Regarding the Karrimor Alpha tent. I have not used it myself, but got chatting last year to a guy who had pitched one next to me. He'd been walking with it for about a week. He said it was OK for summer camping, but was rather unhappy about his one, the poles having warped and it had got several tears in the ground sheet. He had always pitched it at low level, and would not have fancied its chances in serious wind. He intended to take it back to the shop and try an get a refund due to the warped poles. He did not recommend it, and looked very enviously at my TN Voyager!
sorry that srikes me a bit odd by comparing a £70 tent to a £340(from tera novas web site)tent i would hope that a tent almost 5 times the price of another would be better. and with most things the more you pay the better you get
i have not used a alpha but the seem to be a good cheap small tent, might be worth looking at the beta as well as its only 500grams hever but has a lot more room to it and a stronger desgin.
found this site looking for product reviews.....need some new overtrousers....too many to chose from these days.........and likely to fall apart like the rest of the hand made phillipino mountain kit on the market .....lost my 15 year old faithfulls in an ex-move (inpromptdue house evacuation)
just like to say that the quality of kit available now is twice as pants, yet just as expensive as when everybody was trying to be the best in the market (lowered alpines, karriedless, birdhouse, crabshoppers, jackforeskin etc). now everything's driven by profit and,unfortunately, not performance........witness last years fleece when the zips fell out the pockets and 2 (sent back under guarantee-didn't help on the side of a mountain though) goretex jackets, that were totally leakable and sweaty. makes you wonder how sir ed survived everest...............
I'm going up the railway line to snowdon in flip flops and shorts with the rest of the numbties next time. (might pack the rest of my -more than servicable 15 year old kit- in a carrier bag just incase the weather changes.........)
like i said, even manufacturers that you think are reliable are producing kit that isn't fit for purpose............waterproof shmorterproof, my boy.
maybe things have changed over the years and the big boys aren't cutting it, but there's new guys that are? admittedly, as a last minute essential, just incase it rained on a coastal ramble, bought a project dry mac in a sac for a new girlfriend that had never been out of the house before....................and have used it myself loads since on my bike. dry inside and out, packs down to nothing, cost bugger all.................
just like to say that the quality of kit available now is twice as pants, yet just as expensive as when everybody was trying to be the best in the market
Not IME. The stuff I get now is cheaper in real terms than it was 20 years ago, is lighter, more comfortable and works better.
now everything's driven by profit and,unfortunately, not performance........witness last years fleece when the zips fell out the pockets and 2 (sent back under guarantee-didn't help on the side of a mountain though) goretex jackets, that were totally leakable and sweaty. makes you wonder how sir ed survived everest...............
He didn't have much need for zips and it wasn't raining up there so no need for a waterproof... Aside from that I don't have a problem with zips coming out of new stuff (I did have to re-sew the bottom of the zip on an old 80s Rohan polycotton jacket the other day, mind). Folk have been sending back leaky Goretex as long as I've been aware of the stuff, which is over 20 years now, so that's hardly anything new.
maybe things have changed over the years and the big boys aren't cutting it, but there's new guys that are?
The big boys are cutting it, and there's small guys cutting it too. I regularly use and abuse gear from ME, Macpac, Lowe, Paramo, Rohan, Scarpa, MEC, Patagonia, Hilleberg, Cascade, BD, MH etc. and am happy enough with all of it that I'd have no trouble buying stuff from any of them in future.
If you really think 1990 gear was much better than 2008 gear then I think you have a bad case of rose-tinted recall.
didn't mean to start a whinge and drip.........thought someone might reccomend some decent overtrousers.........that won't need replacing 'caus they leak after 2 minutes in a hail/rain cocktail.
(got a bit carried away, admittedly, with recent purchase quality issues............thought that was relevant to the karrimor thing.......just realised that the karrimor thread is ancient)
p.s. yes, Pete, all my gear from the 90's is still servicable and infinately more usable than the 2008 stuff that is constantly flying back to the manufacturer in the post. no rose tints, just new (cheaper in real terms?-please explain) kit that is useless and old kit that still works.
For me Montane's Atomic DT kecks work fine, lightweight, waterproof, packable, and cheap enough to replace if I have an unfortunate barbed wire fence incident.
In the mid 80s a top of the line climbing Goretex jacket would bethe smashing new Trango Extrem, coming in £140 (I remember thinking "!" when it came out, £80 for a Lightning was far too much for me).
Look through the catalogues and you'll be hard-pressed to spend over £300 on a climber's Goretex jacket, so I conclude that gear is cheaper in real terms.
My first fleece was bought in 1985. It was £30. That's £65-116 for a blouson style with knit cuffs and hem, two unzipped pockets and nothing else. Compare that to fleeces you can buy for substantially les than that now.
I have gear from 80s and 90s that is still serviceable, but it isn't better than my 21st Century gear. Nothing close to my Schoeller Dryskin trousers for a combination of comfort, toughness and weatherproofing. Nothing close to my Kaitum tent for a combination of space, ease of use and reasonable weight. And while I still use a waterproof that's about 6 or 7 years old, I could get lighter and more breathable if I used it enough to bother.
