TarpTent

[Mark Verber]

I wish every company provided customer service like Henry Shires’ tarptent. When items are in stock, they ship quickly. When items aren’t in stock he finds out what date something is needed and works to accommodate the need. I have seen Henry ship advanced replacements to people who ran into problems on a thru-hike. When there are manufacturing defects he quickly contacts effected consumers (and our general community via popular forums) and details the problems, potential fixes to be performed by the customers, or will performance the fixes if requested by the customer.

[Mike Barney]

I needed a 3 man Rainshadow 2, Henry followed through, helped with the seam sealing, and delivered an excellent product on time. Good communications, answered emails and telephone calls promptly and delivered a quality product at a fair price.

[Bryan Redd]

I’ve purchased a number of Tarptent products over the past several years. Henry Shires’ service, his innovations, and his continuous improvement efforts put his company in an elite class. Is it perfect—no; but, he strives for it.

And, importantly for me, Tarptent is a small company that is committed to helping rebuild domestic manufacturing skills and local economies. In the long term, that will make a real difference.

Cheers,

Bryan

[Craig Shelley]

I’ve only ordered from tarptent once. They shipped the wrong tent. I emailed them. They apologized for the error and shipped the correct tent. Because of their reputation, I will give them a 5. When there is a problem, they will promptly correct it.

[b d]

When ordering from tarptent, Henry Shires, mention any shipping/timing needs — he requests that at his web site order pages and there is a little comment box to use for adding such comments to an order.

I just ordered a Rainshadow 2 yesterday, mentioned I needed to get it before the heavy snows, and Henry got it shipped today.

As a result it should get here before the heavy snows start in a week or so (if they come at all in this crazy weather). I only hope that Henry charges me if he had to pay extra shipping costs to get it here as fast as predicted (like 3 or 4 day delivery).

As far as customer service goes Henry is a jewel and deserves a 5++.

What is so important about that is that once the heavy snows start UPS doesn’t regularly deliver up here on the mountain … and I am excited to try the tarptent on a snow base and clear weather condtions between snows.

So thanks to Henry, he is wonderful to deal with and even coresponded by email with me personally about my order — don’t think I’d ever get that kind of service from a mass merchandiser, or most of them. I know none of us are perfect, but … XXXX Henry

Update: I just received my new tent, less than one week from when I ordered it … requesting that it get here before the snows. The service from TarpTent is incredible and of the highest order.

[Stephen Boyd]

Really pleased with the fast and accurate delivery of my Rainshadow 2. I ordered it under the Holicay Sale and left the comment that I wasn't in a major hurry and a week later….here it is. All I've done at this point is take it out of the stuff sack and STUFF it back it. Mainly out of curiosity with all the comments I've read about the sack being too small. Definately challenging due to the slippery material…but no biggie.

Hope to get it set up in the basement next weekend so I can get it seam sealed.

Steve

[Steve .]

Ordered a Contrail during the holiday sale. Followed up with an email asking for some scrap material.

Communication was great. Order was perfect. Delivery exceeded expectations.

If the tent is anything like Henry's customer service, and I'm sure it will be, I'll be a happy camper ;-)

Rating 5

5 – Highly Recommended
4 – Recommended
3 – Above Average
2 – Average
1 – Below Average

[Raphael Bustin]

I've had my Tarptent Rainbow for a week or two now. There was some initial confusion about setup. In each case I emailed Tarptent ([email protected]) In each case I received a reply within hours from Henry Shires. In each case the reply contained the answer and solution to the issue at hand.

As to the tent: the roomiest solo backpacking tent I've ever owned, and also the lightest. 2 lbs, on the money with the sewn in-floor, complete in stuff sack, trail-ready, with stakes and the two guy lines. Setup: couldn't be easier… once you know how it's done.

I haven't yet used it on a real outing; I have set it up several times now, both indoors in "freestanding" mode (with trekking poles) and outdoors, with stakes.

[James Loy]

Some time back I sent Henry a Virga for repair and told him there was no rush. After a time, he not only made the necessary expert repair, but included a new pole to replace the broken one, apologized for the delay even though I was not in a rush, and refused to charge me for the repair and shipping because he intended to get it to me earlier. That is far more than I expected. Great company to do business with!

[Jim Colten]

My entry into the world of tarping was with Hernry's orginal squall. Later that year the Cloudburst was introduced. I contacted him about an idea of converting my squall to use an arched front pole. He responded with an expanation of why it'd be tricky to do so in a way to get tight pitch and then offered a generous upgrade offer … which I gladly accepted.

Just recently purchased a RainShadow 2 … it arrived well before the date I said I needed it by.

Lastly, Henry's ongoing innovation and creativity are a joy to watch.

[Luke Ludwig]

The first time I used the Cloudburst TarpTent, my friend tripped over one of the side guylines in the morning, causing an 8-inch rip in the silnylon. I emailed Henry Shires asking advice on repairing it (I have no sewing experience). He said to just send it to him. He stitched it up nicely, and only charged me for the shipping and handling. Customer service doesn't get better than this!

[Stephen Eggleston]

Seeing all these glowing customer service reviews I wanted to chime in too. Henry Shires repaired a torn seam on my tarptent following a brief phone call from me to him. His repair was quick with a short wait time. He also put a sliding clip on my front guyline as my version didn't have one and included a handwritten note detailing all repairs/mods done. Way to go! Service with a smile direct from the owner

[edward peacock]

Henry, I bow at your feet.I couldn't afford a new current year model cloudburst,so, I called henry he sold me a new last year model, as typical with most companies, I thought there would be no cust. service until,that is, a pole broke and tore the pole sleeve.I called henry told him my problem I also asked him to make a couple of small modifications ,well, when I recieved my tent back,HOLY COW! was I surprised, he went WAY beyond what I thought he would do what a GREAT JOB!. I am a dedicated till dead tarp tent fan. thanks henry.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Henry patiently answered all my questions, via e-mail and by phone, months before I purchased my Contrail.

Once I got my tent and saw the excellent design and construction I realized one thing. Henry Shires is about giving his best, no matter what he does.

[Miguel Arboleda]

I have three of Henry's creations, the original Squall, the Squall 2, and the Rainbow. All of them have performed wonderfully and have changed the way I go backpacking (along with Glen van Peski and his original G4, Ray Jardine's first two books on lightweight backpacking, the original homepages on ultralight backpacking by Michael Connick, Ultralight Joe, and Alan Dixon, and of course BPL). The simplicity of the designs and ingeniousness of the concepts are artworks in themselves… very, very hard to improve upon even by a fellow designer like myself. And yet, when for instance I had problems with the early iteration of the Squall 2, Henry actually went out of his way to discuss in great detail and length the design points of the shelter and together we looked at some ideas that might improve the handling of the shelter. How many companies would take the time to sit with you and look critically at one of their newly marketed products? I was greatly impressed by this, for it showed just how much Henry desires to make the best shelters he can possibly come up with. Because the problem was something that wasn't supposed to happen, Henry let me have the tent for free if I agreed to do an evaluation of it after some use in the field.

As a designer and as a backpacker who has to use the equipment in the real world I do believe in being honest about what products can and can't do and pointing out the flaws when they really are there. Even Henry's shelters are not perfect and you have to use your judgement and learn the skills in how and where to use them, but if you keep this in mind the Tarptents are truly worth every penny you spend on them.

[Anonymous]

Henry's success, in my opinion, is no accident or result of mere happenstance of good market timing. I have purchased several products from him and marvel at his total devotion to putting the customer's interest above all else. He is in a class all his own.

[tim davis]

I got together with some friends two years ago and we ordered about 10 tarptents from him, mostly Squal 2's. We worked with us for a discount and shipping as well.

I had a side guyout get torn off in a windstorm and e-mailed him about it, He just told me to send the tent in and he fixed it, plus made some other alterations that were on the current models.

Over the holiday I bought the new Contrail which was on backorder but he said they should ship in January. I had a trip come up and asked if it may get here in time, he gave me an update of when he would get them in and also shipped it upgraded for me for free. Came in the day before me trip.

I've e-mailed Henry a few times and always recieved a reply with-in hours, sometimes minutes.

Great guy, great company, innovative products for todays lightweight hikers!

[Mark Hurd]

My first tent under 7 lbs. was the Cloudburst 2. Well, no, actually it was a Squall 2 which I got and loved, but my wife, Nancy, thought it might be a little, too snug. So I got the Cloudburst 2. Well I loved that too and so did she. So we kept that. The Squall 2 went back and my money refunded no questions asked. Henry has a "try it out policy" that, well as he puts it:

"Tarptents are fully guaranteed against fabric and workmanship failure and you may return one uninjured for a full refund if not satisfied. That means you can set one up, even try it out overnight, and then decide if it's something that will work for you."

You just don't find guarantees like this very often.

Eventually I did purchase a Squall 2 "for my kids"-wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Both of these tents have held up to every insult we've put them through. So now I own a Contrail, by far my favorite, which last weekend I managed to poke a hole in. I emailed Henry that I thought I could repair it, but needed a scrap of material to do it. I offered to pay for the material and send a self addressed envelope, etc. I got a prompt reply that he was send some material, no charge and advice on how to repair the hole. Hey, I poked the hole in the tent, it wasn't his problem, but he helped make it right anyway, at his expense.

Henry Shire designs absolutely first rate products, and stands behind them. Period. 5/5

(Now that I think about it, the dog looks like she could use a Rainbow.)

[Hannes Voss]

hi there!
I think I am the first customer who is not happy about the customer service of Henry. I am from Germany and I was here in the USA for 4 days in NY. I ordered 2 tents from Henry five weeks till my arrival in the USA to be sure that both tents are in stock when I am here. The first thing was that I never got an email from Henry after my order. I got his first answer from him 3 weeks after my order. In this email he wrote me that the cloudburst and contrail are in stock and he could send me the tents in time to my hostel in NY. Then I wrote him a second email that I will have both tents and 4 days later he answered me that he only could send me the contrail.
In the end I only got the contrail. I am happy with this tarptent, but the service was really bad. I think this service from Henry isnt common, but I think a service in that way isnt very customer friendly.

See you Hannes

[Phil Barton]

It's been almost 2 1/2 years since I bought my TT Squall but the process was memorably good. First, I spoke with Henry by phone to chat about the models and what would be the best fit for my hiking style. Henry also offered a discount that he hadn't yet published to the website. He had several suggestions about the Squall and how to best use the shelter. The shipment arrived on time. I've had no troubles with the Squall since then. I can't think of many purchases that delivered such strong value and were so pleasant to execute. The documentation shipped with the Squall was clearly written. I give Henry and his company a strong 5.

[bobby c]

i know a few professors at the local university that could rewrite those directions into something a bit more helpful. easy to set up but instructions could be alot better with a real writer doing it.

[Dane Ward]

My wife and I couldn't be more pleased with both the quality of Tarptent products and the customer service this company offers.

We first purchased a Double Rainbow and found that we wanted a more space, particularly for when we get "weathered in". The purchase of a Rainshadow 2 has worked out well for us. We now enjoy plenty of room for the two of us and gear with little increase in weight.

The few times I've called the company I spoke with Henry directly and found him to be very honest about delivery timelines and extremely helpful regarding product pros and cons in relation to our needs.

I offer my highest recommendation!

[Christine Thuermer]

I have hiked the whole triple crown with Henry Shires products and I absolutely loved them.
Unfortunately now I am completely disappointed with his customer service.

I have sent Henry a faulty Virga 2 tent in mid-November. I am on a round the world trip now so I offered him various options like repair, replacement or refund. We talked about these options on the phone and he even promised me to send me an advance replacement tent – but he never did that. Henry has received the faulty tent a couple of days later according to USPS confirmation. I waited for more than a month, but there was no reaction at all. I emailed him in January, but again no reaction whatsoever. I am beginning to think that I can write off the tent and the money.
I am deeply disappointed – this never ever happened to me with any other lightweight outdoor companies. If you have any idea how to make Henry react to my problem, please let me know.

P.S.: I write this as an addition to my original post and I also change my rating from 1 to 3. After my post on this website Henry contacted my directly per email. Apparently all our problem was due to an email problem. The email address he stated on his website had a spam filter on that blocked certain emails and due to that he never received my emails. He has repaired my tent now and sent it to my home country. I have not seen the repaired tent yet, but it has arrived and I am not worried about the repair.

I also want to state that this review has nothing to do with the quality of tarptents. I really do like tarptents and will definitely use them again. I also want to add that I had another minor problem with a tarptent in 2004 and Henry responded very quickly and efficiently to solve it.

[john braun]

I called Henry looking for information on attaching a floor to a older model tarptent that was on clearance. He told me he may have a returned tent he can sell me with the floor already attached. He emailed back to confirm and four days later I have my Contrail waiting for me in the mailbox. What a guy!

[Demetri Kolokotronis]

It has been over eight months since I sent my tent for repair, and I have not received it back. I repeatedly requested it be repaired, or if not going to repair, to return it unrepaired. Manufacturer agreed to repair it "on a 'non-profit' basis" (see blurb from their website, http://www.tarptent.com, below). I have received no communication about my tent since acknowledgment of receipt of tent Sept 23, 2008. My number of emails since then, most recently March 7, 2009, inquiring about repair of my tent have been ignored.

"Q: What is the Tarptent return and warranty policy?
A: Tarptents are fully guaranteed against fabric and workmanship failure and you may return one uninjured for a full refund within 90 days of purchase if not satisfied. That means you can set one up, even try it out overnight, and then decide if it's something that will work for you. Tarptents that have been used in the field will be evaluated for resale and partial credit returned to the original purchaser. We stand behind every Tarptent and will make every effort to repair or replace products that fail due to defects in workmanship or materials. Normal wear and tear repairs will be done on a "non profit" basis and we will provide a price quote before beginning the work. In many cases, we charge only for the return shipping."

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