This is an awesome breakdown of what is wrong with pitch problems. I own a Plex solo, just got it, but some of what you said applies to the Plex also, at least the staking correctly part. Never seen someone break it down this way. Excellent! 👍👍👍
This is the first video that shows the actual issues caused by incorrectly pitching. Other videos tell us about having the base square, and I do that as best I can, but that's where it ends. No one has addressed WHY I end up with sides that flop, or why I can't easily open the zipper - I like knowing the WHY!!! I'm a visual learner, so having the video along with your drawings really helped! I'm really enjoying your channel - keep up the great work!
Great video, it really helped me to build a mental image of the "physics" of the tent. Now I should be able to diagnose all problems and fix them. Bravo 👏
Such a great video and explanation Nathan! There are lots of videos out there about this tent, but I think yours might be the first physically describing the pitch and set up on paper. As you already know, this is an outstanding tent but not for the novice user. It takes to learn the 'set up' but once that is achieved, I think many would be hard pressed to use any other tent hence its incredible following.
Thanks Tyler! I was totally the novice user that had such a hard time getting this dialled in. I’m just hoping the pen and paper smooths out the learning curve for other novices.
Best video and tips I've seen so far regarding the X Mid. Many thanks. I've found that once all four pegs are in, I go around and just pull gently on each corner of the fly, and then the tent kinda tells you if the angle is correct by feeling the tension from both side panels. I then relocate the pegs to suit.
There are a couple of ways I know to help get the correct angle on the guy lines to match the seams: 1. Bring super thin titanium shepherd hook stakes. Why? If you use these you can get your fly square by pegging the guy line loops (at the fly) to hold everything at 90°, which lets you set your stakes so they pull the guy lines at 45° at each corner. 2. Choke the guy lines all the way in, and set your stakes. You don't need to keep them close to the ground unless you're pitching in an extreme storm mode, so just loosen them (and adjust the poles) as needed to get whatever gap you want while keeping the ridgeline parallel to the horizon. As a rule you want the highest point of the ground to have the shortest guy line, and this makes that very easy. Also, keep this in mind, you 'hang' these (trekking pole) tents instead of building them from the base like any other type of tent. Set the ridgeline parallel to the horizon, and don't worry about keeping guy lines and trekking poles the same length, they'll all almost certainly wind up being different lengths, and the gap around the bottom of the fly to the ground will vary with terrain. Shortest guy line to the highest point of the ground, and the converse is true.
cool video. I went thru all these struggles at first too. After owning my x-mid pro for 2 years, I've found that getting an easy perfect pitch every time down to a science, and it's very fast. No adjusting lines, poles, nothing, it works the first time, every time. 1. Zip up both vestibules, then Start with a corner.. any corner. Stake it in. Don't worry about angles yet. 2. Now go to the opposite corner. pull it taut until this 2nd (opposite) corner has the perfect 45 degree angle to it's joining sides. The way this geometry works, if you make this 2nd (opposite) corner perfect, then your first corner will now be a perfect 45 degrees by default. 3. Next, go to any 3rd corner. Do the same thing. Stake it down so it's taut and both joining sides are fully tensioned.. If both joining sides are fully tensioned, you have a perfect 45 degree angle. 4. Then go to the 4th (last corner)... and again, pull it taut so both joining sides are fully tensioned. . It's now perfect (by default) because of what you did on the opposite (3rd) corner. 5. Now unzip your vestibules, and insert your first pole.. Raise it as high as the tent will allow, lock it in.. 6. Stake in that side's vestibule (to keep that pole upright while you walk to other side). 7. Insert 2nd pole, raise it as high as it will go 8. Stake in 2nd vestibule. 6. Zip up the vestibules. Boom. Perfect pitch, every time, no adjusting of anything. It took me a year to figure this out, and I've got it on the 1st try every time since. You're welcome. :D Edit: I just realized that this may be easier on the Pro.. as the floor is attached, and there are loops on the outer bathtub to perfectly place your poles in. It may be harder to get that perfect perpendicular vertical on your poles the first try, if your floor isn’t attached. But regardless, if there are any droops or shark fins on your ridgeline, rest assured you’re peg angles are ok… you can correct this by re-positioning the bottoms of your poles by a few inches and re-adjusting height to the highest it will go.
I think that tent is better, although heavier than my X-mid Pro 1. The problem with the super-light Pro tent is that it is too transparent! Not only do I feel exposed while changing clothes in it, the moonlight and sunshine shines right through it, like it isn’t even there. I have to wear an eye mask to be able to sleep. I could really use just a little more opacity.
Yeah, I was surprised at how much light comes through, especially in the winter. I picked mine up before the pro ones even existed but I still think I would go with the double wall if I was buying it even now.
Nice video, I want to save weight - but in the end with all my trekking poles this tent will be heavier than most freestanding tents and I really hate to pitch his tent after a long hike, this tent made of polyester so it doesn't stretch at all, you need completely flat ground for perfect pitching 😞
Informative video, but I would love if you showed exactly how you go about setting it up correctly the first time. The step by step to doing it right the first time. It would have made this a comprehensive “how to durston” video. Just my two cents on an otherwise helpful video.
I probably should have…I’ve just seen soooooo many “perfect pitch” videos I decided to do only the opposite. Maybe I’ll do another one and join the fray one day.
