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Dark sage! We have updated the color for the UltraGrid Kakwa to a new dark sage color as part of today’s release of the Kakwa 55.

This color update builds off of our “2026 update” a few months ago where we added a lumbar pad, stronger hipbelt and more internal capacity while keeping the weight unchanged through further improvements in design efficiency.

These packs are in stock now in almost all versions and should be available for at least a few weeks, but we definitely underestimated the level of interest in the Kakwa so some sizes will be sold out intermittently this summer.

- Dan Durston

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#durston #kakwa #ultralightbackpacking #pacificcresttrail #appalachiantrail

Dan visits DAC tent pole maker in South Korea so the X-Dome 1+ can take on their wind tunnel and push this ultralight tent to the limit.

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@jakelahbrand #ultralightbackpacking #hillwalking #bushwalking #durston #backpacking

New laser cutter for the Durston design studio

Thanks for your support with our release of the X-Dome 1+. We are looking forward to seeing them on your adventures all over the world. A special shout out to Germany, who who represented really strongly yesterday.

#durston #ultralightbackpacking #pacificcresttrail #appalachiantrail #hillwalking #xdome

For those who have been waiting, our long awaited January release of the X-Dome 1+ is now live on our site (see link in bio).

We apologize it’s taken so long to get everyone a tent. Increasing production while maintaining quality takes time, but we are excited to have this new batch of the X-Dome 1+ available as our largest batch yet.

We aren’t sure how long these tents will last, but we think we will be able to get everyone a tent today and hopefully we can keep them in stock for some time.

Updates for this batch include guyline now being included (in a new sage green color), additional seam taping, and a tougher stuff sack material.

Feel free to ask questions about the X-Dome in the comments and thanks to our awesome supporters for their feedback, ideas, critiques and passion.

It’s an honor to receive the gold award from Bikepacking.com for their best overall piece of camping gear in 2025.

We are passionate about designing gear that we hope enables better adventures through being simpler, lighter, and more functional. It’s very rewarding to see the amazing adventurers at Bikepacking.com appreciating this. They write:

“It’s clear that Durston reimagined the one-person tent with the X-Dome 1+, offering unmatched interior space, huge headroom, and a genuinely useful, gear-swallowing vestibule. Its modular design, fly-first pitching, and “mullet” setup add flexibility while remaining light and impressively storm-worthy. And at $379 USD, it undercuts most ultralight rivals and feels like an outstanding value. It might even be safe to say that the X-Dome 1+ goes well beyond the best tent of this year.”

Thank you @bikepackingcom for the award.
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#bikepacking #ultralightgear #greatdivideroute #bikepacker #durston #xdome

X-Mid Pro 1 on the Tour de Mont Blanc

Photo by @thewelshnomad
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#durston #xmid #ultralightbackpacking #thruhike #tourdemontblanc #tmb #hiking #backpacking

Back in spring 2018 on a soccer field is where the first X-Mid was pitched.

Dan and T Durston had recently finished their 2300 km yo-yo thruhike of the Great Divide Trail. During that hike Dan had the idea for the X-Mid shape, and so after a winter of drawing and tinkering, the first prototype tent was ready.

It was a fascinating experience to pitch the X-Mid for the first time and find out if the ideas in my head translated into the real world. I was expecting to notice the improved headroom from the dual pole structure, but didn’t expect other key X-Mid benefits such as the vestibules being conveniently located beside the doorway instead of blocking it, and the fly doors being easier to close because of the shorter reach.

It’s been an amazing journey from these humble roots on soccer fields, hiking trails, and web forums into the company we are today, and we remain grateful and connected to the ultralight hiking community that helped us forge this path. At Durston we aren’t professionals at anything, but we are extremely passionate gear nerd hikers that love making gear we think works better through being simpler, lighter, and more functional. We try to make the best gear we can, and then we love the feedback, criticism, and support from the community that helps shape it into even better gear.

Today we are celebrating these cottage gear roots through the 2025 Cottage Gear Giveaway put on by @backpackermag and @garagegrowngear. The giveaway includes over $20k in free gear from small brands like us. In particular, we’ve contributed a free Kakwa 55 backpack.

Please use the link in bio to join this free giveaway and also we’d love if you connected to our awesome Durston Gearheads user communities on Facebook and Reddit.

Thanks for your support,
Dan Durston
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#durston #xmid #ultralightbackpacking

Thanks for an amazing 2025 backpacking season.

#ultralightbackpacking #pacificcresttrail #appalachiantrail #hiking #durston #backpacking #thruhike

The 2026 Kakwa 55 is here.

#Ultralightbackpacking #pacificcresttrail #appalachiantrail #hiking

Any tent works great when the weather is so nice you don’t need a tent.

That’s why we design our tents for when the weather isn’t great. A key part of that is having our tents naturally pitch fly first, so the interior stays dry even if you have to set up in the rain.

With a traditional tent the interior connects to the pole structure and pitches first, while the fly is added last so they are incapable of pitching fly first unless you have extra parts or special techniques. With our tents we do the opposite and have the fly connect to the structure, so the fly goes up first and easily. Then the interior can be easily added after from inside, or just left connected for an even faster all in one setup.

Uniquely, our inner tents are also capable of connecting to the structure for an inner first pitch, so whichever order you want to pitch it, the X-Mid and X-Dome can do it simply and intuitively to keep you prepared for any conditions.

Photo by @frauki
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#xmid #xdome #durston #ultralightbackpacking #thruhike #hiking #wilderness_culture

The Great Divide Trail is our backyard and North America’s wildest thruhike. It runs for 700 miles / 1100 through the Canadian Rockies backcountry and should be on the hike list for anyone who values big intact wilderness where you can hike for days without seeing another person.

Here, Dan Durston is using a Kakwa 55 backpack while refining an alternate route of the GDT over Coral Pass and then doing a packrafting first descent of Cadorna Creek.

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@gdtassociation #greatdividetrail #continentaldividetrail #thruhike #durston #kakwa #hillwalking #ultralightbackpacking