Brilliant Devin, Thanks for pulling this together. A fascinating insight into what I consider to be the Eastern equivalent of the Hilleberg family and their ethics. The quality level, passion and aesthetics that Jigang and his peers put into the outdoor gear market is outstanding. I really hope they get a bigger foothold in the European and US market. Yet there is something 'exclusive' now about their bespoke products which I hope they don't lose in the process of expansion . A trip to their factories combined with an outdoor adventure with them would be a dream adventure! Well done on giving them the exposure they deserve. I feel we in the UK and USA are often guilty of unconscious bias and a tendency to denigrate Chinese products. You've shown a refreshingly open approach. Great interview and fascinating. Thankyou. A
Thank you sir! I appreciate you taking the time to watch/listen. I've greatly enjoyed spending time with Jigang and Shawn through this interview and such. Back in 2020 or so I had bought the Pretent Soloist and spent a little bit of time with it, but didn't ever get it on a trip before an acquaintance asked if I'd sell it. But I've been really enjoying the TFS Gemini. Just great people creative great products.
Im from the UK and im no longer involved in the outdoor trade but for many years I was. I was lucky enough to visit tent manufacturering in China 30 years ago and they were superb then, well the ones we dealt with. This stigma of "made in China" is ridiculous. It always felt to me that they needed a helping hand in design way back then but not now, these are talented people who have progressed to a level that equals and often surpasses a lot of our western brands. I'm off to look at the Mountain and Sea website, i hope the tents are available for the UK as well. Great video, i love seeing inside the trade vids.
I wish I had kept the Soloist tent I bought in 2020 I think from Pretents. It was a rad tent. Just cool to see a brand pushing the limits and just being different.
Super interesting interview, learning about Jigang's acknowledgement of the negative connotation of "made in China" and how he has focused on quality in all aspects to overcome that perception.
That's fantastic how you put this together with the translating and editing. I love searching out different tent designs. I hope one day I will design my own tarp or tent.
Thank you. It was a lot of work, but I’m happy with how it came together. I feel like with your experience you’d be able to design something super functional for your needs. Go for it!
Yeah that's interesting that it's not showing the weight on the Pretents site for the Border tent. I know that tent is fairly new, but that info ought to be posted. Odd. But with a little bit of digging, I found Andrew Park Outdoors got that tent and showed a weight of 1.45kg/52oz. But I know the border tent is designed for "4-season" conditions as an extreme conditions tent. So naturally it's going to be heavier in weight. I've been using the TFS Gemini on a couple of my recent trips and have quite enjoyed it. It's not going to be sub 2 pounds, but they are excellent tents.
Brilliant Devin, Thanks for pulling this together. A fascinating insight into what I consider to be the Eastern equivalent of the Hilleberg family and their ethics. The quality level, passion and aesthetics that Jigang and his peers put into the outdoor gear market is outstanding. I really hope they get a bigger foothold in the European and US market. Yet there is something 'exclusive' now about their bespoke products which I hope they don't lose in the process of expansion . A trip to their factories combined with an outdoor adventure with them would be a dream adventure! Well done on giving them the exposure they deserve. I feel we in the UK and USA are often guilty of unconscious bias and a tendency to denigrate Chinese products. You've shown a refreshingly open approach. Great interview and fascinating. Thankyou. A
Thank you sir! I appreciate you taking the time to watch/listen. I've greatly enjoyed spending time with Jigang and Shawn through this interview and such. Back in 2020 or so I had bought the Pretent Soloist and spent a little bit of time with it, but didn't ever get it on a trip before an acquaintance asked if I'd sell it. But I've been really enjoying the TFS Gemini. Just great people creative great products.
Im from the UK and im no longer involved in the outdoor trade but for many years I was.
I was lucky enough to visit tent manufacturering in China 30 years ago and they were superb then, well the ones we dealt with. This stigma of "made in China" is ridiculous. It always felt to me that they needed a helping hand in design way back then but not now, these are talented people who have progressed to a level that equals and often surpasses a lot of our western brands.
I'm off to look at the Mountain and Sea website, i hope the tents are available for the UK as well.
Great video, i love seeing inside the trade vids.
Thank you! I love seeing people be creative and share that with others to enjoy.
I know TFS/Pretents ships all over the world.
Always fun to find people around the world innovating and being excited about being outdoors.
@@davidcooper8390 😁
Great interview, and exposure for a company outside the few that are well known in the North American camping/backpacking community. Many thanks!
I wish I had kept the Soloist tent I bought in 2020 I think from Pretents. It was a rad tent. Just cool to see a brand pushing the limits and just being different.
Super interesting interview, learning about Jigang's acknowledgement of the negative connotation of "made in China" and how he has focused on quality in all aspects to overcome that perception.
Thanks dude! Yeah, that part of the conversation was really cool.
That's fantastic how you put this together with the translating and editing.
I love searching out different tent designs. I hope one day I will design my own tarp or tent.
Thank you. It was a lot of work, but I’m happy with how it came together.
I feel like with your experience you’d be able to design something super functional for your needs. Go for it!
Cool conversation and neat to see some of the factory. You don’t get to see that too often. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah the factory TFS has looks great. That was fun footage to go through after it was shared with me. Thanks!
What is the tent in the thumbnail?
Ah, that is the prototype that was briefly mentioned toward the end of the interview. Not yet available from my understanding.
Cool tent designs but they have no weight listed so I can't consider them for backpacking
@@ISuckatHiking hmmm I see weights listed on all of the websites.
@BackcountryExposure ok let me look again
@BackcountryExposure okay, just the pretents site the other 2 have them
@BackcountryExposure specifically the border tenr
Yeah that's interesting that it's not showing the weight on the Pretents site for the Border tent. I know that tent is fairly new, but that info ought to be posted. Odd.
But with a little bit of digging, I found Andrew Park Outdoors got that tent and showed a weight of 1.45kg/52oz.
But I know the border tent is designed for "4-season" conditions as an extreme conditions tent. So naturally it's going to be heavier in weight.
I've been using the TFS Gemini on a couple of my recent trips and have quite enjoyed it. It's not going to be sub 2 pounds, but they are excellent tents.