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  1. #1

    Default Bear paw Wilderness Design

    Has anyone bought one of their products recently. I'm interested in the Bear Den1 or Lair with an inner net. What your opinion/experience with the design, quality, customer service and delivery time. Was the listed weight accurate? Any input is appreciated.

  2. #2

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    Not recently (probably 3 orders in the last 5 years), but the few items I purchased from him were excellent, including some special request stuff. Even responses to emails were timely. Prices were surprisingly reasonable considering I made special requests which amounts to semi-custom stuff.

  3. #3

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    Thank-you perrymk. John prices are very reasonable, and I like his designs.

  4. #4
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    You may want to read this first...

    https://backpackinglight.com/forums/...rness-designs/

  5. #5

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    Johns work, as well as service, has ranged from good to poor in past. A simple google will tell you that. Many old bpl posts if can find them still.

    Do you feel lucky?
    How much $ are you willng to gamble?
    Do you care about resale value?

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by BradMT View Post
    Seconded.....I was considering ordering a custom innernet from him for my ultamid 2 until I did more research on the quality of his products/reviews (plenty of horror stories on BPL)....looks like a "your milage may vary" kind of cottage company concerning quality and customer service. Ended up deciding there are too many other cottage companies hungry to deliver a quality product/experience for me to risk ordering from BPW. Just make sure you do your research.

  7. #7

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    Yes I've read the negative comments. The ones I've were older, that's why I asked if anyone has bought anything "recently", thinking he may have resolved the issues.

  8. #8

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    Reddit r/ultralight has some fairly recent threads on BPWD. Serious buyer beware.

  9. #9

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    The thing I've noticed about his designs is that they always look like the patterns just don't work, I don't know if it's the math, or the cuts, or the sewing, but when your website photos have 18 wrinkles that kinda sends a warning. The issue is that he will accept any custom product at reasonable prices, so I guess it's a gamble. Who else does custom work that would be better? Would love to know.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Randy Watson View Post
    The thing I've noticed about his designs is that they always look like the patterns just don't work, I don't know if it's the math, or the cuts, or the sewing, but when your website photos have 18 wrinkles that kinda sends a warning. The issue is that he will accept any custom product at reasonable prices, so I guess it's a gamble. Who else does custom work that would be better? Would love to know.
    Yea Randy I notice that also. Very few you tube reviews. On guy did a review on the lair 1 and gave it a positive review. It's like you and others said "it's a crap shoot"

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Randy Watson View Post
    The thing I've noticed about his designs is that they always look like the patterns just don't work, I don't know if it's the math, or the cuts, or the sewing, but when your website photos have 18 wrinkles that kinda sends a warning. The issue is that he will accept any custom product at reasonable prices, so I guess it's a gamble. Who else does custom work that would be better? Would love to know.
    Yep. You expect people to put their best photos up.
    When the best photos have wrinkles, its a sign of something.

    For sure mld and locus appear better, smoother, no wrinkles in pics.

    Its a bit of shame imo, i think theres a great niche still there. But a few cases in past where people received shoddy work,and he wouldnt fix it, seriously tarnished his rep.

    But gear can be still perfectly functional with minor imperfections, especially if you are charging lower price accordingly. Which john used to.

    Just dont be over on wt claimed.....thats unforgiveable. Some mfgs learned the hard way. People pay premium for low wt, not their craftsmanship. Promise 9 oz and it weighs 9.7 and people are livid. Yeah theres differences in raw material lots, but zpacks generally always managed to nail it to .1 oz. Although i have one solo hexamid groundsheet from zpacks ....was supposed to be 3.2 oz, its 4. I kept it anyway. Never used it though.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 03-30-2019 at 09:59.

  12. #12

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    I’ve never reviewed a company before but I have to warn everyone to STAY AWAY from Bear Paw Wilderness Designs and its owner John Stultz. In November 2022 Mr. Stultz stole my $269 North Face Soloist Bivy.
    The nightmare started when I asked Mr. Stultz, by email, to quote replacing some of the nylon on my bivy. To quote the job, he first asked me to send photos, then asked me to ship him the bivy. He received my bivy on 10/17/22 by UPS.
    By 11/3 I still had no quote from Mr. Stultz and emailed him to return my bivy using my UPS account number. He refused and said “I will just toss the bivy into the trash.”
    I called the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, which polices Wellington, Colorado, and reported the theft to a deputy.
    Customers, take your business to Hyperlite or elsewhere. Vendors, if Mr. Stultz will steal from customers, he will steal from you too.

  13. #13
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    I've got bad news folks...even worse for me unless I get my credit card or PayPal to step in. I took a gamble and ordered a Pyratent Net from John/BearPaw Wilderness. Got it today and he is already giving me a hard time even though I'm trying to remain civil and I've provided some pretty hard proof that the tent is not right. (looks like parts of it were sewn inside out and worst of all there is no 'bathtub' floor to speak of due to the tie outs not being seen on correctly/as described on his website.)

    Also, the only modifications I had him do was 1- make the peak 6" higher
    2- do half of the door in Silnylon...

    Yet, this thing is 10 ounces heavier than standard! I have a hard time believing that those mods really account for that much weight difference especially since the mesh bugnetting that was replaced by silnylon seems pretty heavy to begin. I'm noticing A LOT of excess floor fabric and to the hand the silnylon seems thicker than the 30d it's claimed as being. 🤔

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