Vango tent

Need some advice. I'm after a tent for occasional use, one person only most of the time. Rallies and one night 'on route' camping mainly.
I want something that's 'bike suitable' i.e. not too big when packed, not heavy, easy to erect and with some storage area's for gear etc.
I've looked around and the Vango Gamma 250 seems to fit the bill. Question is, are they any good?
Could I get something better for the money?
If so what?

I'm not planning on camping up Everest in a blizzaed so don't think I need The North Face type stuff, but I don't want tat!

Can anyone help?

these are a good one man tent

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109729

Massive choice so hard to make a reccommendation but some thoughts from a biker camper and Mountain Leader.

If used in Uk with changable weather and may need to erect in rain look for a tent that erects flysheet first. A lot of Far Eastern and American tents erect inner first which means lots of wet canvas. Same when taking down, if you can't remove inner first it gets wet. With outer down last I can pack everything from inside so don't have to go out in the rain until only the outer fabric has to be taken down. Kit and me stays dry.

Some tents can be stored with inner and outer fitted together while packed. These are good for quick erection and satisfy first requirement as well.

If funds permit, avoid fibre glass poles. These can become brittle and crack and don't stand up to wind very well. Also the ferrules on the joins are normally proud of the sections which can make sliding poles through sleeves and getting them out a bit of a sod. Better quality tents use springy aluminium, lighter, stronger, longer lasting and smoothly slides into sleeves.

Many cheaper tents use polyester fabric which does not stay waterproof so well or last as long as nylon.

Covererd areas outside the sleeping area are useful but on many the covered area is closed off by a sloping doorway. Result is the covered area is little use in poor weather. Look for tents where the entrance is near vertical and freferablt with more than one.

The old style ridge tents are pretty well a thing of the past and the choice now is tunnel (two or more parallel hooped poles), dome (two or more crossing poles and geodesic (three poles crossing leaving a large triangle at the top). tunnels are often easier to erect and give good headroom from head to foot but not so good in very strong winds. Domes can be awkward to feed poles into and therefore slower. Headroom is at centre but they are more stable and can be freestanding so can be easily pitched in best place after inserting poles. Geodesics can again be awkward to fit poles but are free standing and very stable, the best choice in bad weather and snow - but tend to be expensive.

I have a range of tents for different purposes but for biking I use a Vango Hurricane (not made today). It's a tunnel with inner and outer attached, has aluminium poles, a choice of three entrance options two of which are vertical (so can always have a down wind entrance) and is stable in gentle conditions with only four pegs. All fits in onew Touratech pannier with room left for stove, sleeping bag, etc.It's about 15 years old and has survived some pretty rough mountain winter conditions as wel as hot summers so although it was quite expensive (about £200 fifteen years ago) cost per year has been low so better value than cheapies.

I tend to use tents made for one person more than I need unless I need to travel light which gives a bit more freedom. I.e. a three man tent when its wife and I or two man tent for solo use

Look at Cotswold and Field and Trek catalogues for a good range in various qualities and types.

Spikehammer said:

Need some advice. I'm after a tent for occasional use, one person only most of the time. Rallies and one night 'on route' camping mainly.
I want something that's 'bike suitable' i.e. not too big when packed, not heavy, easy to erect and with some storage area's for gear etc.
I've looked around and the Vango Gamma 250 seems to fit the bill. Question is, are they any good?
Could I get something better for the money?
If so what?

I'm not planning on camping up Everest in a blizzaed so don't think I need The North Face type stuff, but I don't want tat!

Can anyone help?

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Have a look at these Coleman tents i bought the previous model the newer model has 2 porch openings.They're easy to pitch and the pack size is small.Mine survived a force 5 in Achill last year
Not crazy money either.
http://www.yeomansoutdoors.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=2327

You'd be bonkers for not buying the tent listed in post #2. There was a big thread in the bargain section about the model a while back.

Coleman Cobra

I have a spare Coleman Cobra II if you fancy it for £70 only ever used once.

Thanks guys, didn't know there was such a choice..

The link dosen't work for me for some reason!

I have a Vango TBS Equinox 350 3 man tent but it it is a bit big/heavy for the bike. Fine for in the car though.

I recently bought a Coleman Avior X2 Tent to use for bike camping and am vey pleased with it. Plenty of room and weighs less than 2.5Kgs. Fits in about half the size of the left hand R1200GS Vario Pannier

http://www.outdoorworld.org.uk/cole....html?osCsid=a5ecc178faf23bb6750ad7080ac4e38a

Vango Tempest 200

I use a vango Tempest 200. I got it for around £90. I cannot recommend it enough. Superb tent for me and my kit, pitches flysheet first or as one so no wet inner if its raining.

Or if you have a Decathlon sports megastore nearby, try one of their own brand ones, around £70 gets you a 3 season lightweight tent...all good value

skyenet said:

I have a Vango TBS Equinox 350 3 man tent but it it is a bit big/heavy for the bike. Fine for in the car though.

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I have just bought one of these as well, waht a truly excellant tent.

But I would agree that it does seem quite heavy and bulky, but it is actually lighter than the Kyham Biker tent which was another one of my choices.

Camp in comfort, loads of space and dead easy to erect...oh errrr.

Go Outdoors are currently selling them for £159, so that was another reason why I went for it. A lot of tent for your money IMHO.

I had a secondhand Vango 250 and it was great but sold it and went for the 350 which is superb and adds more storage/cooking space, and if you can get it for £159 then great value for money.

However for weight/space I will stick with the Coleman Avior X2 on the bike.

Can't wait to get some bike camping in with my young daughter this summer. We did all round Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Germany in my old Punto in 2005. Scotland will do fine this year and see what next year brings.

Didn't think you'd be a 'camp' type Spike!!


Seriously,a Kyham is hard to beat although it doesn't pack down tiny it aint massive.It's also very fast to put up and down etc so is great.Check it out over GO outdoors in Loughborough where focus used to be or use google.

BLUE(UK) said:

Didn't think you'd be a 'camp' type Spike!!

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May be 'camp' but at least I don't have a limp wrist..





How are you mending..)

Hi, just bought a vango spirit 200+ £149 from mitchells at wakefield [they price match from ebay!] 2.6kg its great, Bowie.

I have a Khyam McKinley. Packed size is 85x25 but it goes up fast and has enough room for you, the missus, the kitchen sink and several friends.
It bungees on top of my topbox just fine and cost me £140. Has withstood several pretty severe rainstorms with no leaks and the only problem I've had was tearing off a peg loop because I over tightened it when wet and when it dried out it tore off. Did the repair myself. Plenty of spare parts come with the tent.

As with all such things there is a huge choice but the biggest problem is deciding on exactly what you want. Once you know that the rest is easy.

Bought one of these a couple of weeks ago from the North Face outlet store in Bicester, Oxford, just £125.00

They are perfect not seconds and they are current model, great tent, sleeps 3 but will pack onto a bike easily. Not sure if it will go into a system pannier or not, but I could check if required.

I think that you can pitch inner and outer together too.

http://www.venturesport.co.uk/venturesport_product.asp?parseid=8164

Yodagoat said:

I use a vango Tempest 200. I got it for around £90. I cannot recommend it enough. Superb tent for me and my kit, pitches flysheet first or as one so no wet inner if its raining.

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Does the porch area have a built in groundsheet? I can't find any blurb that states one way or the other.

Steve said:

Does the porch area have a built in groundsheet? I can't find any blurb that states one way or the other.

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My tent doesn't(Kyham)so i use a wicker type material mat similar to what you see people on the beach with to sunbathe on(its what i also use mine for!! (weighs about 10grammes )

Ohh yeah,spikehammer,its me collar bone not me wrist!!

BLUE(UK) said:

Ohh yeah,spikehammer,its me collar bone not me wrist!!

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But on you a shoulder looks the size of most wrists...