As virgin campers, we were concerned with the weather forecasts last week but set off on Saturday for our first family camping trip with our Vango Diablo 600 to Dorset, hoping that the forecasts were over-exaggerated!
For all those who camped at the weekend, you will know we are not exaggerating when we say it felt like a baptism of fire.
We coped with continuous rain from Saturday night through to Monday, what felt like gale force winds, a leaky tent, a water-logged field, a broken foot pump, a burst air mattress and a 6 year old daughter who woke up on Sunday morning with diaorreah!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amazingly, it has not put us off. The rare bursts of sunshine gave us a taste of how camping should be and we appreciated it all the more!
Incidentally, the seam of the SIG that runs along the length of the tent floor leaked quite badly, as did the back door and various other places. We were disappointed with that as we had hoped the Vango would be a success! Any viewpoints on whether its worth sending it back or was it just the foul weather conditions?????
If you were pitched on a waterlogged field the pressure of you walking on the ground sheet will have forced the water up through the seam. It`s a rare occurence and only happens in very poor conditions underfoot. Ditto the back door leak may have been caused by rain driving under the rain baffles on the zip.
Can`t comment on the rest of the leaks as I don`t know where they arose, but you`ll have had a lot of condensation in these conditions which won`t have helped. My suggestion is to have a think about where exactly the leaks were and perhaps try again in more normal conditions before you lose faith in the Diablo.
If you`re concerned though email Andrew at Vango. Vango customer service is the best around, and I`m sure he`ll try to help.
We also went to Dorset over the B/H weekend (Nordens Farm) for only our second ever trip with a Diablo 900. It started raining at 10.00pm Sat night and kept raining until we left on Monday morning !!!
The pitches were waterlogged and the people in the next pitch abandoned ship (or should that be tent !) at 9.00pm on Sunday. With a three yr old and a long drive back to the East Midlands we decided to hold tight and hope for the best. So after a very nrevous night we woke on Monday to find that the tent had stood up very well to the elements and not leaked at all even though we could feel water pooled under the tent !!.
So, it's probably just a problem with your tent, so I would suggest you speak to either your retailer or Vango who I'm sure will sort out your problem. (We had our tent replaced by Vango without any grumbles etc because of a ripped seam)
We have a Vango and a few drips over the weekend. We have now seam sealed these and hopefully they wont reoccur. Try pitching in a few weeks when the weather may have changed, a good excuse to go again!!
Vango have a good reputation and as valk scot says their customer service is great.
I am glad you enjoyed the experience, it is really addictive!!
------------- Debbie
'Make the most of good weather and the best of bad!!'
We had our first outing in our Vango Vail this weekend in Dorset as well as it happens. On the whole, the tent coped pretty well - although we did have a few drops through the zips in both side doors of the tent. Was wondering whether to email Vango - then spoke to someone locally who said that we'd had about 2 months of rain in 36 hours.....................if that was the case I think we got away pretty lightly! Anyone think I should still email?
We had our first outing in our Vango Vail this weekend in Dorset as well as it happens. On the whole, the tent coped pretty well - although we did have a few drops through the zips in both side doors of the tent. Was wondering whether to email Vango - then spoke to someone locally who said that we'd had about 2 months of rain in 36 hours.....................if that was the case I think we got away pretty lightly! Anyone think I should still email?
Thanks
Lesley
When you think about it, zips are just rows of holes held together with plastic teeth. If the wind is strong enough to drive the rain under the baffles, you will get some leakage. I would say a few drops is nothing to worry about and it won`t happen under most circumstances. If you were collecting say a mugful per hour from each zip though, email Vango.
Hi, we've just got back from our 1st trip in our Diablo 900. We had driving rain from Saturday evening through to Monday morning (Wales in our case) but no leaks to speak of.
The worst we had was lots of condensation between inner and outer after the 1st night but this was (as our friends pointed out) because we'd not pulled the outer far enough out away from the inner. Some monir adjustments & it was fine after.
The SIG had no signs of leakage altho we were on firm ground.
Sorry you had so many problems but glad to hear it didn't put you off. This will be one of the stories you tell for years to come & have a good laugh about it!
We are already planning our next trip so it hasn't put us off. The secret was definitely good company. Had we have been on our own, I think we would have packed up on the Sunday and come home! But with good company, it was easy to laugh about all the water coming in!
Incidentally, we emailed the store where we bought the Vango from (we decided to ask to send it back, given that there was a fault in the stitching of the fabric as well as anything else!). We ordered from Waudbys and they have been impressive so far - have said we can have a refund. We are now in a dilemma as to what to go for, whether to stick to a Vango or try something different.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Virgin campers - baptism of fire!!
