BPL reviews etc.

I hate to disagree with alot of you guys but I think the folks over at BPL are doing a great job! They are not owned by a media conglomerate like Backpacker which means the staff is over worked and under paid. Sure they review some mainstream gear but they are the ONLY ones that review and promote cottage gear…

Does my website suck????

"Does my website suck????"

Yes… it doesn't have enough pretty girls on it ;)

To be (slightly) more serious, IMO it does not suck. It's better organized than, say, Oware's web site :)

No your site doesn't suck. It just looks like it could use some love from a photographer with some really cool shots.

>Seriously get over it and move the EF on. Tarptent.com is one of the worst websites I've seen online. With a great product and that crappy company image they have there's no good reason to shoot yourself in the foot like they are. It's their fault they aren't selling more product to customers.

Interesting. I don't remember sharing our sales figures or sales goals with anyone here on BPL. But thanks for the feedback. I'll share it with our board and, just for the record, I like foot pain.

-H

I like simple websites. I hate over-complicated, flash sites that don't tell me what I want, and I have to spend a long time searching for simple information. Even if a website doesn't have all the fancy search tools, menus, yada, yada, yada, it can still be a functional website.

I actually dislike super-marketed products and pushy marketing agendas. Turns me off to the whole company. I'll gravitate toward the quieter, more humble company that simply has a good product to offer.

As far as Tarptent goes, the only thing I'd change would be to add a comparison chart for ALL of the shelters. But, no one really asked my opinion anyways!

But if REI, for example, comes up with a superlight backpacking tent, then why not review it? And accept it?

I think the issue is that this site is dedicated to LIGHT Backpacking. If they did come up with a light shelter, there would be hundreds of reviews on the web already.

A review could be in order, but there are many ultralight shelters that get very few reviews. It would be nice to see reviews of gear from companies that don't get involved with the payola that the various backpacking publications do.

REI calls a tent ultralightweight when it weighs between 3 and 4 pounds. I think we are in a different dimension here.

Besides, REI claims to have no interest in selling to the ultralightweight market (us, basically). The reason is that they have their no questions asked return policy. I think most people would admit that they have to "baby" their ultralightweight equipment a bit to get it to last. I'm not complaining, and I don't mind that. If REI sold this kind of gear, some fool would use it for two trips and then bring it back and demand a refund because it showed wear.
–B.G.–

Steven, though there would be hundreds of reviews already on a major released lightweight tent by a big company, how many of those reviews would be absolute garbage? I've read so many "dude, this tent rocks! its lightweight and it didn't leak, it setup fast too!" reviews. I look forward to all reviews by BPL, whether heavy or lightweight, major company or cottage gear, because of the tremendous amounts of detail that go into each one.

Alex,

You suggested looking at your web site as an example of a well-done one. Well, different people have different tastes. While I can see that your site is well done technically, no offense, but I do not care for it.

I do not like the big flash at the top to begin with. I like it even less that it keeps on moving — it is distracting me from looking at the rest of the page, because I might miss something in the flash — you wouldn't keep it moving it there wasn't something I should be paying attention to, would you? :)

Also, it is very quiet here just now, and when I went to your site that music came booming out at me. Certainly changed the mood. Did not care for it.

To each his own, but I really prefer a simpler static web page — it is more efficient for me to deal with. If you are envisioning Henry / TT having a web page like yours, then no thank you.

–MV

Steven wrote:
"It would be nice to see reviews of gear from companies that don't get involved with the payola that the various backpacking publications do."

Payola!

I suspect that they are very crafty how they work that. The manufacturer offers to buy advertising space, but only if they can be assured that a positive gear review will appear in the same magazine issue. So, five pieces of gear are reviewed and rated, and all five pieces get rated 4.0 to 4.9 on a scale of zero to 5.0.

That's why I dropped my subscriptions to those rags years ago.

–B.G.–

The gear reviewer in question is BACKPACKING LIGHT. PACK LESS BE MORE…. If REI makes a lightweight backpacking tent then please review it and find all the Made In Asia flaws you can.. If MSR wants to copy a Tarptent Rainbow then please review it and let us know if its a true copy, maybe ask MSR some hard hitting questions on if they knew they were copying a Patent Pending design and inform us.. Just keep doing what your doing because you guys rock…

Hell do a gear retailer review too why your at it :)

But if REI, for example, comes up with a superlight backpacking tent, then why not review it? And accept it?

First, the tent would have to be ultralight in our terms, not just REI claiming it is ultralight. I think the odds of that happening are slim.

IF REI did come out with a genuinely ultralight tent, then reviewing it here could make sense. The only remaining question would be allocation of scarce resources (reviewers). If it gets meaningful reviews elsewhere and there are other equally deserving tents that do not, then it may be more useful to review the latter first.

–MV

agree with the main sentiment…but I like having one or two big manufacturer's best competition as points of comparison, rather than having a completely isolated set of reviews on boutique UL stuff…particularly when it comes to qualitative performance evaluations that go beyond specs.

Yes Konrad

"though there would be hundreds of reviews already on a major released lightweight tent by a big company, how many of those reviews would be absolute garbage?"

Yes, you are right. I would never even consider reviews in trade rags as being subjective reviews. They have strong biases and those biases always always tend towards how much the manufacturer pays for advertising and how well the product works on short hikes or car camping.

Given that most of us use Google or Yahoo to search for reviews of gear I find I use whatever information is out there. Half the time I'm just looking for specs or people's opinions on stuff they bought. I actually like reviews at REI because people are critical . I think the return policy fosters honesty. The same is true at Amazon. I happen to work in Horticulture . You should see the reviews at Dave's Garden Watchdog. Real time assessments of all suppliers. Very critical of any flaws. REI does a little UL. The Flash pack . Hell I bought my Steripen there because of the potential for failure.

REI's return policy is out of control crazy… I heard someone returned something 10 years later for a full return…

I read a thread once on a different site about REI's policy. Some lady was going on about how she thought REI was great because she could get all of her sons' skiing equipment for the season, then return it all when the season was done. Next season? All new equipment!

I want Apple to invent the "slap someone through the internet" app. She needed one heck of a slapping.

I think REI's return policy is crazy, also. I would vote for a candidate for the REI board of directors if they claimed that they would change that.

IMHO, buyer's remorse is not a sufficient reason to allow a return.

If I buy some hiking boots there, and one month later the sole falls off, then that is a sufficient reason.

–B.G.–

Yeah, I've heard stories about REI accepting returns on tents that went out for a weekend. When I go there I can't identify with most of the people shopping there, but the staff are savvy and do go out of their way to find you that broken buckle . Last time I was in they stripped two buckles off of older packs that differed and just gave them to me. And believe me I liked seeing those dinky zippers and the mesh on the Big Agnes SL tents. They even had Coleman Powermax -I bought the lot.

I'm actually going through an ethical debate with myself about a return I may want to do. I got an REI powerstretch 2 years ago, and everything is in great condition….except the Napoleon pocket is falling off. The pocket is only attached with fabric glue–no stitching–and after many washings, the glue is deteriorating and the pocket will soon fall off.

If I had worn the shirt to rags, then I wouldn't return it because I simply wore it out. BUT, the fabric and stitching of the rest of the shirt is still very good, so I'm wanting to take it back due to "product failure."

What do you think?

Travis:

Take it back and show it to the REI customer rep and ask if the pocket was really supposed to be attached with just glue and no stitching — and see what they say.

For sure return it. This is a design failure or a Chinese $cutting routine. When I was in China I was advised to only shop at one place for adhesives . Why? All the other shops thinned it out or sold fakes. And review that piece on their site. Just like here at BPL{Back Propulsion Laboratory} Pros and Cons.

I've seen a lot of comments in this thread that mainstream places such as REI don't make/sell ultralight tents, and therefore should not be reviewed. I respectfully disagree. This is Backpacking LIGHT, not Backpacking ULTRAlight. Sure, review of UL gear is good to read, but so are reviews of plain old light gear. We're not all into sub 5lb travel.

There is nothing wrong with any of the cottage gear makers websites. I can't believe it was even brought up, but I guess if you are a web designer you would be a lot more picky than most of us in that regard. I visit most sites with my images turned off (dial up connection means I don't want to download lots of garbage), so to me a good website is one I can navigate without needing to turn my images on.

I otherwise agree with the OP. I think BPL should prioritize reviews of cutting edge light and ultralight gear. How crazy was the wait for the NeoAir review, which was so out of date (and wrong due to getting a beta version of the pad) that it made a laughing stock of BPL. And I can't believe that BPL couldn't find the resources to purchase early releases of new and exciting gear, and sell the gear in gear swap or whatever to recoup some of the cost. And some of the reviews have nothing at all to do with weight, such as the recent sock review. Sure they're durable and they're comfortable, but would BPL post a review of a tent or pack based on just those two criteria? Not if they want to stay in the lightweight business. I'm personally not interested in trip reports, as again these have nothing directly to do with lightweight alternatives and they are invariably of places I have no intention of going. Likewise many of the articles on, for instance, carbon monoxide poisoning, though potentially useful, do not relate to lightening my load. I'm not a purest though, and happily accept that some general interest stuff is much appreciated by many members and just don't bother to read them if they don't interest me. But honestly, there hasn't been a BPL review this year that has really interested me. It's a shame. The forums seem more informative and entertaining than the BPL sponsored content.

I AM befuddled that these cottage lightweight gear manufacturers don't bend over backwards to supply BPL with test samples. After all, many of their target market are likely to visit this site. Put another way, to any manufacturers reading this thread, is to recognize that BPL is >>>likely to review gear that is donated for testing than gear they have to buy. If your product gets a good review here, it would possibly be some of the cheapest effective advertising you could buy! Of course, if it gets a bad review then it's an expensive mistake :(

So, who's gonna give us a comprehensive review of the Katabatic gear, or Kookabura, or SMD Haven, or anything from MLD, or even the new line of BPL stuff??

Surely the Y stake pull out review was pretty solid. But again no Real-time updates bugs me. Coghlans is selling a stake alot like the MSR groundhog but Easton longer for cheap. Not on the radar. I reviewed what I think is an update to the Mont-bell peak today to no comment. I like non flash sites. I mean do you identify with Moosejaws madness and french kissing? The site sucks in Firefox. Carbon Monoxide testing was super popular on the GETHIGH sites. A joke , but a search for scent-proof containers produced ganga results.