In Praise of Rays...

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KevB

Forager
Oct 19, 2005
133
1
63
Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK
Just a quick note on the RM Aussie Hootchie in case anyone's thinking of buying one.

I've been using tarps for a few years now in various guises but have never really felt happy with any of the four that I've collected. For the last couple of years I've been using a standard Hennessy Diamond in the summer and a Hennessey Hex when it looked like heavy rain or I was needing a two man setup. However both had limitations. The standard was a bit small if you got caught out in some bad weather and the Hex was better suited to Kite-boarding if the wind got up!

Anyway I decided to get rid of the Hex and get something I was happy to use all year round. I'm a lightweight backpacker so I was aware that there are some incredibly lightweight/expensive tarps out there but I also needed to consider durability when not backpacking.

I did the usual research on this forum and elsewhere for reviews and opinions and almost plumped for a lightweight Silnylon model but decided that the 1.45m width was just a little too small. Looking at the RM Aussie Hootchie I decided that the size was about right and that the weight still wasn't too bad considering the increased durability - no surprise there then as the Hootchie has been praised by many! However like many others I initially balked at the price of £60!

More research on opinions and cheaper options showed that there are plenty of alternative 'Hootchies' out there but many differ slightly either in construction or size. How could I be sure I was getting a good quality one and not simply a cheaper less robust copy? Eventually I decided to stump up the £60 on buying Rays Hootchie. I guess the final decision was based on the premise that Ray surely wouldn't use/sell anything that didn't come up to the mark, so even if I was paying over the odds I could be assured of the quality and wouldn't be dissapointed once I'd forgotten the price!. In went the order...

Two days later it arrived and on unpacking the tarp I realised the reasoning had been sound. The quality was superb. All corners are reinforced with a heavy duty material similar to that found on waterproof boat covers (not sure what it's called). The stitching and seam proofing were also of a very high quality. And theres a Company logo stamped with a 'Made in Australia' text.

CornerInside.JPG

Corner details showing reinforcement patch on under side.

CornerOutside.JPG

Corner details - topside

TarpLabel.JPG

Label details


Last Saturday I took a long walk in heavy rain and cold winds to a wood to give it a go overnight. I'd already used it at lunch to get out of the rain and arrived just before dark. All lines were pre-rigged so once I'd found a suitable site it was quick to put up. I was in a thinnish birch wood so wind was still penetrating from the NW. I pitched one side lower to shed some of this and got into the s'bag before cooking up.
During the night it rained half a dozen times sometimes quite heavy. Initially I woke to check that all gear was well away from the tarp side as I could hear some good runoff'!. This was a habit developed from using a smallish tarp. No problem though, the size gave me enough room for comfort without the worries of anchoring a large tarp if the wind got worse.

All in all I'm very pleased with the decision and although there will always be others that will find what they consider to be better value for money, I believe that the old adage 'You get what you pay for' to be true. No I haven't seen all the other X and Y tarps and this is a personal opinion but I would happy to recommend Rays tarp to anyone that wants to be assured of a quality product.

As always - I have no self interest here - just offerring an opinion.
 

tombear

On a new journey
Jul 9, 2004
4,494
556
54
Rossendale, Lancashire
Yup, love mine to bits but have a poke around Aussie shops on the net such as,

http://www.wellingtonsurplus.com.au...OCHIE+NEW+AUSCAM+LIGHTWEIGHT+600g+-+263x186cm

I got mine issued but unused surplus from Greg Ameys "Aussie Digger" site a few years back and I think I paid about £15 with the air freight and it arrived in about 5 or 6 days.

I was once told there is a O group version that is larger which I'd love to get. I have another standard size one with a Oz NSN code in plain olive but with UK label so they must have been on issue to our lot at one point, that was a fiver and minty so bargains are there if you look.

Incidentally I love how they picked 66 for the NSN identifier for Oz when the Uk's 99!

ATB

Tom
 

Kerne

Maker
Dec 16, 2007
1,766
21
Gloucestershire
which is £24.19 in real money, plus postage but its still a hell of a lot cheaper than in the UK.

bargain! But how do you tell if it is the genuine atricle and not a copycat? What are the telltale signs?
 

Shewie

Mod
Mod
Dec 15, 2005
24,259
24
48
Yorkshire
I bought one off Rays site a few years ago but found the standard size too small for my hammock unfortunately. It was a nice bit of kit and very well made but just too small for what I wanted.
 

tombear

On a new journey
Jul 9, 2004
4,494
556
54
Rossendale, Lancashire
Copycats? good point. Has anyone seen a fake one? Mine, I'm pretty sure is kosher because of the source, it just has a small black label with the manufacturers name, date,arrow, NSN number (8465-66-135-2513) but then a label can be faked.

Apart from asking the seller (who could always lie) its probably a suck it and see job I'm afraid unless one of our Aussie members can recomend a reliable shop?

Heres another one, even cheaper £16.42

http://www.cadetshop.com.au/Cadetshop0809Catalogue.pdf

Looking at them theres no real reason for them not to be relatively cheep, especially from Oz. No doubt they are actually made in a country nearby but with good quality control. The cadet site claims all its stuff is Oz made.

ATB

Tom
 

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