I contacted them a couple of years back to see if it was possible to sell them in the uk. The problem is as a retailer and being in business etc I would have to try and make a profit, but Dewaard work on retail margins (not huge) so there is not enough profit in the products for them to be able to offer myself a good discount so I can then re-sell the tents for a similar price to Dewaard themselves, so for a retailer to sell them it would mean we would be a lot more expensive than De Waard. Also they said they thought it would be hard for anyone else to offer the full service that they offer.
Gary Cross
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The fact Dewaard manufacture (or did) themselves means they have the sort of skilled work force that you just couldnt afford to employ here in the uk unless all you did was tents like Dewaard. I even registered the uk domain name DeWaarduk but Im afraid we both agread in the end it would be to hard to bring them to the uk.
Gary
You will have to get youself a decent sewing machine and start making them yourself over the quiet winter months and dont forget to put it on youtube
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It is something I want to do, ok I'm not going to do the sewing but I've got an idea that a quality British made full cotton/canvas tent that has a design between a DeWaard and an Outwell Wolf Lake but with a frame more like the DeWaard tents could sell. Not in huge numbers but I'm sure it could be done. The cost of manufacturing in China is getting to a level where its possible to make quality products back here in the UK.
Would I spend £2000 on a tent? No way, no matter what brand or quality.
A tent is meant to be a temporary structure. No matter how well it is made or how good the after sales is, it could well get badly damaged in a storm or simply by a bit of bad luck.
Thats the point though isn't it? They (tents)are meant to be cheap enough that its not the end of the world if one dies. A temporary shelter to allow for a great holiday. A means to an end.
Do I mind others paying £2000 for a tent?
No way.
Its sales to said people that keep the prices down for the majority. Simple but true.
A tent is just the means to an end, not the end in itself.
P.S. £2000 could make a lot of happy memories for a family, long after the tent has gone... how ever good it was.
Just my thoughts.
------------- (Quechua popup addict!)
Planned for next year, hopefully!
Summer Solstice wild camp.
Chilled in a Field, July.
Crantock, August. Fouth year with the fantastic Quechua Base Seconds 4.2!
..... and the odd night wild camping in my Argos 1 man tent...
Quote: Originally posted by Finnboy on 21/11/2012
Would I spend £2000 on a tent? No way, no matter what brand or quality.
A tent is meant to be a temporary structure. No matter how well it is made or how good the after sales is, it could well get badly damaged in a storm or simply by a bit of bad luck.
Thats the point though isn't it? They (tents)are meant to be cheap enough that its not the end of the world if one dies. A temporary shelter to allow for a great holiday. A means to an end.
Do I mind others paying £2000 for a tent?
No way.
Its sales to said people that keep the prices down for the majority. Simple but true.
A tent is just the means to an end, not the end in itself.
P.S. £2000 could make a lot of happy memories for a family, long after the tent has gone... how ever good it was.
Just my thoughts.
That's a fair point Finnboy, and I do agree that a tent is just something to keep you and your family safe and warm whilst you enjoy the outdoors.
However, there are two ways to measure value for money. Say you buy a new tent for £2000. You buy it when your children are young. You use it for 10 years or so and then sell it for £500. It's cost you £1500 over 10 years or £150 a year. Hardly a fortune.
That's what many people do with DeWaard. They know it will last and they know there is a market for second hand tents.
The key point here, in my mind, is longevity. If you are going to spend a lot of money on a new tent you need to be sure it will last. DeWaard and some others can demonstrate their tents will last as there are 30 year old examples for sale now.
Quote: Originally posted by Finnboy on 21/11/2012
_________________________________________________________
Would I spend £2000 on a tent? No way, no matter what brand or quality.
A tent is meant to be a temporary structure. No matter how well it is made or how good the after sales is, it could well get badly damaged in a storm or simply by a bit of bad luck.
Thats the point though isn't it? They (tents)are meant to be cheap enough that its not the end of the world if one dies. A temporary shelter to allow for a great holiday. A means to an end.
Do I mind others paying £2000 for a tent?
No way.
Its sales to said people that keep the prices down for the majority. Simple but true.
A tent is just the means to an end, not the end in itself.
P.S. £2000 could make a lot of happy memories for a family, long after the tent has gone... how ever good it was.
Just my thoughts
_______________________________________________________
I fully agree that "A tent is just the means to and end", but there are tents - and there are tents!
Tents (and camping equipment in general) really is one of those spheres where the old adage of 'You get what you pay for' generally holds true.
Your pop up might cost a small fraction of my multi-hundred pound tunnel tent....... but.........
Which of the two can be confidently put up in 60mph winds?
Which of the two will keep the occupants warm and dry regardless of the weather conditions outside?
Which of the two would you rather be in when there's two foot of snow?
Because 'you get what you pay for' that is why some people would (and do!) pay so much for their tents: because they know - absolutely - that their tent will keep them safe, warm, and dry regardless of the weather outside.
IMO, it depends on how well a tent is pitched, also the aerodynamics of a tent and size.
A well thoughtout pitched cheap tent, could out perform an expensive tent, pitched incorrectly by an inexperience person.
Would I pitch an £2000 tent in an exposed environment, cliff top site.
Not really. Would I pitch knowing there will be high gusts, would I risk it, Not really
heath63
------------- New Year: Hesketh Bank
Feb/March: Red Squirrel
March: lakes
June: Morecambe
Aug: Lake District(not camping camping)
October: Red Squirrel
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Lots of good comments above regarding different aspects of what you want from a tent, i.e longevity, comfort, security in bad weather, value for money etc.
I can only speak from my experience which is that I have only had 2 Cabanon tents in about 17 years plus of using our own equipment. First a canvas frame tent that lasted for over 11 years and near on 100 weeks camping in that time (admittedly abroad for much of that time). I think it was just under £400 including sun canopy which averaged out at under £40 per year.
The reason we got rid of it was we liked the layout of our present Biscaya tunnel tent with ZIG much better. We have had a Biscaya now for over 6 years and probably in excess of 30 weeks camping. It is still in immaculate condition and should easily last our camping lifetime out. With sun canopy it was over £800 but as I think it will last another 10 years (if we are camping that long) again it will work out very reasonably over the course of its lifetime. If I had to replace it now the nearest equivalent Cabanon would be in excess of £1600 plus canopy which is getting towards the £2000 of the OP's question.
During these camping times we have experience hot sunshine (no deterioration in fabric due to UV), tremendous thunderstorms, high winds and just about everything except snow as we dont use a tent in winter. During all that time we have been warm and snug and have never felt there was any likelyhood of damage to the tent.
As someone else has said, at the end of the day you get what you pay for.
I said in a previous post if I was considering spending £2000 I would be looking at a trailer tent for the reasons I mentioned (bulk and weight mostly).
Just for interest I've added a couple of photos to show how comfy.
------------- New Year: Hesketh Bank
Feb/March: Red Squirrel
March: lakes
June: Morecambe
Aug: Lake District(not camping camping)
October: Red Squirrel
john - your cabanon is a lovely tent and is another one that i recently admired on a camp site in north yorkshire. sturdy, stylish and stood out amongst a sea of vango's outwells and hi gears.
i had my bear lake with me on that trip and ok as it was, it just seemed a bit plain compared to the 2 de waards and the cabanon.
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Topic: Who would pay over £2000 for a tent !
