View Full Version : Ummmm....
Programbo
12-08-2007, 22:00
Not sure what to make of this
$3,800 North Face ECWS Military 5+ Person 4-Season Tent - (eBay item 120193393 (http://cgi.ebay.com/3-800-North-Face-ECWS-Military-5-Person-4-Season-Tent_W0QQitemZ120193393145QQihZ002QQcategoryZ87130 QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem)
Its a tent that is up for auction in ebay...
wrongway_08
12-08-2007, 22:07
"The original government cost for this item is over $3,800 each."
Yea the Govt also paid $380.00 each for hammers that only cost the public $17.00 from lowes :rolleyes: . Sooooo, this is really a $250.00 tent.
Guess the Govt found someone almost as stupid as themselves.... to sell these tents too!
take-a-knee
12-08-2007, 22:40
That tent is worth the asking price and more. Have you priced a VE 25 lately? This tent is twice the size of a 25.
Wow, that is some tent, looks heavy! :)
Frolicking Dinosaurs
12-08-2007, 22:56
29.3 lbs.... pretty heavy even for a 4 season, 5 man tent.
trlhiker
12-08-2007, 22:58
29 lbs is heavy. I wonder if the girl comes with it. Maybe that's why it's $3800.
4eyedbuzzard
12-08-2007, 22:58
That tent is worth the asking price and more. Have you priced a VE 25 lately? This tent is twice the size of a 25.
Yeah, a ve25 is a little over $500. A Dome 5 expedition tent is about $1800 new. The ebay tent has been damaged and repaired. It may be worth the $900 asking price, but no more.
I lived in these during two arctic deployments to Norway in the winters of 97 and 98. They come with the main tent body, an camouflage fly, and a white fly. They were sufficient for a 5-man team to dig into the snow, and set up with one man in the vestibule acting as an observer, while the other four ran radio watch, melted snow, and slept.
They stood up to hellacious whiteout conditions on more than one occasion. If you're pulling a sled and splitting up the tent (and only taking the white fly) it's worth the weight for a tent you can warm up to about 35 when it's about -25 outside.
Of course, the whole $3800 figure is probably EBay bull to try to push up the bidding. I'm not paying for one in any event since I prefer to hike solo these days.;)
Programbo
12-08-2007, 23:08
That tent is worth the asking price and more. Have you priced a VE 25 lately? This tent is twice the size of a 25.
Actually it`s not a whole lot bigger than a 25..That has 48 sq ft this tent has 64...The VE 25 is over-priced..I owned a VE 24 before and that was twice what it should have cost..Only reason I had one is because the North Face sales rep gave it to me..Traded it for a case of steaks..LOL....The best 4-season tent ever was the old Jan Sport China-Everest....Gwad what a tent!..Only 40 or so square feet but it had seven 1/2" thick aircraft aluminum poles...A full grown man could stand on the top of it where the poles all crossed and it wouldn`t collapse
"The original government cost for this item is over $3,800 each."
29.3 lbs.... pretty heavy even for a 4 season, 5 man tent.
Um, some like to look at these things mathematically. Let's see 29.3 guzinto 3800 130 times, so $130/lb. Yup, on a per pound basis, very expensive. Not so heavy if you have a Sherpa handy. Why does it weigh so much anyway? Does it come with a chunk of bureaucracy or maybe camouflage paint is heavy?
$900 is cheap for a huge basecamp tent. Here are some more LINK. (http://www.altrec.com/outdoors/camping-tents/4seasontents/?&sort=price_desc)
Frolicking Dinosaurs
12-09-2007, 08:57
A...The best 4-season tent ever was the old Jan Sport China-Everest....Gwad what a tent!..Only 40 or so square feet but it had seven 1/2" thick aircraft aluminum poles...A full grown man could stand on the top of it where the poles all crossed and it wouldn`t collapseHadn't thought about the China-Everest in years. Those things were bomb-proof and h-e-a-v-y. Thanks for the memories, Sara. Hope you are doing well :)
Programbo
12-09-2007, 10:40
Hadn't thought about the China-Everest in years. Those things were bomb-proof and h-e-a-v-y. Thanks for the memories, Sara. Hope you are doing well :)
You`re welcome..I actually had the expedition version of that tent which was even more extreme..Never used it but just had one cause it was cool..I have a zillion memories of gear.. I sold backpacking/mountaineering equipment for almost 11 years and I probably sold like 20,000+ tents..Everything from one person bivy type thing up to 20'x30' canvas army mess tents..At one time we had an entire floor of our building as a tent display with 40-50 tents set up..Just nailed them to the floor if they weren`t self supporting :p