New silpoly SMD Lunar Solo now available

https://www.sixmoondesigns.com/collections/tents/products/lunar-solo

I’m a little annoyed with my experience from SMD so far. I ordered the new Lunar Solo the day they became available. I placed a separate order for the accessories (I paid extra to have that shipped separately as the tent was going to take a while for sealing). They chose to save themselves the shipping and held the 2nd order a couple weeks to ship along with the tent anyway. I paid for the carbon pole and they sent the cheaper aluminum pole ($13). I emailed the day it arrived with a photo of the aluminum pole in its packaging and got no reply. I called a week later to see what was going on and eventually learned I have to mail back the wrong pole at my expense before I can get my carbon pole shipped out. I get that mistakes happen but I’d really like to test out this tent soon. Also, the amount of shipping being spent (or saved, for them) is probably higher than the wholesale cost of the cheap aluminum pole.

How have your SMD experiences been?

My experiences haven’t been ^that bad but I have not been pleased with SMD’s customer service. They have been slow to respond to emails or I have not received a response at all.

Their products do represent a good value at a low pricepoint.

It used to be that Ron was the most accommodating guy in the cottage industry. I remember years back when I bought my first Lunar Solo, I called Ron and he spent time explaining the differences between the different tent options. Later on  I e-mailed him with some questions that were really kind of petty and he replied right back.

Now the website has all kind of holes in it. When you click onto a tent you have to scroll down through a mile of blank space to see any other information, and then when you click on to say specifications or the images, nothing happens. I e-mailed Ron right after the new Gatewoods came out to find out what material they’re made of, and he blew me off. I finally got Brandon on the phone and he said the Gatewoods are 20d silnylon, but I certainly wouldn’t bet my life on that being correct.

Maybe once some people become successful, they just say to hell with everybody. It’s kind of like “I’ve got the money now so don’t bother me”. But with all that being said, I still believe SMD has the best ultralight shelters for the money. The Lunar Solo is a masterpiece.

Many people are mad because Ron stopped producing the cuben Deschutes and Skyscape X, however, I can see how the DCF didn’t fit into his business model. After all, SMD is also a wholesaler now and the mass produced Chinese silnylon and silpoly shelters allow retailers their necessary markup. You can see SMD tents and tarps on Europe’s biggest UL gear site ultralightoutdoorgear.co/.uk. And he puts out stealthy green shelters which are more important to backpackers across the pond. backcountrygear.com, antigravitygear.com and hikelight.com also carry SMD shelters.

If you want to buy an SMD shelter NEVER go to the SMD website. Instead visit backcountrygear.com when they have one of their 20% off sales, which are pretty regular. They may be backordered 5-7 days, but it’s a substantial savings. Or if you want to order from SMD, wait until Black Friday when most everything is 20% off until New Years.

Hey Ron, one of the last posts I read of yours here on BPL you were disparaging us “Gear Geeks.” Don’t forget where you came from. I still say you’re the best, you crusty old bird.

Hey Jake.  Just FYI, according to the FTC the aluminum pole is yours and they still owe you the carbon one.  Obviously, it isn’t worth the legal hassle, but by law they cannot force you to send the aluminum pole back at your expense.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandise

Unfortunately, SMD seems to have a less than stellar reputation for customer relations.  I am still very happy with my older Lunar Solo, but some of the accounts I have read online make me question if I am interested in purchasing from them again.

SMD has had a couple of poor customer service threads here down through the years. That, plus some of the poor quality I’ve seen, has kept me away from the stuff for the last several years.

If they sent me the wrong thing and they said mail it back on my dime – I would certainly give them my money’s worth over the phone.

Ryan