My absolute nightmare experience with John Stultz and bearpaw wilderness designs!

[left52side]

Nope. Maybe you're thinking of the LHG Solo? Impeccable quality, that one, with excellent and quick service. However a friend of mine recently got a TT Protrail and that one also is top-notch quality.

Oh you mean two of the (although great companies) that dont work in cuben fiber or do any custom work....
But they do make some nice tents for what they are,IMO on the heavy side for todays standards but non the less quality sil nylon shelters.
In my opinion(which again we all know what they say about opinions) is comparing A sil shelter to A cuben shelter,or fornthat matter work done on them is like comparing apples to oranges,or as you would say a Ferrari to A lawn mower.
It really is to bad BPWD seems to have dropped off of the quality for sure and hoping my hexamid is ok ,It is in the mail and will receive it in A couple of days so A full review will be done upon its arrival.
It is to bad OP had this experience with A cottage company like this,but like them I to read several reviews online including one from hiking dude.As well as many other known long distance hikers and they had nothing bad to say about the company.
I myself searched around for someone to do the modification on my hexamid and came down to two options one being BPWD and the other from Ron at MLD ,which was my first option but his lead time on custom work was to far out for my trip,so I chose john at BPWD after reading online some reviews and etc.
It is however A shame this happened and hopefully it will get resolved.

[cmoulder]

I really do hope it works out well for you. I hate seeing anybody ripped off or otherwise screwed, especially a fellow backpacker.

[saltysack]

At least he'll get to see an example of something that's done well... before he mangles it.

But it's like sending your Ferrari to the kid down the street who fixes lawn mowers part time. I've always had the impression of BWD as more for the 'axe-and-Bowie-knife' types.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dogwood]

It may not be duct tape John was using but a 3M 1540 tape used for sealing sheathing seams which, although I've never used, I've heard supposedly sticks very well to Dyneema Composite through a good range of temps and UV ranges. Sheathing tape is MUCH less expensive per foot, about 4-6 cts/ft but of slightly higher wt than 1" wide double sided adhesive Dyneema Composite tape that sells for about 20 -25 cts/ft. That savings adds up when you're using perhaps 100's or even 1000's of ft of tape regularly.

Custom work is notoriously difficult to get wt specs dialed in by the one doing the work. More so when your custom work is a very rare or never seen before order.

[Dogwood]

BTW, on a positive note I have seen the zippered net door mod to a MLD Duomid that Bearpaw Gear did. It looked good particularly in context of the custom work cost. Other stuff like seams on some gear I've noticed sloppiness.

[left52side]

[QUOTEBTW, on a positive note I have seen the zippered net door mod to a MLD Duomid that Bearpaw Gear did. It looked good particularly in context of the custom work cost. Other stuff like seams on some gear I've noticed sloppiness.][/QUOTE]

Thanks for the positive note Dogwood,that helps ease my mind A bit on my tarp arriving...

[left52side]

OK so I received my hexamid tarp back from john today after the mod he made on it attaching a perimeter netting along the bottom and honestly I have nothing bad to say about it. It was exactly what I was looking for and he had it back to me in less than A week and the price was great.
I called him on the phone to thank him for his work and he seemed like A really nice guy and even offered to work on my tarp in the future if there was ever A problem with the netting.
Anyway I have attached some photos of the work he finished on my tarp and as you can see it looks really nice.
I am not sure what happened with OP but I certainly think the issue could of been resolved with A different approach,guess my point is there are certain ways to handle things and there are always two sides to every story scenario... The work obviously was not up to your expectations or the correct sizing but I think if handled differently then there might have been A better outcome for everyone involved.
Anyway thats my .02 here are the pics.
IMG_20170323_134039.jpgIMG_20170323_134052.jpgIMG_20170323_135817.jpgIMG_20170323_135825.jpg

[ImAfraidOfBears]

But it's like sending your Ferrari to the kid down the street who fixes lawn mowers part time.

Best thing i read today, thanks for that

[Kookork]

Ironically,there is a company named Giani ferrari which manufactures lawn mowers and they are quality mowers.

[JBrewer]

Left52side,
I am glad you got a good product back from Bearpaw, this was obviously not my experience or the experience of many others. When a seller does work like he sent to me, then doesn't respond to any emails and only responds through paypal when a paypal request for a refund is made then that is not the right way to do things. He could have sent it out right, he could have offered to make it right after the fact...none of those options he chose. I honestly think he ****ed up when he built it and didn't want to be out the money in materials so shipped it out and put it on me. I will accept responsibility if I did something wrong, but I don't see where anything could have been done differently on my end. Again, I'm glad it worked out for you but if you read the countless negative threads about John and Bearpaw you will see he has been getting away with screwing people for years...my experience is nothing new.

[Franco]

Ferrari is the Italian equivalent to Smith. So not that uncommon.

[left52side]

Left52side,
I am glad you got a good product back from Bearpaw, this was obviously not my experience or the experience of many others. When a seller does work like he sent to me, then doesn't respond to any emails and only responds through paypal when a paypal request for a refund is made then that is not the right way to do things. He could have sent it out right, he could have offered to make it right after the fact...none of those options he chose. I honestly think he ****ed up when he built it and didn't want to be out the money in materials so shipped it out and put it on me. I will accept responsibility if I did something wrong, but I don't see where anything could have been done differently on my end. Again, I'm glad it worked out for you but if you read the countless negative threads about John and Bearpaw you will see he has been getting away with screwing people for years...my experience is nothing new.]

I agree 100 percent.
Although honestly I haven't read many more or any other bad reviews about them which is why I choose to mail my tarp to them to begin with.
Last year I am sure I posted about ordering A BPWD shelter and posted on here about anyone having any information about them as I could not find much out,and on that thread no one had A negative thing to say .
As I said I think obviously things should have different in your case and I hope that it will get resolved for you.

[DapperD]

Left52side,
I am glad you got a good product back from Bearpaw, this was obviously not my experience or the experience of many others. When a seller does work like he sent to me, then doesn't respond to any emails and only responds through paypal when a paypal request for a refund is made then that is not the right way to do things. He could have sent it out right, he could have offered to make it right after the fact...none of those options he chose. I honestly think he ****ed up when he built it and didn't want to be out the money in materials so shipped it out and put it on me. I will accept responsibility if I did something wrong, but I don't see where anything could have been done differently on my end. Again, I'm glad it worked out for you but if you read the countless negative threads about John and Bearpaw you will see he has been getting away with screwing people for years...my experience is nothing new.

I agree with you 100%. You paid your hard earned money for a custom made quality tent, and you receive a tent that not only are the dimensions wrong, but you have a seam running down the middle of the floor, anchors that are sewn on crooked, material that is not even sewn in flat but flipped over in the corners so water penetrates, and what appears to be dollar store duct tape holding everything together.

I mean what is not to love? This company (if you want to call it that) is laughable. Now if he contracted someone else to do this project for him and they screwed it up, too bad. You paid good money to him and what you received was garbage. He needs to man up and make this right for you. I think it wise to contact Consumer Affairs or someone and file a complaint with them. And there is nothing different you need to have done.

[MuddyWaters]

I agree with you 100%. You paid your hard earned money for a custom made quality tent, and you receive a tent that not only are the dimensions wrong, but you have a seam running down the middle of the floor, anchors that are sewn on crooked, material that is not even sewn in flat but flipped over in the corners so water penetrates, and what appears to be dollar store duct tape holding everything together.

I mean what is not to love? This company (if you want to call it that) is laughable. Now if he contracted someone else to do this project for him and they screwed it up, too bad. You paid good money to him and what you received was garbage. He needs to man up and make this right for you. I think it wise to contact Consumer Affairs or someone and file a complaint with them. And there is nothing different you need to have done.

Bearpaws work is normally a little less pretty than others, but is serviceable...usually.

The dimensions were standard I believe. If his standard dimensions are off, then so it is. But its somewhat hard to measure these type items, and many vendors items measure slightly different than spec. How do you measure? flat, pitched, with how much sidewall height, etc.

All cuben except solo sizes tend to have a seam on floor. It comes 53" wide on the roll.

[JBrewer]

This was not "custom" dimensions. This was a standard build for dimensions which are listed on his website at 86x52x40. What I received was well short on all 3 dimensions and renders the tent unusable for me. The seam on the floor is not a big deal as I said in the video, but the finish on the floor corners is. The way it is folded over and taped is a joke and not how any work from any other manufacturer I have ever seen done, including looking at Bearpaws own website pictures. The tape doesn't even stick, is crooked and twisted, and the tieouts are unusable to create a bathtub, again his website pictures show a completely different finish method. This was a botched product that simply left the shop and the owner is refusing to make it right because he doesn't want to eat the cost of materials.

[JBrewer]

Thing is that I heard a lot of bad stories about Bearpaw prior to ordering, mainly about stitch quality, etc. Never did I expect a totally and completely botched product and an owner unwilling to make it right. Seriously, this is so bad that if it were a myog I would have stopped and just turned it into stuff sacks or a rain kilt...and I am horrible at myog. There is no way someone claiming to be an expert should make and stand by his product.

[JBrewer]

*There is no way someone claiming to be an expert should make and stand by his product in this shameful manner.

[MuddyWaters]

Folding corners that way and sewing top edge is how its done to avoid seams and leak point at corners. It keeps the floor intact.

Weights never include stuffsak.

The tape only covers the edge where its folded, and provides some reinforcement for loop attachment.

Was it intended to pitch standalone, (staked)or attached to tarp?. Loops at top of tub will either attach to tarp or need longish lines to not pull the tub to the ground bad, but usually its to attach to tarp with floating floor. Which saves a few stakes

Heres zpacks bathtub floor corner

IMG_20170323_204306.jpg

[ScareBear]

Thing is that I heard a lot of bad stories about Bearpaw prior to ordering, mainly about stitch quality, etc. Never did I expect a totally and completely botched product and an owner unwilling to make it right. Seriously, this is so bad that if it were a myog I would have stopped and just turned it into stuff sacks or a rain kilt...and I am horrible at myog. There is no way someone claiming to be an expert should make and stand by his product.

OK, now my sympathy level is heading south towards zero. You heard a lot of bad stories about the MFR prior to ordering, but YOU decided to roll the dice. You shot craps. Just like all those bad stories you heard. And, somehow, you expected to be special. You expected to be different. You expected something different than all of what you heard. Yet, you got exactly what you heard about...

Here's the deal. You buy a Yugo because you need a new car, but you cannot afford one with a decent reputation for quality. When the Yugo turns out to be a POS, you are surprised. Nobody else is. Just you.

You bought a "custom" item with a large piece of Cuben for under $250 from a company who you heard nothing but horror stories about prior to ordering. Next time, try spending the correct dollars for the correct product from a reputable manufacturer. There's this old phrase....it applies to you and your situation...."Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish." Or, in modern vernacular..."You get what you pay for."

Now, enough with the incessant griping. You've taken it to every board/forum you can find, ad nauseum. Even for a bitching curmudgeon like me, you've taken this to a new pinnacle...

Let it go. You will live longer.

[Alligator]

OK so I received my hexamid tarp back from john today after the mod he made on it attaching a perimeter netting along the bottom and honestly I have nothing bad to say about it. It was exactly what I was looking for and he had it back to me in less than A week and the price was great.
I called him on the phone to thank him for his work and he seemed like A really nice guy and even offered to work on my tarp in the future if there was ever A problem with the netting.
Anyway I have attached some photos of the work he finished on my tarp and as you can see it looks really nice.
I am not sure what happened with OP but I certainly think the issue could of been resolved with A different approach,guess my point is there are certain ways to handle things and there are always two sides to every story scenario... The work obviously was not up to your expectations or the correct sizing but I think if handled differently then there might have been A better outcome for everyone involved.
Anyway thats my .02 here are the pics.
IMG_20170323_134039.jpgIMG_20170323_134052.jpgIMG_20170323_135817.jpgIMG_20170323_135825.jpg

I was just looking at your pictures to get some idea of the work done. It caught my interest as I had done this myself on my pyramid tent. I sewed netting around the bottom to be able to lift it up and get some ventilation. Anyway, and I could be mistaken, but when I look at your first picture zoomed, it looks like there is a gap in the netting beneath the black patch on the tarp wall. Looks like there is a string running down from the patch, maybe it's a pullout there. That's not a gap though is it? The seam appears to flip over there possibly. Could be fine netting that I can't see maybe.