Tepui Tent Poll!

[Michael]

Hey all!

We notice many of our members use Tepui Tents. Would you recommend a Tepui Tent to a Friend? Feel free to add comments. I tried to include relevant options in the poll. I'm trying to get a general understanding of how we view the Tepui products. Thank you!

M

 

[billum v2.0]

My experience and 2¢......
Looked at CVT (Mt. Shasta Summit series) as well as Tepui (Kukenam Ruggedized). Online interaction/product questions couldn't have been handled more differently. CVT made it unmistakably clear that I was a nuisance, tent was out of stock, no ETA on when it would be back in stock and if I wanted one, it was up to me to follow up with them periodically to determine when it was back in inventory. Tepui tent was also out of stock, but their folks took a 180 degree approach. Helpful without being patronizing, in two different instances the rep couldn't answer a particular question, admitted it, huddled with someone who could and responded in the time frame promised with the accurate answer. The heck with tent salespeople, sales people selling anything to anyone could learn a thing or two from this simple approach.
Purchased the Kukenam Ruggedized, and at the last second decided to add a third crossbar support, which required additional hardware. Was leaving for Moab in 6 days. Called Tepui customer service, spoke with a random rep who didn't know me from Adam, explained my need and timeframe, volunteered to pay any express shipping fees. The rep made sure the parts were in shippers hands that afternoon, had in my hands one day before departure and noticed on the invoice no upcharge for shipping.
So my normal response to my Tepui experience is that they're passionate folks selling a good product. Live customer service people who answer the phone and are helpful, even when they can't meet a request or fix a problem (but if they can, they will).
As to whether their product is the "best" in their category, I can't pass judgment as I've only owned their tent. We have over 30 nights in it and it's traveled 8,000 miles and we've had zero issues. It's not perfect (mattress comes to mind), but the cost/benefit exceeds my expectations.

 

[chuckoverland]

Was looking at tepui to replace our tuff stuck that got stolen, will follow this thread closely.

 

[vegasjeepguy]

I’ve owned two Tepui tents. The first was a standard Kukenam that was less than $1k. Price was one of the biggest considerations for me. I also looked at customer reviews and decided to pull the trigger. I was very pleased with the construction and performance and had it out over a dozen times.

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After a few years I decided it was time to upgrade after Tepui introduced their “ruggedized” line. I sold my standard Kukenam to a friend for $400 and replaced it with a ruggedized Kukenam XL. While the cost was double my first RTT, I was even more impressed with the construction and performance. Being trailer mounted for off-road use, the diamond plate flooring and heavy duty construction gave me a lot of peace of mind. The extra room was a big plus. And earlier this year I order the upgraded mattress which made a very comfortable RTT that much more so.

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I am A big fan of Tepui and can highly recommend them.

 

[billum v2.0]

.............. And earlier this year I order the upgraded mattress which made a very comfortable RTT that much more so...........

Vegas:

Seems the mattress in nearly all the different manufacturer's RTT is a shortcoming................I added a 2.5" memory foam topper to the factory mattress which helped, but still not "there" yet.
Have any suggestions?

 

[LandPirate]

Bought my Tepui tent used (Kukenam Sky) for $900. Drove a long way to pick it up but I did the math and the used price was right. This tent had already been used by the previous owner for a trip out west for many days and had gone from Indiana to the California Highway 1 and back for weeks through mountains, desert and beach.

Now that we own it we've put over 8,000 miles on the car with the tent on top and slept in it over a month and I would recommend it highly. The tent is very comfortable and has held up really well during off road travel, in desert winds and multiple wind storms, frigid climates, sandy beaches, forests, rain, just about everything except actual snowfall which we haven't seen in the tent yet.

The build quality on these tents is also very good. Fully taped seams, high quality stitching, great accessories available (boot bag, winter covers, replaceable parts) etc. Very well built. And my experiences with their customer service have all been stellar, including them taking the time to follow up with me about accessories orders and shipping & handling.

Buy with confidence.

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[vegasjeepguy]

Vegas:

Seems the mattress in nearly all the different manufacturer's RTT is a shortcoming................I added a 2.5" memory foam topper to the factory mattress which helped, but still not "there" yet.
Have any suggestions?

I sleep on a Temperpedic mattress at home and am used to a firm mattress. What we find helps is a featherbed mattress topper on top of the factory mattress goes a long way to softening things up. We pack the featherbed mattress with our bedding gear that includes oversized pillows, flannel sheets and a down comforter. There is a reason they call it “glamping”

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[Michael]

My experience and 2¢......
Looked at CVT (Mt. Shasta Summit series) as well as Tepui (Kukenam Ruggedized). Online interaction/product questions couldn't have been handled more differently. CVT made it unmistakably clear that I was a nuisance, tent was out of stock, no ETA on when it would be back in stock and if I wanted one, it was up to me to follow up with them periodically to determine when it was back in inventory. Tepui tent was also out of stock, but their folks took a 180 degree approach. Helpful without being patronizing, in two different instances the rep couldn't answer a particular question, admitted it, huddled with someone who could and responded in the time frame promised with the accurate answer. The heck with tent salespeople, sales people selling anything to anyone could learn a thing or two from this simple approach.
Purchased the Kukenam Ruggedized, and at the last second decided to add a third crossbar support, which required additional hardware. Was leaving for Moab in 6 days. Called Tepui customer service, spoke with a random rep who didn't know me from Adam, explained my need and timeframe, volunteered to pay any express shipping fees. The rep made sure the parts were in shippers hands that afternoon, had in my hands one day before departure and noticed on the invoice no upcharge for shipping.
So my normal response to my Tepui experience is that they're passionate folks selling a good product. Live customer service people who answer the phone and are helpful, even when they can't meet a request or fix a problem (but if they can, they will).
As to whether their product is the "best" in their category, I can't pass judgment as I've only owned their tent. We have over 30 nights in it and it's traveled 8,000 miles and we've had zero issues. It's not perfect (mattress comes to mind), but the cost/benefit exceeds my expectations.

This is great to know, and means the world to us as well. Customer service is king. Thank you for the feedback!

M

 

[Dapozer]

Love my tent and never a issue with customer service, I would buy again if in that situation. No issues to date.

 

[billum v2.0]

............ Customer service is king.
M

I own my business, and am always gobsmacked when I stumble into someone's employee that couldn't be any more sincerely passionate about their product and/or service than the company founder. Sales folks are one thing (although most are as sincere and passionate as reflected by their most recent paycheck), but seeing that from customer service and other "backroom" folks involved after a sale is another thing entirely.

 

[Caddis]

This is my first RTT, I've ever used. I usualy put time into reasearching things in depth before making a big purchase like this. The biggest plus were comments from other customers saying the quality was great, as well as the customer service. Plus, they are only about 3 hours from me. So I decided to purchase from them, and pick up my rtt at their location. I've been very happy with our Tepui Kukenam ruggidized. There customer service is great. I've ordered lots of things from them. They are fast on getting stuff shipped out. We bought the new luxury mattress. Granted, we didnt try the one that came with it, but my wife said it was very comfortable. View attachment 40432

 

[Sparky]

I believe one of my first posts as a member here was on a thread regarding Tepui tents. My experience has largely mirrored what others have already stated, that is I'm a thoroughly satisfied customer.

Quality is very good but not top tier, however neither is the price. On a relative scale I've paid a lot more for worse quality which I think would be the take-home message from me. For the use it's seen I'm continually impressed that it hasn't developed tears or split seams. Kukenam Sky model.

My brother and I share my tent and use it multiple times a year, more frequently for overnighters and 2-3 times a year for longer duration trips. Owned it almost 4-years now. I'll be taking it down to Baja in January and Tepui was nice enough to throw me some extra mounting plates free of charge for backup. To be fair I dropped in and didn't have any small bills on me, and I'm now reminded that I need to send some coffee and bagels over to them some morning here. Point is they err'd on the side of taking care of me, which is awesome.

The tent handles weather great, never had water intrusion although I'm sure anything is possible. Went through a wicked wind storm in Utah without noticeable damage. Wind was strong, freeway speeds.

I hate to admit it but we often store it on saw horses outside, it's frequently the only practical option (you don't want to see our garage). The only part that's really showing a need for service is the cover's zipper, which in my opinion is entirely reasonable. I plan on cleaning the zipper out and applying some graphite poweder to see if I can smooth it out a bit.

We did get the anti condensation pad and it seems to work cause we haven't had any issues there either.

Customer service is demonstrable. It's kind of a long story, but in brief my brother had one of their newer tents on order and they couldn't get it delivered in time for a trip, production had been delayed. They offered a "shop" tent for the week at no cost and even installed it for us on his Jeep (they have a forklift though which is kind of cheating). It ended up being a brand new, out of the box tent, ruggedized Kukenam. Either way they took good care of us.

Lastly, our tent did slide off the roof of my truck during a botched un-install one night, fell hard onto asphalt. It scuffed the cover a bit but there was no structural damage. I'm sure others can comment on rtt vs tree branch encounters, it's had to have happened.

Here's some shots of the tent for a visual storyline, multiple vehicles but same tent. We've had a lot of good times with this tent so I felt inclined to share, hope you all don't mind.

This is its maiden voyage in 2014, Camino del Diablo in Arizona:

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Canyonlands Utah 2016:

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Death Valley 2017, a Tepui Caravan:

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The Tepui on my brothers Jeep, stuck in a creek:

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[MA_Trooper]

@Michael the poll is set to not allow people to view the results without voting but there is no option of "I don't own one and have no experience to share" so I don't want to skew the results just to see the results so I can know if I should get one or not... :)

 

[Don Meredith]

I have a Tepui Kukenam XL Ruggedized on the roof of my Jeep full time. It has handled lots of use and exposure like a champ for more than a year now. More impressive than the quality and performance is their customer service. I called them to buy a new ladder as I had broken the lowest rung off after stepping in it on uneven ground. I freely admitted that it was my fault but they insisted in sending a free replacement. They have a customer for life.

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[Michael]

@Michael the poll is set to not allow people to view the results without voting but there is no option of "I don't own one and have no experience to share" so I don't want to skew the results just to see the results so I can know if I should get one or not... :)

Good point! Editing!

 

[alaskan.lad]

Great thread, good information regarding the CS at CVT vs. Tepui.