Dave, that's all I wanted to do from the beginning... I found there was alarmingly little information on these tents and as a photographer and enthusiast thought I could change that. If I get screwed over, then boy is my face red – but if not, then I'd like to at least document what I got.

For what it is worth, I too purchased an Evolution 2P last year (despite having read all the craziness re BSI on the BPL forum). Received my tent inside of two weeks and used it through the summer and fall. Great customer service. Tent is bombproof and 4 pounds lighter than what I was using. I don't work in the business nor am I a shill. Just a longtime lurker on this board.

There are plenty of people and companies that get paid nominal fees to post positive reviews on websites. It is a booming business. Small companies do it and so do large. Tripadvisor recently pulled one companies positive reviews after discovering just such a scheme.

People would have just warned you Chris if you hadn't posted such a beautiful advertising piece nominally titled a review with pictures (stolen from the web?) before you ever even had the tent. You posted in your ad piece that you wanted people to give this company a chance along with other cottage guys....before you even knew if you would get screwed like others. Your whole posting history is fishy.

Odd that you are a long term lurker. Happen to find a review on BSI and get one? Really? With all the negative stuff, THAT is the company you just happen to make your intro with?

And I don't see much on your site.

Edited by mpl_35 on 05/14/2012 15:52:13 MDT.

Todd, did you get aluminum or carbon poles?

I want to ask you about the quality, but it seems you got your tent from the old factory.

"Exhausted dozens of options, settled on this tent... awesome customer service...
I want to stress that I am not affiliated with this company in anyway...
their site was full of well-designed tents, with well-conceived options, and variations that made sense for all sorts of different purposes... Within about an hour, I was surprised to find an email from the man himself, Bob Molen, who it is my understanding owns the company, and is responsible for much of the design....this awesome tent.... so within 24 hours, I went from lusting over this item, to it being on it's way... I felt insanely privileged, since others spoke of such long wait times... Big Sky will not charge your card until your item ships... You will not be out any money by placing an order... I noticed that Bob Molen went and made an account just to rectify those customer issues, apologetically and with accommodation... it is a small business, making niche products, with niche materials, and a specific manufacturing process that requires care and industry know-how. The fact he has been doing this for over 7 years now, despite many hang-ups along the way, constantly revising the product, really shows that he cares about what he is selling... the customer service is personal and fast... exactly what I was looking for in a tent... something that could appease a casual weekend warrior I take along with me, as well as something I could use on a thru-hike without feeling like I have to play by my tent's rules... I wanted to use this thread as a journal of my experience with this transaction in hopes it may instill some confidence in their products..."


This is all prior to receiving the item, and with apparenty knowledge of years of failed promises and financial malfeasance on the part of BS. I'm sure this could just be a rosy posting about an undelivered tent, but even if that's all it is, you need to understand the long and extremely poor history of BS, and not just dismiss it as "something in the past... shoot, give the guy a chance!"

Eugene, I went with aluminum poles. I now wish I would have paid the extra upon ordering and I've been considering upgrading to the carbon just to shave a few ounces. Quality is top-notch in my (old factory) product, so I can't speak for the new manufacturing facility. I've used a tyvek footprint (5.4 oz) and had zero issues with wear and tear on the floor. Suffered through eight straight nights of rain in Yosemite last fall without a leak or any visible condensation.

Michael, I am about ready to tell you go to F yourself. You are crazy. I don't know what more you want from me.

I wish I was getting paid for the amount of crap I am dealing with from you guys.

What the heck do you mean you DON'T SEE MUCH ON MY SITE? It is my portfolio of my BUSINESS. My business that contains NOTHING TO DO WITH "SHILL ACCOUNTS ON MESSAGEBOARDS". In fact, I've been on communities since I was 13 years old, eagerly and honestly pouring my heart out across the web, and no one has ever called me a shill. I'm literally shaking as I'm writing this because you have made me so mad.

Do you want my LinkedIn? My Facebook? Instagram? eBay account? 2+ years of reddit post history? NJ/NY Trail Comission Membership Card? Checking account information?

Edited by Scalawag on 05/14/2012 16:34:20 MDT.

Dave – I'm sorry my post was too "rosy" for you. I didn't find myself embittered by reading posts of past issues with the company. In fact I was riding out the happiness of finding a good product, getting in touch with what I felt was a friendly man, and excited to receive something I could take with me on a long awaited trip.

I'm sorry my happiness with my transaction spilled over into my post. I am a good writer. I'm sorry that comes off as an advertisement. I was detailing why the tent was right for me. I've read thousands of posts on here of people lauding Tarp Tent, MLD, SMD, etc... In fact some strike me entirely like advertisements, so much so that I spent months researching these brands without any prior knowledge of them.

I guess you're right, I wasn't angry enough. I shouldn't have been so excited to get this tent.

Your guys tactics have worked, though... I was excited, now I fear the worst, now I'm distraught by the harassment I've been getting, now all the fun is completely sucked out of waiting for it. I couldn't care less about this effing tent now. I'm completely bitter about the entire thing, just like the rest of you now. Happy?

As promised, on Thursday I will post pictures of the tent. Afterwards, do not expect to hear from me again.

You have made this an entirely unwelcome place to be... I will stick to Whiteblaze and Reddit where members are not so, well, insane.

Chris, you can post the pics on Whiteblaze instead if you wish. I'm on there too.

Cool - sounds good to me. :-)

Too bad. I was interested in the pics also.

There are some serious trolls here, but there are also some gems. You just got pulled under the bridge right off of the bat, instead of meeting the good ones.

Good luck at Whiteblaze, sorry to see you go.

Chris/Eugene: here are a couple of photos of the Evo 2P

Thanks a lot for those pics, really reaffirms my decision in buying one! Looks like exactly what I wanted.

Hi Chris

Seems you had a rough introduction here, but that is likely to be because quite a few people here had been very badly burnt by BSI and Bob Molen some years ago. But we have many more readers who may be interested in your photos.

Bob's troubles (some years ago) seem to have been caused by a sad combination of factors: big problems with unreliable Chinese suppliers in the first place, compounded by a huge disaster in China which further seriously delayed deliveries, plus a very bad misjudgement on his part over charging credit cards before he could deliver. He got himself into a deep hole, and is now trying to climb back out - witness his current very virtuous card charging policy. Can Bob Molen restore his tarnished image? It would be nice to think so, as the tents look good.

I note that the UPS tracking page does record that parcel as having been accepted at the office. Roll on Thursday.

Cheers

Chris,

For what it's worth -- how long do you think this negative back and forth would have gone on if you hadn't felt the need to keep answering! There is no back and forth without involvement by both sides. It's why some of these threads get so nasty and just never end, one side just has to get the last word in - and so does the other side. Sheesh.

So let it go. Really. You'll be happier. Talk about the tent when you get it. Share pictures. Share your impressions. Share the actual weights. There are plenty of folks who would/could be interested. Just stay away from the silly arguments and they can't propagate. FWIW.

Edited to add: While I personally think the accusations of being a shill and such were unnecessary, you should take a second to try to see where all that was coming from - it wasn't totally out of left field. You spent far too many posts defending Mr. Molen when you've had fewer dealings with him than many on this site who were not treated very well. For all the bad blood from times past, you might have expected your cheerleading/defending would generate such a backlash. There really are two sides to most things.

So, again, stick to the tent and your personal experiences with it and Mr. Molen, and simply leave the rest of it alone. I'm not the only one who's interested in how this pans out for you, just stick to the Joe Friday piece. ;-)

Edited by idester on 05/14/2012 18:07:56 MDT.

Thanks guys – sorry, I just got a little frustrated. Long day, came home to check this thread, got the best of me.

Thanks for reminding me to chill out.

"Thanks for reminding me to chill out."

And stay excited! Nothing like getting new toys! Woohoo!

"Thanks guys – sorry, I just got a little frustrated. Long day, came home to check this thread, got the best of me."

A few fools went after you because they can't go after Bob, and you were a convenient scapegoat because you said something positive about Bob.

The interesting thing is that though there aren't a lot of them, everyone who's ever acquired a Big Sky tent has had a lot of positive things to say about it. It's funny how the people attacking you completely ignored that part in their mindless zeal to put the blame on you for something that Bob did.

But anyway... I'm hoping yours works out and lives up to expectations. Bob has a LOT of digging to do to get out of the hole his reputation is in, and starting with a great product is about the only way to start. Whether or not he can redeem himself, who knows.

There aren't very many American tent manufacturers who are making extreme conditions tents, and BSI is one of them. AFAIK there are really only three; the others are Nemo and MSR. Of them BSI is the only one who seems to be in the same ballpark as Roger Caffin's as far as weight and features. Whether or not the build quality is up to par I don't know, since I haven't seen any reviews of the Montana anywhere.

(I know Warmlite is American... but I read Roger's review. After that, I can't take them seriously as a tent maker.)

Yours might be the first honest review we'll get to see of one of BSI's tents in a long time, since it's been so long since you could get one.

Besides, if it turns out to be a great tent, you'll get to enjoy it, and then you can... enjoy it more. :)

Sigh. I need to do some backpacking. I'm getting wilderness withdrawal. Cubicle jobs suck.

Chris you can set up your pm.