Stephensons Warmlite?

[Klimber]

these tents sound really attractive, are they really all that and a bag of chips? Anyone have one? I am considering getting the three-person version. It's hard to turn down about 1-1.5lb per person.

[Klimber]

URL http://www.warmlite.com/start.htm

Edited November 27, 2008 by Klimber

[Toast]

Dude, what happened to the naked chicks? They used to have naked chicks.

 

These tents are light, fragile, noisy in wind, damp with condensation. You can't have everything... good tents.

[markwebster]

I have a stevenson warmlite 2r tent that I bought in 1979. It is light and appears to be fragile but I actually used it a lot and never had anything rip over 5 years of mountaineering use in some bad storms. You do need to handle it carefully as with any tent that is built for lightness.

 

I got it out last year and it is still fine. There are tents that are almost as light now...everyone has copied warmlite's ideas.

 

I also have the warmlite sleeping bag bought new in 1981. Now that is awesome. Forget the down air matress, I use a much cheaper pad under it. That bag is so warm, I swear it would be good to -40. The loft is at least 8 inches with both tops. I've never had any problems with it, not even a broken zipper and I use it many times each winter.

 

 

Well, I did have some of the vapor barrier fabric begin to come delaminated back in 1993. I sent it back and they fixed it for free, completely resewed all the interior...amazingly good seamstress work.

 

With the bag, you do need to wear long johns or sweats because of the vapor barrier.

 

they still have the nudist theme on their website...gotta love that.

[johndavidjr]

From what little I know and have directly observed, Warmlight tents are probably okay.

 

In my personal and somewhat informed opinion, their advertising is obviously dishonest.

 

Because of this (I don't like being treated like a fool) and a few other lesser factors, including price, I would never personally consider purchashing their products.

 

 

[mccallboater]

I spent a week in a Warmlite 3R on a Schweitzer-Kootenay Pass ski traverse. Great tent. Take a little sponge to wipe down the end zones after a cold night. Fire up your tent candle (or stove if you dare) and the reflective coating will warm up the interior right quick. That's when the sponge comes in handy. I know of no other tent with the Warmlite's space/weight ratio. Plus it's pretty bomber in strong winds, if you stake out the ends with something big, like a buried ski pole.

 

Granted, one needs a larger stake out area with this design than with, say, a Bibler. But as long as your journeys do not include camping on chopped out ledges, go for it. I see on the website they've made a shorter version for that specific use now too.

[pindude]

In my personal and somewhat informed opinion, their advertising is obviously dishonest.

 

Because of this (I don't like being treated like a fool) and a few other lesser factors, including price, I would never personally consider purchashing their products.

 

 

Okay. If you're going to diss something like that, you need to provide concrete examples, not make blanket statements. That is, if you want your opinion to have credibility. Your statements achingly beg for clarification.

 

*Exactly how is their advertising dishonest?

 

*Exactly how were you "treated like a fool," and what are the lesser factors that would preclude you from "consider(ing) purchasing their products"?

 

*Have you ever personally used a Stephenson, and if not, how is your opinion "informed"?

 

Thanks, McCallBoater, and Mark, for the detailed, first-hand input. A Schweitzer-Kootenay Pass traverse sounds like a great time.

[johndavidjr]

The thing that most immediately jumps out is their very free and highly repetitive use of superlatives in describing their equipment:

 

"the most versatile, simplest, and lightest tents made...performance never equaled.....Most ROOM, for sitting and working ...STRONGEST POLES -7178T6 is much stronger than those in any other tents....The lightest, yet strongest tents made. WARMLITE tents can survive in winds to 160 mph. Extraordinary! "

Boy, I'll say! Next time a Class V hurricane hits, I'll move out of my trailer and into a Stephenson WARMLITE tent!!

 

"No one else has the balls to install practicality and make radical experiments in the face of losing the large market of gullible consumers."

 

Ouoooh...balls...yeah baby!!!

 

Sounds like an advertisement in The Old Farmer's Almanac....(my favorite magazine!!!). (Get Rich With Chinchillas!!....Grow Giant Tomatoes!!)

 

Also, regarding Stephensons Warmlite, this link is worth a look; maybe not so cool:

http://www.weasel.com/jack.html

 

Let's stress, however, that I imagine their tents are good, extremely expensive and -- a bit delicate perhaps???....

I saw one once at a col in the NCascades (in typically benign summer weather), and an acquaintance used one for a period of time, and liked it okay.

They offer a 30-day warrantee.

Edited December 9, 2008 by johndavidjr

[pindude]

Thanks for replying, John. It's good to know I'll be safe in my Stephenson Warmlite! Obvious hyperbole. Stephenson's catalogs have truly been conversation pieces; I always thought he was selling culture more than function.

 

Hey Toast, do you think the naked chicks are no longer included because those same "models"--Jack's family--aren't the young 'uns they used to be?

[johndavidjr]

The Web site is separate from downloadable catalog, which has several square feet of purple prose and nudist photos from 70s.

 

Also, if product warranties matter, Stephenson's is sub-par and there are credible allegations of poor customer service in link above.

 

maybe I've got a lower-than-average tolerance for sales hype.