Zephyr 1

I just had to write and tell you how much I love my new tent; I believe it to be nearly the perfect tent. I have posted a lengthy review of it at Trailspace.com and I hope it encourages others to try this great product. Here is a link to my review.

I look forward to purchasing other products from ALPS as the opportunity permits. Thank you for making top-quality outdoor gear at such reasonable prices.

- Douglas J.

I bought a Zephyr 1 from the West Bend WI Sportsman's Warehouse on Saturday Feb 9, 2008. I set it up same day using parachutes instead of stakes because of the snow depth (16+"). At 8:30 am, sustained winds 25+ mph, with gusts to 45 mph. It has been blowing like this since Saturday night. The Zephyr has not had any problem standing up the winds and snow. This is my second Alps Mountaineering tent. The first was an Extreme 3 that I have used in Mountaineering classes for the past several years. It has performed very well and is a very sturdy tent not only from high winds but has handled snow loads of up to 10" with no problem. I also own an Alps sunshade we use in the summer and for a dining fly. All of them are excellent products.

- Tim T.

On the advice of someone who owns a fleet of tents for commercial use I purchased this tent from the Alps Company. It was about $80 less than comparable freestanding solos from MSR, Big Agnes, and Mountain Hardwear. Despite the price difference, this tent is of the same quality as far as materials, workmanship, and design go. I was under the impression that Alps just copied others designs and that they saved their money in R&D. But this tent disproves that. The design is extremely practical. They took a simple timeless design with the two crossing poles and made a huge improvement to it just by adding an elbow resulting in more headroom where your head goes rather than in the middle of the tent where it is wasted. The innovative designs of the MSR Hubba or BA Seedhouse are great, but I really think this more basic modification performs equally as well. I know MSR used to provide the 3-sided stakes with some of their tents and that may be the only thing that is clearly superior to this Alps, which just provides your basic aluminum needle stakes.

The Zepyr 1 is roomier than I expected. Though you couldn't fit 2 sleeping bags side by side but I do think you could sleep two friendly people in here on a dry night. The Zephyr narrows slightly at the feet and leaves plenty of room for one person and some belongings. The vestibule is smaller than expected but should be adequate for a single pack. The Zephyr 1 requires the fly to have two included 12 inch guy wires attached to the bottom of the fly on each side in order to pull the fly from the body. With these in tack the fly did not touch the body anywhere, clearing by an average of about 2 inches. The poles have male fitting on the end and slide through eyelets attached to webbing on each corner. Fly attaches to each corner with adjustable side release buckles. A two piece spreader pole fits in above the door. Alps thoughtfully used a smaller diameter pole for this as it is non load bearing.

My first night in the Zephyr it rained lightly (1/2 of an inch in about 3 hours) and I stayed completely dry. This was in central Florida where humidity is high and condensation occurs every morning. I could feel only the slightest amount of moisture in the cotton teeshirt that was acting as my pillow. There was a bit of water pooling in the triangle created by the intersecting main poles and the spreader bar (maybe 10 mL), but nothing to be concerned about.

In sum, this has surpassed my expectations and it is definitely comparable to the products of the big gear companies. A bit heavier than a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL or a MSR Hubba but cost is 70% and 60% less respectively. I am convinced the price differential is not due to quality or R&D, but is instead due to the advertising campaigns of MSR, The North Face, and even Big Agnes these days. When you buy a Hubba you are paying for 2 page spreads in Outside and Backpacker. I will buy Alps again.

- Brian W.

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I am really happy with this tent. The design, craftsmanship, materials and quality all exceeded my expectations for the price. My Zephyr 1's maiden voyage was baptism by snow and wind on Mt. Adams in Wa. St. on October 2nd. This is a 3 season tent but it will keep you warm and dry if you use a well designed insulated sleeping mat like the Exped downmats combined with a good sleeping bag. We "guestimated" the windes at 20-40mph and tempuratures dipped into the low 20's F. I secured the tent with the supplied guy lines and aluminum stakes before turning in for the night and I was glad I took the extra steps. No one really wants to see the wind blowing snow sideways when we go camping. I highly recommend getting the footprint. Search for "floor saver" when trying to find the footprint. The footprint did its job well because the ground did freeze that night and I know it provided an insulating layer as well as protect the floor of the tent. I also liked that you can clip the urethane-coated polyester fly to the floor saver at all four corners.

- Groovechampion

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Very high quality construction, nice packable weight, not bright clown colors, and spacious enough for comfortable extended stays in the field.
This tent is of the same caliber as Eureka, MSR, or Big Agnes, but can be found at a much more reasonable price-point. Set up is fast and easy, and as a free standing tent you have the added ability to pitch in a real hurry if need be. Staked out with the fly in place it was very secure in high winds at 6500 feet. The no-see-um mesh construction makes for excellent ventilation, no condensation issues, and sans fly a wonderful way to sleep under the stars without bugs all over your face. Plenty of room to sit up (I'm 5'11") and change or stretch, and the included gear loft is a nice bonus.
My only "complaint" is the length of the poles when collapsed; the tent can be compressed to very compact size, but the poles are still about 18" when stowed. But that is a minor complaint.

- J. S. Reinhardt

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I used this tent every night for 6 weeks straight last summer on a bike trip down the pacific coast. I was always comfortable and dry - through wind, rain, and lots of morning dew. Don't let the low price scare you - I never had any problems due to lack of durability or build quality. I really like the large vestibule and full coverage rain tarp. For warm nights with no moisture, I left the tarp off and the mesh screen allowed me gaze at the stars. The tent has plenty of room for extra gear inside and even comes with a gear loft. I would suggest the footprint (sold separately) to protect the tent floor. If you want a quality 3 season, single person backpacking tent and don't want to break the bank - this is your baby.

- Ripvandan

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