Go to: hikerdirect.com

And you can get some high quality gear at good discounts from ALPS.

You have to pay by check for most stuff, a lot of salesman samples. Got a killer headlamp on clearance for $20 bucks. 60% off.

Don't really have to do much to register either.

Been using Alps via HikerDirect for several years. Their stuff is built well and the HikerDirect discounts make it a very good value. It is pretty heavy for backpacking but great for car camping Troop gear.

In fact, I have 5 Taurus 4 Outfitter tents on back order right now (come on September!). We are slowly replacing all of our Eureka Timberline 4 tents with the T4 Outfitter. It has about the same floor size but 2 doors, 2 vestibules and full-coverage rain fly for about half the price.

I outfitted half our Philmont contingent this year with Alps packs. Most worked fine but a few had issues. Had to perform surgery on one pack mid-trek when a zipper to the main compartment failed. Ended up whipstitching the zipper closed.

Couple other packs suffered from fraying of the lycra water bottle holders. Most of the packs whose wearers were careful with them made it thru the trek just fine.

The integrated rain covers aren't that great, or so I've been told.


Our troop is considering refreshing our tent stock soon, I've been advocating for Alps or Eurekas with aluminum frames. We currently use Eureka Tetragons with fiberglass poles and seem to get about 3 years out of a tent before it starts to have zipper or frame issues.

quote mirth: "Our troop is considering refreshing our tent stock soon, I've been advocating for Alps or Eurekas with aluminum frames. We currently use Eureka Tetragons with fiberglass poles and seem to get about 3 years out of a tent before it starts to have zipper or frame issues."

Our troop had Eureka TImberlines and had zipper problems. We switched to Alps Lynx and have zipper problems. Our experience is that the scouts aren't paying attention and let the surrounding fabric get caught or, when the scouts get impatient, forcing their way through a partially open door.

Nice thing about Lynx is that the tent has only two identical poles. I would recommend stocking up on the pole splints (if that's the term). We've bent or broken a couple, including one the first night at BWCA.

We would like to have Alps tents with the heavier outfitter zippers but wanted vestibules and more ventilation than their current outfitter choices.

Vestibules on the Lynx are handy - no muddy boots in the tent.

Alps isn't the best absolute quality but good for the price, especially sales and hikerdirect.

quote dm45244: "
Our troop had Eureka TImberlines and had zipper problems. We switched to Alps Lynx and have zipper problems. Our experience is that the scouts aren't paying attention and let the surrounding fabric get caught or, when the scouts get impatient, forcing their way through a partially open door.
"

We always had zipper problems on the "regular" Timberlines also. Never had problems with the Timberline Outfitter though. On the regulars the problem is not the zipper itself but the slider gets worn. In the field you can often pinch it closed a bit. The fix is to replace the slide.

The Eureka site has instructions for replacing the slide (or you can use the search on this site to find my previous explanations). If you phone their customer service they will send you new slides for free.

So far we have had no problems with the Alps zippers on either the Taurus 4 Outfitter or the Lynx 2s that we use for backpacking.

I think Outfitter-grade zippers will make a big difference for us. I personally own a Timberline 4 SQ and the zipper on the most used side is definitely wearing out... By the looks the zipper tape material is fuzzing in the highest stressed places (the corner) and it can cause the teeth to fail to bind.

I will say that Alps' customer service has been on par with my experiences at other large well known brands or vendors. They've replaced pack components that became broken with little more than an email with the problem description and a photo of the issue.

This last spring our troop purchased ALPS Meramac 4 Outfitter tents through Hikerdirect. They are pretty heavy duty. Great for trailer camping and BWCA. Probably too heavy for Philmont or other backpacking treks.

Outfitter Meramac 4

List $319. Through Hikerdirect we paid around $180. Free shipping.

Our troop is slowly cycling out our fleet of Eureka Tetragon 6 with no vestibule, half coverage fly, and fiberglass poles for Alps Taurus 5's. We have a couple 4s as well, however it was decided the 5 would be preferable due to the higher center height. So far the scouts really like the dual doors & vestibules. Last month they got some decent rain on their first outing with the new tents and everyone stayed happily dry.

We just bought 30 Timberline Outfitters. Campmor bought a whole production run from Eureka. We liked them a lot and did not like any of the alternatives we tried.

Our troop switched to the Timberline Outfitters maybe 25 years ago - before me at least - and bought the first order direct. They asked if they could use up some fabric from a DOD order. Yup. Some of those are still in use, while other replacements have come and gone.

Our troop used Timberline Outfitter tents for years but did not have luck with the more recent ones. The old ones held up for ages, but the new ones were all giving us problems within a year or two. Primarily zippers but other issues, too.

Switched over the Alps tents 4-5 years ago and have had great luck. Less expensive and they have held up much better. Plus, the Scouts (and adults) like them much better.