Burke & Wills Redgum

A cracking night’s sleep! – I bought this swag to make my few camping trips simple. At the age of 52 with a few leg flexible issues, something I didn’t take into consideration, but now having spent many nights in it, I slept well like a baby! First night was always going to have to get used to it, and didn’t sleep that well, just a touch of (MRI) anxiety, but from then on ,… Read more

magnificent! And I’m 192cm tall side sleeper, so plenty of room to move around in. Not only does it block out any light including a full moon, but also drowns out excessive noises, much better than a tent for a restful sleep. The last night’s sleep after a week I decided for fun factor to just use the fly net only, and again I had a solid nights sleep. Despite other’s opinions and reviews, perhaps they should have booked a hotel. This is a cracker of a swag and yes can be a little difficult in rainy weather, but doesn’t all swags come with the same problem? Plan ahead and use a small tarp or umbrella if you’re smart thinking. Great swag and glad I bought it and want to spend more adventures with it. Now I just have to try out the simple iron bark fly swag from Burke and Wills which I bought not too long ago, and is much simpler, lighter, smaller and perfect for my motor bike bush/ outback adventures.

Nothing but the best – I bought my Burke and Wills Redgum 21 years ago and is still the best night sleep in the bush. I’m little bit older and things don’t work like they used to, so I now put it on a stretcher to make it easier getting up in the morning. The swag has faired better than me and is still in great condition with the exception of a small tear in the midgy… Read more

netting where it’s pulled away from the zip. Cold nights are no problem, it’s warm as inside when zipped up. I’ve woken to ice on the outside but was warm as toast inside There are a few bad reviews here that I would say are user error and bagging a product because of this is just point scoring. These are fantastic swags.

These swags are terrible and a waste of money – I bought 2 of these swags both costing around $500 each. For that money i expected top quality. They have both been used quite a bit by my kids camping with me. Both swags sag in the middle no matter how tight the cords are pulled. I have had to add centre hoops, both have had the poles break, one has a plastic floor the other has a canvis… Read more

floor. So if it rains or the ground is wet everything gets wet. The fly scrèen on one has become so loose that if you open the canvas flap totaly, it spreads on the screen and the flap wont go back without alot of effort to get it back. I bought a Kings Big Daddy Swag recently. It is great value for $135 much better than the above products.

Burke and Wills Grampian swag – Swag arrived 3 days before my 25 night trip to the Pilbara and other parts of WA. Didn't have time to season. 1st night in Geraldton, didn't know it was going to rain. 3 hours + of rain and cool night at 6 degrees. Surprised to find no leaks and stayed yummy warm. After that the further north we went the warmer it got. Slept soundly with… Read more

canvas doors open, great airflow. Got to Mount Augustus campground 1st night rained absolutely hammered down for 5 hours, again no water ingress. After that lovely warm nights slept comfortably again. I'm 6foot 3ins and in my 60s and had plenty of room, and found the mattress to be the most comfortable l have slept in, swag was on the ground the whole time. The canvas feels bomb proof, zips seem tough. Really happy so far, but to early to tell how it will last.

Love my 2000 Redgum double swag 20 years old and still going strong – Love my 2000 Redgum double swag 20 years old and still going strong. only had to replace the elastic in the poles in 2017. The Swag is fantastic in the cold wintery nights of the Victorian high country right through the high country of Queensland in the high temperatures of 42c in summer. Must have been lucky purchasing when still manufactured in Australia and followed instructions prior to use. Show details

Poor quality product and appalling customer service – We bought a double and a single swag thinking we were buying swags that would last for years. The double swag buckle broke after only our third trip and has always leaked. Getting the buckle replaced was a debacle and after making it very clear that we needed the swag back on a certain date they failed even though they had promised. We had to… Read more

borrow swags for our camping trip. B&W thought they had already repaired and returned the swag to us but they hadn't, it was sitting in a different part of the warehouse, we waited another two weeks. Recently, after the main pole on our single swag snapped in the night they refused to replace it because we didn't buy directly from B&W's. This swag had been used less than 6 trips. I am so thoroughly disappointed in both the quality of product and the ability of the company to stand behind their product. I tell everyone I know that's interested in good quality camping equipment to stay away from all B&W's products. They are overpriced and poor quality.

Not built like the old ones – I had my first Burke and Wills swag for 10 years which traveled Australia with me for 4 years without issue. Sadly it got warn and started to leak and moldy so it needed to be replaced. The first time I used my new Burke and Wills Redgum one of the zipper pulls came off. The 2nd night another zipper pull came off and the middle support pole… Read more

snapped. To say I am disappoint is an understatement.

PLEASE NOTE: I am talking about the new 3 pole version which is now made in China and not in Australia like the previous version. I believe they changed around early 2017 from Australia to China.

UPDATE 1: After receiving replacement poles I went back outside to where the swag was still setup for the last 2 weeks and as I was about to replace the broken pole I noticed the head pole had also now snapped. I found Burke & Wills support good with them sending me a set of new poles and ring pulls.

UPDATE 2: Left swag setup in back yard the last few weeks to test with the new before heading off. When I was packing it up yesterday I noticed the middle pole had started to snap like the previous poles. After talking to Wild Earth they are picking up the swag and have given me a refund. With the poles snapping without me even sleeping in it I have no trust in the product.

Best swag I have ever owned – Owned 4 swags over the last 20 years and this without doubt the best of them. Owned the king size red gum since 2009 and still going strong. Heavy duty canvas. Good ventilation and none of the leaking problems people speak of on this site. It was given several good soakings and drying before use to shrink the canvas and the stictching holes.… Read more

Customer service has been good. On one occasion near Oodnadatta I fell on top of my sawg in the dark and broke a pole. Rang Burke and wills from Coober PEDY AND MADE SURE THERE WERE SOME POLES FOR ME IN Darwin later that week. Second occasion I pit a hole in the canvas base through poor packing in the back of my car. Took the swag to Burke and Wills in Dandenong and they patched it free of charge for something that was my fault. Service could not be better.

Terrible customer service – Thought I'd splash out and get a top quality swag 'Burke & Wills'. Well..... after almost 4 months of issues from being sent the wrong swag, sent the wrong poles & forgetting to send the poles. 15 phone calls with no apologies later I eventually demanded my money back which they gladly gave me without apology (ironically) or question. So this… Read more

isn't a review on their swags as I never got the chance to use it, this is only a customer service review.

I strongly suggest that you (Burke & Wills) invest in better training for your employees, or is this a problem that starts at the top I wonder?

And may I add.... every time I'm sat around a campfire with family & friends or speaking to strangers at camp and the topic of swags comes up, this/my story will be told.

I won't ever be purchasing any of your equipment in the future.

Great swag and value – I purchased a Redgum single and spoke to the person at outfitters about how to set it up. Perfect! It is heavy duty and now my mates want one !!! Damien

Best camping kit I've bought in 50 years – If the knockers of this fantastic swag had bothered to read the instructions, they wouldn't be having water ingress issues. The swag simply needs to be setup prior to use, say in the backyard, and DRENCHED with water. Allowed to dry thoroughly, then rolled up ready for use. Mines been out in horrendous weather and never leaked a drop!

Bomb proof – I have had my swag for a little over two years. Very surprised to see the negative reviews here. I hunt deer almost every weekend in Victorian high country, so I require something that can stand up to the harshest conditions. My Burke and Wills has never let me down. It has been frozen stiff and sat in an inch of water, which was a total surprise… Read more

when I woke - as I sleep so soundly in it. I admittedly do not use the supplied mattress, as the thermarest I owned fits like a glove inside. Stunned to hear that others leak as in my experiences this is certainly not the case.

Poor Service From Burke And Wills – After purchasing a second hand King single Redgum with Poles that had seen better days I decided to give it a big tidy up so called into my local stockist to be told they cannot seem to get B&W to send them any parts but they did not know why and suggested I called the guys at Burke and Wills myself. They were very helpful and took my payment in… Read more

return for sending me 2 new poles, 1 bottle of canvas reproofer and they would throw in a couple of ring & pins which I also needed to fit the poles to the swag. About 10 days later, I rang to find out why they had not arrived and they could not answer my question but took all of my details and promised to chase it up. A week later I had a card in my box stating a courier company had tried to deliver but I was not home and that I must nominate a week day for drip off and be home to sign for it sometime between 8am and 5pm. Very helpful!!

Anyway I finally get the parcel and the ring pins were not in it and the poles were for a double and did not fit!

Annoyed I rang again and got a bloke called [name removed] who seemed to be in a management role so I had a little more confidence after he told me he was onto it and I would have the correct items asap. A week and a half later still nothing! I now had [name removed] mobile so rang him and he blames the warehouse staff and says he'll sort it again. Another package arrives a week later, after I have already cancelled 2 trips I was planning to try out my new swag. Low and behold the poles are for another swag again and do not fit. What a joke!

I ring shady [name removed] again and he tells me to just modify the poles to suit as they are waiting on new ones from China then he tries to talk me through the process of cutting and bodging them up to fit until he can get me the correct poles...real professionals these Burke and Wills people are!

2 weeks later I follow up and ask where are my new poles and am told they are on their way. 5 weeks on I have just rung Shady [name removed] and told him I am appalled and I would like a refund. He promise to get the admin staff to call me back and take my card details for the refund in 10 minutes and guess what, I am still waiting!!!

red gum double bourke n wills swag { sponge } – definitely not what the manufacturer claims, definitely not waterproof ! look elsewhere for a different brand is my advice, a basically new swag that leaks that bad the matress was soaked upon arrival at destination..... any 1 want to buy a bourke n wills red gum double swag, going really cheap !

You have to soak the swag first – Burke and wills swags have to be soaked prior to use. You hose them down and this results in waterproofing the swag. The stitching on the swag expands and creates a totally waterproof swag. lol

Redgum swag is a sponge – In light rain it leaked and soaked the bedding and all my clothes.The tabs at the corners of the base act as wicks as told to me by an upholsterer.The base is just a sponge also.There is obviously a fault or you wouldn't be bringing out the vinyl base ,correct. The straps to wrap the swag up have shredded and i am unable to wrap it up for storage… Read more

now.So NO after 18 mnths it is not a product i would recommend to others.I had to spend the nights in the back of my 4x4 under the tonneau cover on my holidays. Nothing leaks like a sieve.

Leaks around the zips as they practically sit on the ground – We purchased two of these swags from Outdoors Online. We experienced heavy tropical rain in Cairns on two nights in a row and on both nights the swags leaked around the zips, as they sit so low to the ground, they also leaked at the head flap. I contacted the place of purchase who told me to contact Bourke n Wills. They decided there was not a… Read more

fault. No there is not a manufacturing fault, there is a design fault. Basically neither outdoors online or Bourke n Wills either believe it happened or think it is a problem, I am not sure which. Over the telephone the man from outdoors online appeared to accuse me of no longer needing the swags after my trip and simply manufacturing an excuse to return them.

Two children go soaked in these swags, don't buy if you are planning to use them where heavy rain is possible, as according to an email from outdoors online they are not designed for this.

I did have a response from outdoors online printed here but he said he could take legal action againt me if it remained here. I initially said he threatened to take legal action but apparently telling me he could take legal action is not a threat according to him.

This is a truthful and honest account of what happened.

As stated, do not perform as they should