Message Forums

Well, after all these years of camping I'm finally expecting delivery of a Vango. LOL.

A Vango Spirit 200 for a month's walking through the Pyrenees, as current backpacking tent deemed too heavy for this trip. And no, its not me that will be doing the trip .

Spent quite an interesting hour or so in Snow and Rock last Saturday looking at 2 kilo tents which would be light enough and comfortable enough for two people to share for four weeks  eg MSR Hubba Hubba and TNF Tadpole but final choice was the Vango at an amazing price of £129 from Outdoor Action. Its a 2008 tent but I can't see any difference from the 2009 model.

After the event now I know as its already been bought, but does anyone have any experience, knowledge or tips about  the Vango Spirit?

Quote: Originally posted by Merry on 10/6/2009

---

Cheers, that's good to know. Some of the other ultra-lighweight tent seemed to be verging on flimsy to me but in Vango we trust* for future, more robust UK usage.

*Well, that's what Val tells us. All the time!

---

Who, me Val? When did I say that? Just because I own shedloads of the things???

I showed the Spirit specs to Hubby though, who knows more about mountain tents than me. He liked it but have to say he liked the Spirit 200+ even better because of the useful storage and living area. Was the extra 0.4 Kg going to be the straw that broke the camel's back then, or was it considerably more expensive?

Quote: Originally posted by Merry on 10/6/2009

---

Hi Val, it was the weight: my son is a compulsive gram counter when it comes to any sort of backpacking. He will stand in the kitchen and weigh spoons, gloves, hats, fleeces, everything just to make sure he is always making the lightest choice out of the options available.

I'm hoping he won't decide to jettison the footprint at the last minute - I know nothing about this route they'll be following through the Pyrenees but feel its bound to include pitching on stoney ground. I think its the GR10 route

http://www.pyreneeshike.com/route.html

but maybe its the GR11. I suppose I'd better find out before they leave on Tuesday!

---

I have walked part of the GR10, in day walks only though. At the Mediterranean end where my late FIL used to own a ramshackle cottage. Wonderful route. I was a lot younger and fitter then though!

As to packing light back in these days we also used to cycle-camp a lot.   We  used our trusty Vango Force 10 which weighed in at 7Kg plus, argh, though at least we didn't have to carry it on our backs!. I remember my hubby insisting I only took one spare pair of knickers...then adding in three paperbacks to read. He never was much good at lightweight packing. Also somehow he'd arranged it so that only my bike would carry four panniers and his only two. So I would give him all the bike tools, the paperbacks and most of the tent strapped on top of his rack, lol, and I'd take the lightweight stuff. Still very hard going down in parts of the Pyrenees though!

Tell them to watch out for dogs. The dogs that farmers and sheep herders use up there are big and very protective of their charges. Oh, and wild boar. I can outcycle a wild boar (downhill), did you know? I expect most folk could though........