After a bear damaged my Zpacks Duplex tent in Big Bend National Park I sent it off to Zpacks to repair. In this video I show the tent after it was repaired.
Hey, you've got a trophy tent. How many people can say their tent survived a bear attack. I think ZPacks did a great job repairing it. For $100 repair you've got a perfectly workable tent. It's worth buying a tent from company that will repaIr it.
I have physically been to Zpacks shop. Very impressive. Joe and Matt were super nice. I bought a pack and brought it home. Changed my mind and went back (3 hour drive) to exchange it after new selection was made. Luckily I didn't use the first pack, so exchange was a breeze. Rows and rows of sewing machines and lots of product! It was a hikers dream to wander around and look at all of the UL goodies! Most likely going to plunk down the $$ for a Duplex, even though I am a single hiker. I like the cross breeze and two entry door option. Did you use the cross poles for set up yet and are they worth the extra $125? Thank you for the 3 tent review!
I would love to go visit Zpacks shop if I ever get the opportunity. That would be cool. I haven't tried the free standing cross poles set up. I actually didn't buy them. I like that it has that option though and if I go somewhere that may not work for staking out I may buy them and try them out.
You can't blame the bear for his mistake. Cuben tents look like sandwich bags. Now even worse. But with a nice story to tell. So I guess it is worth the money. Maybe go camp in alligator country as well?
Happy to see the tent has been repaired brother; certainly interested in how it performed, are you able to pull the guy line super tight on the corner where the bear got in through the canopy, or does it feel like its going to give?
I was worried about that too. I've had it out several times since this video and so far it's performed great. Really been happy with it. I can pull everything down nice and tight and can't tell it ever had a problem. The repair work was really well done.
Jeremiah - I have watched both your videos on your damage and repaired Duplex tent. Funny thing, my Duplex also just got damaged by an animal (Wild Brumby) last week and I have sent it back to Zpacks to fix also. I made a video about it here - ua-cam.com/video/gRo7820TQks-/v-deo.html if you want to check it out. I hope they do as good a repair job as they did on yours, although my damage is not as bad as yours was.
Zpacks says....." All Zpacks gear has a one year warranty against defects in materials or workmanship." I wounder if that covers repairs also ???? 1. At the best .....You would think they would replace the tent because it was not your fault. Since it was the 1st time you used it on a trip. ( You would think the cost for them could be written off to advertising or public relations ) 2. Or at lease do the repair work for nothing as customer appreciation and as a act of good will. ( again the cost could be written off ) 3. To charge you $100.00 I can understand that since it was not there fault. Except as a company standing behind there merchandise to charge the $100.00 is ridicules. Especially after what you paid for the tent. Yes , In the past , I have made several purchases from them for backpacking equipment. If anything you have one heck of a camping souvenir that can be a good campfire story in the future.
On the Warranty/Returns area of their website it says "Repairs and exchanges are generally free. We will cover the round-trip shipping cost if the problem is due to a mistake or error on our end." Based on this statement, I imagine if the repair had been minor they might would have covered it. I agree it would certainly have been cool if the repair had been free, it was a real bummer to have that happen the first time out with the tent. But the rips and tears were no fault of Zpacks, so I expected to have to pay to get it fixed. I've purchased several Zpacks items and once had a faulty dry bag. They've always been super helpful and incredibly responsive. They've also been fair and fixed any workmanship problems on their dime. So, I can't complain about their service in any way. Just had to lick my pocket book wounds and learn to be more careful in the future:-)
Adventure Of Our Lives Tore the netting on my Zpacks Arc blast backpack climbing under some bushes. It was five years old when I did this. Sent it to Zpacks for repair, they replaced the netting with new. They charged me a whole $10, with free postage! I live in Western Australia!! Joe made the pack himself in his garage, he now employs about 100 staff in his Orlando workshop. That is how companies become big! I'm writing because Joe doesn't deserve unfair criticism, his designs, materials and service are peerless.
Hey, you've got a trophy tent. How many people can say their tent survived a bear attack. I think ZPacks did a great job repairing it. For $100 repair you've got a perfectly workable tent. It's worth buying a tent from company that will repaIr it.
good job zpacks!
Congratulations...I can't even get them to return an email.
I enjoyed your video :)
It's... Franken-tent!
I have physically been to Zpacks shop. Very impressive. Joe and Matt were super nice. I bought a pack and brought it home. Changed my mind and went back (3 hour drive) to exchange it after new selection was made. Luckily I didn't use the first pack, so exchange was a breeze. Rows and rows of sewing machines and lots of product! It was a hikers dream to wander around and look at all of the UL goodies! Most likely going to plunk down the $$ for a Duplex, even though I am a single hiker. I like the cross breeze and two entry door option. Did you use the cross poles for set up yet and are they worth the extra $125? Thank you for the 3 tent review!
I would love to go visit Zpacks shop if I ever get the opportunity. That would be cool. I haven't tried the free standing cross poles set up. I actually didn't buy them. I like that it has that option though and if I go somewhere that may not work for staking out I may buy them and try them out.
You can't blame the bear for his mistake. Cuben tents look like sandwich bags. Now even worse. But with a nice story to tell. So I guess it is worth the money. Maybe go camp in alligator country as well?
lol!
Happy to see the tent has been repaired brother; certainly interested in how it performed, are you able to pull the guy line super tight on the corner where the bear got in through the canopy, or does it feel like its going to give?
I was worried about that too. I've had it out several times since this video and so far it's performed great. Really been happy with it. I can pull everything down nice and tight and can't tell it ever had a problem. The repair work was really well done.
Merci !
What campsite were you camping at when this happened?
JC1
Jeremiah - I have watched both your videos on your damage and repaired Duplex tent. Funny thing, my Duplex also just got damaged by an animal (Wild Brumby) last week and I have sent it back to Zpacks to fix also. I made a video about it here - ua-cam.com/video/gRo7820TQks-/v-deo.html if you want to check it out. I hope they do as good a repair job as they did on yours, although my damage is not as bad as yours was.
Zpacks says....." All Zpacks gear has a one year warranty against defects in materials or workmanship." I wounder if that covers repairs also ????
1. At the best .....You would think they would replace the tent because it was not your fault. Since it was the 1st time you used it on a trip. ( You would think the cost for them could be written off to advertising or public relations )
2. Or at lease do the repair work for nothing as customer appreciation and as a act of good will. ( again the cost could be written off )
3. To charge you $100.00 I can understand that since it was not there fault. Except as a company standing behind there merchandise to charge the $100.00 is ridicules. Especially after what you paid for the tent.
Yes , In the past , I have made several purchases from them for backpacking equipment.
If anything you have one heck of a camping souvenir that can be a good campfire story in the future.
On the Warranty/Returns area of their website it says "Repairs and exchanges are generally free. We will cover the round-trip shipping cost if the problem is due to a mistake or error on our end." Based on this statement, I imagine if the repair had been minor they might would have covered it. I agree it would certainly have been cool if the repair had been free, it was a real bummer to have that happen the first time out with the tent. But the rips and tears were no fault of Zpacks, so I expected to have to pay to get it fixed. I've purchased several Zpacks items and once had a faulty dry bag. They've always been super helpful and incredibly responsive. They've also been fair and fixed any workmanship problems on their dime. So, I can't complain about their service in any way. Just had to lick my pocket book wounds and learn to be more careful in the future:-)
Adventure Of Our Lives Tore the netting on my Zpacks Arc blast backpack climbing under some bushes. It was five years old when I did this. Sent it to Zpacks for repair, they replaced the netting with new. They charged me a whole $10, with free postage! I live in Western Australia!! Joe made the pack himself in his garage, he now employs about 100 staff in his Orlando workshop. That is how companies become big! I'm writing because Joe doesn't deserve unfair criticism, his designs, materials and service are peerless.