Skurka and Sierra Designs team up for gear

As Buck suggested, speculation is probably not very conducive.

Has anyone thought of simply contacting him? Andrew is good about answering his emails/comments and I am sure he can clear up any questions someone may have. He is online for a discussion, as well ,per Michael Glavin's post.

Or we can continue to make posts on BPL to pass the time instead? ;)

He always seemed like a pretty stand up guy, so I'm thinking any confusion or appearance of shadyness on his site is unintentional. One of my duties at work is to maintain our website where 200,000 customers are making payments, requesting docs, etc all the time. Making all the pages and text understandable/perfect is tougher than you might think.

Ryan

All:

I just spoke to Skurka. We will address this thread specifically at the SD LIVE event tomorrow. Bring your tough questions and decide for yourself……

Hope to see you there! Here is the link…..

http://sierradesigns.yourbrandlive.com/c/2015tents

HK,

Thanks for posting this up to let us know about this bit of exciting news.

Micheal,

Thanks for engaging the BPL community for feedback and soliciting our ideas for contributions for helping you bring better/more product choices for people to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

**********************************************************************************************

I am just sorry that BPL seems to become full of skeptical and negative comments when someone brings something new to the table, which could benefit us all.

I say AWESOME!

New ideas and partnership with Andrew, who probably will have more experience and miles under his belt now then I will ever hike in my entire life…why NOT tap that vast wealth of knowledge to try to bring us better gear to use?

Who cares if Andrew is making money or not from this?

I say let the new gear/products speak for themselves.

If people don't like the offerings….don't give SD/Skurka your money.

Honestly, BPL is going down hill in terms of the forum becoming elitist with people who think they know better and savage others for new ideas or products.

How many times have we seen someone bring up a new idea for a product and then just get hammered vs. maybe giving some support in the form of constructive criticism.

All too often, I hear….that is too heavy, that is expensive, that is not needed.

Seems like only a few years back, the gear offerings for Lightweight/UL backpackers was limited to silnylon gear that was light but would be shredded after a year or two of use, then buy another one.

Maybe we are spoiled with the evolution of the cottage manufactures where we can turn away new ideas and products.

Maybe we will simply be happy with what we have now and won't ever need new choices.

Great people on BPL, who I have met at the GGG's.

Lot of knowledge and generous people who pay if forward and share that knowledge with fellow backpackers, new and seasoned.

Just seems a shame that when it comes to people coming out with possible new products and take the time to engage the community to ask for help to make better products that we might use, that they are treated as they are.

Anyway, my rant is done.

Please carry on….I am going to think about what trip I am going to take next.

Tony

I don't see anywhere that he says this was the gear he used for the SHR. The only thing I see is this is a recommended list for a high Sierra trip in the summer time.

Even back when he was highly associated with Golite I noticed he didn't use some Golite pieces when they made a similar style product.

I also noticed he used some Golite pieces (and sometimes modified them) when I thought there might be better off the shelf options out there from the cottage industry but I think that was more because he got the Golite gear for free and he was living on a tight budget.

When you think about it Andy (or Ryan J for that matter) are highly intelligent, highly educated people that have decided to make a living doing something they love rather than join the rat race like most of us have. That said I think it is very hard to scrape by even a meager living in this industry. I mean how many lectures and guided trips must Andy give just to scape by? I can almost guarantee that he isn't getting rich.

I hope the SD/Andrew Shurka relationship brings some good products to market.

Good point. I will edit my posts because they make Michael's reading comprehension look worse that it actually is and we wouldn't want to hurt his feelings in any way. Chaff is there for that.

Have any of you seen the movie "Anger Management?" Just curious.

Buck, you are in luck – I am not angry at all. Michael and I are just bantering back and forth and that was said with sarcasm.

Have you seen the movie "Mind your own business?"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029252/

It is a classic.

Since the quote you were responding to was from my post, that makes it my business.

You've been extremely abrasive on this thread. As a member, that also makes it my business.

You are mistaken, clearly ignoring some of the other posts.

I have thick skin however.

Any chance you get American Gothic up there in that cabin? You remind me of the Sheriff.

> I am just sorry that BPL seems to become full of skeptical and negative comments
> when someone brings something new to the table, which could benefit us all.

Winter time.
Cabin fever.

Cheers

n/m

I would rather see SD keep up the on the lighter tents than go into the market that takes away from makers of SMD or TarpTent.

Seeing as 90% or more hikers still carry a heavy tent while camping, SD is already hitting the market a lot harder than they would with a light Skurka version of whatever he would use in the back country.

If something Bear Grylls approved can weigh 8 pounds and tons of people buy it, I don't see how a Skurka approved tent that weighs a much more appropriate weight can be all that bad.

Your cases are all so big.
You have marvelously big cases.
I am in awe of your cases.

Give the guy a break. He got a job working for someone who designs backpacking gear and now he can afford to pay the bills.

Not everyone wants BPL gear. The vast majority of the public isn't interested in sleeping under a tarp or carrying a 6 lb UL pack.

Personally, I find that SD is at least making an effort to appeal to hard core backpackers. They participate here. They are trying to design innovative gear and market it through channels that wouldn't even consider marketing cottage industry equipment.

Kudos to them… I certainly hope they succeed. I'm going to buy that rain gizmo they are selling just to give them some support and I hope Shurka gets paid the big dollars to put on weight, pop out kids and start living the American dream in a little Pink House in Boulder Colorado.

I love BPL. Either agree with the norm or be persecuted that you are "abrasive" or need "anger management" in an attempt to defend like remarks directed. Ironically, Craig received none of this dribble.

I am just happy to question everything.

It is too bad that these high level, public figures don't align themselves more directly with the Cottage Manufacturers that helped get them there in the first place.

Who's Shurka?

If you're gonna bust someone's balls, at least get their name right.

Wait a minute – we are talking about Skurka ?

Holy Chaff Batman!

Thanks for the update Michael. I'll schedule my lunch break to watch one of them.

I'm in the Twilight Zone.

Let me elaborate on my thinking that started this mess.

1. I'm considering a Sierra High Route trip. It's a hike that I'd like to start working up towards. I read Skurka's initial report and went over his gear lists when they were originally posted.

2. I recently went to revisit his gear list posted under his High Route report. I noticed that in many cases it's not filled with the gear he actually carried anymore. Some of the gear listed on it is from newer companies who are also current sponsors. Like Sierra Designs.

3. I saw this here thread about Sierra Designs and it reminded of my recent gear list observations. It now makes sense why there are Sierra Designs products popping up on his gear lists. I don't say that with any judgement. Its simply an observation.

4. Skurka has every right to make money off what he does. More power to him. Hence me saying "a guy's gotta make a buck".

5. But I still think its weird that his gear list for the Sierra High Route doesn't reflect what he actually took, but now reflects what he would take. I was hoping to see what he did take. There is a difference, albeit a slight one.

And thats it!

How it turned in to this, I have no idea.

"Who's Shurka?
If you're gonna bust someone's balls, at least get their name right."

I'm not busting his balls…. but I did get his name wrong. Why are none of these guys Smith or Jones?

thanks guys !!!

this thread has helped me realize why I post less and less on BPL as the months go by.

Skurka released a teaser pic on Facebook about a prototype SD mid. Looks like a two pole design so I'm interested to see if they bring something new to the table design-wise that departs from the BD Beta Light or SL2.

As previously mentioned, with Go Lite going the way of the Dodo and this new relationship with Andrew, SD is really in a position here to take another leap forward.

This is the first time I've been to their website in quite some time. Some really interesting and innovative ideas on there. Still would like to see the weight come down on some of those sleep systems but kudos on the design aspects. Tents for the unwashed masses that weigh under 3lbs? I like it!

Good luck and godspeed. Looking forward to presentation here in a couple.

Did folks on the thread watch yesterday? Any thoughts?

"Any thoughts?"

Yes. Some people here need to get laid.

Enjoyed watching both of the presentations.

Ok here's a more legit question.

Andrew posted a picture on Facebook where he called it a SD prototype mid. I thought he was going to discuss it some during the presentation.

Was it the tarp pitched in the middle of the presentation that had an inner net paired up with it or is this some secret squirrel yet project that wasn't displayed? It didn't look like a mid to me so I'm assuming it wasn't there.