Years have passed since I have reviewed anything from the company and that changes today; in this episode I am comparing the old version of the Snugpak Ionosphere to the newest one and will be performing a quality inspection.
Will there be problems? Has Snugpak improved since my last review?
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Snugpak Quality Comparison – Ionosphere Tent
What this is all about :
Back in October of 2013 I put up my video review of the Snugpak Ionosphere tent and it was a glowing review. The Ionosphere was a fantastic shelter and at that time the company Snugpak had a very good reputation.
Going forward in time to 2018 my positive opinion of Snugpak began to change; product failure after product failure, quality issue after quality issue –
issues with terrible seam taping, so bad that a product was unusable.
There were issues with leaking sleeping mats, hardware failures and so on.
It got to the point where I had a very hard time recommending a Snugpak product and when asked about them, I would suggest that if a viewer was to buy one of their products they do so through Amazon or through a store that had a very good return policy. Also, as soon as the individual received a product, they needed to inspect it closely for issues.
What was the change that took place at Snugpak? The company moved their manufacturing to China.
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Currently :
Since the company began having issues with their products and quality, I personally made the decision to stop supporting them and have purchased anything from the company since then. That changes today!
More on this in a moment.
When it comes to reports from others, over the years I have heard both good and bad from viewers concerning the company. Also, reviews online are a bit all over the place; there are plenty of good reviews assuming they are real and at the same time, there are more than a few reports of poor quality; also assuming that they are real.
I did notice that there are some reviews on YT that were done within the last year where users had issues with quality and leaking. A shout out to Grunt Proof for keeping it real and honest – with so many YT channels lying and selling products it’s good to see a channel like mine where the host gives it to you straight!
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Why I purchased this tent? :
My plan for 2022 is to reevaluate Snugpak and it begins with the Ionosphere. Maybe the company has turned things around but then again, maybe not!
I loved the design of the Ionosphere and I would like to be able to confidently recommend it to my viewers but I won’t be able to do that until I have not only closely observed the quality but have also tested it out.
With my testing and evaluations, it begins in this episode where I am going to set up this tent and take a close look at it. Also, I’m going to compare the new version to the old tent that I purchased back in 2013. Yes I still have it and I use it all the time.
The next test that I will be doing will be in regards to waterproofing. The old version that I have has never let me down and it has been through crazy amounts of rain.
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Stats :
Retail Price is virtually the same : $230 – can be found at a lower price on Amazon. I paid $180 for this tent recently.
Weight :
New Model Weight : 3.65lbs
Old Model Weight : 3.56
Dimensions Stored New : 19” x 6”
Dimensions Stored Old : 19” x 6”
Materials :
These don’t seem to have changed over the years according to the company
FLY SHEET
210t Polyester RipStop PU with a 5000mm rating
INNER TENT
190t Nylon with Polyester Mesh
GROUND SHEET
Bathtub Style 190t Nylon w/5000mm PU coating
POLES
DAC Featherlite Poles made from TH72M aluminum
All of this matches my notes from many years ago.
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Differences :
Issues :
A few things I noticed –
The new version doesn’t feature the same level of stitching on the storage bag –
The compression straps are substantially shorter with the new version
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What comes next :
Waterproof testing is next; are there going to be any leaks or issues? Find out soon here on TOGR
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