Should I notice any difference between the quality of manufacture and fabric materials used betwen these two reputable manufacturers?
We are buying our first family tent so have no experience of either brand, but we have narrowed our choice down to these two options:
Vango Verona 8 (half price £175 Millets)
Gelert Horizon 8 (£185)
Although the Vango is slightly smaller at 680 x 280 x 195 as opposed to the Gelert 740 x 350 x 225, either should be fine as there's only the 4 of us. We've been touring camping shops for a couple of weekends but not seen a Gelert, where as we have noticed the difference in tent material quality between the top brands and the more budget brands.
I guess what I'm really asking is 'is the Gelert going to be up to the same standard as the Vango, and when I come to sell it will one hold it's value more than the other?'
Thanks in advance for comments.
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I had a little Vango, which was a quality tent, but only used for a couple of weekends. It was bought for me when I was taking kids without OH. Nice tent, stood up to very windy weather - but it was only small. Sadly we had a bad mouse attack in our camping shed, and this was one of the victims.
Last year I bought (won on Ebay) a Gelert Cadiz 5 (which for some reason I thought was a different, smaller tent), put it up in the garden - nice tent. Then the gale force winds and rain came. Well after about a week this poor thing ended up almost flat on its' side (not fully guyed or pegged due to lack of space, and the fact that we were only checking it out when we put it up), and I really thought that I'd lost it. Well I went out, to dismantle it and take it to the tip. Well first thing I discovered was that the poles were in tact. Then I flung the skin over the line - that was fine, just a bit on the muddy side. Well after it was dried it was put away, and was used successfully on a weekend last year.
I've owned both Gelerts and (a lot of) Vangos. I'm thinking of one trip we went on when we pitched our brand new Vango Oregon 600 next to our Gelert Cadiz 5+2. (We had friends with us.) Up till then I'd had no issues with the quality of the Gelert but once the two tents were side by side? The Vango had sturdier poles, more and better placed guying points and overall just felt more substantial. I also had to double-guy the Gelert in the end because it wasn't standing up to the wind as well, though this of course could have been due to the slightly different design, despite them having almost identical outside profiles and footprint. (Cadiz 5+2 is a dome + extension, Oregon is pure tunnel.)
I've seen the Horizon up and didn't think it matched the quality of my Oregon, btw. (Cooincidentally it was going to be for my friends that had borrowed the Cadiz.) One thing though...it's got SIG according to the blurb, and I'm not sure if the Verona does. It didn't last year when it was called the (eeerr, can't remember..) and was the Millets/Blacks special then too. This might be important? But otherwise, it boils down to what you prefer. Vango have the edge on Gelert when it comes to ranking tent manufacturers, but Gelert is still pretty good.
Incidentally, any Scout/Guide/Cub etc sons or daughters? You can get 10% off at Millets and Blacks, I think.
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We needed a tent for an event this summer and saw a Vango Verona 8DLX erected. We wondered about the quality (as well about how genuine Black's "half price" claim might be) and, after some googling around we found that the Verona 8DLX is very similar to the Albany 800. There are some differences, however: the Albany is slightly larger all round, and the Albany's material has a HH of 3000 while the Verona's HH is only 2000.
While the Verona is selling at "half price" for £175, the Albany can easily be found for £199-200. We thought that it was worth paying £25 more for the extra space (the Albany is 50mm wider and 18mm higher) and the greater water resistance.
Having done lots of reserch since my frst message at the top, I'd advise leaving the Vango Verona 8DLX in the shop. It doesn't have SIG, and the bedrooms slope away sharply compared to the Horizon. Can't comment on the Albany, but we're heading toward the Gelert Horizon 8.
If buying from sportsdirect do it on a credit card so if any problems you can do a charge back and they should be a bit more cooperative than they are with 'regular' returns.
I've bought many items from them no issue but recent purchase wasn't as described in the product info and they haven't been very helpful with the return (I have to pay for the return to be reimbursed if they see fit!).
If it's current for some people what does it matter how old the thread is?
CURRENTLY at least, there are all sorts of problems with Sports Direct and how they do business, both here, and in the press, concerning their CEO; never mind the products which I couldn't comment on.
My personal experience of the company is dreadful, and does colour my opinion.
Probably better to start a new thread if you have a point to make than to re-vamp a ten year-old one. The tents and models in question are long discontinued (as well may be the case for some of the posters).
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I think Sports Direct took over Gelert in 2013, 5 years after commencement of this thread. I suspect it's fair to say that Gelert is now considered the budget end of the camping market and for that reason - as well as the fact it's now exclusively sold by this one, equally budget, sportswear retailer - I'd opt for Vango over Gelert, any day of the week.
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