Exped Big Bear (INV)

Near perfect for tent camping in
Late June / early July I began searching the Internet for camping tents in preparation for our Fall trip to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. Our good old Dome tent proved a little less that weather worthy at Devils Den State Park the previous Fall. I never did really finish my Journal entry for that episode. Let it be enough here to say it rained the whole time.... I surfed several websites, even surfed some to shop for price, but settled on a couple of wonderful new ones I found, AltRec and EXPED. I had a couple of criteria when shopping, understanding that most things like this involve some compromise. I guess they're sort of related. First, it had to be fairly weather-worthy. Second, it needed to be big enough 1) to stand up in without standing in the middle of a queen size air mattress, 2) have enough "living" area to accommodate at least two people as refuge during waking hours in the event of rain, and 3) have space to put a bunch of stuff / gear without getting in the way. After looking at a goodly sample of biggish tents at various reputable websites, I narrowed down my choice between two I saw at AltRec.Com - The PAHA QUE "Pomo Valley" tent and the EXPED "Big Bear". The runner up was the Pomo Valley tent. It was pretty much like a big square dome tent. At 10' x 9' it is as big and tall as the room I'm sitting in now. It had plenty of room. The EXPED "Big Bear" won with me however... Maybe because of the "coolness" factor. The Big Bear is a "T" shaped Hoop Tent rather than a big square Dome Tent. The protruding "wings" of the Big Bear, at least one of which is meant as auxiliary sleeping quarters, were ideal for gear storage areas. Duffels, packs, boxes, bags, whatever, could be stowed out from under foot. In the "back" of the Big Bear is the "Master Bedroom." This bedroom had enough square feet to just accommodate a queen size air mattress - with space to spare at the head for things like flash lights, radios, glasses, books, etc. Stuff you might want while in bed. It will zipper up shut too, if one is so inclined. Being able to stand up really didn't matter there. Actually, this Master Bedroom is an "Inner Tent." It is suspended from the green main tent, which the literature calls the "rain fly." I guess this is because the inner tent has an integral floor while the fly does not. This was problematic to me when making the decision to buy, as I was not real sure what the exposed tent-meets-ground open area would mean in the event of a wicked rainstorm. Since it didn't rain I can't tell you. However, I am inclined to look into getting a nice "Footprint" ground cover for it. Most of the tent pads at the Arkansas State Parks I've been too are level and filled with a porous/permeable material similar to cat litter. Unless the wind were really screaming, it would seem rain would run off fairly amicably, i.e., not under and into the tent. One of the nicest things about the Big Bear is the integral enclosed "living" area, as I call it. You can stand up full on terra firma to get dressed. You can have a camping chair inside - to sit down on while you put your shoes on. And, if it did rain, there's plenty of room for two or more camping chairs to sit and talk or read. No stuff under foot as it's stowed in the wings. All in all, 'pretty cool to me! Now... At the time AltRec only had the "Terra Cotta" version of the Big Bear for online purchase. I just could not see myself in a "red" tent. After all, I'm the kind of guy who prefers army surplus stuff. Blankets, boots, stuff sacks, etc. Surplus stuff is just made for camping - and to last. It's usually OD green though. I got used to OD and now it's synonymous with camping. So... I contacted AltRec and asked, since they featured an image of the green tent, "could I get that one?" The courteous and speedy reply was that I would need to contact the distributor for availability of the green version in this country - which I did. Carl Brody. The U.S. EXPED distributor based in Washington state, Carl demonstrated perhaps the best example of online salesmanship - and customer service - that I have ever encountered, whether that be physical retail or virtual online sales! I contacted him via email inquiring about the "green" version of the Big Bear. He was a "can do" guy. He would have to order it in from Switzerland but he would get it! We emailed back and forth several times with my questions and, as I was in no hurry in July, I committed and had Carl special order the tent for Carole and me. He even worked out arrangements with AltRec so that when it did come in I could buy online. And not only that... the Big Bear was due to go on sale at AltRec, which he informed me of saying that even though the tent wouldn't arrive until after the sale, I could still have the sale price (which was 20% off). Not too shabby! It certainly more than paid for the shipping. And the tent even arrived well ahead of the tentative delivery date. Wendy Dodd at AltRec was kind enough to let me know when it arrived and had coordinated with Carl on my purchase. I had even time to set it up in the back yard to test it out before real use - in the hottest part of the summer (this is not a "Texas" summer tent, which is fine because I'm not a Texas Summer camper :) The Big Bear met my expectations and helped make for a wonderful camping trip. I'm sure it will contribute to more. EXPED's "Big Bear" gets five stars!

Near perfect for tent camping in
Late June / early July I began searching the Internet for camping tents in preparation for our Fall trip to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. Our good old Dome tent proved a little less that weather worthy at Devils Den State Park the previous Fall. I never did really finish my Journal entry for that episode. Let it be enough here to say it rained the whole time.... I surfed several websites, even surfed some to shop for price, but settled on a couple of wonderful new ones I found, AltRec and EXPED. I had a couple of criteria when shopping, understanding that most things like this involve some compromise. I guess they're sort of related. First, it had to be fairly weather-worthy. Second, it needed to be big enough 1) to stand up in without standing in the middle of a queen size air mattress, 2) have enough "living" area to accommodate at least two people as refuge during waking hours in the event of rain, and 3) have space to put a bunch of stuff / gear without getting in the way. After looking at a goodly sample of biggish tents at various reputable websites, I narrowed down my choice between two I saw at AltRec.Com - The PAHA QUE "Pomo Valley" tent and the EXPED "Big Bear". The runner up was the Pomo Valley tent. It was pretty much like a big square dome tent. At 10' x 9' it is as big and tall as the room I'm sitting in now. It had plenty of room. The EXPED "Big Bear" won with me however... Maybe because of the "coolness" factor. The Big Bear is a "T" shaped Hoop Tent rather than a big square Dome Tent. The protruding "wings" of the Big Bear, at least one of which is meant as auxiliary sleeping quarters, were ideal for gear storage areas. Duffels, packs, boxes, bags, whatever, could be stowed out from under foot. In the "back" of the Big Bear is the "Master Bedroom." This bedroom had enough square feet to just accommodate a queen size air mattress - with space to spare at the head for things like flash lights, radios, glasses, books, etc. Stuff you might want while in bed. It will zipper up shut too, if one is so inclined. Being able to stand up really didn't matter there. Actually, this Master Bedroom is an "Inner Tent." It is suspended from the green main tent, which the literature calls the "rain fly." I guess this is because the inner tent has an integral floor while the fly does not. This was problematic to me when making the decision to buy, as I was not real sure what the exposed tent-meets-ground open area would mean in the event of a wicked rainstorm. Since it didn't rain I can't tell you. However, I am inclined to look into getting a nice "Footprint" ground cover for it. Most of the tent pads at the Arkansas State Parks I've been too are level and filled with a porous/permeable material similar to cat litter. Unless the wind were really screaming, it would seem rain would run off fairly amicably, i.e., not under and into the tent. One of the nicest things about the Big Bear is the integral enclosed "living" area, as I call it. You can stand up full on terra firma to get dressed. You can have a camping chair inside - to sit down on while you put your shoes on. And, if it did rain, there's plenty of room for two or more camping chairs to sit and talk or read. No stuff under foot as it's stowed in the wings. All in all, 'pretty cool to me! Now... At the time AltRec only had the "Terra Cotta" version of the Big Bear for online purchase. I just could not see myself in a "red" tent. After all, I'm the kind of guy who prefers army surplus stuff. Blankets, boots, stuff sacks, etc. Surplus stuff is just made for camping - and to last. It's usually OD green though. I got used to OD and now it's synonymous with camping. So... I contacted AltRec and asked, since they featured an image of the green tent, "could I get that one?" The courteous and speedy reply was that I would need to contact the distributor for availability of the green version in this country - which I did. Carl Brody. The U.S. EXPED distributor based in Washington state, Carl demonstrated perhaps the best example of online salesmanship - and customer service - that I have ever encountered, whether that be physical retail or virtual online sales! I contacted him via email inquiring about the "green" version of the Big Bear. He was a "can do" guy. He would have to order it in from Switzerland but he would get it! We emailed back and forth several times with my questions and, as I was in no hurry in July, I committed and had Carl special order the tent for Carole and me. He even worked out arrangements with AltRec so that when it did come in I could buy online. And not only that... the Big Bear was due to go on sale at AltRec, which he informed me of saying that even though the tent wouldn't arrive until after the sale, I could still have the sale price (which was 20% off). Not too shabby! It certainly more than paid for the shipping. And the tent even arrived well ahead of the tentative delivery date. Wendy Dodd at AltRec was kind enough to let me know when it arrived and had coordinated with Carl on my purchase. I had even time to set it up in the back yard to test it out before real use - in the hottest part of the summer (this is not a "Texas" summer tent, which is fine because I'm not a Texas Summer camper :) The Big Bear met my expectations and helped make for a wonderful camping trip. I'm sure it will contribute to more. EXPED's "Big Bear" gets five stars!