Alps Mountaineering

[Eagle309]

Has anyone had any experience with their equipment? It sounds like quality stuff and they offer a 45% Scout discount.

[SR540Beaver]

I'd say their quality is comparable to Coleman and I think that is who they are trying to compete with. I've known a couple of Scouters who have bought their tents and cots. One of the guys experienced a leak thru his rain fly the first time he used it, the other guy did not. Half the tents you buy tell you to seal them yourself anyway. Might have been a fluke. They both seemed to like the tents and cot. I borrowed one of their cots (40 inches wide) to take to Jamboree and was comfortable on it. One word of warning, sit down in the middle and not on the end if there is the slightest unlevel ground. At 40 inches wide, the cot stands very tall. You don't get to pick your spot at Jambo and take what you can get. My tent site was running downhill ever so slightly. I sit down on the foot end of the cot and the tall legs shifted under my weight and bent a little. I will say that there were a number of Jambo troops who took advantage of Alps Jambo package and there were many, many Alps tents there. We had a best practices meeting after Jambo and recommended that the council use some brand of freestanding nylon tent in the future instead of the traditional canvas wall tent. The Alps had floors, mesh doors, were much cooler and set up in a fraction of the time. The canvas looks great....IF....they are set up correctly.

[ManassasEagle]

I've gotten tents, backpacks, and stuff sacks from them and the quality of all has been excellent. And the price makes the stuff way beyond excellent. In fact, I'm getting ready to place another order for some of their stuff.

[OneHour]

Alps Mountaineering tent that I have has been great so far. (see the last post on it http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=48114). Their price is cheap enough to where you can't really go wrong. The Mystique 1.5 that I bought held up through sleet and snow as well as as a rain storm or two with very little water inside. I did, however, resealed every seam as I normally do with all of my tents. It doesn't matter which tent one has, all seams need to be resealed.

 

Got a backpack from them, an internal frame that resembles their current Denali (5000 cu.in.). Great backpack and I have used it for 3 backpacking trips. As they have always said, the bigger the backpack, the more you are going to stuff it and the heavier the load that you'll be bearing!

 

My 2-men tent has come to a point where I may need to retire it. I'm looking at their Taurus or Meramac 2 tent. From time to time, they have sales that are even cheaper than the Pro-Tester discount of 45%.

 

Can't really beat their price and Dennis is fairly good to talk to.

 

1Hour

[babybear4747]

I will be going to Philmont in 07. Are any of their tents suitable for such a backpacking trip as this?

[Narraticong]

So far I am impressed with Alps. I could not believe how good the quality is in relation to price. At about the same time I bought a Eureka Apex 2 and an Alps Taurus 2 FG. Both are similar size and construction. The Taurus has a much better fly and two doors. Both perform well and have held up to substantial rain. Cost-wise, you can't beat the Taurus at Scoutdirect.com prices! Currently they are having an NOAC sale which is outstanding. I just ordered 5 more to outfit our new Scout troop.

[EagleInKY]

I purchased the Extreme 2 back in the spring. I chose it because it was a little more durable and the design gives you much more room that the traditional dome. It's a little more difficult to set up, but once it is, it's great inside. I wondered why it was a 3 season tent until I actually slept in it one night. Even with the tarp pulled down, there is a significant amount of heat loss on the ends. I don't think I'll use it this winter.

 

I've purchased a few other items and one of our ASMs purchased a backpacking tent. They've been very friendly and I believe the quality/price ratio is unbeatable.

[campcrafter]

Do they have a tent anyone would recommend to repalce Eureka Timberline? I love my 20 y.o. Timberline but time to think about something new.

 

cc

[SR540Beaver]

campcrafter,

 

Who knows, they have not been in business 20 years. Seriously, it is hard to beat the timberline. That is what our troop uses for the boys. We always use a permanent marker and write the date on the tent and fly and we have some still in service that were purchased in 1983. My son was born in 1993! We repair them when needed and/or save pieces when one goes out of service to use with others.

 

Now I will say that some of the boys complain because of the A frame style, not being able to use a cot and not being as roomy as a dome tent.

[Narraticong]

I also have a Timberline 4 Outfitter. I guess I'm a gear junkie! The best price I have ever seen was via Ebay for about $180.00, including shipping. Without a doubt, the Timberline is the bench mark. Alps also sells a couple heavy duty outfitter models, although I have no experience with them.

 

If you do some research, I think you will find nearly all positive reviews of Alps tents. They seem to be an aggressive small company aiming at at a big market in the Scouts.

 

As for boys complaining about cots...phooey. Let 'em sleep on rocks! When I camp with the family in a 16 X 10 family tent, my cot goes along. Scouting with the boys...on the ground.

 

Most fun camping I have had in the past year or so was with my then 8 year old son sleeping in a two piece canvas army surplus pup tent. I'm a big old guy and can just fit inside. He definitely thought it was "cool". Sometimes, simple is better!

[campcrafter]

SR540

 

Did you get my PM? I don't think it is working

 

cc

[BrentAllen]

I now own a Taurus 4 AL tent and their 10x25 awning. I'm very pleased with the quality vs. cost. You can read my thoughts on the awning, after using it our Day Camp for a week - it worked extremely well. http://www.scoutdirect.com/tents.htm

The NOAC deal is very good! (ends 8/31/06).

 

This is not North Face or Western Mountaineering type gear. It is more suited to Boy Scout camping. For the price, it is very hard to beat.

[CaveEagle]

We just got back from a trip to Kandersteg Switzerland with 21 scouts & 6 adults. We all had Day-Packs from Alps Mountaineering and about half used their internal frame packs. We did tons of Hiking and climbing without any gear-related issues!

I got a great deal on the two internal-frame packs that I purchased for my son and I. We got their scout discount plus an additional holiday season dicount when I ordered them last November. I am very pleased with the quality and pricing.

 

I also really like doing business with a company that gives scouts special pricing.

 

CE

[kenk]

First, a disclosure - I just ordered my first Alps Mountaineering tent - a Merimac 6 ZF FB.

 

Now my comment regarding the Timberline replacement. The Timberlines are quite a unique tent these days. Alps Mountaineering seems to be focusing more on the dome-style tents.

 

My guess is that Alps Mountaineering is targeting their Taurus and Meramac as "replacement" Timberline troop tents. Except for the flies, the tent bodies for both the Taurus and Meramac look very similar (if not exactly the same). The floor dimensions of the Taurus Outfitter and Meramac Outfitter (7.5'x8.5') are similar to the Timberline Outfitter (7.17'x8.75'), and the heights are about the same (5' vs 4.8').

 

As mentioned, one real difference is in the price. The Timberline Outfitter 4 is $235 at Campmor.com (I hear Campmor gives Scouts a 10% discount, so figure $212), but with the Scoutdirect.com discount, the Taurus Outfitter and Meramac Outfitter 4-person tents are only $138. The Meramac 4 with the heavy duty zipper & floor and fiberglass poles is only $88!!

 

The Taurus fly provides two vestibules over each door, while the Meramac provides an awning over each door (more like the Timberline has).

 

Being the owner of lots of Eureka tents (too many to list - enought to be kind of embarassing), I'll report back on the quality when the new Meramac 6 ZF FB tent arrives.

 

Ken K.

[Narraticong]

As far as I am concerned, this is one outstanding company. I'm kind of a pain when it comes to customer service. My expectations are high. Alps has yet to let me down, in fact they truly impress me! I took advantage of the NOAC sale and ordered 5 Taurus 2 tents over the phone. After I hung up I realized I was leaving on vacation in a couple days and was concerned about the boxes sitting on my porch while I was gone. Well, no need to worry, the tents were at my house within 48 hours. These folks are great. You order today, they ship today!