eezi awn knock of...

[LUISJG]

wow do like this knock of eezi awn tent.all aluminum frames,the tent fabric actualy zipers al the way arround the frame.
the mattress look funny ... i like the ladder though
,

[flyingwil]

I take it you are an Alibaba shopper. It does look like a Eezi-Awn Serries 2 knock off, and looks like it is lacking in the HD canvas, and such. On our last trip David said the Eezi-Awn was similar to MIL-Spec!

Kind of sad that anyone would rip off another's companies design so close, but then again it is China! I think they even knock off cars, motorcycles, and all that to a T.

[Scott Brady]

This is the stuff that makes me upset... A blatant stealing of someones design. :littlefriend:

Very uncool.

[LUISJG]

WELL im not an ALIBABA SHOPPER , but i saw it there and whas chatting on the messenger with the manufacturer,, i did not buy one though,,, im
to nervous to buy something like that and then recieve junk, or not recieve anything at all...

[mountainpete]

Ok... I don't want to ruffle feathers here, but what is Alibaba Shopper and why is it so evil? :smilies27

[articulate]

Ok... I don't want to ruffle feathers here, but what is Alibaba Shopper and why is it so evil? :smilies27
I'm glad someone asked, 'cuz I'm dying to know, too! ...and make sure I'm not one by default.

:friday:

[Brian McVickers]

www.alibaba.com is a B2B marketplace networking website where businesses can go to hook up with other businesses from around the world. I'm sure it has some positive atributes but it also seems to be full of knock-off low-quality merchandise. The kind of stuff you see people selling huge quantities of on Ebay, you know - type in LED headlamp on Ebay and then weed through the hundreds of $2.00 knock offs in order to find the Petzel!

Wil was probably tipped off by the broken english in the quote from the first post, due to the international nature of alibaba.com.

But I could be wrong...

[LUISJG]

Dont know if alibaba shoper is bad or good ,,,LOL
just came across it there and found it intersting to talk about it,

[Scott Brady]

Thanks for the post Luis, our frustration was not directed at you. I think most of us hate to see blantant copycats.

[flyingwil]

No, I was not talking down about Alibaba, but in a recent search for rooftop tents I stumbled across Alibaba with this result (http://greenline.en.alibaba.com/offerdetail/51620809/Sell_Roof_Top_Tent.html). Then a further search results that they are produced by Greenline (http://www.greenline.com.cn/egsjj.htm). It is odd that the product is not on their website as a product though.

[BajaTaco]

Thanks for the post Luis. That is kind of an eye-opener. Looks like nothing is safe any more! That's crazy. I can't say without seeing it for myself in person, but there is likely no way I would put that thing on my truck. It looks very cheaply built, with regular nylon fabric and budget seams, etc. The mattress looks like low-grade foam (curling up). Oh well, there will always be a market for "junque" I guess.

[TACODOC]

FYI, Ali Baba is Arabic slang for a thief, a bad guy, you've all read Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves... :rolleyes:

Interesting name for an international trade site. Many countries outside the US and EU completely ignore patents, copyrights etc.

[Willman]

FYI, Ali Baba is Arabic slang for a thief, a bad guy, you've all read Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves... :rolleyes:

Interesting name for an international trade site. Many countries outside the US and EU completely ignore patents, copyrights etc.

:littlefriend: .........not good!

[110]

it seems this tent is beeing sold in the Netherlands an Germany:

http://www.destinationadventure.nl/nl/?Producten:Daktenten

http://www.nakatanenga.de/
(look for: Dachzelt "RoofLodge")

notice the price difference....

[flyingwil]

it seems this tent is beeing sold in the Netherlands an Germany:

http://www.destinationadventure.nl/nl/?Producten:Daktenten

http://www.nakatanenga.de/
(look for: Dachzelt "RoofLodge")

notice the price difference....

Aren't you located near Slotervaart in the Netherlands? Do you have any experience with this tent? Is it a direct knock off of the eezi-awn tents?

[LUISJG]

it seems this tent is beeing sold in the Netherlands an Germany:

http://www.destinationadventure.nl/nl/?Producten:Daktenten

http://www.nakatanenga.de/
(look for: Dachzelt "RoofLodge")

notice the price difference....


LOL

[gcec-uk]

I ran across this tent about two years ago... Ray Wood (of Rocky Mountain Parabolics fame) was having them made in China as Eezi-Awn, Howling Moon, and Hannibal didn't offer him sufficient margins to make tent sales profitable in North America. Since then I've seen them offered by every low end "expedition outfitter" in Europe; with various different branding; Rocky Mountain, Safari Equip, a couple of "boutique" shops even had their own brands on them.

You'll find the same (or very similar) tent on offer from the likes of Safari Equip (http://www.safari-equip.co.uk/index.htm) and OEC 4x4 (http://www.oec4x4.com/index.php), as well as a bunch of smaller operations.

To say the quality is poor would be an understatement. I recently had the opportunity to view two six-month-old units in the Netherlands, and they were in awful shape... I'll try to dig out the photos.

They're made from POLYESTER; yes, that stuff that melts and sticks to flesh when exposed to a flame. They have a metal and (I believe) wood/foam sandwich floor which was nicely separating on the ones I saw. Zippers, fly sheet, mattress, and bug screen were similarly low budget.

I'm usually hesitant to knock a competitor's product (we sell Hannibal), but this stuff is so poorly made, from cheap materials, that I can't help it.

Add in the fact that it IS a direct copy of Howling Moon's tents (Ray admitted sending them one to copy), and I'm thoroughly disgusted. I'm all for competition in the marketplace, as it drives innovation and quality, but this recent wave of cheap imitation products from China is really starting to irritate me. Can anyone say T-Max winch?

It gets even worse as many respected western firms are jumping on the bandwagon and making their products in China; ARB and Warn spring to mind.

Wasn't there a big outcry a couple years back when people discovered that Nike and other companies were using child labour to produce goods? Why is everyone so willing to turn a blind eye to China and the imitation goods coming out of there - produced by an exploited workforce?

Welcome to the world that Wal-Mart and Tesco have created for us. Build it cheap, pile it high, and sell it for peanuts. Doesn't anyone value craftsmanship, innovation, and quality any more? It well and truly sickens me :(

/end rant

[The Swiss]

Aren't you located near Slotervaart in the Netherlands? Do you have any experience with this tent? Is it a direct knock off of the eezi-awn tents?
Guys:

Just to stirr it up a little. The roof top tent is an Italian invention dating back to 1958. An Italian Doctor, journalist and adventurer (I'm not sure if he was the original inventor) then adapted those roof top tents back in the 1960ies to suit his Land Rover expeditions to Africa and Latin America and created the folding roof top tent as it is widly known today. I think Zifer, the Italian company making the Maggiolina, Overcamp etc. today, has ties to or actually is the original manufacturer of the original roof top tents.

This would make Eezi Awn a "knock-off" of the original Italian roof tent. It's just part of business that tehre is always somebody taking the good idea from somebody else copying and improving it.

Don't get me wrong. I do not support any Chinese knock-offs, especially as they are just cheap copies without adding any valuable own ideas to it. Sad part: Very rarely the Chinese come up with the initiative to copy something on their own. Most of the time, it is a European or American individuum or company that tries to get these things made cheaper in China.

And as I already started with the rumbling: Did you know that Honda, Toyota, and Nissan, heck even certain Kia and Hyundai models, have a bigger domestic part content than most GM and Ford models? That GM is pretty much the leader in sourcing parts from China, in pushing their suppliers to source parts in China or to open production facilities in China?

End of rumbling, back to work :D

[Mike S]

I receive e-mails every week from Chinese manufacturers who have roof tents and camping gear to sell. In a past life, I did business in China, and can tell you that they ship whatever they can, and if you don't inspect it on the wharf, you'll get junk. Add to this the impossibility of getting warranty parts and structuringa decent warranty program, and you can see that a bargain may not be a bargain.

It's not just China. I have e-mails from a Korean manufacturer who knock off OUR PRODUCT and now wants us to sell it. Of course, it is molded ABS, and has cheap fittings, coated nylon fabric... you get the idea.

We are not interested in creating unhappy customers, or making money selling junk. Life is too short.

Mike S
AutoHomeUS

[Scott Brady]

I think it is the diference between these two statements:

1. The Toyota Tacoma is a great truck and I would like to build a truck that is even better, incorporate new changes and design it from the ground up, making it unique because of my ideas, engineering time and efforts.

2. The Toyota Tacoma is a great truck and I am going to buy one, ship it to China and reverse engineer every part and copy it exactly, then undercut Toyota by 30%.

I am only interested in buying things from true craftsman, regardless of the country of origin. Someone who takes pride in their workmanship and makes an honest living making a widget that is of the highest quality possible.

[The Swiss]

I think it is the diference between these two statements:

1. The Toyota Tacoma is a great truck and I would like to build a truck that is even better, incorporate new changes and design it from the ground up, making it unique because of my ideas, engineering time and efforts.

2. The Toyota Tacoma is a great truck and I am going to buy one, ship it to China and reverse engineer every part and copy it exactly, then undercut Toyota by 30%.

I am only interested in buying things from true craftsman, regardless of the country of origin. Someone who takes pride in their workmanship and makes an honest living making a widget that is of the highest quality possible.Agreed 100%, except in the "regardless of the counry of origin" part. For me, there are "countries of preference" and some few countries from I try to avoid...

[gcec-uk]

I am only interested in buying things from true craftsman, regardless of the country of origin. Someone who takes pride in their workmanship and makes an honest living making a widget that is of the highest quality possible.

Scott... You're one of, an ever diminishing, small number of people :(

[Mike S]

We sell a lot of roof top tents. The last thing that I want is a customer calling to complain that the product won't cut it. We talk with all our customers to be sure that they understand the product, that it is appropriate for their use, and that they understand that they can return it to us for a refund for any reason within the first 30 days after purchase. We provide a 5 year warranty and stock many spare parts, etc. This is part of commitment to the market and the product.

We know that there are people who weigh price more heavily in the equation than anything else - whether through circumstance or for other reasons. So you cannot sell a high quality product to everyone. It's all part of choosing a corporate character and addressing the needs of the market. I just figure that if someone buys a 'cheap' tent, they may realize that they need a better one later, and that they will consider our products when they start thinking about what they really need.

We're doing this for fun and profit. No apologies for either, but we expect to earn our profits in service.

[hoser]

And another tent knockoff.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330038515248&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

[flyingwil]

That is the same tent.... Note: the vehicle is the same.

[hoser]

Ah, yes, you're right. I quickly read the description and it said "ARB Pilbara tent replica." The Pilbara looks just like an Eezi-awn tent as well!

[LUISJG]

well the world is full of knock offs,and realy knock off will maybe not be the correct word." since the ineventor wasnt eezi awn ,,
its like not buying a toyota because its not a ford. or dont buy a plasma tv
or lcd other that the inventors.
even I just bouht a harbor freight mig welder ,,,"linclon -miller look alike"
for a fraction of the price.,

it just depends on what do you want to spend, ,nothing wroung trying to make money working and saleing those tents . i wouldnt send 500 bucks to china to get a tent thats for sure ,,i might never get it,.

so now that i think about it ,, its just a cheaper tent or a look alike .

as for roof top tents, im saving my money for the series 3 eezi awn ,

[60seriesguy]

The first rooftop tents I ever saw were British Brownchurch and Italian Maggiolina tents, back in Venezuela in the late 1980's. My dad bought a Brownchurch in 1985 and my cousin is still using it, after 20 years of abuse in a tropical environment.

Virtually every tent I've seen since then, with a few exceptions, are simply variations of the original designs. The Eezi-Awn and Hannibal may have some distinctive features, but are they really that different?

Thus, I don't think it's necessarily the DESIGN that sets them apart, it's the quality of the construction and materials. You can't compare those flimsy nylon tents with the heavy-duty canvas of a true expedition tent, there's no way the lighter-duty tents will stand up to the elements in the same way. Ditto for the hardware, the material used for flooring and ladder, even the stitching. The hefty price you pay for the real thing is for the overall quality of the product, and that's something that so far is not available from cheap reproductions.

[Scott Brady]

Thus, I don't think it's necessarily the DESIGN that sets them apart, it's the quality of the construction and materials. You can't compare those flimsy nylon tents with the heavy-duty canvas of a true expedition tent, there's no way the lighter-duty tents will stand up to the elements in the same way. Ditto for the hardware, the material used for flooring and ladder, even the stitching. The hefty price you pay for the real thing is for the overall quality of the product, and that's something that so far is not available from cheap reproductions.

Thanks for that Henry. You summed up what I was attempting (poorly) to convey.

Material and design quality and craftsmanship is what I need and will buy. All the other junk can clog the isles at Walmart...

[toyrunner95]

ok since we are talking about knock off tents and cheaply made products. which do you guys think is better

hannibal or eziawn.

i was looking at a hannibal, its about $100 more expensive and has a more encoumpasing rain fly. plus they use them in africa everywhere, or so they say. but whats the diffrence and why did you pick what you did.

[Scott Brady]

They are very similar. The Hannibal has a zipper design for the cover and door that is much more problematic. Other than that, they are nearly the same.

[gjackson]

Roof tent relability and quality will always be debated, but I thought I'd add my 2c. The Ezi Awn is very well built (just look at one!) but they do rely on velcro for the main door lower closure. After 18 months of daily use in Africa some friends of ours complained that the velcro was not working any more. And it wasn't. At the same time, our Technitop was still fine after 9 months of use. This for a tent that we thought may not last the full trip. I'm not comparing the Technitop to the Ezi Awn here, because they are both awesome tents, but neither are without issues.

Hannibal makes very high quality tents as well, but for the cover. The outside dust cover is zippered all the way around. Just try to make a zipper do a square, add dust and mud, and you have a bad combination. Pain to open, even more of a pain to close. Great tent once it is up.

cheers

[toyrunner95]

ahhhh, see no one says anyting about the zipper cover in thier advertisements. perhaps its worth the extra 100 bucks.

does pangea sell the ezi awn econo 1200 rtt? i like that price.

[TACODOC]

The first rooftop tents I ever saw were British Brownchurch and Italian Maggiolina tents, back in Venezuela in the late 1980's. My dad bought a Brownchurch in 1985 and my cousin is still using it, after 20 years of abuse in a tropical environment.

Virtually every tent I've seen since then, with a few exceptions, are simply variations of the original designs. The Eezi-Awn and Hannibal may have some distinctive features, but are they really that different?

Thus, I don't think it's necessarily the DESIGN that sets them apart, it's the quality of the construction and materials. You can't compare those flimsy nylon tents with the heavy-duty canvas of a true expedition tent, there's no way the lighter-duty tents will stand up to the elements in the same way. Ditto for the hardware, the material used for flooring and ladder, even the stitching. The hefty price you pay for the real thing is for the overall quality of the product, and that's something that so far is not available from cheap reproductions.

OK, I got curious about the "old school' Brownchurch tents and found their site... Rover guys know of them for sure so this is FYI for the rest of us...

http://www.brownchurch.co.uk/

[LUISJG]

ok since we are talking about knock off tents and cheaply made products. which do you guys think is better

hannibal or eziawn.

i was looking at a hannibal, its about $100 more expensive and has a more encoumpasing rain fly. plus they use them in africa everywhere, or so they say. but whats the diffrence and why did you pick what you did.


eezi awn. the tent is the best i have seen by far.

[Scott Brady]

Thanks for the link Dave. That is an interesting tent, and very compact when folded. No matress, but for those with space needs.

http://www.brownchurch.co.uk/images/2000side.jpg

http://www.brownchurch.co.uk/images/2000top.jpg

[LUISJG]

mmm..thats a clever design,, the floor permanent to the roof rack..mmm
great idea