Kuiu Ultra Star 1P first impressions.

[fillthefreezer]

Perhaps because this thread is entitled Kuiu Ultrastar 1P First Impressions?

I personally had never heard of big sky before this thread and I suppose that the op has no first hand experience with Big Sky.

Assuming from your post that you do, start a thread and spill the beans, there are too many options out there these days to deal with companies like KUIU who obviously have no respect for their customers or the other companies that they rip off.

my point is big sky comes on to say he isnt affiliated with kuiu and they ripped his design off. but two posts above, is a description of how he runs his customer service side...
i also was very interested in a bigsky tent. it has the right mix of features and weight to interest me, but alot of poor BPL feedback had me concerned. i began to try to see for myself with some back and fourth emails that were relatively fruitless and ended up a waste of time.

im not trying to get this thread way off track, i just thought it was interesting to see him come on here to straighten things out, but yet leave that unaddressed.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

......MJ never wore Reebok pumps......

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Yes, this is a good review on a new product. Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.

I hope this doesn't become a Kuiu bashing thread that gets deleted.

Question: Have Kuiu threads been deleted on Rokslide? I'm aware that Kuiu is quite heavy-handed on its own site, and haven't been there in a couple years. If a forum thread gets deleted because folks are being unashamedly discourteous, then that's one thing. But deleting honest threads, just because they don't agree with someone, is something else.

 

[Shrek]

I got a wiff of the stench of kuiu in an email a couple of years ago now and immediately had a visceral reaction. I was grating in my criticism and somewhat disliked for pointing out what a dueche bag Jason and Kuiu is but I don't feel any need these days to say much as most people are catching on to their dishonesty and complete contempt they have for their customers. There's still plenty of Kuiuteers around but the absurdity of the Kuiuteers fanboy behavior isn't just irritating it's also sad to see people humiliate themselves oohing and aahing like schoolgirls over the lates boy band.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

it's also sad to see people humiliate themselves oohing and aahing like schoolgirls over the latest boy band.

Haha, reminds me of myself, circa 2012.

The concept (cutting edge technical clothing for hunting) is fantastic, but I was disappointed with the company's shenanigans.

 

[Shrek]

Haha, reminds me of myself, circa 2012.

The concept (cutting edge technical clothing for hunting) is fantastic, but I was disappointed with the company's shenanigans.

I think we've all gotten carried away at one point or another and look back and shudder. It wasn't kuiu hunting clothes for me but back in high school I had a phase where I dressed like Don Johnsons character on Miami Vice. There are no photos kept from that era by me and I've sanitized the rest of the families scrap books too.

 

[West1]

Ultra Star

I am neither a Kuiu hater nor fanboy. I will admit I drank the Kool-Aid early and ordered a lot of Kuiu gear. I think Jason Hairston is better at sales than at quality control, but I am generally satisfied with my Kuiu gear with the exception of the Ultra Star tent. This tent is light and the workmanship is above average. However, if it rains do not expect for the tent to keep you dry, which is the only reason I carry a tent. I used this tent on a recent hike up a Colorado 14er. During a rainstorm at around 10,000 feet elevation the inside of the tent became so wet that I could not determine if the tent was leaking or if the tent was setting a world record for condensation. Everything inside the tent became soaked. I was using a down bag (made by Kuiu) and was concerned that if the rain continued the bag would "wet out" and I would freeze. The tent is too small for my liking but that is my fault and not Kuiu's as the dimensions are clearly stated. The inability for the tent to provide protection from the rain makes this tent useless and the worst gear purchase I have made in recent memory. I was disappointed to see that the "innovative design" was copied from another company. If you are going to steal another company's designs steal one that works. There is no way that this tent was "tested in the field" as claimed (at least in the summer) as the test would have revealed that the tent doesn’t keep you dry. Maybe this tent works in the winter, but for summer use it is a complete failure.

 

[elkfuler]

Just as a pervious post stated, when I searched for ultra star 1p review Google directed me here. I often come here anyway to read and assess a variety of topics. Thanks for all the candid info regarding this tent. My search goes on. I'll just keep using my MSR Hubba 1P and deal with the extra weight and volume while enjoying the free standing, small footprint, dry design.

I'm constantly on the fence about KUIU. I've bought some of the clothing which is or at least was good. The original few items I got back in 2011 or so have held up well and performed well and fit well. I went through a couple generations of their packs and am glad to be rid of all of that gear (thank you CL). These days I'm drifting further and further from KUIU's products with the exception of some of the accessories. For instance, the new (to me) zip dry bag clips right onto the EXO pack. Aside from things like that, I'm pretty much done.

 

[IdahoElk]

I think all these posts have to do with the older tents and not the new"improved" ones?

 

[MT_Wyatt]

I think all these posts have to do with the older tents and not the new"improved" ones?

There's only ever been one model of the ultra star 1p. They haven't changed anything since it was originally released/copied.

 

[jspradley]

I ran an Ultra Star 1p in NM a few weeks ago... it was acceptable. Nothing amazing to write home about but it did the job.

Pros-
Super light
Seems well made and durable for what it is
Price was great on their Memorial Day sale
Kept me dry during a thunderstorm (to be fair I was running it under a Noah's tarp because I didn't want to take a chance)

Cons-
Small...really, really, really small. I'm 6ft tall and I cleared the head and foot area, just barely though
Condensation is pretty bad... even with the vestibule door open and all the vents open the walls were soaked. Nothing really dropped on me but in a bad windstorm it would have sucked...
You can kinda sorta sit up in it..but not really.

All in all it did its job... but wasn't exactly comfortable


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[MT_Wyatt]

I've always wanted to try this tent, as the minimal "super bivy" thing appeals to me for solo outings. After a bear destroyed my trusty Anjan 2, I gave it a shot.

I have a fair amount of Sitka and Kuiu, and tend to prefer Kuiu's fit and gear. I'm 5'8" which makes a shelter like this a little easier. I'm not digging on this thing b/c I'm after Kuiu or anything, just want to put some more real world review thoughts out on the interwebs for folks to consider.

Couple observations:

- even with the vestibule door cracked open a good amount, you can't keep it dry inside unless you leave the door totally open and quarter it into the wind. Some of that is just the way it's gonna be given the design. There needs to be a way for air to get into the head end. You can see that addressed in a lot of the Tarptent designs as well as the Hilleberg Enan. Even on a super dry day, with good air movement, you can get condensation. The good part about having that test condition is you can feel all of the dry areas, and still see where your vapor gets held up. Kuiu needs to take this Big Sky design and improve that. Raincoat over bag footbox is mandatory.

- 20D PU coated floors are a joke. Why bother. I had PU cracks in multiple places just from fabric pokes from things in the duff. That's just the cost of being light I think, and lack of PU durability.

- build quality is lacking. My "favorite" is the half ass seam they jacked up in the factory, you can see where they ran to the edge of the fabric, which didn't square up nice, so you get the old extra stitched seam to make sure it holds and doesn't blow out the unfinished edge. Given the inflated marketing language, top shelf status, and touting the fame of the production facility, I expect crap like that to get QCd out of the mix, not pushed through with the hopes someone won't notice. They ought to be embarrassed by that.
I've never seen mesh that gets pulls as easy as the stuff they use, but that's a common complaint with Tarptent as well I think.

- hardware is top notch, with exception of the way too tiny zipper on the vestibule (I get it, saves weight). The stakes and cordage are great.

- it's just plain crazy light. Pair it with a quilt and xlite short pad and you are sub 4 lbs on a sleep system.

- their foot vent system rocks. What doesn't rock is the fact the guy lines for the footbox literally can't be used how their directions state, they can't be shortened enough to share the floor stakes. Simple solution is guy out the foot end with extra stakes, or just use some sticks.

- to their credit Kuiu made sure to put some mid panel guy points on the steep sides, which really gets the lower part of those walls vertical. You really have to think about how to sit up and not soak yourself still, but those guy points really help out.

- floor space is very large, and it seemed like a long tent head to foot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk