zPacks Plexsolo Tent Unboxing

I finally received my new tent in the mail today.  It is the last piece of gear I am replacing.  So excited!  As I talked about in my last post, this tent was purchased from zPacks' bargain shelf.  So, the $60 question was "Why was it there?"  Was it a return?  What there come cosmetic material defect?  Were there issues found during quality control?  Unfortunately, I do not know.  zPacks never told me.  I went over it with a fine tooth comb and I didn't find any defects or repairs, so I am assuming it is a return.

It was the zipper slider that failed for me on the PCT.  That was not a problem exclusive to me.  My friends Nap and Bubbles also had a critical zipper failure from a different manufacturer.  The dust and grime does a number on zippers.  zPacks realized that and came up with a simple solution to the problem.  It was the reason I ultimately chose their tent.  Here is the end close up.

As you can see, the teeth go all the way down.  There is no bottom stop or a retainer box.  It ends in piece of tape.  If the slider fails, you remove the tape, replace the broken slider, and tape the end again.  The the materials are included with the tent.

The old way required the use of scissors and thread and a needle.  It was a one hour job, but it could be done in the field.  With this improvement, I can do the repair in less than five minutes.  That will be important on the AT because there will be bugs.  Stinging and biting bugs.

It there is a negative to this tent, it is the material.  It is pretty see through.  I'm going to turn 55 years-old on trail.  You want to watch?  More power to you.