Good brand of tent

I disagree haryey18 - I regretted my purchase of a Southern Cross 10x10. I travelled Australia in it for 10 months and here are the problems experienced:

- Being canvas - it leaked for the first 6 weeks of use -despite pre-wetting for 4 weeks prior (when you buy a rain jacket - do you expect it to leak for the first 6 weeks of use - I think not!) A hard thing to explain to the Mrs when you've just spend $1000 and your tent leaks - and your neighbours $80 k-mart special is keeping them dry as a bone.
- The centre pole failed - screw thread stripped
- Five of the twelve corner stainless steel eyelet rings broke their welds and opened up
- Singapore ants ate holes all through the tent at Fitzroy Crossing (while I was sleeping in it!)- turning my $1000 investment into an expensive fly net! - upon calling Southern Cross regarding this problem they told me to call the government and complain about the ants and suggested applying silicone to the holes (going against previous advice they had given me)
- Southern Cross supplied the wrong sized awning for my model of tent - i complained - they said they would replace it - but when I turned up to have it replaced I was told that because it had been used (der - how else am I going to find out it doesn't fit!!) - the best they could do would be to modify the fly I had to fit - which they did - and the result was an ugly looking modified fly - not what I had paid for! I told them this - and their response - sorry mate thats the best we can do!
- The front awning also purchased with the tent (costing an additional $400) had both front eyelets (where the poles are inserted) ripped out. The canvas repairer that fixed the problem in Carnarvon couldn't believe the lack of re-enforcing in this area (considering the price!).
- The tent design is tried and trusted and works well, however, as described earlier - it is really bulky and I would not recommend it for extended trips such as ours. Next time we will be using either a roof top tent - or a custom built (by me!) tray top sleeper. The main reason is that - the last thing you want to do in the tropics is deal with banging pegs in and erecting a heavy thick canvas tent.

I was once a true Southern Cross believer, however after these dealings with them, their poor customer service and lack of quality control amazes me. Sure - they use great quality canvas, however, if their end product is no good - what is the point? I even have a map bag purchased from them a few years ago - the stitching missed the transparent window in one corner - everything now falls out - great quality!

I am sure that there are a few Southern Cross products out there that are working well for others. However, the statement "CANT BEAT A SOUTHERN CROSS AWSOME PRODUCT" is simply inaccurate and misleading.

- Dave