Durston X-Mid 2 vs Katadyn BeFree

“I have an x mid 2. It’s a fine tent. Not great, not even close. Just…ok/fine and here’s why. There are quality issues with Durston products. The linelocks on my tent don’t stay taught in even the lightest breeze - they snap and ruin the pitch. I had to stack a ton of rocks on it to keep them from snapping and releasing tension. Doing so caused core shots in the line after night 3 of using the tent. I find the x mid to be a pain to pitch in anything but perfect conditions because of this. People say it’s faster, but in anything but perfect conditions I disagree. I will agree that it’s faster to take down though.  Durston was responsive which is great - but so are a lot of other companies (big angnes comes to mind). They refunded my iron wire purchase and had me replace the stake out points myself. And it works better, but I still have the same problem from time to time.  The Xmid has cool features and in perfect conditions is great, but rarely are conditions perfect. Overall I’m mildly disappointed - based on hype, reputation, and following I expected a product that didn’t break immediately.  Otherwise the tradeoffs in features (not including weight) were minimal for me (my other tent is a copper spur). A little less headroom/storage but that doesn’t really bother me cuz there are other features I like about the Xmid (magnets, zippers).  Not disappointed there, for me it was all about lack of quality.  With that being said, I’ll still use the tent when every ounce counts, but it definitely isn’t close to being my favorite piece of gear. My copper spur is a workhorse and I like it better because it’s reliable and able to be pitched wherever however. But I don’t always want/need to haul the weight around. FWIW I take the tent for the conditions I’m in and the trip I’m having.”

“I live in an area with tough water sources and everyone I’ve ever known that used a BeFree clogged their filter and had it die a very early death. I would never buy any filter you could not back flush. I think they’re shitty but just my opinion based on the four or so I’ve seen fail.”