Saturday, September 17, 2016

Review: Alps Mountaineering Tasmanian 3

When it's 22 degrees outside, this is bullshit. 
Right now, an Alps Mountaineering Tasmanian 3 tent is drying in my basement.  I just got back from a 3 day (night) trip in the backcountry.  Here's my review. 

Price (with footprint) delivered to my door:  $261.89
Why price with footprint and delivery?  Because that's the real world price. 

Retailer: REI
You can also find this tent at Amazon and other online retailers.  

Intended Use:
Bicycle camping
Car and Motorcycle camping
Hunting
Backpacking

Pros: 
Roomy, lots of space even for my 6'2" frame
Heavy duty materials
Quality construction
Lots of pockets
Large vestibule

Cons: 
Weight
Difficult to pitch and pack rain fly
Poorly designed poles

Conclusions:
I really wanted to love this tent.  It was my first 4 season tent and I was excited to try it out in cold weather.   

I appreciated the length and width of this tent and it's robust construction. It seems to be very well built.  I also learned that the four season designation mostly means tougher materials and better ventilation controls. Although the heavier weight was a concern, using a BOB Ibex or a motorized ovehicle to haul gear negated this factor. 

Sadly, after two nights of camping at 9400' in Colorado during September, I'm returning it. Here's why: The pole tips are badly designed. They easily pull out, both in-sleeve and while fastened to the footprint/tent. This makes it difficult to install or remove the poles into the rain fly sleeves.  

In the comfort of my living room - no big deal. When it's 22 degrees and you're struggling to keep your fingers from going numb, it sucks. Big time. Stopping to pull your gloves off to re-insert the pole tips for the 5th or 6th time is annoying. It's also aggravating when the poles get stuck in the too tight rain fly sleeves. 

Did I mention it was 22 degrees outside?  Not fun.  Especially when you're trying to get camp packed and rolling quickly so you can get back to town for a client meeting. 

Hey Alps!  Are you reading this?  I wanted to love your tent.  You need to redesign the rain fly and pole tips. This would have been a high quality purchase otherwise. At the price, you'll find it hard to find a better deal on a large four season tent.

About the author:  I'm an avid outdoor enthusiast and have spent countless nights in tents in the wilderness.  I hike, ski, ride mountain bikes and motorcycles, run, and love all things outdoors.  Unlike many of the other reviews you'll read online, I didn't receive any compensation or freebies for this review, sadly. I make my living helping people make smarter real estate decisions

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Thursday, September 8, 2016

Wheel Size: A Study in Contrasts



It boggles the mind.

Why do bros do this? They take a perfectly useful pick-up and spend thousands of dollars to make it far less useful: slammed suspension, gigantic damage-prone wheels with low profile tires.  Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't get it.  It's like taking a NFL player and forcing him into pimp shoes and a zoot suit and then asking him to take the field.

I'll take the Honda Element, thanks.