The ALPS tents are often heavily discounted at the REI outlet too.

I'm really amazed by the reasonable deals that some of these companies offer on products that are very similar to much higher priced products.

Many of these tents sell for prices that wouldn't even cover the materials cost if you tried to make it yourself....as I do from time to time.

I've bought a couple of Wenzel tents just out of curiousity. Amazing prices for the labor and materials that are included. Some of the Wenzel tents are in the $25 to $75 range.

Seems to me that some of these companies, with the right leadership and design, could put out a $100 tent that would blow the competition away.