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"the pricing of these shelters are right on top of their 4 season expedition models. In some cases, more expensive. " yes, i see that. to that end i went immediately and looked at their Akto model, which i currently own and is my second HB tent. it lists, today, right now, at $430, i think that's the very same 430 bucks it was in 2007 when i bought it. or 395 something .. it's essentially still the same. if i am correct, then the Akto and the other models you refer too have been at the same dollar point for at least 4 yearss. far to long in light of the situation we are living in. my logic here is that , yes, you are correct in your statement that the new tents are priced above the old tents, but i would contend that the old ones need a boost too, which brings... in the HB world . things back into galactic alignment.
" It is very inexpensive to hedge against a falling US dollar to lock in the value of their manufacture."
over time ??? into the future ? let us know how.
"Mitigation is quite easy from a commercial perspective. "
tell us how ! KanBan, continuous material flow, JIT, lean manufacturing, and now lately Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) ??? how many hoops does the productive sector need to jump thru to keep costs down ? because folks, i am running out of hoops. bottom line at the end of the day, the dollar is ever smaller. and so you'll know, i don't like it either. a LOT i don't like it.
"Why one would buy either over a Scarp 1 or 2 is beyond me given now their real (versus perceived) robustness is no greater."
AHHH .. OK, now we are into something concrete... marketing !
from my perspective, i would buy that little new one, the Rogan for it's perceived robustness over a Scarp-1 if Petra opined to me that it was a tough as an Akto. because until i take my lady up there (and i live about 90 minutes from Tarptent central in Nevada City) and visit Henry, i trust my experience more than scarp users on forum. i am lusting after a Moment tent, but i don't suspect i would not care to roll the dice on an arctic romp with based on casual forum information.
Hilleberg markets just like this. i buy, over an over, Fluke electronic meters. 'bout 300 bucks each, it's real money (currently have at least 3) you can go to your local store and buy a meter with better specs for less money. no problem. go for it. every time my Fluke falls off a ladder, it still works, it gets cheaper. peter spends a lot of time on ladders fixing factories. i can not afford to buy a meter each time i drop one. i look no further than the John L. Fluke corp for my electronic meter needs. i look to Toyota for a high quality vehicle. i buy apple computers. and ... my (awesome) macbook pro 17" was 1800, i can not replace it now for less than 2400. so i know that inflation is real.
about all this, peter could well be wrong. it has happened before.
but i am interested in holding the line using that "commercial mitigation" thing. David, my normal trade is of maintaining factories, and we are in the vise from every conceivable frikk'n angle. journeyman industrial maintainers are not stupid people. we may not spell so hot, but dumb .. we ain't. and it is by each and every day harder and harder to cope with the ever increasing costs of components, the over stringent regulations on disposal, the labor regulations that mandate we allow for 5 prayer breaks a day, costs of workers compensation, of sustained job guarantees thru pregnancy (and beyond), of racial profiling, of .. it goes on and on. and all to be done ... " somehow ", at the same cost. in shrinking dollars. mitigate that for us, would ya ? because we need it .. bad.
cheers, peter v.
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