Tent - Vango v Laser

AchillesT

My newbie post afer a month or so of lurking:

I have got my tent choice down to a choice of 2:

Terra Nova Laser Competition which panders to my lightweight mindset at about 900g. I can easily get all my stuff for a camping trip into my packer plus (40l) rear panniers. Might be a bit small for trips longer than a couple of nights though

Vango Spirit 200+ which is well over twice the weight at 2300g but offers significantly more space and comfort, especially useful in wet weather - panniers now full and over an extra 1.4 kilo to drag up every hill though.

I managed a quick look at the Vango on display in my local Blacks and was impressed; a few questions:

Has anyone used it in horrid weather - any problems - leaks/ stability/ condensation?
Is the porch big enough to put the bike in to get it out of sight when you wander off to the pub? Would it be big enough to keep the bike in overnight, perhaps with a wheel/wheels off ( thus allowing room for cooking my breakfast in bed!)

Or do I just leave my bike outside - I have been lucky so far and have had pitches with something to secure the bike to but this might not always be the case. I did wonder about a light cable into the tent porch pegged to the ground. Paranoid? me?

Thanks

Unknown

Can't comment on that particular model, but have had a vango tent for years now and it's absolutely brilliant. Survived torrential downpours in NZ, everybody else on the campsite had leaks, we were bone dry, dead easy to erect/take down, fab in strong winds and pretty much indestructible. Vango gets my thumbs up any time (but then again, as I said I don't know anything about the two that you are looking at).

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I'm not a failure - I'm a deferred success!

snorri

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by AchillesT</i>

Paranoid? me?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Yes, I think you are.[;)][:D] Few people seem to take their bikes in to the tent.
Sometimes, in what appeared to be bandit country, I have slipped the wheel under the flysheet but have wondered what I might do if I saw the wheel disappearing quietly out from under the flysheet in the night. The idea of getting out of the sleeping bag, then out of the tent, and running naked after an unknown number of bike thieves in the dark.....it's a non starter really[:)]

rustynut

When I was at the York Rally other week, I had a idea using a Aussie Basha sheet. What I did was turn the bike upside down and put Basha over it, then pegged down the Basha tightly. Kept the bike dry and away from prying eyes. Also had a alarm on the bike, is a 110 db shrill.

JoeLonghair

Terra Nova Laser lite, plenty of space for your panniers stuff and yourself. In Italy I was in a torrential downpour, I thought the rain was going to pierce the flysheet and the tent stood up to all. Well ventilated so little to no condensation. Packs up and down in under a miniute and the after service from Terra nova is very good. I have toured for 3 weeks would take it on a world tour. You can cook in the pouring rain in the poarch section and in winter as its small, its surprising how your body heats up the space. If I was to stay in one place longer than 1 day or am fed up with the constant rain and need more space them I use my poncho to extend into a veranda or have 2 people with their kit sleeping comfortable. see pic[/img]... sorry dont know how to do this image thing

jalapeno

rustynut wrote:

When I was at the York Rally other week, I had a idea using a Aussie Basha sheet. What I did was turn the bike upside down and put Basha over it, then pegged down the Basha tightly. Kept the bike dry and away from prying eyes. Also had a alarm on the bike, is a 110 db shrill.

I've done silly things like tie a string to the bike from my legs, motion alarm and even cow-bells.....

Digger2780

A word of warning about Vango’s quality. I lived in a Equinox 250 (similar to spirit) in New Zealand in 97, 98. It was fantastic, easy to pitch, v/good in bad weather, big. The tent finally gave up in 2005 and I replaced it with a new model. However, in the interim Vango had moved their production to the far-east, they had also changed the design adding a lot of useless features. The Tent has been rubbish, all three aluminium pole recently broke in the same place (around the end were the other pole slots in) on a tour of Holland. It’s going back and I’m buying something else, possibly a Terra Nova or a Hillberg.

Digger2780

PS I only every put the bikes in the porch once and this seamed unnecessary. Lock um up outside and enjoy the space inside.

Good luck.

El Gordo

Me and the missus spent seven months touring with a Terra Nova Laser. It stood up well to all sorts of weather. I guess it was a little too compact for two but for one I can really recommend it.

timbooth

Sorry to hijack the thread but I was looking in the shops at lunch for a lightweight tent that would fit in my panniers. Shop suggested a Mountain Equipment Ultralite II.

It looks like it might be right - very light (1.4kg), £170, big enough for me and panniers.

BUT... I wonder if it is rigid enough. It is supported by two poles and then simply pegged to the ground.

Does anyone know this tent - is it too light for someone who doesn't camp as much as he'd like?

RunawayPuma

I don't know the ME Ultralite 2, but looking at the pics, it looks pretty small. I guess it depends on how long you'll be touring for, and where you'd be pitching it. It's nice to have more room for those rest days when it happens to be raining all day.

I'm considering a freestanding tent myself, like the Terra Nova Voyager, which is about £225 I think.

Would you consider a slightly larger and heavier tent, and rather than pack it into a pannier, put it on the top of your rear rack?

timbooth

Yes, I'd consider that, but don't really want anything over 2kg or longer than 50cm-ish as it would hang out over the rear wheel.

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