Bear Paw Luna 2 vs. Locus Gear Khufu CTF3

[John Mc]

Can someone tell me why I shouldn’t buy American made Bear Paw Cuben Fiber Luna 2 instead of the popular Japanese made Locus Gear CTFS3?   I’ve been eyeballing the Cuben Fiber Khufu CTF3 from Locus Gear (based on comments found here).  I see I can pick it up for $460 with the current exchange rate.  However, the Bear Paw Luna 2 is $430 and American made.  I always see on this site how important it is that products are American made/manufactured, but all I every see is talk about the Khufu CTF3.  Why not the Bear Paw Luna 2?

They are both the same size….down to within 2-inches in length and 1-inch in width.  Both are cuben fiber. I can get an optional single net door with the Luna 2 along with an optional net skirt.  These, seem to me, to be great additions.

I have absolutely no affiliation with Bear Paw or Locus Gear….  Just curious.

Thanks

[Ryan Smith]

The general consensus on the forum is Bearpaw’s construction methods are a bit lower quality than the Locus and MLDs of the world. I don’t have any experience with either brands cuben products. Just passing along what I’ve gleaned over the years.

[Brad Rogers]

I don’t have a Locus Gear shelter (I do have MLD cuben shelters) and I do have a Bear Paw inner net in sil and his construction quality is not up to most cottage makers and I would be particularity concerned about that in cuben  when there is no stretch to compensate for any manufacturing defects.  If you look at his website there isn’t a taut pitch on it.

[Katherine .]

i only have Locus Gear experience. Worth way more than $30+ for the workmanship. It’s beautiful.

[rmeurant]

I once had very sad experiences with Bear Paw, specifically with the quality of products.

Some years ago, I order a cuben mid; a mesh inner with cuben floor; and a pole.

On arrival, all three were defective. The pole hadn’t been assembled right, so the collapsed length was too long, but I could fix that by removing the shock cord, and reassembling correctly. One cut of the pole ends was poorly made, but was covered by the rubber end, so no real problem.

The mesh inner had a gap at the apex that any self-respecting mozzie would recognize as a kind invitation to enter, so I had to patch that before I could use the new inner.

The stitching on the seams of the cuben mid looked in places like some drunk had taken the sewing machine for a ride, before crashing it into a ditch and abandoning it.

I had bought the set-up for a camping tour of Japan. Early in the trip, the apex of the mid started to disintegrate, in fairly windy and wet conditions (but not extreme). The tape started to peel off, and there was a line of perforations in the cuben parallel to the zip opening that looked like it was on the verge of ripping.

The disintegration of the apex was so serious that I was forced to abandon camp. This was fairly traumatic – I had nowhere to stash my gear. To be fair, I was able to phone Bear Paw, who offered and did repair the mid and returned it to me for free; but that of course was some weeks later.

In the interim, I was forced to buy a new tent in Japan, and to use that for the remainder of my trip. (God, even a pole on that dome decided to break for no apparent reason, but got replaced for free by the shop that had sold me it).

Subsequently, I used the Bear Paw mid for a while, but that errant seam sewing used to really annoy me, I would stare at it from my sleeping bag and have not very nice thoughts about the sewer. And the design was such that I had to shuffle while sitting to get to the door.

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Since then I have graduated to a Locus Gear black cuben Khufu. Made with great care. With thin but generous length guys, weighs 300 gm on the nose. I love it. One time I carelessly force-closed the zip – I was aware at the time that the tension across the opening was too strong, but stopped myself too late. The stitching started to give. This was entirely my fault – not being mindful. After I stopped cursing, I contacted LG. They asked me to return it, and fixed it with a generous strip of cuben running the full length of the door and new zipper, etc. The repair, which took only a few days, was such that you could not tell that it had been made, and the door was stronger than before. They returned the tarp to me in Korea – all at no charge. It has never leaked, and I’ve had it in some torrential monsoon conditions, and very exposed blustery winds. I also have a variety of other LG gear, which continues to serve me well. I’ve had a lot of use from my CP3s, and also my DPTE.

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Also to be fair, some years ago I purchased (on GearSwap on BPL) a used 2/3 mesh inner/cuben floor made by Bear Paw for use with my Khufu. I have to concede that this too has served me well, though the zip is now failing, maybe because I’ve stressed it a little too much at  times. I’ll probably get it repaired and continue to use it. My only other criticism of it is that the curve of the base of the zip is just a bit too close to the opening end of the mid, so interferes a little with my entry and exit. That is a design issue.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

It’s been a couple years since I bought from Bear Paw, but I can echo that the quality is much lower. It’s useable gear, but definitely looks like it was made in a rush. Locus Gear stuff is beautiful made. It’s like art.

If you want to buy American, go with MLD. It’s not quite as fancy as LG stuff, but it’s very well made and more beefy. It’s good stuff.

You can read my review of the Khufu at the link below, which compares it to a DuoMid:

https://intocascadia.com/2015/02/17/review-locus-gear-khufu-sil/

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