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POWAY -- This is a story about three buddies who began camping in the Pamo Valley near Ramona about 10 years ago.
That's when Jeff Basford, David Greaves and Bob Pecoraro leased 80 acres of land from a fella named Ron East (nicknamed Spike), a ranch foreman out in the valley whose family owns the property.
One day, while camping in Pamo Valley, the three men began to complain about their camping gear - mainly their tents. The tall men (all stand over 6 feet tall) were in need of some more head and elbow room.
And so, in 1994 they chipped in $15,000 each to form their own company and began designing their own tent. Basford's dad, Jim, also pitched in $15,000 for the promising adventure.
The name of the San Diego company would be Paha Que Wilderness, Inc., a term used by Spike.
"He used to say to us, Paha Que," Basford, the company's president, said. "He said the Indians around there used to say that. It's like saying que pasa? or aloha. It captured the spirit of what we wanted to do. We wanted a name that had some American roots."
After many phone calls, Basford connected with Erickson Outdoors in Berkeley, a top designer of outdoor gear. Erickson agreed to help develop the first Paha Que prototype, the Pamo Valley Tent, in 1995.
The end result -- a tent that measures 10-foot-by-9-foot with a 90-square-foot floor plan, 6 feet of headroom in the comers and 8% feet of headroom in the center.
That's not all. It also has features such as foldup airbeds, a gear hammock and a gear attic. The top of the tent is made of a special mesh that prevents even the smallest of insects from coming in. The see-through roof also allows stargazing on clear nights.
In late 1995, Paha Que recruited the help of Media Dimensions in Rancho Bernardo to help market the tent, which included sending out press releases and developing a Web site.
The company's big break wouldn't come until...