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Re Dewaard tents in the uk...

I contacted them a couple of years back to see if it was possible to sell them in the uk. The problem is as a retailer and being in business etc I would have to try and make a profit, but Dewaard work on retail margins (not huge) so there is not enough profit in the products for them to be able to offer myself a good discount so I can then re-sell the tents for a similar price to Dewaard themselves, so for a retailer to sell them it would mean we would be a lot more expensive than De Waard.  Also they said they thought it would be hard for anyone else to offer the full service that they offer.

Gary Cross

Quote: Originally posted by Cross Camping on 20/11/2012

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 Also they said they thought it would be hard for anyone else to offer the full service that they offer.

Gary Cross

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Cheers RTS5 thats nice of you to say.

The fact Dewaard manufacture (or did) themselves means they have the sort of skilled work force that you just couldnt afford to employ here in the uk unless all you did was tents like Dewaard. I even registered the uk domain name DeWaarduk but Im afraid we both agread in the end it would be to hard to bring them to the uk.

Gary

Quote: Originally posted by Finnboy on 21/11/2012

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Would I spend £2000 on a tent? No way, no matter what brand or quality.

A tent is meant to be a temporary structure. No matter how well it is made or how good the after sales is, it could well get badly damaged in a storm or simply by a bit of bad luck.

Thats the point though isn't it? They (tents)are meant to be cheap enough that its not the end of the world if one dies. A temporary shelter to allow for a great holiday. A means to an end.

Do I mind others paying £2000 for a tent?

No way.

Its sales to said people that keep the prices down for the majority. Simple but true.

A tent is just the means to an end, not the end in itself.

P.S. £2000 could make a lot of happy memories for a family, long after the tent has gone... how ever good it was.

Just my thoughts.

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IMO, it depends on how well a tent is pitched, also the aerodynamics of a tent and size.

A well thoughtout pitched cheap tent, could out perform an expensive tent, pitched incorrectly by an inexperience person.   

Would I pitch an £2000 tent in an exposed environment, cliff top site.

Not really.  Would I pitch knowing there will be high gusts, would I risk it,  Not really

heath63

Lots of good comments above regarding different aspects of what you want from a tent, i.e longevity, comfort, security in bad weather, value for money etc.

I can only speak from my experience which is that I have only had 2 Cabanon tents in about 17 years plus of using our own equipment. First a  canvas frame tent that lasted for over 11 years and near on 100 weeks camping in that time (admittedly abroad for much of that time). I think it was just under £400 including sun canopy which averaged out at under £40 per year.

The reason we got rid of it was we liked the layout of our present Biscaya tunnel tent with ZIG much better. We have had a Biscaya now for over 6 years and probably in excess of 30 weeks camping. It is still in immaculate condition and should easily last our camping lifetime out. With sun canopy it was over £800 but as I think it will last another 10 years (if we are camping that long) again it will work out very reasonably over the course of its lifetime. If I had to replace it now the nearest equivalent Cabanon would be in excess of £1600 plus canopy which is getting towards the £2000 of the OP's question.

During these camping times we have experience hot sunshine (no deterioration in fabric due to UV), tremendous thunderstorms, high winds and just about everything except snow as we dont use a tent in winter. During all that time we have been warm and snug and have never felt there was any likelyhood of damage to the tent.

As someone else has said, at the end of the day you get what you pay for.

I said in a previous post if I was considering spending £2000 I would be looking at a trailer tent for the reasons I mentioned (bulk and weight mostly).

Just for interest I've added a couple of photos to show how comfy.

John

Your tent does look comfy, John.

heath63