Moss Titan

Review Date
September 16, 2002

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: Athompson(Unregistered User) ,  Paddler , from North Bay, ON, Canada

Price Paid:  $500.00 at MEC

Summary:
This is my third and favorite shelter. I have used this camped on a rock in the middle of Georgian Bay in high winds, with nary a flap out of it. This thing is bomb proof. The only complaint would be that it should have additional guy points on the largest area's of the fly (1997 made in US version).

Customer Service:
Since Moss was aquired by REI, and now Cascade Designs, I have had trouble getting some basic information. Such as when I lost my tent poles down a nasty rapids, and neede the specs to rebuild the pol

Review Date
April 6, 2002

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: Jay Santos(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker , from Richmond,B.C. Canada

Price Paid:  $550.00 at MEC

Summary:
I've had the pleasure of owning my Moss tent for about two years, and all I can say is that it's my favourite in regards to the other five tents I own. The model I own has the clips as opposed to the sleeves, which i found a bit difficult for first time set-up. But once you get the hang of it,set-up is a breeze. Some of the great features of the tent include the spacious ammount of room for two and the excellent ventilation provided by the well thought out mesh windows which are located at the front/back and ceilings. I also found the gearloft with the ingenious head lamp hole excellent for late night reading.

Being a 4 season tent it does weigh considerably more than others, but the bomb proof construction makes up for it in inclement weather.I had no problem with condensation when i brought the tent up to Whistler (B.C.) for early winter camping. It shed snow and rain with apolmb! Also a nice feature is the zip up rain/privacy windows. The vestibule with the added pole provides great space for your gear or pet.

I would highly recommend this tent to anyone looking for bomb proof construction and numerous convenient extras!

Customer Service:
Never had to use them

Similar Products Used:
Sierra Designs Comet CD, Kelty Vortex

Review Date
January 13, 2002

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: woodsguy(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $499.00

Summary:
This is in response to the last review. I too am a HUGE Moss fan and I too own a '99 American made Titan along with a '98 Helix and a '01 Thunderdome. While I agree that I prefer the Dupont materials I must disagree that the American made tents were superior in craftsmanship to the Chinese made tents. The Titan I have is fine but working in a large outdoor retail store I have seen many American made Moss tents come in with quality problems. I have yet to see a China made one with anything wrong. Also, the bar tacks in the new tents are much tighter and more substantial than the American made tents. And the new tents use a polyester rainfly which is stronger and more resistant to UV damage an and it doesn't streatch like nylon when it gets wet. After one year of making half their tents overseas (their clip versions) and half in Seattle, Moss found that it was much easier to work with the Chinese manufacturers than the American ones and were getting better quality all the while saving a bunch of money (the new Titan has more features and is $100 less than the '99 model). So now all Moss tents are made in China, even the sleeve models. This decision had nothing to do with the merger with Walrus (which happened years before). Don't get me wrong, I would prefer American made to Chinese, but if the quality is better and the exchange rate favors us, than it just make good business sense.

Recently, Cascade Designs bought Edgeworks (MSR, Moss, Walrus, and Armadillo) from REI. So all of the best Moss and Walrus designers teamed up and are making tents under the MSR label (check out www.msrcorp.com. So the Moss name is dead. :-( I'm not sure if they will still be made in China but I'm guessing (hoping) they will. What will remain are the finest designed tents in the world.

Customer Service:
I''ve spoken to a designer at Moss several times and he has been very helpful in answering my questions and explaining their decisions.

Similar Products Used:
Sierra Designs
Mountain Hardware
The North Face
Walrus
REI

Review Date
December 21, 2001

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: Andrew J(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker , from New Brunswick NJ

Price Paid:  $320.00 at Online Backcounrty G

Summary:
US Made 2000 Model

This tent was everythin i hoped it to be. Finest materials and excelent construction that only comes with american made quality (at least when it comes to outdoor gear). It has performed as expected keepong me dry in the rain, cool in the summer heat (thanks to the large zipper windows) and secure when the wipping winter winds blow. It may not have the gimmics that many newer designs have, such as clear windows but Moss built its reputation on a quality product, not eye candy.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise but pole sleaves a vastly superior to clips. Threading the poles is very easy on both my Mosses (much easier than anyclip models i've used from siera designs and others) and they better distribute the tension of the poles than the handful of points that clips use (i've had the clips ripout of an otherwise well made seirra designs).
When i got my first Moss tent (1999 starlet) the first thing that i noticed was the quality of the materials (i remember not too long ago when most tents were made of such stout stuff). Yes moss tents may be heavier but you can tell that it is ment to last for several decades not a handfull of seasons. Same can be said of my Titan.

However, i recently purchased a heptawing that was one of the newer ones after the buyout by that god awful parent company of Walrus. What a cheap piece of manure this thing is when compared to the old us made version. el cheapo materials and a nasty color that does not even come close to matching the traditional moss beige of old and no more easton poles. and they have the nerve to charge the same retail price as the far superior old US version (Corp. Rat Bums!!).

Moss used to have the motta "because you can't afford cheap stuff" but now it should be "we can only make cheap stuff." if you can still find and old us made moss product, by it! but don't expect the same from the new foreign made forgeries they are producing now. They are now some of the worst made tents on the market.

The value ratings i gave are for us made models. Newer moss products get barly a star in either catagory.

Similar Products Used:
None

Review Date
September 7, 2001

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: Matthew Frentz(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker , from E Lansing Mi

Price Paid:  $340.00 at Repeat Preformance

Summary:
This tent is awesome. I would highly advise anyone looking for a tent to get this one. It is expensive but well worth the money. The first night i slept in it i was attacked by a deer at 3:30 in the morning. The deer rammed my tent and flexed it down waking me from my sleep. I inspected the tent and the only sigh of the attack was the dew was all gone from where her body hit. I think this is the best designed tent. My friend has the Mt. Hardware skyview 3 (another great tent) and even he addmits that this is the best tent to have. If you are thinking about other tents i will tell you, i have looked and inspected almost all of them and this is the best tent with all the features one would want.

Similar Products Used:
Mt. Hardware Skyview 3
REI Clipper
Kelty Convertable tent