by dandurston » Fri 07 Sep, 2018 1:56 am
A quick update on timelines:
Production is on track or slightly ahead to meet the April 19 estimated delivery for the first round of X-Mid’s sold in July. The estimated ship date for this second batch is May 20, but that’s quite conservative. The tents are all part of the same production run. The reason for the difference is that the handling/QA/shipping processes take a little time at Massdrop, so the first round of orders will ship out a little bit ahead of the second round of orders. The second round will likely follow a few days later or a week later, not a whole month.
A 2 person is in the works. For an extra 100-150 grams probably(my guess).
Yes it's in the works. I should have the 1st prototype for testing in about 2 weeks. That might go pretty smoothly because a lot of the details carry over from the 1P, but it's hard to say. I might be in a position to do a pre-sale towards the end of the year for the 2P.
The 2P is likely to weigh about 150 grams more (~950 grams). It'll be 48" wide floor, 5" longer than the 1P. I'm pretty excited about it - it'll be a great 2P tent. I expect it'll be simpler to pitch, lighter and more functional that comparable tents out there now (e.g. more functional vents, higher end zippers, better snowshedding, no sag fabric etc). Compared to the popular offerings from TT, it should offer a similarly spacious tent as the StratoSpire 2 but at a weight slightly lighter than the Saddle, and be easier to pitch and more functional than both. The 1P is nice and spacious for 1P though, so I wouldn't hold off for the 2P for a solo hiker unless you really really like space. 1P is awesome, lighter, cheaper and available sooner.
I suspect this will be like the EE Chinese made quilt etc and frequently released throughout the year. You just have to wait for the first release.
As mentioned above, there's a single production run. Once that is sold out, it'll be another long wait for more since most likely once it sells out, then Massdrop would wait a few months until lots more folks are interested, and then they'd do a pre-sale for the next batch. So if you just miss the first batch when it sells out, it could be a year for another one. I expect this first production run will sell out before the tents arrive in the spring, but it's hard to say. By pre-ordering now you'll get it a bit sooner than later orders since there is a but a bit of delay for handling/QA/shipping, so earlier orders ship out a bit sooner.