X-Dome 1+
Pinnacle of Freestanding Tent Design
The X-Dome™ 1+ is a generously sized one person freestanding tent made by combining our unique X-Mid floorplan with a maximally weight and strength efficient pole set design to create unprecedented spaciousness, stormworthiness, and simplicity in an ultralight tent. At just 35 oz (985 g), the X-Dome 1+ is amongst the lightest fully freestanding doublewall tents in the world, while being more spacious, stronger, and more user friendly than comparable tents. It is the ideal shelter for any solo hiker preferring a freestanding tent.
STORMWORTHY
The patent pending X-Dome 1+ achieves improved strength for an ultralight tent through its unique geometry, use of carbon fiber tubing, high tenacity silpoly fabric, and a pole set designed for optimal structural efficiency via larger diameter spine tubing. The result is a highly capable shelter with up to 3x the strength of other ultralight tents.
While you'll probably never need to do this, the X-Dome allows trekking poles to be added to complete the crossbar into a robust extra arch to further increase strength. The poles are added in a unique counter balanced position where they directly support the sidewalls from deflection and provide remarkable rigidity against winds and snow loads.
What matters more to us though than outright strength is "practical stormworthiness" - how liveable the tent is in tough conditions. Here the X-Dome excels with an overhanging doorway (so rain doesn't fall inside), a natural fly first pitch (to keep the interior dry during setup in the rain), 100% polyester fabric (non-sag and dries fast), dual large peak vents (to minimize condensation), and double wall protection. No other ultralight freestanding tent can claim this list.
SPACIOUS
The X-Dome 1+ is a palatial 1P tent with a large floor, outstanding headroom, generous length, and a spacious vestibule. It can fit one person easily with room to spare, and can even squeeze in two adults.
The floorplan is based on the unique parallelogram design of our X-Mid series tents, but with the floor expanded to fill the back vestibule - giving an excellent 23 sq ft (2.15 sq m) of space. This floor widens to a luxurious 50" (1.3 m) at the head end, while the length is 85" when sleeping straight and tall hikers can sleep diagonally for an outstanding 90" of length - all of which is highly useable due to the steep end walls.
The interior volume and headroom is increased by the variable radius pole set which curves the end walls steeper to increase volume, while a cross bar expands the peak height over more of the interior. The interior height of 42" (1.1 m) is generous, 3-5" taller than comparable tents, and extends over a larger portion of the tent. Even on a thick pad, you can sit up anywhere.
Lastly, the vestibule is conveniently positioned beside the main doorway (instead of blocking it like most tents) and has a generous size of 9.2 sq ft that easily fits the largest packs with extra room for cooking, shoes, and wet gear.
SIMPLICITY
Simplicity is a huge focus with our tents because when you are tired at the end of an ambitious day, or rough weather is rolling in, you want a tent that is fast and simple to use.
That starts with the pitch, where the fly, inner, and poles all extend to the same four points so you can pitch the tent in any order. It can pitch fly first to keep the inner tent dry during setup in the rain, but just as easily pitch it inner first to stargaze on clear nights. The X-Dome can pitch with the fly and inner added separately or pre-connected to save time, and it is 100% freestanding without need for any stakes, cords, or guylines (you should always stake your tent but with the X-Dome you can let the conditions determine which ones).
Another big focus was the doorways, which use a crossbar to increase the height and an angled zipper to widen the opening - giving an oversized door for easy entry. The smaller side of the door can be secured with a stake or trekking pole to shelter the vestibule, or rolled back to completely open the tent. All doors secure easily with magnets and the unique floorplan gives a short reach to close the fly door.
The X-Dome also improves your experience with fast dry/non-sag polyester fabric, a fully connected pole set (no pieces to lose or step on), interior hang loops, dual pockets, and a compact footprint that fits onto any tent site.
External Carbon Fiber Poles
The X-Dome uses premium Easton carbon fiber poles which are positioned externally (outside the fly) so the tent can be pitch fly first to keep the interior dry during setup in the rain, but also pitches inner first just as easily for stargazing.
Since the poleset goes to the same 4 corners as the inner and fly, the X-Dome can pitch in any order, with the inner tent combined or added separately, and it is 100% freestanding with no mandatory stakes - including being able to deploy the vestibules without stakes via a trekking pole.
Crossbar + Trekking Poles
The X-Dome poleset uses an integrated cross bar to increase the interior headroom while making the doorway taller (for ease of access) and overhanging (so rain doesn't fall inside).
The crossbar also enables trekking poles to be added to complete the cross bar into a extremely sturdy additional arch. These trekking poles anchor to the bottom of the tent fly where they are counter balanced (angled inwards) to directly support the sidewalls against deflection during storms while giving the X-Dome far higher strength than most other ultralight tents.
High Tenacity Polyester
Unique among ultralight freestanding tents, the X-Dome uses 100% polyester fabric (instead of nylon) because polyester doesn't soak up water, expand and become slow to dry like nylon. With polyester the X-Dome stays lighter, tighter, and dries faster than other tents.
We've been able to create a tent this light while using polyester thanks to a new high tenacity version which offers unprecedented strength for the weight. The 15D polyester used here is comparable in strength to 15D nylon and similar or stronger than most 20D polyester on the market.
Generous Vestibule
The vestibule on the X-Dome 1+ is generously sized (9.2 sq ft / 0.85 m) and positioned beside the doorway (instead of blocking it like most tents) so you can cook or store a backpack in the vestibule while still easily getting in and out of the tent.
The vestibule is also highly versatile. You can protect the area by staking the smaller fly door flap with a tent stake or trekking pole or fully open the fly and the vestibule is still protected by an overhanging awning. The interior can open on both sides to fully open the side of the inner tent and allow excellent vestibule access.
Highly Spacious
As a "1+" sized tent, the X-Dome 1+ is far more spacious than other ultralight 1P tents.
The X-Dome 1+ has a generous 90" of length and a floor that widens to 50" at the head end (you can even squeeze in two pads) plus lofty headroom from the 42" peak height that is preserved over a large portion of the interior.
Backpacker
2025's Standout Tent
"A smart rethinking of the freestanding tent. Reports from the field have been overwhelmingly positive. A leaque of its own compared to other ultralight 1P tents.
Section Hiker
Perfect for Backpacking
"The X-Dome eclipses other popular double-wall freestanding tents. The attention to detail and functionality is remarkable...you’ll quickly come to love it."
QUALITY
In addition to the high performance design, the X-Dome offers exceptional quality. That starts with premium materials including Easton carbon fiber poles which are much more expensive than aluminum poles, but enables substantially higher strength for the weight. Durston has long been a leader in advancing polyester for lightweight tents, so with the X-Dome we are introducing a next generation high tenacity silpoly with unprecedented strength for the weight. This high tenacity silpoly allows us to make a lighter 15D silpoly with strength that is similar or higher than most 20D silpoly.
We take these materials and craft them into the X-Dome at arguably the most experienced tent factory in the world for premium tents. We use advanced construction methods like high precision narrow seams, narrow seam taping, waterproof seam construction, generous double stitching, ample bartacking, and double folded edges.
Overall, the X-Dome 1+ is a truly special freestanding tent. With a weight close to 2 lbs (less than 1 kg) it is among the lightest doublewall freestanding tents while being more spacious, stormworthiness and user friendly than comparable tents. It protects with a fly first pitch and robust structure, comfortably accommodates with class leading interior volume and floor area, and is simple to use with large doorways and a zero stake pitch. The X-Dome 1+ is the ideal freestanding tent for any adventure from Torres del Paine to the Te Araroa.
Customer Reviews
I took my new xdome out just before christmas for 4 days/80 miles in the Scottish Highlands, and i have to say im more than happy. It packs small, only 1kg, and setup takes less than 5 minutes. Once its up its easy to add extra guylines and adjust for a nice tight pitch, but just the poles alone keep it sturdy enough if the winds not too bad. Iv had previous tents that had the option to add trekking poles for additional support but they never quite worked right, usually falling out of place in heavy side winds. But with this the trekking poles angle out so they hold up fantastic in heavy winds, i got battered by 40mph winds on a hill overlooking Loch Ness and the tent didnt budge an inch, and that was using poles for extra side support, but no extra guylines out, so im confident that it could take more weather and still stand tall.
Inside is nice and roomy, the angled floor works and the vestibule is plenty space to store gear or cook when stuck indoors during a storm, which i did 2 of the 4 nights i had it out. Even with the wet and wild weather, wet ground and wet gear inside the tent overnight, i had no condensation in the mornings, the 2 vents worked great. Obviously the outside was wet, but the new Polyester used for the fly really does shed and shake water off as they claim, so much better than nylon. And its easy to pack up too, poles all together and tent itself either stays together or unclips easy to separate.
All in all, and im not kidding, this is the best tent iv ever used.
On a side note, I would love Durston to do a simple Tarp for hammock camping using the new polyester material, it would be lighter than any other on the market with the benefit of poly, and would sell out like most of their gear.
One Happy Camper
Thanks Mike :) Glad you are liking the tent.
- Dan
I wrote a review before of my initial impression setting it up in my backyard. I took it out on a weekend trip on the AT in snow and I’m very happy with my purchase.
Only downside is I have a set of poles affected by the issue of the recall. I don’t know if the below freezing temperatures caused the metal insert to separate from the carbon pole. The only reason I bring that up is because it was fine when setting it up at home. The insert went halfway into the pole and it took a longtime to retrieve the insert.
Only been able to set it up in the living room so far but it looks like a winner. It’s nearly as roomy as my 2p Copper Spur and weighs much less. It’s only half a pound heavier than the Hornet Elite 1p I use for bikepacking and that is a coffin in comparison.
What I like so far:
-Weight
-Very roomy. At 6’2” usually most 1p tents are a squeeze for me.
-Completely freestanding- doesn’t need stakes for vestibules like most tents. Just something to keep it from blowing away.
-magnetic door ties- why don’t others do this?
-Ability to pitch inner while attached to outer will be great for those time I don’t quite beat the rain. My Big Agnes tents can be pitched fly first in a pinch but it is much trickier to do.
-can open and close the vents from inside the rain fly
-Been loving the waterproofness/low stretch of my poly hammock tarps, and can’t wait to have a tent in the material.
Concerns?:
-I know they been out for awhile but I still have concerns about carbon poles, I’ll definitely want to source a “just in case”repair splint of the proper diameter prior to my BWCA travels.
-The footprint is very large for a 1 person tent, but being rectangular compared to hexagonal should allow it to fit in small areas.
-the metal tabs that the pole ends hook into are a tight fit. Might sand them slightly to improve ease of install as suggested.
Looking forward to using this well thought out tent for many upcoming adventures!
I don't have this amazing-looking tent (would have bought it if it were available when I got mine!), but would probably give it a 5-star review if I did. I have the X-Mid 1(5 stars after much use!) with the same problem of setting up the groundsheet, inner tent, and fly separately. I used nail polish of different visible colors on each corner's set of clips to be able to quickly orient that "ball of cloth". You can probably find a friend with some wild colors that'll fit the bill! Keep up the good work, Dan.
I'm delighted to write this review. I've just returned from a night's bivouac in the mountains of the French Pyrenees with the X-Dome 1+ to test it in real life. I weighed it at 980g without pegs and 1040g with 6 MSR mini groundhogs.
So it's a bit lighter than expected. It's without doubt the quickest and easiest tent to put up that I've used in 30 years of mountaineering and expeditions. It's great to be able to move it around with just one hand once it's up and find the flattest spot. The space inside, the height and the surface area of the apse are enormous compared to the tents I was used to. The vertical walls make 90% of the surface usable without touching the ceiling! In the evening the weather was fine, but during the night a very damp freezing fog rolled in. There was some condensation, but the distance between the rain fly and the inner tent was such that the inner mesh remained perfectly dry and nothing dripped directly onto it from the roof. The little straps used to fasten the doors in the open position are attached by magnets, and that's no mean feat, because before it was a real hassle to open and close, but with this model you can do it without even thinking about it. In the morning, the flyer was soaking wet, so I unhooked the inner tent first, out of the fog, and then after storing it in a dry place, I folded the flyer and put it in another bag on the outside of the rucksack. Really great! Now to a point that I think could be improved: I haven't found a way to reduce the space between the ground and the flyer, and this vertical space is important. In the event of rain and wind, it's likely that water would get under the flyer and the inner tent would quickly become damp, even though the bathtub rises 20cm. Even tightening the straps on the pegs will not bring the flyer closer to the ground. Did I miss something? Another little problem: the poles punctured their bag on this very first hike. I haven't yet tested the flyer's waterproofing in heavy rain or its durability on a long-distance walk. So far, my overall assessment is excellent. I can't wait to face even tougher conditions and report back to you then. Thank you for designing this model, where everything has been thought out for a specific reason, dictated by experience in the field. On top of that, the X-Dome look great. Complexity inside simplicity.
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