tshelver

I don't buy into the big US brandnames anymore.
I've suffered several equipment and product failures since moving to SE Asia.

One case was a midrange 2009 Sierra Designs tent that I paid $250 for after a big discount, that got very good user reviews. I was less than impressed with the design and quality compared to an '88 vintage South African made tent that I'd had previously.

Still, it worked OK for some camping in the yard, and a few motorcycle camping weekenders, but I never had it in any bad conditions.

I added a Nemo Losi 3P just before I moved to Asia, due to the much better airflow and almost twice as much space for around the same weight, and shipped both tents by sea.

When I opened up the Sierra Designs last year, the seam sealer seemed to have melted and then gone crumbly, leaving a sticky mess all over the fabric.
The plastic view window in the fly just fell off.
I had to have it cleaned off and resealed.

Same thing with my Ortlieb panniers, one of the seams failed and if you are in SE Asia, forget about getting a response from Ortlieb, US or Germany, let alone repairs.

Teva sandals: delaminated soles on 2 pairs now, both top end models (FI3 was the last). Looking at both, same story: substandard glue, very minimally applied.

These products may work fine in the conditions most US customers may use them for, but none of them live up to the advertising hype.

At least the Nemo ia still working great. most of the other stuff seems to have suffered from being built to a price and possibly weight constraint, despite the retail price being quite substantial.

I guess with the big brands, you are paying more for advertising and marketing cost, as well as corporate infrastructure.