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I'm searching for our first tent and I'm not one to settle for anything, if I'm camping it's gotta be right.

Been speaking to a very informative wwoman at a camping shop today, I went in to look at a Sprayway tent but she steered me towards a Vango Tigris, I quite like the 800....

I haven't bought anything yet, but after reading the reviews on here, it seems that everyone rates them and think they are good but nearly every review seems to contain a concern with regard to quality. (Seams tearing, holes in Groudsheets, inferior pegs, tabs ripping off).

I am quite keen on this model, haven't seen one up close yet but the layout seems good with plenty of space.

Please help as I'm really confused and do need guidance as to which direction to go in for my first tent purchase.....

Thanks Steven

How many people is it for? You may want to note that some campsites don't like tents over 7m (although the C&CC go higher).

When it comes to tunnel tents, we personnally like the extra reassurance of the Vango TBSII system, which is straps inside the tent that continue the line of the guyropes to the top of the poles and reduces fibreglass poles flexing considerably in strong winds. This system is unique to Vango.

We actually have the Vango Columbia 600, which is being discontinued in 2010 as they are adding even more features and renaming it the Ituri. Currently you can still get the Columbia 600 for about £279 (RRP £450-500). The Columbia has a few features that you may want to consider in a tent - e.g. it has steel poles (which are stronger and don't flex like fibreglass), 5000HH waterproofed flysheet, sewn in groundsheet, 2 or 3 double bedroom pods (i.e. the four berth pod divides into 2 doubles), an enclosed wet weather porch on the side (which means you don't trapse the wet into the main tent and the TBSII. All the bedroom pods are in a line at the back so you don't lose so much space for pod access as in a Tigris 800. If you don't have a porch, then the sheltered entrance of the Tigris is invaluable!!

Another vango tent coming in this year is the Nevis 600/800, which is like the Tigris but higher spec materials. OK - higher price too!

Anyway, just somethings to think about.

Helen

Try to take your time and have a good look. As suggested already, it may be worth waiting until spring time as that’s when the outdoor tent displays will start up (plus the big stores like Go Outdoors will re-stock with the latest and greatest).

If you like what you see in the Vango tents, then you are off to a good start; but try not to limit yourself to one particular make or model until you have seen a lot. My personal top three are Outwell, Coleman and Vango all of which make some cracking tents.

Good luck.

Hi

The Vango Tigris range are great tents, we sold so many last season and we only had one back with a small problem that really wasnt bad and we used it as a display model.

One thing i would say is if you go for a similar designed tent but with steel poles you will have a more stable tent. You also get more head room throughout the full width of the tent as the side walls tend to be a bit more upright. You will pay between £300 and £350 for a nice tent like this with steel pole.

Kampa have a new one this year called the Pendine 8 which looks about the best value to the spec it has. Also tents of this style alway work better with a nice side extension which most brands supply.

I hope this helps a bit.

Gary Cross - Retailer.

Hi,

Do not worry about pegs that you buy with a tent bacause if you are going to use it alot, then bank on buying some rock pegs. Ususally 70-80P each but they last for years and now we generally replace 1- 5 a year (camping for ten years now) and just hit em in. Never bought a tent with decent pegs.

We are looking to buy the Tigris 800 this year after owning a few other tent models because it has the separate bedding compartments which is ideal for our 4 children. Side extensions look great for cooking and "dinning" table and you can zip em up. The bit over the door looks damn good. Might buy a second side canopy for drying area (sailing equip, wet sleeping bags, wet towels etc).

The Tigris 2009 model looked to have a problem with the poles but the 2010 model has the flexible poles, which we have on current tent (Suncamp Haven 800) and they have stood a lot of beating with wind ( gale force 9-10 for a couple of days) and the 4 kids.

No guarantees but I reckon we will go with the Tigris because for its size there only 5 poles and they are not fully threaded; so it should be quick to put up, as they say.

Another expense but we have found putting down an environmentally friendly groundsheet (one with holes in) where we cook, eat and walk into the entrance constantly stops the ground going all slimey, smelly and mucky. We have found that this happens even in dry periods over two weeks. Just a thought.

For camp sites, use this site and google earth to check locality (roads, railways, etc).

Regards Jonathan.