Issues with my Eezi-Awn

[LUISJG]

if you have room....keep the matress in side your vehicle,when in transport.

 

[lowenbrau]

What is the retail on these things in Africa? $500 maybe? That's about what they are worth. Unfortunately for those of us who are so far away the cost goes up as they pass through the hands of a few more suppliers, shippers and governments. I wonder what the quality of an $1800 made in the US tent would be like. If all things were equal (I know they are not) you should get a heck of a product for that money. There is no options though so we pay what we have to and get what we get. I got a good deal out of Slee and bought three Technitops at a time and still have about $2300 in it (our dollar was weaker back then) I have no ill will toward any of the top manufacturers but someone should build a tent here even if it were under license. You could increase the quality or reduce the price, I'm guessing.

I'm relatively happy with our Technitop and have about 30 nights in it now. One thing I'm super impressed with is the cover. It is a heavy vinyl with a good quality ratchet strap. I toss my camp chairs on top of the tent and then add the cover and crank the heck out of the ratchet and have no appreciable wear and tear in spite of breaking a number of limbs off trees even in winter.

 

[adventureduo]

What is the retail on these things in Africa? $500 maybe? That's about what they are worth. Unfortunately for those of us who are so far away the cost goes up as they pass through the hands of a few more suppliers, shippers and governments. I wonder what the quality of an $1800 made in the US tent would be like. If all things were equal (I know they are not) you should get a heck of a product for that money. There is no options though so we pay what we have to and get what we get.

Yep. That's why i chose Mombassa. I can't see spending $1,000 more on a product thats almost identical. And yes, i've seen the more expensive brands in person. Ours works just as good and has features that work just as good if not better. But I don't want to get into specifics or make this a comparison post... or start a war over this. We are very happy with our tent, even if some people think it's 'copying' another manufacturer.

Does anyone know what a EEZI awn or a Overland tent runs in Africa?

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

i have seen pics awhile ago in trails of Jack Stuhler (owner or eezi awn) and his "Tubby Explorer" 70 series with what looked like a "Hard" cover on his eezi awn tent. Is that an available cover or is it a completely different tent? available in the US? never seen another one aside from that one.

Anyone know?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

<SNIP>

I'm relatively happy with our Technitop and have about 30 nights in it now. One thing I'm super impressed with is the cover. It is a heavy vinyl with a good quality ratchet strap. I toss my camp chairs on top of the tent and then add the cover and crank the heck out of the ratchet and have no appreciable wear and tear in spite of breaking a number of limbs off trees even in winter.

Sounds like the same material the cover for my Mare RTT is made of. I see it outlasting the tent 10 times over. I do not have a ratchet instead mine has 12 adjustable buckles that pulls the cover straight down that loops under the tent providing a dust/water free seal.

Great idea of packing the camp chairs under the cover.:26_7_2:I will definitely use it

 

[Tom B]

Yep. That's why i chose Mombassa. I can't see spending $1,000 more on a product thats almost identical. And yes, i've seen the more expensive brands in person. Ours works just as good and has features that work just as good if not better. But I don't want to get into specifics or make this a comparison post... or start a war over this. We are very happy with our tent, even if some people think it's 'copying' another manufacturer.

Does anyone know what a EEZI awn or a Overland tent runs in Africa?

Back when I was attempting to get a 1.6m Howling Moon Tourer (similar to the T-Top), I vaguely recall them priced around $1200ish? USD. The T-Top/Tourer versions are more $$$. I ended up purchasing a 1.6m T-Top Eezi-Awn through Paul. I had my ladder latch spring break after about the 3rd time opening it. Paul rectified the problem fast! So, I'm happy to be his customer.

As far as properly putting on the cover, Paul has a writeup on his website (check the FAQ section) that discusses the proper steps to putting it on. Special attention is given to properly tightening the strap so as not to create undue wear on the cover.

 

[Martyn]

What is the retail on these things in Africa? $500 maybe? That's about what they are worth. Unfortunately for those of us who are so far away the cost goes up as they pass through the hands of a few more suppliers, shippers and governments. I wonder what the quality of an $1800 made in the US tent would be like. If all things were equal (I know they are not) you should get a heck of a product for that money. There is no options though so we pay what we have to and get what we get. I got a good deal out of Slee and bought three Technitops at a time and still have about $2300 in it (our dollar was weaker back then) I have no ill will toward any of the top manufacturers but someone should build a tent here even if it were under license. You could increase the quality or reduce the price, I'm guessing.

It all seems so simple, why hasn't anyone done it?

Yeah, I know we asked ourselves the same questions a few years ago. There are a multitude of answers.

Let me start with the South African RTT's. First I have to lay out $30,000 for a container load of tents, that's before they are manufactured. Then I have to pay transportation cost to the Port. South Africa is the most expensive country in the world to ship out of by the way. Then the freight cost on a 40ft container $7500.00 plus insurance at 1.5% plus fuel surplus charges. Then 6 weeks on the water. US port fees, US customs duty 8%, customs clearance, bond, Stateside freight, storage etc etc.

Add to this the importers mark up, after all I put down a big chunk of change and I don’t get repaid until the product sells. Yeah, my dealers want to make a little money too so there is their mark up as well. (On a side note I went into Lowe's to buy some 1/4 zinc washers as we were running short, there mark up is 300% over what we pay for the same thing).

Why not have the tent made in the US? Well we tried to find a tent manufacturer who could make our design of tent here in the US, what we discovered is they don't have the expertise, and after we costed the whole thing out, and added a reasonable mark up for ourselves, the cost was roughly the same.

Market size for RTT in North America is very small. Expedition types, like you and I, we are a sub market of a sub market of the off road community. We borrow a lot of product from the 4x4 market, the Camping market, the RV market, the Climbing market and so on, but very little is manufactured for the Expedition market. When you are producing for a small market you don't have the benefit of large volume to reduce costs.

Sorry to lay it out so plainly, but I work with this reality everyday.

 

[lowenbrau]

Sorry to lay it out so plainly, but I work with this reality everyday.

Yep, and my armchair quarterbacking was not meant to disrespect. I'm sure there's been plenty of thought put into the situation.

 

[Martyn]

Yep, and my armchair quarterbacking was not meant to disrespect. I'm sure there's been plenty of thought put into the situation.

There was absolutely nothing disrespectful in what you said. A lot of what I said was stated out of frustration, both with a weak US$, the complexities of importation, and not being able to get everything done in North America.

It's also frustrating that the power houses for the production of Expedition equipment, South Africa and Australia have populations less than California & Arizona combined.

We haven’t given up on having world class RTT's made here in the US, but the idea has been relegated to a plan "B".

 

[Bergger]

Please correct me if I am wrong but I believe Campa makes an in house roof top tent. They are priced at about $1500 for the two room tent and I believe the smaller one room tent is around $1200. Not really any cheaper than an imported Eezi Awn. I have yet to use my Eezi Awn 1800 but when I opened it the other day I noticed at the top of the ladder there were two gouge marks in the wood floor. It appears it is from the ladder making contact with the floor when it incidentally slides out from under the tent. I really wish they would make a lock on the ladder to keep this from happening. I believe the AutoHome tents have this feature. I know on hard surfaces you need to use a rachet strap to keep this from happening. Since I have yet to really use the tent outside of the garage, do you have to do this on soft ground or does the ladder dig in deep enough to prevent it from sliding out?

 

[Martyn]

Please correct me if I am wrong but I believe Campa makes an in house roof top tent. They are priced at about $1500 for the two room tent and I believe the smaller one room tent is around $1200. Not really any cheaper than an imported Eezi Awn. I have yet to use my Eezi Awn 1800 but when I opened it the other day I noticed at the top of the ladder there were two gouge marks in the wood floor. It appears it is from the ladder making contact with the floor when it incidentally slides out from under the tent. I really wish they would make a lock on the ladder to keep this from happening. I believe the AutoHome tents have this feature. I know on hard surfaces you need to use a rachet strap to keep this from happening. Since I have yet to really use the tent outside of the garage, do you have to do this on soft ground or does the ladder dig in deep enough to prevent it from sliding out?

When the ladder is used on hard surfaces like concrete or blacktop the base of the ladder can be secured by placing a ratchet strap around the tire and back to the base of the ladder.

On soft ground a spike can be driven through the hole in the foot of the ladder and into the ground.

 

[Equipt]

Hello Everyone,

My apologies for the delay in responding to this thread. Life has gotten in the way again. I first want thank Martyn for answering several of the concerns in my absense. I will try to expound on his comments.

Alvin, Kevin, I appreciate your comments of concern. Response from our customer base, positive and negative, is the premise of improvement for any product. Your comments will be passed along to Eezi Awn so that they know your feelings. Eezi Awn and Equipt both contend that the Eezi Awn tent line is the highest quality RTT on the market today. It is not only our opinion, but the opinion of most outfitters in Australia, Europe and Africa. It is the finest made. It is not perfect. As with any hand made product there is the human element that will product an issue here or there. That is purely human nature. The real difference is in how those eventual issues are handled that matters. With that in mind, please be assured that we will do all in our power to make it right with you. If any customer has an issue with our product, please contact me personally and I will do what ever I can. Equipt is the North American rep for Eezi Awn, so the buck stops here on this continent.

Alvin, let's see if we can make this right for you. I think Martyn answered several of the concerns well, but there are a couple things I would like to add.

The bow in the top board in the 1800 is not unusual. The bow is result of the torque on the ladder as a fulcrum to open the tent. To remove this bow, we would need to significantly increase the materials thickness. That would consequently increase the weight, and create a whole other set of problems. The current combination of wood panel and aluminum extrusion is the middle road Eezi Awn has found. I am racing past 2-fiddy in the weight game myself, so I understand. Martyn mentioned a stiffer hinge that Eezi Awn developed for the tent. This will help some. The suggestion of a center load bar fastener also helps in this physics lesson. Please give these a try.

The loose bolt is something I have now answer for, sir. I haven't heard this one too often. I am happy to replace any fasteners that might be missing. The use of a bolt/Nylock as a pivot point is finding that spot where things are snug enough but not too tight. This particular bolt was an oversight, and I apologize for that.

If the strap on the rainfly is truly fraying at the stitchline, then that is wrong. Please contact me with regard to this and we'll find a solution.

The main concern seems to stem from the cover. Martyn touched on it, but I thought I would elaborate a bit. The nature of the material in the perimeter ratchet strap is one of friction. The ratchet builds the most tension at the corner to the left of the mechanism because of that friction, hence the possible tearing of the stitches at that point, and the loose cover around the rest. Here is what I would suggest. I copies this out of our FAQ section.

______________
Proper installation of the cover is essential to the long term care of both the tent and the cover. The cover is the only thing between your tent and the elements. There are a couple tricks to fitting the cover correctly. First, ensure the cover is on the right direction. Put the ratchet mechanism on the side most easily accessed. Fit the corners as squarely as possible. Pull the strap attached to the ratchet mechanism tightly to the right by pulling on the strap from the corner to the right of the ratchet. Now follow that strap around the tent to each corner in a counter clockwise direction and pull the slack out of the strap. Follow this process around the tent until you return to the open end of the strap. Insert open end of strap into ratchet, pull snug, then ratchet tight a few clicks. Return to each corner to make sure it is below the base panel of the tent. Return to the ratchet and finish tightening. Don’t over tighten the ratchet as this may cause too much strain on the stitching. The purpose of this procedure is to pre-tighten the strap and create even tightening all around the tent. The sleeve the strap runs through generates friction as it goes around, so if you don’t pull the slack out the ratchet generates all the stress at the first corner to the left and none on the other side of the tent. This will wear out the cover prematurely.

____________________________


Alvin, give this a try and see if it helps. I have spoken to Eezi Awn about the cover material as well. We are working on solution to the cover thickness / weight consideration issue too.

I hope this has helped out some. Should you have problems with an investment like this? No - plain and simple. I am sad you have found disappointment with us. Let's make it right for you, one way or another.

Any one with a concern or comment can reach me at Paul@Equipt1.com or 866-703-1026.

Thanks,

 

[LUISJG]

500 ???? dont think so ......
you can not even buy the materials to build a tent for 500,
"like eezi awn"

we tried to build rtts about a year ago,,and its impossible to build it at 500.

the mombasa tents are great tents, and as mentioned,,they have things that are far better than their eezi awn counterparts. for instance,,SS hardware thrue out!.
ladder far superior than the eezi.
the new mombasa floor is awsome.

now back to the price issue,,the only way to build tents for little money is to have 200 built in china. and sign a conbtract for future purchases.

and to "sell" them Is Like Martyn says,,,be prepared to hand over thousands and thousands of dollars to get in the game..

I dont know how much an eezi retails in africa but I dont think its less then 700 or 800 for a 1200 . otherwise they would not make a profit.

I realy like the eezi Fabric though.
mombasa is coming out with the new breatheble fabric in a month or two looks promissing,,.

I think competition will only make the tents better,,

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I have spoken to Eezi Awn about the cover material as well. We are working on solution to the cover thickness / weight consideration issue too.

Thanks for chiming in Paul.

Having some sort of "carpet" or similar material on the INSIDE of the covers to protect against the sharp edges would help out tremdously as well.

1st Gen Cover = 3 Carpeted Corners
2nd Gen Cover = 0 Carpeted Corners

Hoping the 3rd gen has 4 nicely re-enforced corners and all problems would be solved! :victory:

Proper installation of the cover is essential to the long term care of both the tent and the cover. The cover is the only thing between your tent and the elements. There are a couple tricks to fitting the cover correctly. First, ensure the cover is on the right direction. Put the ratchet mechanism on the side most easily accessed. Fit the corners as squarely as possible. Pull the strap attached to the ratchet mechanism tightly to the right by pulling on the strap from the corner to the right of the ratchet. Now follow that strap around the tent to each corner in a counter clockwise direction and pull the slack out of the strap. Follow this process around the tent until you return to the open end of the strap. Insert open end of strap into ratchet, pull snug, then ratchet tight a few clicks. Return to each corner to make sure it is below the base panel of the tent. Return to the ratchet and finish tightening. Don’t over tighten the ratchet as this may cause too much strain on the stitching. The purpose of this procedure is to pre-tighten the strap and create even tightening all around the tent. The sleeve the strap runs through generates friction as it goes around, so if you don’t pull the slack out the ratchet generates all the stress at the first corner to the left and none on the other side of the tent. This will wear out the cover prematurely.
,

I have tried this several times following what you suggest to a "T" with no luck.

It is simply either too lose and flaps in the wind, or when it IS tigh enough, you can SEE the stretching going on at the corners of the cover. I have tried with Zero luck to find a happy medium.

I think competition will only make the tents better,,

:iagree:

 

[MaddBaggins]

Thanks Paul. I'll get you a picture of the frayed strap. I don't think it will be a serious issue if I re-melt the end. I'll get a good pic of it first.
The bow issue, I wonder if I could brace the center of the board with a piece of unistrut (steel channel used in plumbing). It wouldn't add more than 5 pounds. I'll check that option out.
That is the procedure I have been using for the cover. I may be cranking the ratchet to much. I'll back it off some and try to find a happy medium. I still need to re-sew the corners to fix the damage that is done.
I already replaced the hardware on the hinges and used some locktight. I hope that cures the issue.