BearPaw tents

hi folks, would anyone have any thoughts on the bearpaw AT1 tent, for 2-3 season  uk use. it's available here http://www.bearpawwd.com/tents_tarps/at1.html. weighs 625 grammes, packs up to 12" by 4" and is $159 which seems very good value, particularly as i nearly always use walking poles and i also have a relative in america, who could forward it to me. there must be a downside, right? i can't find any reviews of it, so wonder if anyone has any experiences good or bad with bearpaw? (the pyratent looks quite interesting as well.) cheers, VH.

I've only read good things about Bear Paws. 

A few folk on here have had  inner tents for various shelters made by him.

fixed the link for you:   Bearpaw AT1

(got your boxes back to front)

cheers Mole! think i will get in touch with bearpaw and take a punt on this, particularly as i don't want to go down the tarp route. it's cheaper, airier and a lot lighter than my laser comp, which will go on ebay! condensation could be a problem but i could leave the front open in mild conditions.

looks like you can always raise the canopy for more ventilation .

if you do get it, do post a review on here ?

pegged down tight, with double guys from the end peaks (is it possible to do this with the hanging loops - I'd make sure it was with Bearpaw) and good pegging all round , it should be fine in a blow IMO.

It's not much different looking from a Saunders Jetpacker or a Golite SL1 in profile. Certainly just as likely to stay up as many other lightweight backpacking tents.

of  the  folks who camped on the night of the 100mph 'on the tops' on the recent TGO, I  heard of only one tent being blown down - that was an inadequately pegged single hoop (like a TN Solo/ Macpac microlight in shape)

of course, the Scarps were the most solid

well, it arrived and me and my pooch Paddington managed to take it out to the black mountains for a test run. I wanted to dip my relatively inexperienced toes into the holy grail of backpacking - 'going light' whilst not spending too much money. i appreciate that for many experienced OMer's shelters such as this are probably 'old news'! so this is not meant to be an exhaustive review at all, just my inexpert thoughts based on the above criteria. not being sure where to post a 'review' i will state a few initial thoughts here if thats ok.

BearPaw AT1 $159 + $25 postage.

first of all, dealing with BearPaw was as painless and hassle free as you can get in ordering anything from america. it took about 3 weeks from ordering to arriving and i managed to avoid any 'extra' costs regarding postage, wahey!

according to BearPaw the silnylon  AT1 weighs 625 grammes, which i am unable to verify, though that seems about right. It does not come with pegs or poles although both are available as optional extras if required (i have a fair selection of various  pegs anyway, saddo that i am!) and i tend to use walking poles anyway. It is basically a single skin 'tarp tent', with a 30 denier groundsheet and flysheet seperated by about 6-8 inches of no-see-um mesh and a no-see-um mesh inner door as well. The groundsheet feels very delicate and it certainly requires careful checking of the pitch area for stones etc as i suspect it would rip quite easily (Bearpaw do offer a 70 denier groundsheet for the same price but more weight.) I would say though that the 'bathtub' style groundsheet seems to consist of a lip no more than an inch high, rather than the traditional style i am acustomed to, again, careful pitching is required to avoid potential water ingress.

pack size is very reasonable as shown below, and if i had the money, i would invest in a lighter, smaller rucksack than my osprey talon 44. but i aint. so i can't.

the AT1 is an odd looking thing to my eyes at least, but what i like about it is it's simplicity. simply peg out the corners, pop in the poles and adjust the guylines as required, its very simple really - even i can do that! it's a shelter, nothing more, nothing less! i also like the fact that i can raise the fly to aid ventilation or lower it to help deflect side driven rain, depending on the conditions. i can also raise or lower the poles, which again, could be useful in strong wind, though it was used in very still conditions on this particular trip. (note: also available in stealth green - for some inexplicable reason i like the grey colour.)

cont....

i decided to add extra guys and linelocs, one on each side and an extra one at the front, and once i did so, it definately felt more stable, although i will still be careful about the weather forecast and, ideally, will pitch it in relatively sheltered spots - this is not a  shelter for a real brecon beacons hoolie in my opinion.

theres plenty of space for one inside, and it's also exceptionally long - this tarp tent would suit tall people, who i suspect may often struggle to find an ultralight shelter due to (lack of) inner space.

the porch is small but will fit a rucksack or a smelly pooch and at 5'11" i can just about sit up at the front of the tent and do some cooking in bad weather.

I've had an incredibly bad experience with John at Bearpaw.  I called him because I was torn between a Pyra and Bearden and I wanted some modifications.  I wanted a light single wall tent with a full net door and floor so that I could have the doors open for ventilation and still be protected from bugs.  I was set on a Pyra but he convinced me that a Luna was better suited for me as it already had the full net door and he could easily modify the floor so it was full.  He also said it would weigh about 16 oz.  I got the tent, weighed it and it was 26 oz not 16.  I emailed him to ask why.  He said that he had never made a Pyra with a full net door so wasn't sure about the weight and it was what it was.  I was floored... I ordered the Luna.  He insisted that I didn't... apparently he failed to note that I ended up wanting the Luna and so made me the Pyra which weighed way more than he said it would.  I will admit I didn't notice that on the invoice, in the notes, that he put Pyra.  I honestly thought I was getting a Luna and didn't notice the mistake.  I thought he knew what he was doing.

 He refuses to admit his mistake, so now I'm out over $400 and stuck with a tent that is only a few ounces less than my current one.  I've contacted the BBB but I don't think it will help.

 I would stay away from Bearpaw until he gets his stuff figured out.  His website is a mess and it's hard to figure out what's what on there. 

I would concur with steady eddie, my personal experience with BearPaw was good and the build quality was reasonable. I asked John a number of questions and he replied promptly. in fact i'm thinking of buying a Luna 2 off him when i can afford it (MLD just take too long and its also available in a nice green! and Beapaw neatly seam sealed mine for free as well) so i would say to anyone thinking of using BearPaw not to let one persons bad experience put you off completely - I would happily buy from them again. cheers, steve.

PS Looking at the Bearpaw AT1 mini review above, i'm cringing at how badly i pitched it, now ive used it a fair bit since, i pitch it with the poles set higher, which creates the bathtub floor, whilst improving ventilation and the bath tub prevents water ingress. I was in the brecon beacons the last couple of days and really enjoyed using it, the wind was gusting at around 20-30 mph and it stood up to it surprisingly well (so it should do though) - i would recommend it as a reasonably cheap way to go 'light.'