Zephyros Owners Thread

That links now points to a general tent sale, hence I think they've all gone.

You must be right, Simon - I'm getting the tent sale thing now.  We must be unique, then, in two of the lucky few to get our dirty mitts on the tents!

I've got me a Zephyros 2 Colonel (sorry for the Americanism).  You can still get those from F & T or Sports Direct.

See now, I'm sorely tempted to get a 2 man, as well as my 1 man and 3 other tents! 

Resistance is futile!!!

I sold my Spectre 200 on Ebay for £68.00 + £3.99 p & p.  P & P actually cost me £12.00 but that tent owed me nothing and I hope the buyer enjoys it as much as I did.

Wow, someone got a total bargain in buying your Spectre!

It cost me £64.95 inc P & P when I bought it in March 2009.  That was the best available online deal at the time.

Someone has got a bargain yes, I did too & I just hope they enjoy it.

Back to the Zephyros.

I think the lenght of the two end poles is too long making the packed tent (when kept as one) too long.

Does anyone know of any specialists that could knock up a folding version? 

Simon, just do what I did and take them out.  The tent will then fit into a small Exped stuff sack, perfick!

I've just removed mine and put them in the pole bag with the main pole, that's no problem. One thing to look out for though, one of the rubber ends was loose on one of mine I had to glue it on. If you're going to be removing the end poles I'd check them incase you lose one of the rubber doofers on the end.

I've just bought myself a pack of 6 Vanguard basha cheap plastic pegs, they seem pretty good actually and they're only 6g each! Anyone else used them? I'll definitely take at least 4 of them with me for my next trip and try them out in anger. They should be alright for the guylines at least.

On another note - who's the dumbass webdesigner responsible for the OTT background image on this forum amongst other scripts/ads/junk I end up having to block? It's completely unnecessary all it does is make everything sluggish. It's much quicker now I've blocked it and have a white background. Thank Christ for Seamonkey/Firefox add-ons!

I know I can take them out and I was warned about the rubber doofers being loose.  I would still prefer to leave them attached and just get them folded.  The length of the main tent poe is not an issue, it's just those end ones (pack size is a good 6 to 7 inches longer than the TN Comp.)

TN Laser comp. is 40cm, Zephyros 2 is 57cm.

 Definitely worth considering modifying.

Be careful that plastic pegs dont snap as removed, and injure your back.

Lester: stand by for news (and photos) of amodified end poles.

Should be here & ready early next week.

BLZ - I had a bit of a nightmare dealing with Terra Nova last year directly. Not sure where this good customer service comes from to be honest, as I know I'm not the only one who's had issues.

Best of luck with Field and Trek, my local shop have been ace when there's been a problem.

Kelvin - funny you should mention that. I was going to update this thread with the latest in my dealings with both TN and F&T once the issue had been resolved, but I'll give an interim update.

Forum members advised me my bent pole end was a fault (I can't help chuckling while I type that, but I emphasise I am talking about the tent!) so I rang TN and got confirmation of that but they said I'd have to deal directly with F&T. I'm always dubious about online retailers that don't have a phone number for after-sales issues, but I e-mailed them (F&T).

I gave it 24 hours (prob not long enough with hindsight, but I'm impatient that way!) and when they hadn't answered, I rang TN again and explained I needed to use the tent soon, was there really nothing they could do, considering the retailer was going to have to come back to them anyway. They agreed I could just send the pole in on its own, which I duly did and incurred costs of nearly £9 in doing so between the postage costs and a reinforced cardboard tube from the PO to send it in.

Slightly disgruntled, I rang F&T and they quickly told me they'd refund all these costs in full if I sent them the PO receipt and that of the original tent purchase. That has now reached my credit card and they let me know by e-mail. Top customer service in my opinion from F&T.

Meantime, I rang TN today who told me they are behind with customer service issues, though one woman is on the case, would said she'd chase the package and get back to me tomorrow, 7th July. So we'll see!

Wierd thing is, this bend pole end does not look as if it has been strained or damaged; it's just not straight which TN and forum members said it should be.

I'll update you on the TN issue if they ring me tomorrow as they said they would.

BLZ

Just for info, I notice the Zephyros 1 and 2 are back on the Field & Trek web site for £90 and

£120. I managed to buy the Zephyros 1 a few weeks ago, and will post a review when I get

the chance to use it.   

Pete

Update on my customer service issue:

After getting my refund for postage costs from F & T, my replacement pole was delivered on Friday from Terra Nova, so overall, I'm satisfied with the outcome from both companies. Of course, it would've been better if the pole hadn't been damaged in the first place, but I guess Quality Control can't check every product!

BLZ

TENT POLE MODIFICATION

The end poles are too long, unless you take them out the pack length is 57cm (Zephyros 2). With some 7mm diameter x 50mm brass tube (wall thickness 0,45mm) a hacksaw and some epoxy resin a simple modification to the carbon fibre rods enables the tent to achieve a new packed lenght of just 45cm. 

I'll add the photos later.

Sorry for being facetious but has anyone actually given a proper test to that tent...? I'd be curious to know how it performs.

Not yet (I've got a Zephyros 2).  My next wild camp is solo so I'll be taking my Lasr Comp.  It does seem to be well made, the difference in price compared to the Terra Nova Laser range is probably due to the cost of materials: the quality oin workmanship seems fine.