Durston X-Mid Pro 2 Review: The Best Trekking-Pole Shelter Yet

Trekking-pole shelters usually ask you to accept something: a pole in the doorway, a fussy pitch, or a floor plan that only works if both occupants sleep perfectly still. The X-Mid Pro 2 asks for almost nothing except money.

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Our verdict

Durston X-Mid Pro 2

4.9/5

The best trekking-pole shelter we've used. If you already carry poles and can stomach the price, nothing else gets this much space this light.

$700

Check price at Amazon· $700

What worked

• 19 oz for a true two-person shelter
• Offset pole geometry means no pole in the doorway
• Pitches taut on the first try, even in the dark
• Two doors and two vestibules

What didn't

• Dyneema price
• Single-wall condensation on still, humid nights

Weight

19.0 oz (with stakes: 22.6 oz)

Fabric

Dyneema Composite, 0.55 oz/sqyd

Floor area

27.5 sqft

Peak height

45 in

Doors

2

The pitch

The offset rectangular geometry is the whole trick. Stake four corners, raise two poles, and the canopy comes up taut without the guess-and-check re-staking that most flat-tarp pyramids demand. We pitched it fourteen times, twice by headlamp in wind, and never had to reset a corner.

Weather

A sustained 30 mph night above treeline in the Winds is the hardest test we gave it. The low ridgeline shed the gusts and the fabric did not flap itself loose. Dyneema does not stretch when wet, so the pitch you set at dusk is the pitch you wake up in.

Condensation

It is a single-wall shelter, and physics still applies. On a still, humid night by water we wiped down the inner face in the morning. The offset doors vent well when there is any moving air at all; the optional inner mostly solves the brush-against-it problem.

Verdict

Nineteen ounces, two doors, room to sit up and cook in the vestibule. The price is the only real objection, and it is a big one.