Vango Equinox 250 tent

[2_Flat_Erics]

Our old tent has served us well but before we go away again we are looking to upgrade to a better tent with a little more space.

We took a trip to the local camping store and the tent that stood out for us was the Vango Equinox 250. It's a little heavier than the old tent but seems like a much better build quality and has a huge porch for storing panniers etc when on a site for a few days.

Does anyone have any experience of this paticular tent? or of Vango in general?

[clarion]

What's your old one?  It'd be helpful to know what you're comparing with.

[fuaran]

4.3kg? That's rather heavy for cycle touring. Something like the Vango Spirit 200+ is much lighter (2.9kg), while still having a big porch.

[2_Flat_Erics]

Old one was from decathlon. A quechua T3 ultralight. weighed in at 3KG. Not a bad tent and has served us well but is now showing signs of wear.

The equinox is heavier at 4.3KG but looks like a far better tent. The extra weight will be patially offset by a better lightweight sleeping bag (500g lighter than the current one). Ditching the wooden mallet and swapping other bits of kit for better lighter alternatives will also save quite a lot of weight. All in all the weight on the bike will end up about the same even though the tent will be 1300g heavier.

[rogerzilla]

My cheapo Eurohike Backpacker is 2.6kg in its bag.  Bit of a squeeze for two, but it does have a little porch with a groundsheet and is quick and easy to erect (can I use that word here?).

Available for an inconsequential £23.99 from a Millets near you.

[2_Flat_Erics]

The T3 is fine in good weather when we can sit outside most of the time and only use the tent for slepping. We never seem to have much luck with the weather though and you can pretty much gaurantee that whenever we go camping whereever it may be.... it will rain.... a lot.

Neither of us are spring chickens any longer and we like a little bit of comfort so camping these days is a bit of a trade off between weight and comfort. What we are looking for now is a tent we can sit inside comfortably when the weather turns too grotty. I could sit on my mini camping stool inside the porch area of the Eqinox with just enough head room to sit properly.

[daveb]

We have a Vango Spirit - I think the 300.

It rained a lot on our holiday when Tewkesbury was flooded a couple of years ago and we both sat inside it and cooked (on a Trangia) and had all four panniers inside. It's high enough to sit upright in the middle if you're not too tall (I'm ~5'8").

It's pretty easy to put up after a bit of practice - we moved on every day - and sturdy + weatherproof.

[clarion]

Vango Spirit + is a great tent.  We have a Blacks Octane 3, which is very similar.  Both are cheap copies of the Hilleberg Nallo GT, of course. 

Our Octane has a nice big porch area which can seat both of us with all our bags.

[Valiant]

I have a Bango Beta 450. So not really a cycle touring tent but I can say the build quality of Vango tents is excellent. Mine has done about 19 camping trips and been borrowed by a few friends and still looks like new after a wash. During raining periods it's the tent that all of my friends climb into, and the only one with a bug free interior. Porch area is huge