Catchy title but this is definitely a case of Buyer Beware- So PLEASE PLEASE read carefully- (please notice the double capitalized pleases- they are vitally important)
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<div>This is my beloved Big Agnes Copper Spur II that I bought seven years ago for a bike trip from Whidbey Island WA down the Oregon Coast- It was then used for two backpacking seasons- It was my first big $$ purchase when I decided to upgrade my backpacking gear I inherited from Jeremiah Johnson- A few years later I switched to lightweight backpacking, tarps and cuben and mids and all that jazz, and the tent sat in the closet, only coming out once in awhile as a loaner- It is well used, indeed- Recently it went into the Wallowas as a loaner and I realized that it is time to put it to rest-</div>
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<div>So I’m offering it to anyone who is willing to pay $30 shipped within the US- It will not cost that much, but with whatever is left over ($5-10 I’ll assume) I plan on crossing the street to the nearest bar and ordering a beer/s in honor of great (but old) friend-</div>
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<div>Bad Things:</div>
<div>- Zippers Zippers Zippers (I’d give my kingdom for a functioning zipper!)- this is actually the reason why I’m getting rid of it- Both zippers will not stay together- the zipper is still on track but after it zips, the teeth separate- I don’t know if they are shot completely (I imagine so) or if they need some zip lube and TLC- Maybe Big Agnes can fix/replace them for a reasonable cost, or maybe they can’t and that’s that- You would have to write them to find out-</div>
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<div>- Bathtub floor- there is one seam on the floor and the tape is coming detached- I’m including a tyvek footprint I made (hold my beer while I perfectly cut this tyvek with this perfectly sharp razor blade while my senses are not perfectly sharp)- On our recent Wallowa trip, the tent floor did not leak during two nights of rain- I’m not saying it’s weather proof, just that on this particular trip with the tyvek footprint, the floor stayed dry-</div>
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<div>- Age: anything could crop up simply because it is 7 yrs old (which is really old in tent years)</div>
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<div>Good-ish Things:</div>
<div>- there are no holes in the netting- it has actually held up surprisingly well- and this may be the reason that it is worth the effort to try and fix the zippers or send them in to BA</div>
<div>- clips, buckles, gros grain connectors, metal eyelets- all have held up as well</div>
<div>- poles are fine (one of them broke but Big Agnes repaired it- there is a photo of the new ‘gray’ section)</div>
<div>- rain fly- six months after I bought the tent, when I had the fly hanging in the gear room upside down to drip dry, my big ass Maine Coon decided it looked like an ideal place to leap up into and take a nap- of course the material ripped out from under her- I sent it (the tent- not my Maine Coon) into Big Agnes and they did an excellent job stitching the L shaped rip and seam sealing it- There is also a patch I put on from a small puncture- The rain fly has never leaked HOWEVER, it is old (please see Age, under Bad Things)- in the photos of the rain fly the material looks weirdly discolored but it isn’t- that’s the teal porch rug beneath the fly showing through- (I really did not want to get a teal rug for the outside porch but my wife made me and now I have to say that it truly does tie the porch together but don’t tell my wife or I will swear that the confession was made under duress)-</div>
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<div>So why in the world would you spend $30 for a tent past its prime- Good question- Here are a list of my answers:</div>
<div>- you think you can fix the zippers (alone, nestled high up on exposed ridges, you refer to yourself as The Zipper Whisper)</div>
<div>- you think it’s worth having Big Agnes replace the zippers (maybe they can’t- but IF they can, the tent would still have life)</div>
<div>- you want a tent for your dog in the backyard with a rain fly and you don’t care about no stinkin’ zippers</div>
<div>- you were just wondering last week how you could get your hands on an old Copper Spur II, arguably the best ul tent out there, so you could deconstruct it and create a sewing pattern to make a perfect CCSII (the allusive Cuben Copper Spur II- a terribly daunting task never before attempted in the history of mankind but you grew up believing you were one in a ….19 billion, give or take)</div>
<div>- you find yourself in the dog house often . . . but you don’t really like dog houses</div>
<div>- you know that all cats go to heaven but you aren’t sure if tents do so you want to put him out to a tent retirement farm where tents no longer roam but they do laze about in the sun and that warms you to no end</div>
<div>- you want this run down tent because __________ (fill in the blank but not too much because it’s a very small blank)</div>
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<div>Is it worth even $30- I have no idea- But if you were able to fix the zippers I think it’d make a good summer tent on those trips where you don’t have to worry about the weather- Or a lightweight car camping tent, Or loaner tent, Or a kids tent that you don’t have to worry about whether it gets damaged and then you’d be faced with giving your kids away which is never a good thing or at least not something you’d bring up at the next neighborhood BBQ, Or as a repaired tent donated to the boy scouts- the possibilities are not endless but there certainly are some- Or not-</div>
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<div>I’ve tried to include as many photos as needed to get a sense of the tent- but please know that there are no refunds- (This tent is supposed to be orange- Well it’s not- It’s more of an off-off-orange and that just won’t do- So please refund me)</div>
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<div>If no one wants poor Mr. Copper Spur then I’ll keep it out of the landfill by stashing it back in my closet and letting my wife deal with it after I’m long gone in which case it may be little more than a swatch of degrade silnylon and she’d pull it out and see this little ratty orange thingy shelter and think “What the F?” and spend the rest of her days believing that that is what I meant when I said I try to backpack as lightweight as possible-</div>
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<div>If you’ve reach the end of this, perhaps you should cross the street for a beer-</div>
<div>If you are going to salvage the tent, please put an ‘I’ll take the damn ole thing’ and then PM me-</div>
<div>Cheers</div>
<div>W</div>
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