Mountainsmith Lightweight Shelter, 2-Person 3 Season Rain Fly Tent Tarp, 12x7FT Shelter Canopy for Outdoor Backpacking, Hiking, Pinon Green

I absolutely consider this shelter a five star product. After putting it through a good evaluation on the Uinta Highline trail, I feel like I can accurately describe it's usefulness.Often times a traditional, double wall tent provides a feeling of security that would seem hard to replicate with an ultralight tarp. This Mountainsmith shelter helps bridge that gap by providing full weather protection combined with a significant weight savings.The shelter is provided with all 13 stakes, which covers all corner reinforcements and guy out points. Stake quality is good, but not great. The stakes are v shaped aluminum with notches. During my testing I had one bend at the head (notch) after being forced into the ground against a hidden rock. I would recommend replacing with much stronger y shaped stakes such as the MSR ground hog.The shelter fabric is not lightweight silnylon. It is comparable to a tent fly in fabric weight and feel but is nonetheless lightweight. Overnight condensation is nearly impossible to prevent in some situations, but should not always be a concern. Pitching should be done on well drained ground (meaning away from the tent along all sides or in spots where runoff is minimal). The best spots should have no plants (eg. meadows), preferably on soft pine duff or even straight dirt. Rainy days will nearly guarantee condensation from humidity, but clear days with a proper pitch should keep everything nice and dry. If you bring along a lightweight towel, sponge, or chamois, you can wipe down the interior walls and keep water from beading and dripping.I found that a good tight pitch was best when the selected site had plenty of room. Stake out the three back corners, insert the short trekking pole. Next stake out the two front side corners (not the door) and insert the long trekking pole. At this point, stretch out one side of the door and stake it securely. Evaluate the each of the staked corners and restake as needed to pull the entire shelter taut. Once the middle stake points are pulled out, you'll find that the guylines won't necessarily add more tautness, but do provide stability from wind.This shelter has a lot of space for one person plus gear. Two people have plenty of room, but with gear you'll find that the space will be mostly used up. The best position within the shelter is with your head at the door (tall) end. This can make it difficult to enter and exit the shelter, but it is ultimately a more comfortable layout for sleeping. My buddy and I didn't really find the trekking poles getting in the way, you will forget about them soon enough.During my testing period, I experienced approximately 16 hours in rainstorms inside the shelter. One night had 8 straight hours of rain, plus a significant windstorm. The shelter performed admirably and felt as secure as a double wall tent.This shelter is an incredible value. At more or less $100 dollars you can outfit your base weight with a tent like shelter that weighs no more than 2lbs. It rocks, and it works. Lots of ultralight shelters are on the market, but they are much more expensive and may have more significant trade offs. if you you've been watching this product trying to decide if it is worth it, the answer is YES!!!

Very nice shelter. Used for a 5 day trip in autumn and rode out a pretty nasty thunderstorm including hail one night. Stayed dry inside, nice footprint, plenty of room for myself and one other plus packs and boots.I don’t carry or use trekking poles so just throw it up and guy the top parts out to a ridgeline I bring for the purpose (35’ of mule tape is usually plenty where I camp, and is very lightweight). Overall if you’re okay with sleeping on the ground and no bug netting, this is a very nice shelter and I’d recommend it. Easy to pitch, sturdy, lightweight and fairly compact. It’s a step up from the 10x10 tarp I used to use, and the zipper door gives it a bit more weather and rain resistance than an open tarp has.If you don’t have or use trekking poles, it can definitely be pitched with a ridge line, or you can cut sticks to length as indicated on the size markings on the side of the tarp. Personally I like it better with a ridge line since you don’t have the poles inside the tent. Much more open feel and still plenty sturdy.I took about half the stakes out of the bag, and added the ridge line for a slight weight savings over the listed weight.

Very nice tent. I like the size to weight ratio. some of the stitching is a little loose at the attachment points, but not bad (nothing a little seam sealer couldn't fix). No leaks and seems to handle wind very well.

The printing on the fabric is on the INSIDE of the tent and REVERSED. (making it hard to set up trekking poles) I am not sure if the entire fabric is reversed or they just printed and sewed the wrong side. For 100 dollars, NOT happy.

Best price on the web at the time I bought it.It was kind of confusing to figure out the length of the poles the first time using the diagram, but just read the directions to confirm the lengths. For my folding carbon REI poles, it was the shortest, and longest setting on the top telescopic section by the hand grips.I would definitely advise that you get confident setting this up during the day in your back yard or nearby your house before you go and rely on this as shelter in the field.First time I used it (car camping), it blew away in 20 mph winds because I had no clue what I was doing (it is not a normal tent, all the video review people must have an ego to protect because they make it look easier than it is). I later figured it out, it is more of an art than a science, and it has held up in 50 mph gusts during a blizzard while elk hunting the 4th rifle season in Colorado. I can honestly say that this tent has provided reliable, and secure shelter for me, I would have been totally screwed without it.Because this shelter has such poor ventilation, the best recommendation that I can provide for you if you intend to use this in the winter or subfreezing temps is that you buy yourself a sleeping bag bivy. My breath condenses on the ceiling of the tent, and freezes, then when the wind blows it snows on your face and on your sleeping bag. So for a few extra dollars you can prevent your sleeping bag from absorbing that moisture and it will keep you even warmer.Also pick up a tyvek ground cloth, keep in mind that the poles will be the middle so you can cut slits in your tyvek and tape the edges.

So far so good. I've only set it up once in the basement because of all the snow here right now. Seems exactly as advertised