rain-fly goes up first and comes down last, which means that my stuff doesn't all get soaked if I'm making or breaking camp in the rain. The tent inner was fantastic to keep the sandflies off in New Zealand and will do wonders to keep mosquitoes away in the US. It works better than most tents above treeline, but it certainly doesn't work anywhere near as well as a proper mountaineering tent for high wind. This definitely isn't a concern for the AT, but it's something to keep in mind. Have a great hike!

The Solid is unnecessary for the AT. I got a X-Mid 1 Solid for hiking in New Zealand this year from January to June (I did the South Island Te Araroa and a bunch of shorter hikes). It was particularly lovely for fall/early winter in New Zealand, but I think you'll appreciate more mesh for hiking the US East Coast from spring to fall. It gets hot and humid on the AT and you'll want as much ventilation as you can get. The X-Mid 1 is quite spacious! I'm 5'6"/150 lb and the tent has SO much room for activities. Unfortunately that does mean it has a larger footprint than a lot of single-person tents. Its size felt like its main drawback, because the space for camping along the TA (or the AT) is sometimes very limited, especially if you're in the bubble. I'm a big fan of the tent. I love that I can set it up with just five stakes most of the time (4 for the corners and 1 for the door that I'm going to use), but I can also use like 20 stakes in super high wind (holy shit is New Zealand windy). I love that the rain-fly goes up first and comes down last, which means that my stuff doesn't all get soaked if I'm making or breaking camp in the rain. The tent inner was fantastic to keep the sandflies off in New Zealand and will do wonders to keep mosquitoes away in the US. It works better than most tents above treeline, but it certainly doesn't work anywhere near as well as a proper mountaineering tent for high wind. This definitely isn't a concern for the AT, but it's something to keep in mind. Have a great hike!

I have the xmid v3 solid and a tarptent notch solid. Both tents are trekking pole , so you have to consider that. Both pack down small and are great quality well made backpacking tents. The xmid has a larger footprint and is slightly more tricky to put up than the notch, but nothing is that arduous or too large most of the time. I bought the notch in great condition off ebay and the xmid direct from durston, price was less on the notch as it was used , but new is slightly similar. Both are double wall with vents and you can adjust the fly height so condensation is dependant on the conditions. Have tested the ximid out in angry conditions just this weekend with some very strong gusts and it impressed me, though I had to add two extra guy lines , so 10 pegs total. The notch can get away with 4 .The xmid has more interior space as it stays square around the perimeter whereas the notch tapers at the ends. If you can see a notch for a good price i'd consider it, its lighter , and easier to pitch , but it feels tighter inside than the xmid. For near £300 the x mid is amazing. I don't plan to sell either as I will chop and choose when to take each. The x dome was my first choice as it was free standing, but the solid inner has just became available with a price increase.

UK hiker here too. X-Mid Solid 1 is a great UK option, and as u/Craven123 says you can [claim back most of the import fees](https://oddmanandthesea.co.uk/content/x-mid-pro-too-x-pensive-save-some-s). Alternatively, a friend of mine has the Lanshan 1 and isn't likely to change it any time soon; it more than survived the Cairngorms a couple of months ago. An UL tent will take a lot of weight off, so apart from the other comments re: sleep clothes, dry bags (a pack liner and freezer zip locks for ditty bags is the way I do it), you're off to a great start! I for one will never give up my comfy S2S Aero premium pillow and wide pad; I find it's best not to obsess over being truly 'ultralight', it's more of a journey in finding out what you really want to prioritise/sacrifice. Some other things to add to you list just so they're accounted for: * pegs (not sure if your tent weight includes these) * MSR groundhogs are a great option; for my X-Mid I use 4 full size ones at the corners and then a bunch of minis for the doors/other points * separate 'dirty' water bottle/reservoir for the water going through your filter * keys, cards, etc. * depending on what variety of Brit you are, you may at some point decide to take a hip flask/a few cans into the hills You'll notice the base weight creep up as you add things you've missed/not accounted for (e.g., you might decide you want a separate cup for coffee as well as your cook pot), but that's nothing to be despondent about: base weight under \~8kg is admirable for multi-day UK camping, and worlds away from other people!

I wouldn't bother with the solid version for the AT, unless you plan to do some of your hike in winter. The regular mesh version is plenty weatherproof enough for most of the sort of camping you'll be doing on the AT and you'll appreciate the extra ventilation if hiking through the hot humid summer. You _might_ want to consider going for the 2P version for a little more space which can make a lot of difference when the weather and/or bugs have you hemmed in. Or personally, I preferred the X-Dome 1+ for the AT (I own all three i.e. X-Mid 1&2P _and_ the X-Dome 1+). Even tho the X-Dome is a little heavier, and takes a little longer to pitch, I found it to be a good size & easy to find pitches (the X-mid 2P can be a bit big sometimes). I also enjoyed being able to easily pitch just the inner on those hot & humid nights - even tho I have the stargazer kit for the X-mid I found I was rarely inclined to bother with the extra faff for some reason. It's also much easier to pitch the X-Dome on tent platforms that you'll end up using in some locations (I actually don't have a problem pitching my X-mids on platforms but some people do & there's no doubt the X-Dome is easier in these situations). I _love_ my X-Mids, and have spent hundreds of nights in them, but for the AT specifically, I felt like the X-Dome more often better fit my needs on the AT.

For info, I ordered an X Mid 1 Solid in February (so it was the v2.0) direct from Durston for delivery to Scotland. Delivery took 4 days with FedEx and after VAT and import duties I saved about £45 compared to ordering in the UK.

If you order direct from Durston it will be the 2025 version which I believe is v3. Ordering from them was simple, no different than ordering from any UK shop. My tent was dispatched that day and was with me 4 days later. When it got to Stansted I was contacted by FedEx to say that I owed VAT and duties. The text had a link and I paid quickly. Overall it was an easy process.

I only used Durston but it is not free standing (the one I used) and in very windy Utah wild areas and by the California beach winds, it was untouchable. But I have used a hammer and stronger stakes than the ones they offer (the lightweight ones bend). I have XMidPro2 and 2+ (but it is one piece), here is the two part - XMid 2 - they updated it even more, not much more heavier than the pro2, but again they use trekking poles and I used rocks on the flaps during very heavy storms. Lol. I don't know how to use the storm lines yet. They send them with tent but I never learned how to use it. Though, at 300 price tag and below 2.5 pounds and the space inside, you may wanna check, got my comment removed for link, so had to remove the link. For hammer in hard soils, I used MSR mountaineering one, the link doesn't go through, sorry!

Durston is my vote! I got two tents from them, was thinking to resell one but thinking to keep it if my son starts hiking on his own, so he can keep it. I want to buy the nylon one (two wall tent) next. It would be better for the winter than the one wall tent (XMidPro) that I have I think. But, the quality of their products is great! If the shipping/fees isn't too bad, consider it.