Borah Bivy

[a3dhunter]

A3D did you get your Borah yet? Hows it fit for a big man?

He added some extra girth, so that is find. The length is to long.
I have a 78" bag, the long bivy is almost 88" long.
The wide width barely fits my big agnes encampment bag.
Still trying to work out some other issues, the bag did not come as ordered. I will post how this is handled once issue is resolved.
I would recommend everyone get the regular length, as he makes then longer than needed.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Ordering one of the side zip bivys in M90 tomorrow. Can't wait to see how I like it...

Mike

 

[a3dhunter]

I feel you guys should know the problems I have had with John from Borah gear.

I emailed John with questions before going through with the purchase.

Priority one was I wanted an extended zipper, in the 40-48" range for those hot summer nights. He had me add $5 for the zipper.
He assured me that was fine, and that he could add some extra girth to make sure my pad, bag, and me (270 lbs) would fit comfortably in the bivy and it would not be restrictive.
I also went with his recommendation on materials.
Sent payment on the third, received bivy at the end off the month.
The bivy was 8-10" too long and had the normal zipper, not what I paid for.
When I contacted him about the zipper he apologized and said the long zippers did not come in, and he could do nothing about it now.
He offered a small discount and said he could cut down the length if I ship it back to him but refuses to do anything about the zipper.
Basically comes down to the fact that I communicated with him before hand and purchased from him solely for the option of getting something custom made how I wanted it.

Edited::::::
See updated posts lower down on thread.

 

[gulicemo]

Interesting. Hope he can nail a standard side zip because he already has my money...

 

[HellsCanyon]

Interesting. Hope he can nail a standard side zip because he already has my money...

X2... I ordered mine today with standard left zipper and standard net hood. Sorry to hear about the bad experience!

Mike

 

[a3dhunter]

I feel you guys should know the problems I have had with John from Borah gear.

I emailed John with questions before going through with the purchase.

Priority one was I wanted an extended zipper, in the 40-48" range for those hot summer nights. He had me add $5 for the zipper.
He assured me that was fine, and that he could add some extra girth to make sure my pad, bag, and me (270 lbs) would fit comfortably in the bivy and it would not be restrictive.
I also went with his recommendation on materials.
Sent payment on the third, received bivy at the end off the month.
The bivy was 8-10" too long and had the normal zipper, not what I paid for.
When I contacted him about the zipper he apologized and said the long zippers did not come in, and he could do nothing about it now.
He offered a small discount and said he could cut down the length if I ship it back to him but refuses to do anything about the zipper.
Basically comes down to the fact that I communicated with him before hand and purchased from him solely for the option of getting something custom made how I wanted it.
.

Update:
After John from Borah read this on Rokslide he replied to my latest email with an offer to have me ship it back and he will make what I had ordered and ship it to me.
While this was not presented as an option during the first 3 emails about the problem, I feel it is the right thing to do.
I appreciate him stepping up and taking care of this.
Once I receive the next bivy I will post up about how things turn out.

 

[Tim in Wa.]

good on you both !

 

[Trout bum]

Glad he stepped up! Look forward to your review.

 

[a3dhunter]

Glad he stepped up! Look forward to your review.

I have had several e-mails from John this morning, and he is letting me know that this was not what he wanted. He has had positive reviews all over the web and I am sure this one will end positively after our last few conversations.

Who knows, he may even become another Rokslide member!

 

[gobbler1662]

I currently have ti-goat bivy. Does anyone know if the borax bivy zips closed to protect your sleep system from accidental rain storm if you are away from camp. That's the one thing I love about the to goat is basically being able to zip it closed when you are out hunting. From what I am seeing looks like the entire head portion is left exposed to the elements.

 

[john]

Hi guys, John from Borah Gear here. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this forum until a few days ago. A few members on here placed an order and referred me to the site. Its awesome to find another backpacking forum that is so popular!

I saw the post on here about the zipper issue on the bivy and figured I'd chime in. a3dhunter ordered his bivy with the extra long zipper, and somehow along the way our seamstress sewed in a normal zipper. I was really surprised when he contacted me saying that the zipper was not what he ordered, because in the year we've been open, and in the few hundred bivys we've sold, this is only the 5th mistake that's had to be fixed.

It was my fault however for not being clear that a replacement was one of the options. I offered a discount and offered to shorten the length up a little, and after a couple emails, I was under the impression that this was the route he was going with. I can't sew in a new zipper once it is already finished, but I asked that with a $25 discount, if the normal zipper would work OK. We decided on a replacement bivy with the longer zipper sewn in, and I have bumped his new one up in line to make sure it gets out as soon as possible.

Anyways, just wanted to clear that up. We offer these bivys at a price that makes them quite popular, but I would like to think the real reason why we have been able to succeed is with word of mouth about quality and good customer service.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Hi guys, John from Borah Gear here. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this forum until a few days ago. A few members on here placed an order and referred me to the site. Its awesome to find another backpacking forum that is so popular!

I saw the post on here about the zipper issue on the bivy and figured I'd chime in. a3dhunter ordered his bivy with the extra long zipper, and somehow along the way our seamstress sewed in a normal zipper. I was really surprised when he contacted me saying that the zipper was not what he ordered, because in the year we've been open, and in the few hundred bivys we've sold, this is only the 5th mistake that's had to be fixed.

It was my fault however for not being clear that a replacement was one of the options. I offered a discount and offered to shorten the length up a little, and after a couple emails, I was under the impression that this was the route he was going with. I can't sew in a new zipper once it is already finished, but I asked that with a $25 discount, if the normal zipper would work OK. We decided on a replacement bivy with the longer zipper sewn in, and I have bumped his new one up in line to make sure it gets out as soon as possible.

Anyways, just wanted to clear that up. We offer these bivys at a price that makes them quite popular, but I would like to think the real reason why we have been able to succeed is with word of mouth about quality and good customer service.

John,
Glad to see you on here! Good to see ya got the emails!
I'm sure one of the owners will be contacting you shortly about a possibly sponsoring the forum. As a sponsor myself I can tell you it's been a pleasure being on here and your business will do well. Pretty loyal customer base here if the products are quality! Welcome to the forum!

Mike

 

[dotman]

John,
Glad to see you on here! Good to see ya got the emails!
I'm sure one of the owners will be contacting you shortly about a possibly sponsoring the forum. As a sponsor myself I can tell you it's been a pleasure being on here and your business will do well. Pretty loyal customer base here if the products are quality! Welcome to the forum!

Mike

I agree with Mike, we love supporting the sponsors as long as their products are quality and you already passed the customer service test . Welcome to the site.

 

[a3dhunter]

Update:
Shipped previous bivy back to John, and he made one to fit my requests (I also added a net window on the bivy after seeing the full net in person).
Received the new bivy earlier this week, fits my bag perfect and looks great.
While I haven't had it outdoors yet, it is exactly what I was wanting and look forward to using it.

 

[a3dhunter]

One photo of the long zipper I requested.
One photo of me in bivy on my side, with bag and BA IAC pad, and arms stretched to full width of bag.

 

[fillthefreezer]

curious to see how these perform in the field and wish i would have heard of it before i spent so much on a tigoat

 

[HellsCanyon]

Got notification that my Bivy shipped today...

Mike

 

[HellsCanyon]

Got mine in today. Really seems like a nice piece of gear. This is my first bivy so not much to compare to. Seems well made at in the provided stuff sack was 7.1 oz (6.9 oz without sack), and takes up about as much room as a 20 oz water bottle. Can't wait to try it out!

Mike

 

[Slim Jim]

Nice Mike!
I finally decided to go with the GoLite SL3 and Borah bug bivy combo. Can't wait to have a lot more room in the backcountry this summer

 

[gulicemo]

I received mine today as well. It is my first bivy sack as well.

Seems like a nice unit, very light weight and well constructed. For a budget minded gear junky like myself, it should work fine. I put my Exped UL7 and Northface 20* synthetic bag in it. No issues with length or girth. I'm a smaller guy, 5'10" 165 pounds. Side sleeper and no issues laying on my side inside the bivy. I'll post a full report after I use it in the field, hopefully May or June.