As the active James Baroud dealer on this forum I thought I'd take a little more time on this thread to respond to recent comments. Hope the info below will help quell this "controversy," Please let me know if you have any other questions or require any additional information before making a purchase. I have personally owned or worked with most every single type and brand of rooftop tent out there and can speak first-hand to the differences both in design and quality among pretty much all of them.
It's unfortunate that this one post online, in multiple places, has caused so many people to believe that this problem is somehow systemic with the James Baroud line of tents. It is not, and is extremely isolated. Just like with any brand, of course there are problems from time to time. However, whether they are from external damage, user error, or a manufacturing error, it's important that customer service is a positive experience. I think most of the angst from this user was in the handling of the issue by James Baroud customer service, which I have to agree wasn't top notch. They have made a very strong effort to fix that going forward and from all reports it has changed dramatically.
As the owner at Adventure Ready, I only make the decision to carry a line of products if I personally believe in them and will stand behind them. We are a unique shop in that respect - much more of a curated outfitter than an "off-road shop" that sells anything and everything. As you can easily see on our site, we only carry top-level gear, and that includes the James Baroud tents. I believe whole-heartedly, personally from what I've seen and experienced, that the James Baroud tents are absolutely top of the line, offering the most features as well as best overall build quality. I use and rely on a James Baroud tent regularly on my trips, and as I said, have spent a huge number of nights in one in pretty much every environment and condition possible.
Tom
Owner, Adventure Ready LLC
@concretejungle Thanks for your input. I learned that Slee has recently become a JB dealer. I'm still considering JB since Slee is so close to me.
On the other hand, REI is selling some Tepui models now. REI's customer service is flawless in my opinion, free shipping to local store, and there's that annual member 20% discount coming, and as Tepui is based here in the US there's no need to wait for some shipment from Italy or Portugal, also it's much cheaper than any hard-shell... All that mades Tepui a very attractive option.
Take a good look at the Tepui and also at other options before deciding if you can. The new Tepui at REI is definitely not the same machine as other tents. The fabric is a lightweight nylon as compared to a much durable ripstop poly-cotton on any other tent, and there is a lot of plastic on it. It's really designed for much lighter use, kind of like a REI ground tent, but on your roof instead of a more durable off-road tent.
Probably a good question to ask fiberglass boat owners that live in a hail prone area. I'm curious myself. I have a 4 yr old hard shell CVT.
I've personally spent about 50 nights in our James Baroud tent in the last year alone and have experienced no failure or problems whatsoever. We have had only five warranty claims in the last 2+ years (out of around 100 tents sold), two of which were from shipping damage and one was due to someone driving onto a ferry and not realizing the clearance was too low and ripping off the exhaust fan from the roof. The two others were gel coat issues from the factory, and the tents were replaced. We haven't seen a single fiberglass issue like the one Theron had, and have not heard of any in the US at all.
