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Yes I misspoke and corrected with text on the screen-- my pitch required 7 stakes (4 corners, 2 peaks, plus headroom cantilever). Thanks for watching!

Very glad to hear that it worked for you in those conditions!

Aw man I must have missed that! Didn't know to look for it and was kind of overwhelmed by the beauty!

Here's hoping that his appreciation leads to a change of heart as relates to drilling the hell out of our wild lands. The environments I enjoy sharing, and the greater planet at large, sure could use an ally in the nation's highest office!

I've seen that their newer packs are using a different system for the vertical pieces but I'm not sure whether the horizontal components are the same or different.

Thanks for taking the time to write about your experience! Color me jealous of your assessment, given that I had such a different experience!! Chalk it up as yet another data point among a constellation of others which all demonstrate the specificity and importance of personal experience and preference. May I ask your height? Also were your hikes mostly in prime-season / direction? Or were you sobo or otherwise discordant with "the bubble?" I'm mostly asking in case future comment-crawlers want to compare our experiences. I'm 5'11" and hiked all three trails northbound without skips/flips, more or less during peak start-time (AT: Feb 19-Jul 25 2021, CDT: Apr 3-Sept 2 2022*, PCT: Apr 4-Sept 13 2023). My thought process is perhaps if you were off-season or otherwise discordant, you may have found more space(s) at campsites. As a matter of personal curiosity, what's your trail name? Did you go through the Sierra in '22? Did you skip/flip/return? Either way, I am thrilled that you are pleased with your tent, and definitely appreciate your comment! * Full Disclosure: My CDT thru-hike did include what some may reasonably consider a "skip," though I would call it an alternate. I opted to diverge from the "official" CDT in order to extend my time in Yellowstone and see Jackson, Big Sky, Bozeman, Spanish Peaks, Grand Tetons, and Gros Ventre, before rejoining the CDT near Butte. My final CDT distance was 2,711.0mi.

@@travelinbeat thank you for your reply. I 100% agree that gear is very specific to each individual. What works for one may not work for another and our examples are evidence of that. I'm 5'10" and I have found that the extra couple of inches of interior space in the X-Mid have been the difference in not getting wet foot boxes or my head brushing against the tent wall. It didn't happen all the time in the Duplex. I'm going to guess it happened 25% of the time and 0% of the time in the X-Mid. For me, it was just a minor inconvenience and was quickly remedied by drying out gear at some point in the day. My 2022 and 2024 PCT hikes were in 'prime time'. Started 4/16/22 and 4/10/24. I found myself in the bubble for a good duration of each hike. In 2022, we had to skip a good portion of Oregon due to forest fires. I remember going through Trout Lake in 2022 and there were 105 hikers in Trout Lake in early August, compared to the usual 30-40 hikers the Trout Lake General Store saw. In 2022, Sierra was actually devoid of most of the snow. We were consistently doing 21-22 miles a day thru the Sierra. I entered the Sierra on 6/6/22 and we didn't need spikes or an ice axe. In 2024, I entered the Sierra on 5/28 and we averaged about 13-14 miles a day due to snow travel. I was there during peak melt. In 2024, I didn't have to skip but I left the trail near Mammoth due to river crossings being too much of a risk. We watched rescue helicopters going over us every single day in the Sierra. My Colorado Trail thru hike in 2023 started on July 1st and finished July 27th. Everywhere I pitched the Duplex in 2023 I'm confident that I could have easily pitched the X-Mid with no issues due to footprint. I found the 'fear mongering' about this on the PCT to be just that. In reality, it worked just fine. Is there a better tent out there for me other than the X-Mid Pro2? Maybe, maybe not. As I stated earlier, I have found the tent to outperform the Duplex. That has been my personal experience. BTW, I have really enjoyed your CDT videos. Very helpful information and great imagery. I'm considering a NOBO Thru Hike of the CDT in mid April of 2025. We'll see if that happens.

I finished the AT by summitting Katahdin on July 24th and did not need to get back out any of my cold weather gear. I only used my 0deg sleeping bag at the beginning and used my 20deg quilt for the majority of that trail.

@travelinbeat did you feel you needed the 0⁰ in the beginning? I run hot so I was thinking of using a 20⁰ the whole way with a liner and sleeping pad with r4 value.

@j.me.0311 I was very happy to have my 0deg from the beginning, as overnight lows routinely dipped into the low teens. Honestly though the conditions may be different in a different year and certainly our physiologies may differ as well. If you're also carrying any insulated clothing, that too may be slept in to help ameliorate acutely chilly evenings. Fwiw, most folks don't get 0deg bags, I think 20deg is much more common.

I know!!! I would buy another camo IMMEDIATELY if/when they become available!! I've asked Zpacks several times over the past few years-- they say that the camo was having way more problems with delamination, and has said that they would love to carry camp again and thelat they think they're close to re-releasing them... But who knows!! If you're into the camo, I'd definitely encourage you to shoot them an email and help me advocate! So glad you enjoyed this video, let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to help!!

For this video I deliberately chose to pitch both tents in the method I most commonly deployed. It's worth noting that the Xmid requires one part of the vestibule to be pitched in order to provide tension on the trekking pole / ridgeline. The Duplex achieves this tension with a guyline rather than a panel. Regarding your accusation of bias ("A preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment")-- I hiked over 1,000mi with the Xmid Pro 2, and over 6,000mi with the Duplex prior to making this video. I suppose its all just as well that one man's experience/ informed opinion is another man's bias (though the logical result of this line of reasoning is to discount out of hand the opinion of anyone who has experience... which I suspect would more often lead to frustration than satifacory insights). I've said it before and I'll say it again that I would very much preferred to love the ~$700 xmid that I bought, but I did not. No skin off my back should you ignore my opinion, but I would be very interested to hear from you about your experience with each of these tents. What distance have you covered with each tent and on what types of surfaces did you pitch them? How crowded were the trails that you traveled and campsites at which you camped? How frequently did you pitch each tent on established and manicured vs backcountry campsites?

Aww awesome!! I'm sure that'll be a fun trip!! When I was growing up I remember lots of girls being jealous (with good reason!) that boyscouts always went camping and girls outside didn't so much-- very glad to hear that that has changed! Have a fantastic trip!!

Sounds abundantly practical! There was pretty much no one out there when I was out-- VERY unusual for autumn in SNP!

Hey Smiles, great to hear from you!! What's next for you, anything planned / in the works?

Thank you!!

Hey, thanks, Jeffrey,great to hear from you! Thanks so much for checking it out and saying hi!

Hey Robin! Yeah I was expecting a 2-nighter, but the fates had other plans. For not much better than merely staying afloat can hope a cork in the ocean.

Thanks, Pearl! Yes, echoing through my head the past decade or so has been the apocryphal Chinese curse, at least as horrifying now as ever, "May you live in interesting times." What I love most about the woods and mountains is their abject indifference toward human tribulation. I find it easier to stay calm among the standing people.

​@travelinbeat agreed! been trying to get back to walking the parks myself to escape the disappointment of civilization. in fact, took my dogs walking the other day to be one with nature and it felt good 😊

Hey thanks you so much!! Yeah every now and then I think it's happy to return to the woods and let them work their magic (I'm kinda picturing the "Slide" penguin from "Fight Club!!")

Hey Money, great to hear from you! I am not one to close the door on any possibility, but in all honesty a repeat of the AT is not very high on my list right now. If I were forced (allowed?) to select any of the "Big Three" to repeat right now, it would probably be the CDT (especially now that I have already returned to the Sierra). So thrilled to hear that you will be embarking soon!! Please please hit me up on IG, I'll get you my number and I'd LOVE to link up once you're in my neck of the woods!! (Northern VA, Harper's Ferry)

A second Nijmegen vierdaagse but a second CDT is a good alternate 😉

Thanks, Paulie and Bill! I wasn't expecting any call for at least couple of days, so once I did my part with voting, I figured I may as well just skip off to the woods and let the counters count and the bloviaters bloviate.

Thanks, Greg, great to hear from you, thanks for chiming in!

That said, we switched to an off-set Trio for the CDT this year. Zippers were fine. So were the magnet toggles.

Thanks for sharing, and congrats on the 2 trails! AT next year?

Awesome! Pie-man, thanks so so much for checking in, I love hearing from folks, especially accomplished hikers!! PNT must have been increbile-- I only ever crossed it in pieces at the northern termini of bith the CDT and PCT, but if those areas are any indicator, I can only imagine that that trail must be incredible! Thanks so much again for commenting and watching, I appreciate your kind words and I hope that you're finding what you're looking for in these videos!

Hey, Doc!! Great to hear from you!! So glad you found the channel and got to hear the shoutout!

Thanks for your view and comment! I have not used either of the 1person versions of these tents, so I can't speak to that too much. I will say that I hiked with a guy who had the non-dyneema Durston and that seemed far superior to my Dyneema version on account of the slight stretch which allows for more give / wiggle room in the pitch angles. Regarding the design, I believe you may be onto something-- certainly the angles and geometry of the Xmid is more creative and allows for more headroom. Speaking strictly in terms of design, I can agree that the Durston seems far more considered and thoughtful. That said, in my experience, I found it to be perhaps over-engineered, as its rigid material and demanding angles frequently conspired, along with its massive footprint, to prove far more burdensome and limiting than real-world conditions could handle. Just about every night I pitched it I found myself longing for the compactness and simplicity of the Duplex. Obviously a ton of this is personal preference, but as I say at the end of this video, I believe that for any of the "Big Three" trails, the Duplex is certainly a superior tent. For use-cases other than these trails, perhaps my calculus would change, but given the daily exhaustion during a thru-hike, the relatively low-wind of these trails, the frequently crowded tentsites of these trails, and a preponderance of wonky / unlevel tentsites, I would certainly value the flexibility and simplicity of the Duplex over the Xmid Pro2. Again though, totally valid that reasonable people could reasonably disagree.

Thanks!

I'm 5'11"-- pretty average. The long axe was clutch in the San Juans and Sierra. Longer handle/ straight shaft axes are typically used by hikers as this design facilitates more comfortable / frequent use when slicing across a traverse. I frequently used it in self-arrest grip almost as a cane in my up-slope hand, with my up-slope trekking pole stowed in my pack. Curved / shorter iceaxes can be more useful to climbers

@@travelinbeat I've only ever used straight or relatively straight ones, mountaineering. Have never done snow travel backpacking and am less inclined now that I realize your JMT hike was prolly better. Besides, most folks are young and fast and that's not me. I'm all about the experience. Didn't realize you were so tall so that makes sense. I really appreciated you expressing gratitude for Daphne in the CDT vlog. Partners are priceless!

I looked into these when building my prefilter but wound up going for a much, much finer mesh in an effort to screen out even more particles

@@travelinbeat Yah, I realized it wasn't fine enough after posting that comment. If I were back in Portland I'd be able to find such a mesh but am lost here in Sandy Eggo. I've never used a Sawyer but want to try it out on my next leg to compare to BeFree. Waitin' for the temps at Whitewater to drop. Supposed to be 40c twice in the next week!

I've seen millions of reviews that discuss the noise level of the pad. I can honestly say it has absolutely never been an issue for me. Counting the warranty replacements, etc, I have used 3 different NeoAir X-therm pads and now use the updated version, X-Therm NXT, and all of them have been excellent. I should say two other things: 1) I use earplugs most nights, and 2) Again, other have complained about the noise. Having stated those 2 things though, the noise has 100% never been an issue for me and frankly the pad has so many other slam-dunk / A+ qualities that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. I've slept on snow many, many, many times w this pad and a 0deg sleeping bag and been perfectly warm and happy. The pad's a beast and I have no reason to even consider replacing it.

@@travelinbeat thank you for the detailed response. I look forward to buying one.

I *LOVE* the Mtn Hardware Phantom 0deg sleepingbag!! On every hike I've used it for, there are numerous clips in which I gush on my love for this sleeping bag!! If you need / want a 0deg, I would 100% recommend this one, I LOVELOVELOVE mine!

@@travelinbeat Good to hear. I should've been more specific: Was a 0 degree bag necessary in '23 or would a 15 degree suffice? I've never done high water crossing and am wary so that rules out a June start month from KMS. Am less and less inclined to do the 'secret season' (May start month. I think before I start on WA I'll flip down from OR and do a July start so I can enjoy the views of that time of year.

Finishing your hike next year is awesome, congrats!! I've come to anticipate these hand blisters / calluses-- Luckily they're really not painful or anything, just kinda part of the process. Not sure I've seen that snowboarding video-- sounds terrifying!! I can't recall whether or not I was aware of the hiker behind me that morning, but I would have to assume I would have just turned off, slowed down, and let them pass if I had been aware.

Thanks!! Sorry to hear of your lousy experience!

Nice!! Yeah I was back and forth for a WHILE as to whether or not to make the attempt for sunrise and I couldn't be happier that I did! I frequently find myself thinking: "It only has to suck once, and then it's cool forever." Thanks for sharing your experience!

They're great-- they really made me feel special to take take time out of their lives to meet up!

Oh man it was terrific!

I think I lost about 8lb, so not too much! I think I wound up getting the same thing you had-- but just like you, it didn't stop me!

Thanks, Martin! Good call, it does look familiar now that you say it!

Hey Neesh, thabjs so much, great to hear from you!! Looks like you posted your wellwishing on my birthday itself (Sept16)! When you're good, you're good!!

Thanks, GT!!

Looking forward to it, Anne! Always a pleasure having you along!

Absolutely!!

Thanks so much, Allen!!

Thanks for watching and commenting!!