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Alpine Tents - Advice please


wallwombat

22-Feb-2008
6:15:42 PM

There's a Bibler I-Tent going on ebay with about 15 minutes to go. It was up to $178 last time I looked.

Post Edit: It went for $305. Someone got a pretty good deal.

martyn

22-Feb-2008
10:18:27 PM

if you are still looking I have a sierra leone ultra (never used, pitched once in backyard) for sale. Reasonable offer accepted.


Sabu

9-Mar-2008
1:40:50 PM

Well my exped tent is on the way from Bivouac, can't wait! However as a disgruntled uni student who does not get labour day off i feel it appropriate to winge about the fact that its going to take longer to be delivered....!

Smellypaddler

14-Mar-2008
11:40:54 PM

Hi guys,

I noticed in the thread some mention of Macpac and Fairydown and thought I would give you the low
down straight from the horses mouth. Jan Cameron who owned Kathmandu sold it to a private equity
firm for a lot of money and THEN she bought the Fairydown brand. Kathmandu has NEVER owned
Fairydown. Early last year Jan sold the Fairydown company to Mouton Noir a New Zealand based
company owned by some very experienced and enthusiastic outdoor enthusiasts. Mouton Noir
recently bought Macpac and has stopped supply to all of its previous distributors in favour of going to
a Vertically integrated retail model. This has upset a few customers but will do completly the opposite
of the post form Mountain Equipment. Instead of lowering choice it will increase choice and lower
prices (perhaps this is why some of the previous customers are upset). For the first time in Australia
you will be able to go to a store and see the entire range of Macpac and Fairydown product under one
roof at a cheaper prce than you are used to. Most of the design team from Macpac have been ept on
board and there are certainly NO plans to make inferior product. On the contrary Macpac now want
to better their brand and continue to make cutting edge product. For those of you who are upset about
Macpac cutting supply take a real look at what used to be offered in your local store compared to the
product range offered by Macpac. Increased competition and market pressure had pretty much forced
Macpac out of most stores and if the company hadn't sold there were plans on board to open retail
outlets anyway in order to combat the increase in OWN BRANDS and self imports which have become
more prevalent in the market place. So obviously there is going to be a bit of a change over period
whilst the new owners find there feet in Australia but please be patient and don't judge the new stores
until you see them and they have gotten settled. At the start they will be a bit rough whilst we clear
through some of the older gear and get some specialist staff on board (Which we will employ) but soon
you will see some great product at some great prices. I may not agree with everything that was sent
out by Moutain Equipment but it was their newsletter and this is a public forum but I would like to say
that you should look at it with an open mind and realise that they are running a business as well. The
only information sent to them stated that we would be opening a vertically integrated model and
everything else they have written is their own speculation. In the meantime if any of you have Macpac
gear that needs warranty please contact remote equipment repairs in Melbourne as we are still
honouring all warranties.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

15-Mar-2008
12:10:00 PM

Thank you for your clarification post Smellypaddler.

I look forward to a larger range of what has proved to be an excellent product to date.

brendan

17-Mar-2008
7:26:38 AM

hey so i know Macpac is not selling to Aust and NZ retailers but what about the europe market that they have tried so hard to break into (have seen some Macpac being sold here in Germany) will they cut themselves off????

qman

17-Mar-2008
7:34:12 AM

"In the meantime if any of you have Macpac gear that needs warranty please contact remote equipment repairs in Melbourne as we are still honouring all warranties. "

I wouldnt send a pac liner to for repair to 'remote equipment repairs'. they do a terrible job on Macpac repairs.

I sent a Macpac Torre that was damaged by baggage handling on a flight and it came back with inferior parts (nylon buckles, shoulder straps and sewing and the pack was never the same. You are better to send it back directly to macpac or arrange your own repair.

smellypaddler

17-Mar-2008
12:22:29 PM

Macpac will continue their current distribution in the northern hemisphere at this stage without change.

qman - I am sorry that you haven't had a satisfactory experience with RR. We use this company for all
our warranties as we believe them to be the only company in Australia that has the experience and ability
to handle all our warranty issues. Unfortunatley there are not that many other repairers in Australia that
have the machinery and ability to deal with some of the issues that crop up in outdoor gear manufacture.
Just out of interest did you follow up with RR or Macpac on what you believed was an inferior repair job.
Rather than tell people not to go somewhere I would say that to send your Macpac gear to RR if you
believe it is a warranty issue and then assess the quality of work yourself and make up your own mind.
They are very busy and have a number of different staff working for them and I am sure that once in a
while a not so great job slips through the cracks. Unfortunatly this is the same with any business.

qman

17-Mar-2008
2:53:07 PM

But, surely nylex buckles should be replaced with nylex buckles and shoulder pads with macpac shoulder pads etc. The inferior parts was the biggest issue.

I will ad that is was a Qantas plane on the last flight of an 8 month round the world trip. I did 19 Aircraft flights that year and this was the only damage to anything.

I must admit that i didnt do anything about it after tha fact as i was only in Australia 3 weeks before moving to NZ. The repair was handled through Qantas Baggage.

I should have bought it to NZ and got it fixed here. I have since bought a new pack.

Smellypaddler

17-Mar-2008
7:32:40 PM

thanks for the clarification qman. I must say that YES you should never of had inferior buckles put on
and you most definatly should NOT have had shoulder straps other than originals put on.
If you still have the pack and are in NZ you could contact Twin Needle @ the old Macpac sight of 14
Birmingham drive Christchurch and they may be able to sort something out for you.


sarah

26-Mar-2008
4:16:23 PM

Hey, i got my mountaineering tent from MEC, they have some good ones just in thier generic TARN 2 and 3 range. My friend had one in Canada and we used hers on mountain mid winter and we were warm as toast, some are easier to set up than others when your wearing gloves. They have good descriptions on the website. They are super light too and small when packed up.


Dutch

26-Mar-2008
7:23:29 PM

hey smellypaddler,
whats with the 60% off macpac sale atm? is this a one off or are macpac going down the same road as kathmandu?


Sabu

28-Mar-2008
9:51:21 PM

On 22/02/2008 Wendy wrote:
>Sabu, let us know how the Venus II goes - now I have to fit a substantially
>sized partner into the tent with me I might need to upgrade to a larger
>tent and it looks good. There might be a second arrow going cheap soon
>if any small people or solo travellers are interested.

Hey Wendy, after spending the easter weekend in the Venus i can say that it is just superb. there's plenty of room, height and gear wise (Im about 6 foot and could stretch out with plenty of room to spare). The 2 vestibules provide heaps of space for storage. I had my 75l pack, clothes bag and other random crap all on one side and could still get in and out that door easily. The inner has a loft for all the small things that one tends to throw on the ground in between sleeping gear. There're heaps of little well designed features and good ventilation. The pole tensions can be adjusted so its easy to put up and take down; no struggling to get the poles to the anchor points, which are fabric pockets as opposed to pins which to into a hole in the base of the pole. So for the same weight as the minaret and second arrow its got a hell of a lot more storage and sleeping room.
I can recommend Biviouc pricewise too!
Hope that helps.
Cheers
Sabu.

Smellypaddler

30-Mar-2008
7:36:10 PM

Well some of you may have noticed that Macpac now have a sale on in there new store in Smith st ,
Melbourne. This doesn't mean that they "are going down the route of Kathmandu" it means that because
they are now selling direct to public they can offer a better price. YES, like all outdoor stores they will go
on sale during all the standard periods but now they can offer you guys the entire range of products at a
cheaper price than you are used to. I look forward to meeting some of you in the store, be sure to
mention chockstone.


kezza

30-Mar-2008
7:59:58 PM

So am I better off to go straight to remote repair with my broken pack or come to the smith st store?

sliianna

31-Mar-2008
10:29:04 PM

i had a bibler torre- 2 vestibule tent- withstood patagonian winds but died in corsica (fault in seam at corners where poles insert)
replaced with bibler fitzroy- seems bombproof. bibler tents are really spacious and you can sit up in them.

main problem is that bibler has very bad service.

lucky i bought my tent at a local store who back their products so even though bibler wouldnt help, this store did. only foreseeable problem w buying online i guess.

Smellypaddler

9-Apr-2008
10:26:31 PM

Hi Kezza,

At this stage you're better off going direct to Remote in Lt Bourke St.

There are 77 messages in this topic.