Date:         Fri, 6 Jun 2003 11:01:31 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Side Tent on EBay/personal experience
In-Reply-To:  <OF4CB1C56A.1C096E1D-ON85256D3D.0046945B@hewitt.com>
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> You could put it back up on eBay..............


Heck, it might go for $600 the second time around. :-)

Seriously, I would make these comments about the tent, having used it
myself as well as sold it:

Advantages:
1)  Price - at $199 with sleeping cabin, it's half the price of the next
cheapest alternative. (Heck, the sleeping cabin alone is worth $100.)
2)  Extremely lightweight and compact - since it's vinyl and has
flexible poles, it packs so small that it easily fits under the rear
bench.  Most heavier-duty tents (partially due to their heavier
construction) are 3-4 times as big when packed down. Yet when assembled,
this tent is actually bigger than most.
3)  Easy to assemble. I'll have to disagree with you on this one, Scott.
Having owned a number of both VW and aftermarket side tents, I find this
to be the easiest one to set up by far. Basically you just slide the
polls through the pockets as on a dome tent. It took me a while to
figure it out and set it up the first time I tried it; half that time
the second time; a quarter that time the third time. By comparison, my
other tent takes me forever every time, with the multitude of poles etc.


Disadvantage:
Quality control. The materials are fine. Nylon tents are commonplace in
camping stores because nylon is sturdier than it looks and very
lightweight. And mine has been set up in several very heavy storms and
fared well. But I am not impressed with the stitching quality. It seems
that the vast majority of them have some place or other where the
stitching is uneven or loose.  I would recommend going over any weak
areas with a bit of thread just as a precaution.  Also, we have had a
higher percentage of out-of-the-box defects than with other products we
sell. Not a lot, but more than normal. I mean completely obvious things
like a pocket for a pole being completely missing. (Of course we
exchange the product.)

Summary: This is not a $500 tent (Or at least not unless you buy it on
Ebay. :-)  It is $199 with sleeping cabin. So you have to keep your
expectations in line with the fact that it is half the price of the next
cheapest alternative. This is the Hyundai of side tents, not the
Mercedes.(Or Audi.:-) But there is a place for that. If you plan to use
it only a handful of times each summer, it will probably hold up well
for a long time with moderate use. And if you won't be using it heavily,
perhaps you can't justify the price (and packed-down size) of a more
expensive tent. So this is for you. On the other hand, if you plan to
use the tent heavily (camping every other weekend, etc.) you probably
should spring for a heavier duty tent. (I do sell a much nicer one at
$299 plus $100 for the optional sleeping cabin.) That one is practically
bulletproof and could be used every weekend for years without any
deterioration. (On the other hand it's also more than twice as big when
packed down.)

Most customers have seemed to agree with this conlusion. We have sold a
ton of these. We've had several comments about the stitching quality.
But in virtually all cases, the customer has concluded by saying that
while this disappointed them, they would just fix it themselves as it
was faster/easier than sending it back, and that overall they were not
dissatisfied with the tent given the price.

Incidentally, if you don't have a side tent, you really should consider
one. My family has been using one for years.  It's like
doubling/tripling your living space when you camp. The biggest advantage
is being able to take all of your junk out of the van and keep it under
cover in the tent, so you have room to move around, cook, make the bed,
etc. in the camper without tripping over stuff.  And on a rainy day it's
a godsend.  Also our 5 year old loves playing in it!  Plus, since it can
be used free-standing (you just zip up the access door to the van and
it's a freestanding tent), we can use it to mark our camping spot if we
drive off for a while.  I've had about six or seven different side tents
over the years. They were all different and had their advantages and
drawbacks. But I wouldn't live without one.

Our part number on the cheap tent, incidentally, is A0097. If you search
it on busdepot.com there's a picture there too.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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