Tents:

http://www.golite.com/gear/tents-shelters

Sleeping Bags:

http://www.golite.com/gear/sleeping-bags-quilts

SL2 missing from the tent line; the SL1 was going away as expected.

Where is the 20 degree quilt?

Pricing: Obviously the low price to gain market share approach bombed.

The 2-season (30F) EN rated bag (1lb 8oz.) with Pertex Quantum GL and the arid foot/head zone feature looks good. Pricing on the Golite bag is comparable to a Western Mountaineering Summerlite or the Marmot Hydrogen, both highly reputable 2-3 season bags. Still a savings, but not as significant as they were early '12.

Did their quilt receive a redesign? Width? Length?

The SL2 is now listed under "Shelters" as a tarp, but out of stock until April. At 1lb 10oz it looks like they are no longer bundling it with the inner.

golite just plain sucks.

their stuff is mostly heavy.

when they do make something good, by pure accident i imagine, they immediately change it or discontinue it.

their stuff is never in stock.

Dave,
Thanks for the update. That Imogene tent offers huge mostly freestanding space for 2#6oz, which could easily be brought under 2# with carbon poles.

But it is orange (gah!), and marked out of stock. Old tent discontinued? (The discount would suggest this) Or new tent marketed before it is available? (Boy, I've had my fill of that) Who knows.

Think I have to agree with M B. This company is so oblivious to both service to and the needs of its customers that is is really not worth even looking at.

Edited by scfhome on 02/08/2013 15:00:59 MST.

Samuel, no, this is a new model. I suspect by April it should be in stock but not sure. I wish the full dimensions were posted.

Eugene, I guess it might be the $700 MSRP that is throwing me off. Golite quality has never been close to WM!

That Imogene UL2 tent practically looks like an exact copy of the Mtn Harwear SuperMegaUL2 tent, down to the fabric specs. Not exactly innovative, but admittedly a lower price point. If it'll ever be in stock.

Seriously, why advertise spring-use items if you won't sell them until well into spring?

Re: quilts/bags, nothing I see would make me turn to Golite at THOSE prices instead of better quality manufacturers.

Edited by Ablaut on 02/08/2013 15:10:35 MST.

Because Golite has stopped separate retail sales and only sells direct the msrp is basically fictional. It's a marketing strategy where they look at "comparable" (what they consider comparable is up to them so therefore they can quote a price like a WM or feathered friends bag) gear and say "this is the msrp" but it's on "sale". Except it's nonsense, it's not on sale; nowhere will you ever see the bags sold for $700 or whatever. This is a common strategy in the luggage world as well (Victorinox loves to label bags with some made up MSRp and then the actual price to make it seem like you're getting a smoking deal). All games aside I am intrigued by some of the new tents and bags, particularly the -10 bag. seems like it could be a great value.

So are these the "lightest free-standing tents on the market" that Demetri Coupounas said would be here last year?

http://andrewskurka.com/2012/demetri-coupounas-golite/

I asked the question in live chat.

The response was:
We will not produce a true solo tent this year. The smallest lightest option will be the Imogene UL 2.

Golite's strategy seems to be targeting the mainstream hikers as apposed to the UL niche market. Some of their products fit this strategy some don't.

The tent looks cool. Its light for a tent and not too expensive as tents go. Looks like a solid lightweight option for hikers who aren't gear geeks.

The sleeping bags aren't super bargins but the look okay. Again not the lightest but not bad.

Apparently no new packs. That's disappointing. I think Golite should try to turn out a really light internal frame pack. In my opinion frameless packs are too finicky for beginners. Something in the 2-2.5 pound range with an internal frame would be a more user friendly option.

I don't really understand the hate on for golite. They've made good products like the jam and ultra quilt that people still seem pretty eager to buy. I'm don't know why anyone gets upset at the faux markdown marketing strategy they use. It's not like anyone here buys gear at full price anyways. You just wait until the price drops (which it always does) and then try to buy what you want before it runs out. Given that it does run out, obviously people are buying and their strategy is working. They offer pretty reasonable prices on products made with good quality materials if you are willing to wait for the 'real' sale to come around. Example, my girlfriend picked up a paclite shell for around 70 bucks.

Imogene UL2 lighter than a TT Double Rainbow..lol

Not exact copy of Mtn Hardwear. The Golite left out the footend 2nd hub and only has one hub.

The new stuff looks nice. The new quilt looks like a nice revision and should be a great all around quilt. It's reasonable at $250 and it'll surely go to "60%" off, which really means $200.

The Imogene tents look pretty good. I'm not a fan of end entry in general, but GoLite appears to have delivered a tent at a comparable weight to products like the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2, but with more real estate. I like how they lowered the cross strut to really hold the tent wide at the base. The vestibule looks well designed.

"why advertise spring-use items if you won't sell them until well into spring?
Because most of their old stuff is sold out, so it's either continue to advertise past gear, or try to get people excited for upcoming gear.

I think GoLite makes good products. 3 lbs for a -10 bag isn't bad, and neither is $400. I'm in the market for a new cold weather bag. I've been looking at used Western Mountaineering bags and they still cost more used than this bag does new.

"Imogene UL2 lighter than a TT Double Rainbow..lol"

And some are still not happy with the weight ...

Still, put two packs in the vestibule then see how the one on that side of the tent manages to get out in and out of the shelter.. "lol"

Each design has plus and minuses, you pick the one that may work best for you.

Edited by Franco on 02/08/2013 17:57:25 MST.

Just a couple of things. If you look at the footprint of the 2 person, it is 83" long which implies a length inside the tent of only about 84", which is short. It has sq footage of 29, which won't be enough for 2 people.

Regarding Golite's marketing model, remember that Golite has NO resellers and was to provide wholesale pricing to the masses. The pricing for their sleeping bags is not wholesale. Comparable (and likely higher quality) bags can be had at a significant discount. Golite simply needs to reinvent itself again, like it does every 2 years or so (yawn).

While the dimensions for the new Imogene UL2 are not listed, the corresponding footprint reports the dimensions under the "technical specs" tab as "Area: 51" x 83" / 129.5 cm x 210.8 cm." This obviously doesn't account for the oblong shape though and really all just speculation, but it should be close.

***edit: Looks like Dave beat me to it.

Edited by FeetFirst on 02/08/2013 18:18:18 MST.

Dave, you mentioned that "Golite quality has never been close to WM!" I respectfully disagree based on owning a WM summerlite, a golite ultra 20 and a adrenaline 40. I actually find them very very comparable after examining each company's choice of materials, construction methods, stitching consistency. I'm curious to know why you find WM so much superior (an honest question).

I agree, golite needs to drop this MSRP/50% off schtick. It's disingenuous and a little stupid in my opinion. It made sense when they first adopted the model (when the golite jams were under $100, clearly reflecting a passing on of savings by going direct manufacturing to consumer). They have since jacked up all the prices across the board, to the point where their "50% off" prices reflect true MSRP of their goods. Sorry, I just don't buy golite's proposal that the "MSRP" on a pack like the jam is over $200....what kind of pipe dream world do they live in where someone would pay that much money for a frameless pack??? Especially one that has gotten progressively worse with every reiteration (no I'm not strictly talking about "goingheavy," I'm referring to fit, choice of materials.)

It is very refreshing to see that they've essentially brought back the golite ultra 20 in the form of the z30 quilt. Considering that the golite ultra 20 was never really a true 20 degree bag (more like 25-28 degrees in my opinion), the z30 has upgraded materials and upgraded down fill power all at just 1oz heavier than the original ultra 20. I just wish they would publish the fill weights like they used to do. O yeah, suggested MSRP of $500? LOL LOL LOL

Edited by Konrad1013 on 02/08/2013 18:55:54 MST.