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Showing 1 of 181 reviews about:
Drop X-Mid 2P Tent Designed by Dan Durston
Tall_John
28
Sep 11, 2021
checkVerified Buyer
Two year review
I wanted to wait before I reviewed the tent. I have had a few minor issues with it, but overall I'm very happy with the purchase.
The tent seems very durable despite its light construction. I have loaned the tent out to some GDT hikers and it still looks brand new with out any wear when they had completed their two sections.
The first trip I took it on was in a remote alipne bowl (in an attempt of a first ascent of a couple peaks). Winds were forecasted 40-60 kph gusts, but as most know, in the alpine this can be a different story. Soon after setting up and bedding down for my big day the next morning, the winds picked up. The tent shook so violently that I could not sleep. The tent strings would slip in their clasps every few gusts. I would get out of the tent to tighten all the points. This happened about 10 times over 4 hours. Finally at midnight the cords gave way. A corner cord and the upwind guy cord literally snapped in half. The entire tent blew down with me inside. Hurriedly I found my way out and packed up my tent, made my way under a near full moon to treeeline and found a sheltered location to sleep the rest of the night. I packed up, exhausted after the previous night, and abandoned my summit attempts the next morning. I estimate the gust were 80-100 kph when the blowdown occurred.
Since then Dan has updated the cord to a thicker type than the original 1.5mm. I went a step further and swapped it all for Lawson ironwire. Dan even personally offered to send my some which was a very kind gesture (I purchased it myself).
I also upgraded the four corner Shepard hooks with ti V stakes, also included in the more recent production runs.
The tent itself has kept me bone dry, even if I touch the inner to the fly. I'm 6'3 and in my old MEC Tarn 3 my foot box would be soaked if I contacted the inner to the outer. The 2p is a great tent for us tall folk.
My main gripe:
If I am base camping I need to either pack up the tent, bring a second set of poles, or Jimmy rig it flat with the risk of pooling water on it should a suprise storm hit. I did this on my last hike, a suprise storm did hit. Much to suprise my sleeping bag was still dry despite the pooled water on the tent. Still not something I want to get into the habit of. I may need to invest in some custom fiber poles.
Not so much a fault of this tent, but pole tents in general.
While I would not recommend the tent for a gusty alpine bivy, it's great for nearly all other purposes. It has a large footprint, but that footprint is room in the tent for your boots and bag. I LOVE the room it provides under the fly.
Thanks Dan for the awesome tent.
(Edited)
Recommends this product? Yes
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Nov 14, 2021
Tall_JohnThanks for the review John. Glad the tent is working out well.
NilsL
2
Nov 22, 2021
dandurstonIn windy conditions - is it somehow possible to pitch it with the poles shortened, thus achieving a lower profile but still with a taut fly? I guess condensation would be worse but maybe shouldn’t be a problem given the wind?
(Edited)
dandurston
5116
Dan Durston
Nov 22, 2021
NilsLIf you pitch it with the corner cords as short as possible then the edges of the tent will sit almost right on the ground. So you can get it that low, but you can't get it even lower than ground level or the tent wouldn't be tight.
The next batch of the 2p will have additional side panel guyouts that help in high winds
NilsL
2
Nov 22, 2021
dandurstonSounds reasonable. 😊 Thanks for your quick reply!
(Edited)
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