HoneyBadger backpack is a breakout proto-design from the resident genius Martin Zemitis, the Owner of Slingfin. We swapped our BFD dome back to San Francisco so Martin could assist an expedition to Everest earlier this year. Martin found us some HoneyBadger packs and a OneUp dome tent. We are stoked on both.
OneUp Dome Tent
Slingfin’s OneUp dome tent takes their award-winning WebTruss technology to the ultimate dome solution – the OneUp is a spacious 4person dome that is so tight & so secure that monsoons and Selkirk snowloads won’t touch it. We’re kind of missing our BFD, which sleeps 20+ and makes a great place to drink beer and eat chili – but the OneUp’s balance and features are so perfect, it should be in a museum. The OneUp weighs all in 12 pounds, the BFD weighs 74 pounds. Check it out in the annex next to our New Denver shop. Perfect for families and groups who love to ‘glamp’ and want the best, and professional guides looking for a remote, capable shelter regardless of conditions.
HoneyBadger Backpack
Slingfin’s HoneyBadger backpack is something you’ve never seen before – yesterday I took it up to Gimli in the Valhalla Range. This patented, category-busting pack is half rugged, capable backpack in the Bush, and half urban commuter or cycle carrier. The unique HDPE shell is rain-proof and protectively rugged for what’s inside – laptops and devices rest easy. It’s clean exterior surface can’t snag on branches or crags when bushwhacking, a key attribute in BC. And I’m thinking I’ll use it this winter on a November kiteboarding trip to stow my gear on the beach while I’m out on the water – dumping the sand and water out at the end of the day should be easy, and my snacks and change of clothes can get stuffed in the waterproof inner bag. HoneyBadgers are still pretty rare – our New Denver store has a few. They’re offering them at 20% off since they arrived late, and we have more coming this Christmas.
Both of these products are purely design driven, representing the forward-thinking, evolving bleeding edge. If you’re a hopeless gearhead like a lot of us that live in the Valhalla Kingdom, you’ll appreciate the thoughtfulness going into Slingfin products. Martin and his Slingfin Team are definitely “best of the best”! Thanks Martin.
2 Comments
Ok while I appreciate most of the email ads I receive from Valhalla Pure… this is a bit ridiculous. Just a bit.
Both the tent and the pack are not at all about what I am in to. They are insanely over-priced, overly heavy, and just plain impractical.
Sorry, not interested.
Perhaps some urban idiots from high income earning places like West Vancouver might buy this stuff, but not lightweight backpackers who like to explore areas that are outside the city limits. Far, far outside the city limits.
Thanks for the feedback. You and I are in agreement, but we’ve had a surprising number of clients interested.
For a tour-guide operation, either in mountains or running river rafts, running groups of up to a dozen usually, who need a seasonally-permanent shelter for bad weather, first aid, or other emergency mitigation, the OneUp is a cheap, portable solution. The BFD dome, the 74 pound big brother, is the shelter of choice at Base Camp on Everest. Sleeps 20, and the special coatings help them last many years at high elevations. Guaranteed there will be at least 6 at Base Camp when the peak climbing season is on. And that’s just one mountain.
Yes, the HoneyBadger is too expensive, but they sold out their production run that they launched thru Kickstarter. Prototypes are always expensive as the tooling is not yet efficient, and they made them in America. We too expect further iterations will include simpler, less complex designs at better prices.
Everything we sell starts out as an idea, then a few prototypes, then if they pass that smell test, they go to production, usually after a redesign process. That’s true for Down parkas, primaloft anything, rotomolded boats, drop-stitch paddle boards, iceaxes (now weighing about 25% of the ones available in the 70s).
So it’s part of the “evolution” of all new stuff. Early adopters fund future cheaper versions, and our clients include a lot of early adopters, we call them gearheads. Like Tesla cars. Just thinking back, I bought my first fax machine for $4,400 which seems ridiculous now, but prior to faxes, we had to lease telex machines which were even more, amd couldn’t transport images, only text.
Valhalla Pure Outfitters is proud to be part of the “invention and evolution” process by supporting new ideas from out-there designers like Martin that may become important in the future. Or not. But totally get your point that some of these products do not have wide, commercial appeal today.
All the best,
David