Yama Gear...Anyone heard of em?

[Colo4x4XJ]

Has anyone ever used Yama Mountain Gear products?
www.yamamountaingear.com
Interesting designs and lightweight it seems.

 

[Beastmode]

Looks like decent stuff. Price is right and so is the weight. Warranty looks pretty good too.

 

[Ramcam]

Popular gear with the Backpacking light crowd.They make some real nice tarps and shelters.

 

[Patch]

I prefer the prices of Go Lite. http://www.golite.com/default.aspx I have seen some of their equipment and a friend has the Shangri la 5. Lots of room, and better prices. If you are in the Boise area, they opened a new store in Meridian at the village shopping area. I also like their down bag, and apparel prices. There are lots of good companies out there, look, look, look, read reviews, and research. Pick your price range, then wait till you find it.

 

[Colo4x4XJ]

Thank you for the recommendation and advise. I used to run a local specialty sporting goods store (backpacking, climbing, hiking, mountaineering, kayaking) and as a result my closet is hemorrhaging gear. I just came across the Yama stuff a few days ago and had never heard of them. From the writing on their website it sounds like Yama is a one or two person operation. Theyre playing with the Cuben Fiber stuff which is stupid light, highly puncture resistant (from what I can recall) and crazy expensive. Sierra Designs has a tent made from Cuben Fiber that they floated with helium balloons at Outdoor Retailer a few years ago. They had to tie the damn thing down to prevent it from floating away. https://www.sierradesigns.com/p-559-mojo-ufo.aspx

 

[stephen b]

I have one of the Terraform 2 in silnylon that I got this summer from a local fella via the BPL site. He said he was mostly a hammock user and it had only been used for one short trip. The price was right, so I thought I would check it out for a light weight tarp shelter. I have used small tarps and sil tipi shelters, and wanted to try out something in between weight wise. I used it for 2 quick weekend trips in the Cascades before archery season started.

http://www.yamamountaingear.com/terraform-tarp-2p/

I was really impressed with it. Super easy to set up; taut as a drum; and very spacious for 1. Could easily do 2 if wanted to. IMO- the guy designing and making these must know what he is doing, because it is a very well thought out and executed shelter. Sil nylon fabric can be the same, but how it is put together can make all the difference. I think it is going to be a keeper for me for a shelter in between an emergency tarp/ poncho type and a larger tipi shelter. And I have every confidence that it could handle real adverse weather, and even some snow load.

here are some pics of the shelter on one of my trips with it:

 

[Floorguy]

Bringing this one back up. Stephen b, can you comment on the quality of the construction? Outdoor gear lab did a review of the cubem cirriform and started the construction was bad and looked homemade and not worth the money. I am looking at the terraform 2 and was wondering if it had the same issues.

 

[stephen b]

FG- Just saw your post.

I am not sure where OGL was coming from with their comments on this company- I saw their comments also. I think the construction is very, very good. Right up there with MLD I think. IMO- the quality and ability to pitch tight is top notch. I could get the Terraform much tighter than any Tarptent ( Henry's co), or SMD tent that I have tried. Quality for my model was right up there with those makers. It is so easy to set the Terraform up and get it drum tight. And their are nice holders on the tarp for your poles.

Too bad your post was not made sooner- as I simply have too many shelters and have been paring down, so I just sold my Terraform 2 the other day and mailed it off yesterday. Nothing wrong with it at all, but some shelters needed to go. Especially since I have got my wife more interested in camping with me, and she likes more of a tent; so I just this spring bought a Hilleberg Anjan 3 for us to use. That tent cost some $$, so some of my other shelters needed to find a new home.

*** I now see that in my post above in this thread I said it ( the Terraform 2) was going to be a keeper for me. I guess that was not the case after I spent some money on Hillebergs and some others needed to go. A bit of musical shelters, even though I find myself usually using my standby's from the past. But I am excited to use the Anjan this spring.

 

[Floorguy]

Thanks for the reply, looks like I have been late I posted this last night and it looks like they have stopped production to reevaluate their growth and what they really want to do as of the first of this month. Yeah I am not sure what happened with OGL's review, I think they are good at times and other times I will find some ething that has me questioning them. They are the only place that I have seen negative comments on construction.

I guess I will see if I find something else or if the start production before then.

 

[stephen b]

You could email Gen ( the owner) and see what he has to say. He is good about returning emails.

Who knows-He may even have a Terraform 2 laying around that he could part with.