Drop + Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent Discussions | Drop

Sep 7, 2019

onedaycamperThanks for the feedback. Indeed there is some delay to orient the vent struts when packing up the tent. I'd love to eliminate them but I can't think of a way to have similarly useful vents without struts, and removing them before packing up the tent (and reinserting later) seems like more hassle than aligning them when rolling the tent up. Perhaps the vent struts are less or more of an inconvenience depending on how someone is packing up the tent. Without a consistent system in place, I could see unsuspectingly running into them being annoying. When packing up the tent, I grab a peak in either hand and fold the tent in half to place the two peaks together. Then I fold it several more times in that orientation to give a long narrow shape read to roll and the peaks (and vent struts) and one end. I encounter the vent struts almost right away when I start rolling the tent, and normally it works well to give them a little twist as I roll so they are lined up with the roll. It is an inconvenience but I think a small one and less hassle than removing them and keeping track. I'm not aware of anyone damaging their tent via the vent struts but I can see it happening if they were misaligned and someone was forceful. I damaged a TarpTent once from one of the longer corner struts when it caught on the mesh as I packed it. I don't think it's possible to break the struts though. I've tried and they can be bent a bit (and bent back) but I couldn't manage to break one when trying. I agree more color options would be nice. The trouble is that the price improves with volume, so keeping the tent to one color improves the price of that fabric and thus keeps the price down (along with other things like not having a big retail markup). It's probably not a big difference but if we had two colors it might be $210 each instead of $200. It might be worth doing. I like the current sage color but agree that it would be nice to have it a bit darker. That would blend in better. If we did have a second color it would probably make sense to offer a brighter shade since many folks like bright tents like reds for various reasons. So we could probably have one color that is forest-neutral-subtle but probably not too as this point (dark green, camo).

(Edited)

Sep 7, 2019

dandurstonDan, as always, many thanks for the reply and all information you provide. I fully understand your considerations, so I simply wait for next year to buy a backup copy (yeah, I am a backup everything guy :-) ). Just one note about the struts "reinserting later seems like more hassle" -- you are assuming someone inserting them back as common routine which does not have to be true. Someone can wait until one has to use them -- and this makes a difference. I don't vote for eliminating them, no :-) Just for ability to have them removable (by user). I don't know how other users pack their tents, but I put a lot of force to it to make my pack small (to fit within my bike, between handlerbar and tire). So having 100% safe-rolling tent would be a relief (this is my most precious equipment :-) ). The colors you mention and price look great for me, but of course you see big picture so you know better when to switch to lower volume per version. Dan, best wishes!

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Sep 7, 2019

onedaycamperYou raise a good point about the benefits of removable struts if someone is often not going to use them (e.g. wouldn’t re-insert every time). If I get the opportunity to re-open this design and make some tweaks, I’ll see if there’s a elegant way to do that which doesn’t add weight. A little Velcro flap might do it.

Sep 7, 2019

dandurstonI wholeheartedly thank you Dan for such tweak in advance, it would change already great tent in a bombproof one, and for me personally... Well I love such things, because of two reasons: you can fully trust them no matter if it is raining, or it is dark, you are tired and you make "stupid mistake", etc and secondly because such product saves your wallet against bad luck :-). Once again thank you very much, and I look for it for sure :-).

Sep 7, 2019

dandurstonJust a late thought maybe you will find it helpful. Instead of making just a strut removable from its "pocket" make removable pocket with the strut inside. Since the vent already closes/opens with help of velcros, the tent itself is ready for modification. The only missing part is detachable (i.e. with velcros) pocket with strut inside. Thus attaching them would be far more trivial then inserting strut inside the pocket -- open vent, attach strut pocket to velcros. The downside is they would be easier detachable (for users who prefer having them like fixed), but carrying them would be as straightforward as carrying pegs for the tent. Just thinking aloud :-) I am silent now :-).

(Edited)

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Sep 8, 2019

dandurstonAnother thought for color -- I saw several times pages at Massdrop when some product had base level price, but one could pay some more and get extras. This comes with realization on its own, that for some included pegs are OK, and for some (like me) -- not; for various reasons (me: too difficult to pack). So combining both, maybe it could be presented as:

bare tent with default color for $A
add pegs for extra $B
non-default color for extra $C

Assuming $A is less than $200 it would be even sweeter deal than it was originally, one could go completely minimal, one could select all possible options, and one like me could select bare tent with extra color ($A+$C). And it could even more financial advantage over competition. I truly hope my twisted ideas will end soon :-) All the best Dan!

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Sep 8, 2019

onedaycamperI did consider making the entire strut removable (e.g. with Velcro at both ends) but didn’t because I was worried people might lose them, which would’ve annoying for them and a hassle for us shipping replacements. So a removable strut would be great but at least one end would need to be attached really well so it would never come off accidentally. Imagine if one came off while packing up the tent and then went flying when you opened the tent next and threw it out. I’d love to have a few versions of the tent (e.g. with or without stakes, two colors etc). Could also have solid vs mesh inners, lightweight vs regular hardware etc. The trouble with that is that Drop is a big and growing company and they really to keep things simple so their logistics are easy. A few versions doesn’t sound hard but imagine how complex it would be if it happened for all their products. Their niche is keeping things simple to get a great price. So it needs to be a really good reason to add another variant. People were asking for a $5 cheaper no stake version, but Drop said the logistic costs of having two versions would more than negate the cost savings so they couldn’t do it cheaper. So maybe 2 colours will happen down the road, or maybe we’ll switch the colour to something else (I’d like a bit darker personally). If this tent was from a small (and expensive) company that would be do-able whereas here it’s more important to find a single version that works for most, if we can. If I get the chance to update this design I’ll see about making the struts removable.

dafra

Sep 9, 2019

onedaycamperUnder what conditions would you not open the vents? I can only think of realy high wind speeds (storms). I keep my vents open almost every day and can not imagine a lot of places where you have that high wind speeds regularily. Patagonia was windy, but even there I kept vents open. High mountains are not that bad most of the time. Sorry if this is off topic.

Sep 9, 2019

dafraGot pics of the X-Mid in Patagonia? :)

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