In my continuing mission to move from two small tents to a single family size tent, i've now found the Vango Colorado 600DLX and 800DLX tents. These have all the features I liked about the Diablo 600/900 but go up flysheet first and have a much smaller footprint - around 6x5m, compared to 8x8m for the Diablo, which I now think is pushing it a bit for some pitches.
And! They are considerably cheaper than the Diablos, at around £200.
Does anyone have any experience of the Colorado DLX range (they have a porch on the front of the living area.)
I'd really like to know whether the extra £40 for the 800 is worth it, for the extra size of the main bedroom.
Many thanks.
Leon.
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I`ve had a Colorado 1200DLX (now discontinued) since 2004. Nive tent, very robust, easy to pitch (still takes 45-60 mins, but simple.) Huge living space, great porch and you can pole out the door and add a windbreak for even more space. Poling out the door means you can sit inside in comfort and watch the rain lash down outside. (Just tweak the groundsheet back a bit!)
Of course, the 1200 has 3 4-man bedrooms. I like this because you can put a double airbed either end on or sideways, while I think in the 2-man pods you can only put a bed sideways, which means one person under the slope who has to scramble over the other to get in and out. Fine for kids but not ideal for big adults like me and Hubby! We put the double airbed with the head/foot to the door and a space on either side for our holdalls and personal possessions. (Hubby is a junk magnet and I like to keep his rubble in his own space!)
Also, one other consideration is the age/sex of your kids. If in the future they might not want to share a pod, you can split the big pod in two with a divider and still keep the third pod for storage.
IMHO, the bigger bedroom is worth £40.
One other tent you might like to look at (if you haven`t already) is the Vango Killington/Kirkwood, btw. It`s a sort of hybrid of the diablo and Colorado, in that it goes up outer first with integral SIG, and then you hang inner pods inside. (EDIT: Eeeekk, scratch that suggestion, just seen the recall notice on the 600 and 900 Killingtons.)
Also, any of the Colorado DLXs will fit either of the new Vango front canopies. Possibly not a purchase you might want to make initially, but I think one or two of the online tent shops have been doing packages including a canopy.
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Topic: Vango Colorado 600DLX/800DLX
