Darche Dusk To Dawn
Verified33 reviews
Very excellent customer service And warranty team I had an issue with my nebula 1550 It was very promptly resolved, very efficient turnaround time and friendly professional staff. Show details
Poor Quality – I own Darche Eclipse 270 awning with walls and Dusk till dawn swag. Both are terrible quality. I'm a part time prospector hard on my gear, this stuff is WEAK. Zips get crushed ,poles break. STAY AWAY! Show details
not very well thought out – the swag is great once set up, i love the telescopic pole for ease of use. but the bag the swag is meant to be packed away in is useless, it doesn't fit unless you spend 45 minutes rolling it up perfectly. and the swag itself doesn't roll up with bedding inside it unless you attach some sort of extension to the straps. terrible for me who uses it… Read more
for work and arrives somewhere in the dark and has to pack light. also i lost the entire set of poles off the back of the truck, and it's $180 for replacements including postage of $35 lol. anyway, some simple things they could fix to make it easier and more practical to use.
Poles make this swag a very poor purchase – The swag itself is a good swag but the poles are made to such an awful cheap quality that brings this swag down. Broke 2 different poles during normal careful use in the first 3 times this swag was erected. Contacted Darche Head office for some help/advice and the female customer service operator was very unsympathetic, unapologetic and unhelpful.… Read more
Left with a very bad taste in my mouth when I was normal happy to purchase more expensive camping items in order to receive quality. Purchase this at your own peril.
reasonable swag ,poles are faulty rubbish – My Daughter and I received a dusk to dawn Swag each for Christmas 2020 , After using swags for many years I was excited to try something a bit more modern and roomy .The canvas is reasonable and the concept of the swag is good but it is let down by the rubbish quality of the end poles . My daughters poles both broke during the first trip and mine… Read more
soon broke not long after. I contacted Darche and asked if they had had any issues with the poles which they said they had and sent me replacements which took ages to come in because they had no stock . We tried to be as gentle as possible so that we did not break them again but of course that makes no difference when as you set up the swag and wake up in the morning to find that the poles have snapped during the night. I thought Darche was a reputable Australian brand but those poles may as well be made out of cheese . I wouldn't recommend or buy any Darche product after seeing the "quality" components that they used on these swags and I always try to support Australian companies . I would even feel bad selling these lemons to someone else. Will be contacting Darche tomorrow to see if they have fixed this obvious problem or have come up with a solution . They should have been recalled as faulty . Never had this problem with our Burke and wills Swags, any swag pole should last the life of the swag unless it is mistreated. Obviously no quality testing went into this product and I am surprised that Darche would put their name to them.
Poles are pathetic cheap rubbish – There are a lot of complaints about the poles on these swags, I'm the same, the poles are a joke, cheap, under strength rubbish. Why don't Darche re design them so they don't break within the first week? Show details
Swag poles a real problem – I have invested in a Darche AWOL and 3 x Darche 900 Dusk to Dawn swags. None are used regularly but all of the swag poles break almost every time I use a swag. I have had poles replaced in and out of warranty and I’m currently in Brooms Head with 2 kids swags busted again….. one of them a new fit for purpose replacement from Darche. Others in the… Read more
camp ground know about the poles….. bad word of mouth. It would be great if Darche had a quality poles solution to match the rest of the swag but until they do I recommend avoiding
New poles – There is probably no better swag in Australia than Darche, but the poles have been rubbish. The way Darche tells the story, unbeknown to them, the manufacture of the poles was outsourced in China. The result was that they broke, a lot. But Darche has now responded, with new composite poles, and they look great. Virtually unbreakable. Show details
Disappointed – Did not even get a chance to use it, set it up and left it overnight and both poles snapped. Poles are absolute crap, Darche have given me warranty but they have no poles in stock so now I have to source some other type of pole (otherwise I have a canvas bag) Should have read these reviews before purchasing as I would not go Darche again, I use a swag on a motorcycle and I need something reliable not a piece of junk. Show details
Just to update, I have had the same response from camping suppliers as other reviewers that there… Read more
Very disappointed – The aluminium end poles are a disgrace. Both have broken while swag set up without any force or pressure placed on them. One pole completely snapped after being set up for 48hrs.
Poor quality poles – Quality of canvas is good but the poles are a joke. I’ve gone through 5 poles in approx 4 weeks use. No explanation why, they just snap sometimes when not even in use. Seems to be combination of too much tension and poor quality steel. Expensive to replace even if you can find some.
Poles snapped- Fresh out the box -1400 Ltd edition – Poles broke on 1st pack down. Huge quality and design issue. No replacements are available. The actual swag is good, but it’s more of a sleeping bag without working poles. Not happy. Show details
snapped end poles – Like alot of the reviews, I have brought a Darche Dusk to Dawn 1100, thinking it was going to be better than the cheaper ones, my mistake. Just finished seasoning the canvas & letting it dry out & what do you know, 2 end poles snapped. Only had it out of the box for 3 days, great work Darche, maybe you should lower your price on the swags or use beter quality poles. Now have to put in the warranty claim. Show details
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Pathetic end poles – I bought the Darche 900 Dusk to Dawn swag thinking i was buying a quality product, i have used the swag a handle of times and been thru 2 sets of end poles due to them just snapping, love the swag just hate the inferior poles that they supply after all a swag with no end poles is useless. i have lost confidence in this swag and just expect a pole… Read more
to snap everytime it is set up, finding stock of replacement poles is like winning the lotto a one in a million chance, come on Darche lift your game i am just about ready to give up on this swag. Adventure kings here i come. So Darche saw this post and offered me replacememt poles, sure ill have them and hope that they have in some way been improved, hahaha first time seting up with the replacement poles after 1 day in moderate wind they snapped at the join again, these poles are useless, i would 100 percent not recommend Darche swags.
Does all as expected – Have used this a dozen times now on various trips. Easy to set up. Been in torrential rain no leaks warm and cosy. First swag I’ve had that actually fits back in bag. Favourite set up is on the stretcher. Cept water will pool under you in rain which you don’t know until pack up. Bit baulky compared to tents but that’s all swags. Very happy with it. My wife got the air version which she uses as a roof top tent type on top of Jeep. Show details
Best swags ever got x3 6 or 7 years old now no issues kids have never got wet so perfect – I brought 3 Dusk to dawn swags for the kids more than 6 years ago we have used them hundreds of times without any problems! We have been through some of the worst storms that lasted days where the wanderer marquee broke feim catching water lol and my mates in kings swags got soaked and as the end protector don’t go low enough my 3 kids had no… Read more
issues not one drop of water I recommend you learn to set up a swag before defacing a fantastic brand an product regards Justin armstrong
Pole Snapped – I wish I had seen these reviews about poles snapping before buying the swag. Like many people, used just a couple of times before the poles snapped. I rang and they said they would replace but I have lost confidence in the swag. Swags are for bush camping and they are rendered pretty useless when the poles break. I have been told that they will… Read more
replace them but have lost confidence in the swag. I have also tried t o buy replacement poles because I want to always have spares with me but they are not readily available. Very disappointing that this is a known fault and they continue to supply the same faulty poles with the product.
Awful – I bought a Darche as they have a reputation for quality gear. The first time I used it there was very light but consistent rain and I woke up with 2-3 mm of water in the bottom, despite having followed the recommendations for seasoning the canvas. It's worth mentioning that the people I was camping with stayed completely dry in their much cheaper… Read more
swags. I decided to give it another chance and when setting it up for just the second time, one of the end poles snapped as I was inserting it into the base. The broken end of the pole (that was under tension) sprung out and struck me in the head, leaving a 10cm cut across my head. The final straw was being told the warranty would not cover this, poles are on back order for months, and even if I manage to get some it sounds like they'll last about as long as that kid in American Pie. If you're reading these reviews before purchasing, run away now.
Nice swag - Crap poles – Got the Darche Dusk to Dawn 900. Thought it was a good swag based on the YouTube reviews and build quality. I set it up inside the house to air out before wetting it down in the bath and in the morning one set of poles had snapped in the center. No pets, kids, or stress to the swag, just broke. This was a dry, brand new swag! Contacted Darche and… Read more
they offered me to go to their website and submit a warranty claim that excludes pole snapping... NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT AT ALL. Should have got a Crashpad or 23zero instead
Poor quality stitching and poles – Yet to actually use this swag. I bought 2 Dusk to Dawn 900 swags and both have loose unfinished stitching in many places. I set them up in the back yard to season them and left them to dry. Then I went inside for the night. The following day I woke up to find 3 sets of poles had broken through the night. So I’ve owned these for 3 days, am yet to… Read more
sleep in them and can’t use them because 3 out of the 4 poles broke, not setting up, but just sitting there through the night.
I paid extra for Darche thinking I’d be paying for better quality but unfortunately this just isn’t the case.
I should have bought the popular cheaper brand of swag that all my friend have, and haven’t had any poles break.
Unusable – Purchased the dusk to dawn in June 2020 for a month long trip. Second day of use one end pole snapped in two places followed by the other end pole which shattered the very next day. We made a trip to the nearest town to get replacements poles only to find they were out of stock all over Australia and still are 8 months later. This particular swag… Read more
has hundreds of complaints all with the same issues and should be recalled as without the poles the swag is unusable.
Bad poles – We bought four from Snowys last year. Great product but poles are weak and break very easily. when we complain to Snowys they refer us to Darche. Darche will not replace poles on Warranty and no poles available. Show details
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Poor quality – We wanted to shop local and avoid cheap makes but we're super disappointed with the quality and way over-priced for what you get. The 1100 swag couldn't handle a wet season in west QLD, leaked like a sieve after seasoning twice before use to avoid this! End pole broke on the third use and there's no replacement stock available in QLD any time… Read more
soon. Haven't heard from the Darche warranty team but from what I'm reading they don't cover poles in the warranty anyway... would definitely avoid buying Darche and stick to a better make!
Unnacceptable quality – I am on the 3rd set of poles in 12 months for my sons Darche Dusk to Dawn swag. I would not recommend Darche to anyone. We paid good money for what I believed was quality equipment as we spend a lot of time camping. You cannot rely on the swag and are forced to carry spares at all times. To make it worse, throughout 2020 year the replacement… Read more
poles have been continually out of stock in south east Qld camping stores and major online camping stores. (I assume this is due to the high level of breakage) I am now searching for a new swag as I can't continually spend $40+ every few months to keep the swag functioning.
Poles snapped – Benn happy with it in every way until, like most complaints, both poles snapped within 36 hours! Tried at six stores in rural NSW, unable to get a Darche replacement, or anything suitable. Will go to Aussie Disposal on return to Sydney. The flexible poles are a bad idea, the old straight poles with angles ferrules never brake. My Dune from Anaconda has lasted many years, I just outgrew it. Foolishly, I ignored these reviews about the poles. Show details
Both swag poles snapped, Darche doesn’t care – The swag itself is not too bad but the poles are way too weak. One snapped in the middle of the night on the 2nd time of setting it up, darche said they were gonna send one to me but even after one week of it being "dispatched" the tracking number is still unconfirmed let alone anything arrived. Last night the other pole snapped and Im up in… Read more
Broome where - surprise - noone stocks darche gear. I called darche and they don’t really care that I have no swag to sleep in tonight because I have both swag poles snapped
Overpriced – I bought a dusk to dawn because I thought it was a top quality unit worth the extra dollars with a 2 year warranty. However after a few uses the poles at the ends broke, on returning to place of purchase I was informed that poles are not covered in the warranty, this was not explained at the time of purchase and anyway what use is a warranty with… Read more
exclusions on vital components. I would advise buyers to go for a cheaper option and then if there are problems you still have a few dollars to replace bits. Apart from the appalling pole problems the swag performs pretty well in all weather conditions, set up is reasonably easy and is quite comfortable. pack up is also straight forward. Just a shame it is spoiled by faulty poles
Great swag and great customer service – This has been a favourite purchase for our camping kit, I purchased this for a quick easy set up when it was just me or I took two of the kids with me for a short trip and we all love it. I've compared this with a friend's copy from King's and these are far superior. After the first use I noticed a small fault inn the stitching, I emailed Darche and had a replacement out within a week. We love using this and always have a great sleep. Show details
Darche do it a second time – I have used Darche swags for over 15 years. I bought the dusk to dawn 1400 about 4 years ago as i had out grown my previous Darche and needed space to fit my partner. It is great!! 2 people fit easily and when sleeping on your own its great to stretch out(I'm 194cm tall)! Erecting the swag is quick and easy. Doesn't need to be pegged down if its… Read more
only a brief stop over but recommend pegging and all guy ropes put out if in bad weather. Taking it down takes a little bit longer but equally as easy. Rolls up neat and stores away in the travel bag with 2 pillows, sleeping bag and blanket perfectly. (No more mud wasp nests in the ends of the swag!) I have used this swag over 100 times easily. It was even used as a bed for a few weeks when moving between houses(long story). It has been all over and in all weather types. Having seasoned the canvas properly it has never leaked during light or heavy rain. I've done trips where i have stayed in it for many nights in a row and slept well every night. it has been equally comfy on the days after a big night when lying down is all i could do lol. Great air flow when opened up fully which is nice on those warmer days with cool breezes. My brother bought the same swag at the same time and we both couldnt be happier with our purchases and i plan to add a Darche awning to the ute soon. Cheers Darche
Appalling Customer Service - Warranty Worth Nothing – Be careful purchasing one of these. One of the aluminium poles snapped on the first night - clearly faulty. However Darche refused to honour warranty or accept responsibility - poles are considered a "wear and tear" item even if brand new! Full credit to Snowy's for providing replacement. I have since reported this matter to the Office of Business… Read more
and Consumer Affairs SA as Darche is required to replace products under consumer guarantee where they fail to be "safe, lasting, with no faults" and "do all the things someone would normally expect them to do". 5 stars for Snowy's, 0 stars for Darche. Unfortunately, I have to give 1 star as I have no choice.
Sandfly Palace – Although it was well built with nice canvas, zips, bucket floor and poles the mesh was not superfine and I was eaten alive by sand flies. I watched them go straight through the mesh. This made my camping trip miserable.
Excellent Swag Tent – I purchased this swag directly from the Darche website with excellent customer service and quick delivery times. After been recommend this swag on my camping trips I took it out of the bag with no hassle, went on a week long camping trip with strong wind and rain, to my surprise it stood up to the conditions extremely well been a freestanding tent… Read more
(when two ends are not staked out). Not one leak in the tent, and the mattress is what you would expect from a mid range swag - O.K. Overall I would definitely recommend this to anyone going on camping trips in any type of conditions!!!!
The Swag That Promises But Doesn't Deliver – After being highly recommended this swag, all was explained how to weather the swag in, I purchase the swag and did everything that was explained to me, a few weeks later we set out on the fishing trip of decade after 2 days of camping the rain started so did the troubles with my brand new Darche swag, there just as much rain in my swag as outside… Read more
this continued on four days. The other guys on the crew had purchased much cheaper swags and got through dry as a bone needless to say this swag made my trip one to remember for life time then when it came packing up one the flexible bow's broke. I consider this a true & honest appraisal of my Darche Dusk Til Dawn 1100 swag.
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Hey Mark, really sorry to hear about your experience. We… Read more