ALPS Mountaineering Tent Testimonials

Extreme 2 AL - When I initially encountered ALPS I was skeptical of the quality of their products due to the noticeable low prices. I thought they might be another knock off company that puts the word "Mountaineering" in their name to sell more gear. I have been extremely impressed with the quality of the construction. In the past I have used tents from Eureka, MSR, and EMS. This tent is the same, if not better, quality for a fraction of the price. The corners and seams have a high stitch count with heavy thread. The material is a ripstop nylon that is typical for this type of three season tent. The seams on the floor come factory sealed. Eric F.

Taurus 2 AL - I first began using Alps tents about ten years ago before I began teaching kayaking . Since then I have used them exclusively on trips I have led to Europe, Baja and the Bahamian Islands plus dozens of smaller expeditions here in the U.S. The tents have always performed beautifuly and the clients have been never had a complaint. The best tent on the market, in my estimation is the Taurus Two. You can spent alot more money for the same quality if you want to help the other brands pay their advertising bills. I choose not to. John H.

Taurus 1.5 AL - I am quite happy with my initial impressions with the tent (Taurus 1.5 AL). I was extremely impressed with the quality of construction, especially with the poles and stakes that were provided. Very top notch! . . . extremely happy with my purchase! Clayton B.

Mystique 1.5 AL - Mystique 1.5 is a very well made tent with great attention to detail. Much nicer, well made design than my REI Nitelite tent! Michael C.

Taurus 1 AL - I really like this tent (Taurus 1). It is exactly what I was looking for and I will be getting a lot of use out of it. It is the best tent that I have tried to date. Durable, easy to set up/take down, lots of user friendly features. Great job!
Tom S.

Meramac 5 ZF FG - Labor Day weekend was my second motorcycle camping trip with my new tent (Meramac 5 ZF FG). This weekend would prove to be the worst weather I have encountered while camping in several years. Saturday we awoke to heavy overcast skies after a low temp of 47 degrees during the night. I tethered the tent down, prior to leaving for a ride. Upon our return that afternoon, we were told to get our motorcycles under cover as a large storm with damaging hail was approaching the rally grounds. As I parked my bike, I heard the National Weather Service broadcasting a Tornado Warning about 40 miles from where we were located that was headed in our direction. As the Storm approached us, the winds increased with 25 - 40 mph gusts. Hail the size of marbles began pounding down, accompanied by rain which was driven horizontal from wind. The storm lasted the better part of an hour. All the while several of us were huddled under a large fabric screen enclosure attempting to hold it down. The tent was several feet from me at this point and, as I watched it, I was thinking "my new tent is going to get trashed". To my delight, not a drop of water was inside the tent and it stayed upright with no damage. Several hours later a tornado touched down a mere 13 miles from us. This time, however, we were ordered into a tornado shelter; upon returning back to our camp area once again I was happy to see no water inside my tent. This is the best testimony I can give as to the durability and construction of this tent. Tim S.

PS: Between the two storms we received in excess of 4.5" of rain. Many tents around the campsite were destroyed in these storms. Mine was dry and in great shape.

Taurus 4 AL - I don't know if I've said it enough, but this tent is awesome. We used this tent for 14 days of intense cross country fun and it held up in every situation. It didn't matter if it was the hot and humid climate of the northeast or the cold, windy, rainy climate of Badlands, South Dakota - THIS TENT ROCKED!!! Spencer M.

Taurus 4 AL - This tent surpassed my expectations. During the storm others were running around trying to shore up their tents. Still others were hanging onto theirs to hold them down while standing in the wind and rain. As tornadoes passed us by the Taurus never flinched - Awesome. Daniel B.

Mystique 1 AL - Overall tent is a very good product. I can't wait to use it again! Extremely light weight and portable. With other brands I would have to buy better quality stakes, ropes, and sliders, but with ALPS it already comes with excellent quality accessories. James F.

Taurus 4 OF - With 20-plus years experience as a backwoods camper and BWCA/Superior National Forest paddler, the ALPS Taurus 4 Outfitter is -- by far and away -- the best tent I’ve found for camping out in the sticks. I expected it to be much like the Eureka I’ve been using, with nearly the same amount of room inside and vestibules over both doors. What I expected turned out to be true, but comparisons between the ALPS and Eureka end there, with the ALPS the clear and unquestioned leader. Pete T.

Mystique 1.0 AL - It is more solid than MSR/Northface/Mountain Hardware tents which were on the same trip. Performance, quality construction, price - this tent has it all. Others on same trip were cold and wet after night's snowstorm. I was dry and warm. This is the first serious lightweight tent that I will recommend to others. It's packed size is also small, allowing more space in my pack for other gear. E. Hunter

Meramac 6 ZF - Last year, I purchased a Meramac 6 ZF, and have used it on a number of occasions. I purchased the tent based on its specs as well as the testimonials on your web site. We use it for car camping in the sierras and California and Nevada desert. Having worn out several previous tents, I was very impressed with the materials and workmanship in your product. This workmanship has been proven out through several trips involving wind and rain. Our most recent trip to Death valley was particularly stressful in this regard, with winds of approx 20 to 30 mph and gusts easily over 50 mph. The winds were a benefit to us in that they cleared the campground of many tent campers by leveling and in some cases ripping their tents. We had our pick of sites! I honestly expected our tent to be damaged, but set up anyway because of limited options. With full guyouts and the van as a wind block, the tent survived the winds without a problem, despite being partially flattend by the strongest gusts. I fully expected to have to repair guyout and pole clip points after the wind, but upon close inspection, I couldn't even find signs of stress. Thanks for a truly superior product! Mark H.

Taurus 2 FG - I recently purchased 10 Taurus 2 FG tents for our Sea Kayaking program on the coast on North Carolina for the 2004 season. While your testimonial page is full of the success of your tents in backpacking and hiking the AT and such, I thought I would offer up another alternative. For a 7 week period these tents were exposed to 150 people, salt water spray, sand, high wind 15knots +, heavy storms, and being put up and taken down 5 nights in a row. Well, they performed great!!!!! Not many if any tent manufactures advertise for expedition camping on the beach. The elements there are much different than one will find on the AT. My congratulations to ALPS for making such a well built and cost affordable tent. I look forward in purchasing 10 more for the 2005 season to replace some Eureka tents. Reggie C.

Meramac 5 ZF - I was looking to step up to a quality 5 person tent that I could have for a few years and not just a one season throw away tent. Yours was just a little more expensive than the throw away tents. I got the ZF model because I figured that I would need the extra heft with my family. I was blown away at how heavy duty it is. The poles are twice as thick as my last tent and the zipper is industrial grade. The rain fly is a real rain fly that covers the whole tent. Even the stuff bag was heavy duty. I was really impressed with the quality and workmanship of your tent. I would recommend the Meramac 5 ZF to anyone looking for a real heavy duty family tent. Michael B.

Taurus 2 AL - Rained from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Camped with people that had REI and North Face tents. They had leaks and wind collapses with their tents. The ALPS tent had NO leaks. Room for 2 people inside and both backpacks inside vestibules, along with shoes and cookware. They also stayed dry. Other hikers were impressed with the ALPS tent.
Chris H.

Mystique 2 AL - May I once again commend you on your product! I had the oppotunity to put your tents to a severe test again on the weekend of the 15th. I took a group of 5 folks backpacking on the A/T in Virginia. The weather was less then good. It rained the entire time we were there, and the temps were hi 30's to low 40's with the wind screaming. The tents we used are the Mystique 2, they withstood the wind and never once leaked. This is the fifth or sixth time I have used the tent in the rain and it has always stayed dry. Jan H.

Taurus 4 OF - "We give this tent 3 thumbs up. It is by far the best tent we've owned for our needs. Between the 3 of us we own 8 other tents - from Walrus, Eureka, Cabela's, & REI - and in every category your tent rates higher. I can't wait for winter camping season . . .

Taurus 2 OF - I know this is kind of a long letter, but it's one of the best we've received talking about our tents ... 13 hours of heavy rain and not a drop inside his tent!

This is Jeff from the Northern region of the great State of Wisconsin. I just had to email you on this. I am waiting for the pictures to develop and will send you the evaluation form with the pics soon. Anyway, the Taurus 2 Outfitter tent handled the rugged camping I do in the Northern Nicolet Forest superbly I might add. The first night was good weather and a mild 40F at night. However, the second day started off raining buckets of cold rain for 13 hours straight. Then it would let up maybe for an hour and start raining again. This continued until we had to leave late Sunday night. Needless to say, the Taurus 2 OF held up very well. Absolutely not a drop was let inside. I was somewhat surprised. Keep in mind that over the course of the last 10 years back country camping deep in the Forest, far off the Forest roads, far off the old logging roads, far off narrow mud, rock, stump, fallen trees, pot holes that swallow some trucks, is where my friends and I enjoy mother nature. This is were I camp. I have spent more on tents that have not survived a single weekend. I am not joking. Some more well known tents have been beat up beyond recognition because of Mother Nature's abuse. Broken zippers, tree roots or sharp rocks that protrude through the floor, broken poles, rainfly buckles that break off leaving sections of the tent body exposed. Just to name a few calamities I have seen in more expensive but lesser quality tents. I eventually had to purchase a $600.00 four season tent just to handle the camping I do. Don't get me wrong. My four season tent has now been time tested. I've owned it for about 6 yrs and I only have had to replace the zippers. I went with over sized ones similar to the ones that come stock on the Taurus OF. Very impressive indeed. No need either for a floor protector with the Taurus OF. The floor material is thicker, heavier, and more abrasion resistant than my much more expensive 4-season. Again, I was very impressed. One less piece of equipment I need to include with this tent. And the polyester rain fly is a great addition to the Taurus OF. Guess what? Polyester rain flies do not sag when wet. Stake it out once and you are done. No need to restake because of the stretching effect of nylon in the rain. Wow, my $600 tent does not have a poly rainfly. I must restake it often in the rain. Other things I really enjoyed on the Taurus OF are the double doors and vestibules. Very easy to enter and exit. I will only own a tent with double doors and vestibules because of the convenience factor. Although in the rain it would have been nice to have a slightly larger vestibule for cooking purposes. However it was manageable and I am spoiled with a large 14 sq. ft. arch poled vestibule on my 4 season tent. Hey, my $600 tent has to have at least one feature over the Taurus OF. But in real world situations it wasn't that big of deal. I had plenty of space for a duffel bag, boots, and misc. items that I didn't want inside the tent. Set up was simple. About 10 minutes from start to finish by myself. Once properly staked out, the tent sat quietly. No flapping. However there was not a great deal of wind. My next trip will be on a known spot for strong gusts of wind. I will be looking forward to testing its endurance in high wind conditions. It is on a narrow peninsula over looking a large lake. For some reason it is always very windy and exposed. I have seen lesser tents literally blow over even though they have been tightly guyed out. I have never had a problem with my 4 season tent and will report back as to how well the Taurus OF may handle.
All in all the Taurus 2 Outfitter handled my rugged style of deep Forest camping very well its first time. Ultimately, time will tell but from the quality that I can see in it, I feel I will be using it and enjoying many adventurous outings over the years.

Meramac - I just had to write and tell you how pleased i am with my new meramac tent! this thing is awesome. your packaging told me about all of the cool extra features you include (2 doors, larger zippers, gussets, etc) and then i found even more info when i visited your web site. i just got back from a weekend trip with my friends and they're all really jealous. we were in a wicked rain saturday night and i was the only happy camper sunday morning because i stayed dry while everyone else got soaked! thanks for making such a great tent. Drew

Taurus 2 OF - Just a note to let you know that we gave one of the Taurus outfitter series 2 tents a good workout recently. We were camped out just outside St. Louis, when the weather turned sour. We had rain, severe thunderstorms and a wind gust of 60 mph was recorded at the local airport.The weather was so bad that many of our other tents were damaged during the night. In fact, the tent in which I slept, decided to collapse as I was attempting to get dressed. However, the Taurus 2 held fast. It pitched about some, as we had 35 mile per hour gusts, but, stayed in place with the extra guyout points lashed down. In addition to the wind, we had substantial rain fall. The other tents we had were soaked. The area we had camped in was now a low swampy lake. The Taurus 2 was the only dry one in the bunch. All in all, we are impressed with the performance. Thanks and regards.

Taurus 3 AL - WOW! Our troop bought (4) of the Taurus Aluminum pole (3) person tents. We compared them before hand by the specifications to other tents of other manufacturers and they seemed to be a good deal. We bought some and compared them face to face against our current tents (a nationally recognized brand) and what can I say but WOW!!! From the operation of the aluminum poles to the emergency repair sleeve to the quality tent pegs and guy lines to simple things like 'real' cord on all of the bags with good spring clips. We are well pleased. They will be making their debut this weekend on the AT. We'll keep you posted.

Extreme 3 OF - This tent rocks! Along with the initial evaluation, wanted to send some photos. We've used the tent on three different trips - a kayak outing to Algonquin Provincial park, kayaking in the Apostle Islands, and a family and dogs short pack in trip along the Lake Michigan shore. Setup is a breeze - far easier than either my Marmot Sanctum or older Kelty Typhoon. Space is more of a concern than weight in the kayaks, and it packed beautifully. The tent shed gusts coming off the lake in all cases without a whimper and stayed quiet in the wind with minimum guys outs. Please see the photo Horizontal Rain.jpg. This was taken from the only dry vantage point on this smooth granite campsite, inside the tent. Windspeed measured by an Environment Canada weather station close by showed gusts exceeding 100 km/hour as the squall passed through. We stayed snug and dry. Kayak camping on rocky islands like this has been hard on tent floors, so even with heavy oxford Outfitter, we're using an Extreme 3 footprint.

The heavy floor and oversize zippers got put to the test on our Lake Michigan trip. We opted to take our Labrador retrievers for a pack in trip to the Lakeshore. The Outfitter model made sense because we camp with our dogs in the backcountry while bird hunting. This trip, it really got put to the test. Our young, constantly hungry dog got into our food and ate a quarter pound of coffee. You can imagine the impact of caffeine on an already wired lab. Needless to say, she got little sleep that night, spending a good deal of time bouncing off the tent walls and pacing the floor. I was seriously concerned about her damaging the tent, but am happy to report that it survived the coffee hound perfectly.

Extreme conditions like these are dramatic, but where this tent really shines compared to my older models is under more common conditions - warm, humid nights with little breeze. The ventilation is superb. The tent stayed has stayed comfortable with not a drop of condensation on the inside despite 2-3 person and dog load. That's certainly not been the case with our older models which were often hot and stuffy.We are looking forward to some late Fall/Early Winter camping to really ring this baby out with some riverbank kayak overnights and potentially some birdhunting trips to Michigan's UP with possibility of light snow.