#Moonlight tent …

Hi Woubier – Expedition tents are made for harsh, usually very low humidity conditions where tear strength-for-the-$$ is assumed to be most valuable and wet sagging is not a worry. There are many window materials. I use a good one and it's welded to the rainfly, not sewn, and it's done by an extremely high quality factory. I doubt very much that there will be problems. As luck would have it, I once developed a window that got darker in sunlight for Kelty. It was very high tech but a huge pain in the donkey. I'm kind of Mr. Window…
Best,
Mike

Hi Mike,
my post about those big tent-models was in reaction to the sentence "ALL big tents have a polyester fly". OK, as I understand it now, it means bigger backpacking- and car camping models. But are you absolutely certain that polyester is used because of the sagging problems and not because of another reason ? And from which # of persons do you consider a tent big ?
About those windows, OK, there will be very likely better materials then the one used for the windows on our tent, but the fact remains that we never used or needed them, even when they were still clear.

Another 39 hours. And $70k+ to go.

All I have to say about this is you are a great salesman. You are getting quite a bit of, um, push back from this audience and yet you don't stop – that's awesome.

As I mentioned – I'm sure it's a great tent. Just not an ultralight backpacking one. You are talking primarily to that group you jokingly disparaged as hiking all day with a teeny little cuban tarp for coverage. This site is geared towards people who spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on gear that will hopefully last a single thru-hike, hopefully (fingers crossed!) maybe a bit more. Most of us aren't looking for "bomber"…….

"Most of us aren't looking for "bomber"……."

Ah, but some of us do non-back packing trips too.Those tents are UL compared to my traditional camping shelters.

There's Nick again…living the life!

Not "living the life" this weekend.

Been grounded by the Household CEO. Actually, she didn't ground me, she is going to buy a new car. If I don't go with her she is likely to buy something like a Mercedes S600 or a Bentley.

I don't see what's wrong with her 18 year old Mustang. It only has 107K on the speedo.

So, those tents look inexpensive to me.

"she is likely to buy something like a Mercedes S600 or a Bentley"

You say that like its a bad thing!?!?

Look at that ol' Niagara out there living the dream. Hated to see it go.

Ryan

The 'fall of the Niagara' was a major bummer for us.That campsite is awesome. Can't get the new camper up the dirt road :(

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion.

I reached a new agreement with the factory that allows the MoonLight tents to move off Kickstarter and into just plain pre-order one (BIG discount for prepaid orders obviously because I'm not a millionaire).

The MoonLight 2 is $375 + shipping for Prepaid orders instead of $525
The MoonLight 3 is $495 + shipping for Prepaid orders instead of $750
The MoonLight 4 is $550 + shipping for Prepaid orders instead of $885

They're here now: http://thetentlab.com/MoonLightTents/MoonLightIntro.html

As to why I posted it here, I had three reasons:
1) feedback – I got some great feedback which definitely helped clean and primp my messaging (and galvanize my own reasons for doing the tent as I did)
2) finding non-hardcore ultralight customers who I know come here looking for good ideas and smart ways to lose some pack weight
3) to plant the seed of an idea that I expect will not come to fruition for some time (if at all): as an ultralight user's priorities shift throughout their lifetime, I think it likely that there will come a time, probably during and after kids, where high mileage and the absolute lightest pack just isn't that important anymore. If that transformation occurs, have I got a fantastic tent for you!

best,
Mike

It has to be clearly stated up front here, and it has to be special/unique to BPL members.

Cheers
Roger Caffin
Online Community Monitor
backpacking Light

"As I mentioned – I'm sure it's a great tent. Just not an ultralight backpacking one. You are talking primarily to that group you jokingly disparaged as hiking all day with a teeny little cuban tarp for coverage. This site is geared towards people who spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on gear that will hopefully last a single thru-hike, hopefully (fingers crossed!) maybe a bit more. Most of us aren't looking for "bomber"…"

Not to mention those flimsy cuben have a lot more mileages and nights under the stars than most of the bomber tents on the market.

Last week, the group at the local fundraiser could have used those Moonlight tents. The canopy tents used to shelter hordes of people kept being pulled out the ground.

But again, the canopy tents are mere $100 models from the local Canadian Tire. So, I am not sure if Moonlight would fall into their budgets.

> I have let this thread run, but I have to ask now WHAT IS THE DEAL FOR BPL MEMBERS?

Roger's been up all night, moving the (gear deal forum rule) goalposts.

> moving the (gear deal forum rule) goalposts.
Nah, FIFA has been doing that.

Cheers
PS: it's 15:30 here right now.

"(BIG discount for prepaid orders obviously because I'm not a millionaire)."

Right there roger. A deal posted upfront. Just like ALL the other gear deals posted on here.

Hi Michael

No, that will NOT do.

The Deal has to be spelled out in hard numbers, not in vague promises.
The Deal has to be unique to BPL members – most likely by coupon code or BPL member name, and not available to just anyone making a prepaid order through the web site.

Is this so hard to understand?

Cheers

No Roger it isn't. We have already covered this very issue in this very thread. You are changing the rules on the fly to suit yourself. I don't even know why. Is it because Mike is getting his tents to market and you couldn't? It is because you disagree about his take on materials?

You apparently randomly decided to go after him when you ignore other posts that are violations of your "new" rules…..rules you changed only AFTER this thread started. Something you admitted in the first five posts. And the new rules aren't even clear. I see plenty that could be violations depending on how you want to apply them.

For instance on this thread the OP eventually worked with the maker (who also posted on this thread). I never saw you ask for them to post a BPL specific discount.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=101273

Also any person of even an iota of intelligence can create a new ID to post deals that they aren't associated with or just have a friend or acquaintance do it.

For his own benefit,

For a while he was sending people to buy stoves from a frequent poster with an offer to winterize them after purchase . He had a interest in the stoves and allowed their sale regardless of BPL exclusivity.

The moderation of this thread has been consistent only with Roger having personal issues against these tents, mike, or both.

Sorry Roger, as much as I don't care for Mike's tents, the fact is that we ALWAYS post deals that aren't unique to BPL members. And as Michael said, we already talked about it in this thread:

hey everyone – did you see patagonia's 20% off sale?
The REI coupon is out everyone!
Hey, how do I get those STP coupons??

I would think that most posts here have NOTHING to offer BPL exclusively – and I'm completely fine with that. If I'm not interested in something I don't look…and as long as posters are members here, what's the harm?

I agree with Jennifer. Most deals by far have not been exclusive to BPL.

How about some sort of compromise:

If you are posting a deal FOR YOUR OWN PROFIT (i.e., you have an interest in the company), then you must adhere to the strict rules;

However…

If you're just posting a "public service" notification (eg. "Here's a coupon code for STP", or "ZPacks has some great stuff in their bargain bin") and the OP has no interest in the company being promoted — then we do not apply the rules strictly.

I believe that the rule was created to prevent companies from using this site as "free advertising", taking a profit without giving anything to the community as a whole. Members sharing deals they happen to find with the community is not at all the same animal!

I can run an ad for $25. Is that fair to BPL. Walmart could start posting. REI ads etc. are posted by non partison members. Yes there is some slack in the rules. There should be. That is not a reason to throw them away and abanden all control. I think Rodger has taken a lot of insults, yet the thread is still running. I've been asked with good reason to lay off the O.P.yet insults against the mod go unnoticed. This thread has run it's course. It should be in chaff. It is not a deal. I can by a heavy tent at Walmart, Costco, any sporting goods store.

Edit: I missed Valerie's post. What she said.

"If you are posting a deal FOR YOUR OWN PROFIT (i.e., you have an interest in the company), then you must adhere to the strict rules;

However…

If you're just posting a "public service" notification (eg. "Here's a coupon code for STP", or "ZPacks has some great stuff in their bargain bin") and the OP has no interest in the company being promoted — then we do not apply the rules strictly."

I liked that twist a lot. As a problem with trying to make iron clad posting guidelines, is marketers become emboldened by the belief that if they navigate the loopholes narrowly enough, then they aren't abusing it. So, it's good to have that, "I'll know it when I see it" flexibility for the moderators.

I agree with the last few posts but it is also true that looking at past gear deals one sees that this is a brand new twist. Fine by me, but this isn't just enforcing something that was known and abided by, this is a new rule .

"You apparently randomly decided to go after him when you ignore other posts that are violations of your "new" rules…..rules you changed only AFTER this thread started."

+1. (Though it doesn't seem "random".)

p.s. Kickstarter update: "Funding for this project was canceled by the project creator 3 days ago."