UKC

Are wild county tents known for poor quality?

Probably about 10 years ago I bought a Wild Country Blizzard 3, at the time I was hopeful to do some longer winter trips and maybe some bike packing. Also the pice was pretty good at the time.

Unfortunately it didn't really happen, kids came along and we moved house a couple of times and just life got in the way. I think I only using it the once on a car camping trip back then...

Anyway I recently piched it in the garden to get a look at it and see if I can motivate myself and possibly plan a trip with a friend before the end of the summer.

So to get back to the question, are wild county tents known for poor quality? The blizzard is the only one I've ever owned but I think it's pretty rubbish, stitching doesn't meet at the corners kind of bad... Obviously it's 10 years old but these are manufacturer defects, is this common with Wild County Tents?

For more context, my other tents are macpac which I've found to be brilliant.

In reply to GRo55:

There were a lot of reports a few years back about poor QC and customer service on WC and Terra Nova tents but don't know if it's still the case. 

In reply to GRo55:

My Wild Country Mistral is now 26 years old, the ground sheet does leak now but I just use a tarp. So apart from that it's been great. Make of that what you will.

In reply to GRo55:

I have a wild country blizzard 2, bought it pretty cheap as it was a return/repair model I believe. I think the repair was that some of the brass eyelets that the ends of the poles slot into fell out and had to be replaced, so it came with a couple of really sturdy new eyelets. Subsequently the rest of the eyelets fell out and I had to repair them myself. This was a bit annoying but once I had sorted it it has been a really good reliable tent, not used in any insane mountain weather but the usual uk spread of rain/wind/bit of snow. It feels really sturdy and I (and most importantly my partner) feel very secure inside. On really wet ground I think I do recall moisture coming in the ground sheet when I was kneeling inside, too much pressure on the fabric on one spot, but I think this was scottish riverside camping so practically in a grassy puddle on saturated ground. A mouse in Glen Etive also chewed a hole through the inner to come in and have a look around, which I have been too lazy to repair. For the money I paid (I think it was 150 squids) I am happy but if I had paid full whack (around double that!) I think I'd have sent it back for the rubbish, flimsy eyelets like the original purchaser. 

I also had a hilleberg for quite a few years, and whilst the stitching and whatever feel much cheaper on the blizzard, rain used to come in the hilleberg, and when I contacted them about it they were like oh we can't do anything about that its because of the design. Rain has never made it into the blizzard. 

In reply to DaveHK:

Ah right, a bit disappointing to hear... Mine probably isn't just an isolated incident then

In reply to Dangerous Dave:

Thats kinda what I thought about the brand before I got it, plenty people online saying quite good things about wild country tents, and the prices are obviously a lot less than some other brands. I was hoping that it would be a good value option... It didn't really work out like that, for me at least 

In reply to Blackmud:

Yeah I guess I'd be ok if I had got it as a second or a repair etc. Even if it was something I could fix myself, I don't think that's possible here though.

To be clear the tent is still usable, I don't think I'd want to use it in anything a bit windy though

In reply to GRo55: your question isn't about Wild Country tents now but 10 years ago..   so remember to beware online reviews not from that time period

Your opening statenent really is 'Were Wild  country....  10 years ago' and what about now

In reply to wbo2:

Fair point