Vango Diablo 600 family tent £124.99 @ Blacks

valk_scot

jolly-jen wrote: »

We are thinking of selling our caravan as we do not use it much, and buying a tent so that we still have the option of weekends away etc. As I know nothing about tents, are these very hard to put up? Other half does not have a lot of patience in these things, so would want to buy one as stress free as possible! Have seen that Kyham do quick erect tents (?), would we be better to buy one of them and pay more or go for this deal? Any advice?

I've never owned a Diablo, but from what I hear it takes about an hour to fully erect one down to the last peg, and you need two people to be able to put up the central dome. That's about standard for a tent of this size though. It's no more difficult than any other tent of the size to put up either, but that's not to say you don't need a couple of goes at putting it up before you get the ime down to around the hour.

To be fair though a Diablo 600 isn't a weekend tent. I personally feel that an hour putting up a tent and another hour setting up the rest of the kit is too long at either end of a weekend. That's why I don't take my big Colorado or trailer tent for weekends...I take one of the smaller tunnel tents instead. I can put my Oregon 600 up solo in under half an hour, for example.

Khyams are supposed to be the dogs do-dahs when it comes to ease of erection, but they do have the downside of being expensive, heavy and taking up a lot of space in the car. Also they're a PITB to dry out properly, and there's been more good tents ruined by putting them away damp than by any other method.

Can I make a suggestion that aspiring campers pop across to this website and join the message boards there?

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/

Nice bunch of people and what they don't know about leisure tents and family camping isn't worth knowing. (And you might spot me on there too, now and again. )

Keeping_Positive

Ditto what Valk_scot said about the ukcampsite website. Its a great site for any form of camping, caravan, tent etc . They know alot and are really friendly. Theres not much you wont find about camping from searching the threads.

sooty&sweep

Hi

I can second the recommendation to visit the ukcampsite website.

Val, I thought I recognised you !

Elliesmum

I can't wait now for mine to arrive. Luckily we are going to WOMAD with a couple of families, so DH will have mates to help him put up said tent, not to mention a 5, 4 and 2 year old who will be more than willing to make things soooo much harder for them

EM xx

I-love-a-bargain_2

Thanks for the tip! Ordered one yesterday, Quidco gave me £10.40 cashback too! Wahey!

valk_scot

sooty&sweep wrote: »

Hi

I can second the recommendation to visit the ukcampsite website.

Val, I thought I recognised you !

Small world, isn't it?

parkside_stroller

Took delivery of mine today - it's packed in a single box.
Inside the packing box the tent, poles and the rest are in a holdall style bag which has zip compartments containing all the bits.
The delivery man was struggling to carry the box in and when I went to lift it out the box I seen why - beware if you are not a strong person.

I think once it is stored it could easily be unzipped and the parts carried to the car in smaller consignments but it's not something you would want to carry any distance in one go. It weighs 29.5 kilograms (approx 4 and a half stones in old money) according to the info supplied.

I can also confirm that it is the model which requires the inner tent pitched first.
Still apart from that, I'd say I happy with it at this price - I've had a 2 person Vango for years and I'd say that's a really good tent.

Elliesmum

parkside_stroller wrote: »

Took delivery of mine today - it's packed in a single box.
Inside the packing box the tent, poles and the rest are in a holdall style bag which has zip compartments containing all the bits.
The delivery man was struggling to carry the box in and when I went to lift it out the box I seen why - beware if you are not a strong person.

I think once it is stored it could easily be unzipped and the parts carried to the car in smaller consignments but it's not something you would want to carry any distance in one go. It weighs 29.5 kilograms (approx 4 and a half stones in old money) according to the info supplied.

I can also confirm that it is the model which requires the inner tent pitched first.
Still apart from that, I'd say I happy with it at this price - I've had a 2 person Vango for years and I'd say that's a really good tent.

Yes we got ours today and my hubby struggled with it and he isn't a small man . I'm pleased with the buy, for the price I think we've got a good deal - we can't wait to have a go at putting it up and then roll on summer !

EM xx

Tucker

Jolly-Jen

No, not the easiest tent to put up by any means. 2 person job and takes a bit of time even when familiar with it. But very very good price for this tent.

I have the Khyam rigi-dome, which basically clicks together and I can put this up alone and probably in half the time of the Vango. Khyam are definately the Rolls Royce of tents, but they are bulky and heavy in transit.

I actually find the Khyam far easier to dry, as you can click it to full height in the garden in 2 or 3 mins and leave it (subject to having a big enough garden), rather than laying it out and turning it over etc...

A family we camp with had the Vango 600, but during a very hot week (yes in this counrty!!) all the poles melted and stayed in the bent position!! He returned it to Vango and got a refund and bought a rigid frame tent. Freak weather perhaps, but a word of caution if you plan travelling abroad with it.

valk_scot

parkside_stroller wrote: »

The delivery man was struggling to carry the box in and when I went to lift it out the box I seen why - beware if you are not a strong person.

I think once it is stored it could easily be unzipped and the parts carried to the car in smaller consignments but it's not something you would want to carry any distance in one go. It weighs 29.5 kilograms (approx 4 and a half stones in old money) according to the info supplied.

In a word...or two....wheeled holdall. Much easier to trundle it across the grass on a couple of little wheels. Or get one of these strap-on trolley frames.

If you do decide to split it into two or three bags, then for heavens sake label them "1 of 3" "2 of 3" "3 of 3" etc, with "Remember the poles/flysheet/inner, muppet!!!" written underneath on each label. It's a very common scenario to drive three hours to a campsite, start unloading the car and then get that horrible sinking feeling......you only do it once.