Tent wanted, two person, but comfy and spacious?

[Dirty Karlos]

Hi all

I have a nice lightweight two man tent for back/bike packing but I am now after something a bit more spacious. I want something that I can stay in for a week that will be comfortable, with room enough for two people and big enough to sit inside on a deck chair and read a book for example.

Weight is not an issue as it will be travelling with me in the car. I am spending a week in Snowdonia next month, the last time I went to Wales my nasty borrowed tent was destroyed in a storm in the middle of June, so strength is important!

Budget, £150-200, doable?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Puddock]

http://www.breakoutdoors.co.uk/Vango-Equinox-250-Tent--P23.aspx

You won't quite be able to sit on a chair in it - but it offers room and will stand up to four seasons

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Hmm..that is a very tempting and attractive tent Puddock (I'm liking the price reduction too!), however, this looks about the size that I am after. I am willing to pay that little bit extra for something that will take more of a beating from the weather.

 

[Puddock]

In which case you need the three man version. Even better value

http://www.breakoutdoors.co.uk/Vango-Equinox-350-Tent-2010-Model-P43.aspx

Here is the lowdown from Vango

http://www.vango.co.uk/tents/equinox-350.html

 

[Puddock]

But also just noticed that they are out of stock :-(

 

[Puddock]

What about this one?

http://www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/acatalog/Vango_Cyclone_300__Mountain_Tent.html

 

[Puddock]

There is a Vango Equinox 350 new on e-bay for £199

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VANGO-EQUINOX...re_HikingCamping_Tents_JN&hash=item2eb4c9b626

and also the 4 mand version for £250

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VANGO-EQUINOX...re_HikingCamping_Tents_JN&hash=item53e65d9f0d

 

[Nonsuch]

Many folks get on with Vango tents but I IMHO have had some poor experiences - including poles breaking / bending and spending all night holding the thing up. Their customer service was truly appalling as well when I tried to complain. The glory days of Vango Force 10 are a long way in the past with different ownership. I think their tents have great show-room appeal but when put under pressure come up wanting - and you mention you want it to perform in a storm. With due respect to the previous poster, for undemanding usage they are good value if that is what you are after.

As an alternative, I recently picked up an excellent quality Terra Nova Terra Firma on this forum second hand for £250. A second hand Terra Nova or Hilleberg will not let you down.

 

[spiritwalker]

if your not worried about weight take a look at these i was looking at the cub 2 for me and the lad
http://slumit.co.uk/

 

[bilmo-p5]

Vango Peace 500

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tent-5-Man-Te...re_HikingCamping_Tents_JN&hash=item53e788aae8

If you wanted to use a tarp as a porch area as I did in the pic, I'd suggest upgrading the pole a bit.

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Thanks for the suggestion all, I've found exactly what I want size wise, so anything similar out there would be worth considering.
Vango Aura 300.

 

[eel28]

Vango Peace 500

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tent-5-Man-Te...re_HikingCamping_Tents_JN&hash=item53e788aae8

If you wanted to use a tarp as a porch area as I did in the pic, I'd suggest upgrading the pole a bit.

Thanks for posting those pics, have been toying with rigging a tarp to my Juno 500 - never thought of hanging it that way round until now

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Thanks for the help, I have now ordered the Vango Aura 300 (and a Mammut mattress), my bank account has taken a right hammering today! :-/

 

[Wallenstein]

Thanks for the help, I have now ordered the Vango Aura 300 (and a Mammut mattress), my bank account has taken a right hammering today! :-/

A review would be great if you get a chance! I'm looking for something similar, so would be good to get your experiences!

 

[Dirty Karlos]

Ok, Will do!

 

[Tenaka]

Hi, I've juste buy a The North Face Rock 2 which (I think) match up with your criterions.

 

[V6 PAUL]

You'd be able to get a Terra Nova on E-Bay for £200. Quality tents in ALL conditions.

 

[SussexRob]

We bought the outwell nevada M a couple of years back for a big comfy tent. It's superb.

 

[ged]

Looks like I'm a bit late on this thread but for extra living space with a tent, with little cost and even less weight, a tarp makes good sense.

Years ago I bought a tiny one-man tent (Aztec Rapido). I only used it once, then put it in storage for ages mainly because it was too small for all my gear when biking, and with me being a sweaty sleeper and the tent being single skin, the condensation was a problem. Sleeping with the door open in the rain wasn't an option as with it being a very minimal tent there's no porch.

I've now taken to using it with a tarp and groundsheet, see Martin's post, his fifth photo. With the tarp I can leave the door completely open so the condensation problem is eliminated. There's ample room for my gear and I can cook under the tarp with the little Optimus if I need to. It's early days with the setup but I'm very happy with it as it is for the bike. I'll leave out the heavy groundsheet (a cast-off from a local Scout hut) if I go backpacking but on the bike it's no problem. The tarp and tent together weigh about 2.5kg, that's lighter than all but one of my two-man tents. They give me much more flexibility and much more space than a tent alone. The low profile tent shape nestles just right in a simple lean-to tarp arrangement as you can see in the photo.

I'll be using this setup a lot more this year.