Looking to buy a birdiepal/euroschirm light trek umbrella and cant find any US stores that carry them aside from Campmor dot com (full retail at $39 plus shipping for the UV Silver version). Has anyone found any better deals in the States?

Cheers,
Brendan

Check Sierra Trading Post every now and then. I bought both of mine from there.

Edited by jshann on 03/13/2012 07:50:37 MDT.

Cheers John, Ill keep and eye out

Hi Brendan,
I know you didn't ask this, but:
4 years ago I got one of the UV coated jobs (from a mail order company in the US) for trekking in Nepal and it worked great for about 2 weeks, then became impossible to extend, the sections were frozen. The mfgr sent another, so their service is great, but after even less time using it stateside, maybe 2 or 3 days for sun protection, the replacement was useless as well. The problem is that sweat, which I have a lot of, seems to corrode the collapsible shaft sections and basically weld them together, and it happens pretty quickly. I've tried rinsing it after hikes etc, but that doesn't solve the problem. I think the product just isn't suitable for use as a sun umbrella because of this design issue, at least for anybody who sweats, and that's what I got it for. I'm back to my carbon fiber Golite.
Good luck if you do decide to get one.
John

thanks for the heads up on that john. I tried to PM you so we didnt go on about a gear issue on the gear deals thread but you arent setup for PMs yet.

Im a serious sweater as well and was looking for an umbrella as much for use as sun protection as for rain. I do a lot of travelling abroad though and a collapsible main shaft is a huge plus. Have you tried the golite half dome? looks like a decent alternative (on paper at least)

cheers,
Brendan

My Birdiepal has almost no metal and a fiberglass shaft. The Golite ones are Birdiepal aren't they?

Hi John,

>carbon fiber Golite
Photo please.

Would not doubt Golites are being made by birdiepal. Some have fiberglass shaft, but none have ever been made of carbon fiber that I know of. Below are my guesses (names may have changed).

Half dome travel umbrella = Birdipal dainty

Collapsible trekking umbrella = Birdiepal light trek umbrella

Dome trekking umbrella = Birdiepal swing lightflex

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/2007_birdiepal_umbrellas_spotlite_review.html

Edited by jshann on 03/15/2012 04:12:39 MDT.

Does anyone have experience with either the Golite Half Dome Umbrella or the Golite Collapsible Trekking Umbrella mentioned above? If they identical to the respective birdiepal offerings they are definitely better priced.

The golite website has the Collapsible Trekking Umbrella at 11oz list which is way over the Birdiepal Light Trek. Anyone have a measured weight?