I have only seen pictures of the plus, but there should be a grommet as far as I can see. Up date when you hear from SMD please, I am curious to hear how they handle this.
I just set my SMD deshutes plus tarp up for the first time and I noticed I did have A gromit to put the end of my trek pole into at the bugnet.
I also noticed some sewing errors on this tarp which was nothing major just sloppy work,I need to seam seal it as I can also see daylight through some of the stiching at stress points.
I ordered this tarp as an upgrade from my SMD scout tent and to save weight etc.
But I think I am going to look at light heart gear next time for my tent.]
Seems SMD is slacking on there workmanship as of latley.
Forgot to respond to this.. I contacted SMD, and they were very apologetic about forgetting the grommet. I was going to try to send it in before a trip I went on this past weekend, but it wouldn't have been enough time to ship it back to the East Coast. I took it on my trip anyway, and used a rock to hold the mesh down. Not ideal, but it worked. I'm going to send it back to them in the next few days, and they'll add the grommet and send it back for free. Overall, great customer service from SMD.Originally Posted by archie
Anyone else find the Deschutes to be a little close-quartered? I'm just over 6' tall, and the foot of my quilt was touching the side walls even with the exterior side walls guyed out. Not too much clearance for my face. Pretty heavy condensation, but that was mainly due to the fact that there was zero wind the first night, and then snow the second night.
I myself have not noticed that in the deshutes plus shelter,or are you talking about the plain deshutes,(either way I think the specs are the same).
I just had mine out on an overnight and was the first time I took it out and was quite happy with it.
I myself thought there was plenty of room for me and my pitbull pooch .
We stayed completely dry all night even with the shelter set high(at 49 inches).
It was quite A rain storm in the middle of the night but my shelter kept us completely dry.
I again am only 5"8 so that mifght have something to do with me having more room but I am happy with mine and the amount of room.
I find it quite roomy though I am only 5'7". I also have not slept under it in the outdoors, only in the basement. If it ever warms up I will test it out on the trail.
"Seems SMD is slacking on there workmanship as of latley."
I agree with this statement, based on some shelters I have seen over the past year. Plus it is not technically "their" workmanship, but an overseas manufacturer. I would also say their quality control is lacking.
Again, this is just my opinion, based on shelters I have seen, online testimony and a personal experience. I know a lot of people are happy with their SMD products . . . to each his own.
follow up a year later:
I have used the Deschutes maybe 50 nights, including a Colorado Trail thru. I find it quite roomy if it is pitched correctly and especially roomy if the extra tie outs are used. I am only 5.7 so keep that in mind.
the pitch is easy, but getting it perfect is quite finicky but that holds true with most shelters of this type. if Im not too fussy I can get it set up in under two minutes with ease, and have done it much quicker with hail and thundersnow threatening.
I find it very weatherproof for this style of shelter and have weathered some very harsh storms and stayed very dry. As with all tarps, site selection, proper pitch and a little trial and error are helpful but there really is pretty good coverage all the way around.
The quality of the materials is good, but the workmanship and design have several minor issues I feel are flaws. stitching mistakes, loose threads, unraveling threads etc are numerous, but are easily repaired with seam seal. the storm fly on the zipper is poorly designed or made and is next to impossible to operate without getting the zipper snagged. I may cut the flap off as extreme care must be used while zipping and unzipping. The storm door attachment using the prusik is fine, but the hook and loops that are used to connect the doors to the line are difficult to use at best. I made this work a little better by using two small d rings but it is something that should be redesigned.
I emailed SMD about the minor defects and received no response, which seems typical for this company in recent years
Overall I am happy with the tarp. I will continue to use it as I think it is a good value and a good shelter. I would be upset if it was a much more expensive cuben tarp and had all these little issues and no customer service, but for 135.00 I think its a great lightweight SIL tarp.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote