Deschutes Ultralight Backpacking Tarp

My favorite shelter

Hands down my favorite shelter. I have other more expensive full tent options, but this thing rocks. I’m 6’ 1.5” and fit at a slight angle without needing to use the head or foot guy outs.

Just in case tent

Only used once so far, but this is a great little bike packing shelter for the southwest. Crunches up tiny enough to fit in my handlebar harness with the rest of my sleep system.

Good, but Durability?

I already own the Lunar Solo, which has a very similar design in many ways. I love my Lunar Solo and have used it pretty extensively in lots of different conditions, with great success. The only problem with that general design is that it requires pretty even ground to achieve a taut pitch, but that's a common issue with trekking pole tents. I haven't used my Deschutes out in the field yet, but I was a bit disappointed that it lacks a lot of the reinforcement features that the Lunar Solo has at the apex. This is a critical and high-wear area of the tarp, and I'm at a loss to understand why they didn't put a similar Hypalon pole-tip pocket there to reinforce it. It only has one extra layer of durable-looking fabric there, which a pole-tip would probably wear-through very quickly. We'll see how it does holding my pole handle. I don't want to have that kind of doubt in the back country. I inquired with SMD about the issue but never heard back.