We are off to Annecy in France this summer and I have managed to persuade OH to camp for our stopovers and no hotels this year.
However, I know that he won't want to put up the Vermont for 1 night (even though it only takes us about 30 mins) so have decided we need a good stopover tent that takes about 15 mins to pitch.
I have narrowed it down to the Vango Icarus 500, the Outwell Covington 4, and the Outwell Nevada M (from Go) or the Outwell Nevada MP.
Now I know none of these are exactly small and lightweight, but if I don't get this tent right it's going to put OH off completely
OH is 6'2 so I know he likes the feeling of space in the Outwells, and I must say I love the Vermont so much I can feel another Outwell coming on
Has anyone seen a Covington 4 in the 'flesh' ? If so does it feel a lot smaller than the Nevada ? The pack size isnt too different, and at the moment its about £80 less.
The Nevada that Go are selling is a special for them... but at the moment it is pretty much the same price as I can get a 2013 Nevada from Yeomans with a better spec.
I really like the Nevada MP but Go have the Icarus 500 at £149 from 6/5/13 so its half the price.
The big question is ....... if my heart wants the Nevada should I just get it ? My purse may recover in time, but if I get the Icarus will I always long for what never was ??
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i dont know what your budget is but how about a used Outwell Trout Lake 4? - nice and roomy polycotton tent - perfect for warm french weather with just 3 main poles and a small pole for the rainsafe side entrance - easy to put up and very stormproof too.
or how about a vango calisto 500 or 600? there are some ebay bargains of them around - metal instead of fibreglass poles so they are very sturdy like the trout lake is.
price wise though the icarus is probably the best combination of value / amount of tent.
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Really like the look of the trout lake 4, and if we were replacing the Vermont would definitely lovely a polycotton tent.
But for now we just need something for 1 night stopovers in France that fits in 1 bag, under 20kg and will sit on top of the Vermonster bag in the boot!
The Covington 4 is a fraction narrower than the trout lake 4... Do you think this would be a squeeze for 2 adults (6'2 and 5'2) and 2 children (12 and 10)? Did consider the Vango Omega 600xl but really want a SIG so think that is ruled out.
Have learnt so much from 'creeping' around ths forum, not least that I think I am addicted already and can predict the start of a tent collection... Maybe not as comprehensive as yours though !
for 2 adults and 2 kids of 10 and 12 i would not go for the icarus 500. we had one for me,6'2 wife 5'8 and our 2 year old and the sleeping area was only just about big enough for the 2 blow up singles and a blow up ready bed, that was with the divider open as well.
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Good luck, we took a small tent with us for overnight stops on the way to and from the Southern Ardeche back in 2009.
To be fair though after a long days drive, the thought of pitching a tent for just the one night, was just to much of a faff, so we wimped out and found a Formule1 hotel for 25€ for the overnights and never got to use the dam thing.
Different for folk with Caravans or Folding Campers etc, just a case of dropping the legs and kettle on for those folk.
It's such a hard life being a Tent camper, but give me a budget hotel every time for overnight stops.
We have 5 "Premiere Classe" hotels booked for our July trip this year, and at £30 each it's a no brainer.
We did hotels last year, but Formule1 for us would be 2 rooms as they sleep 3 max, otherwise I think it would be a no brainer.
Last year we stayed in a family room in a hotel just outside of Bordeaux. The single beds were on a mezzanine level which was unbearably hot and very smelly. When the kiddies complained I told them they were just being fussy until I climbed up the rather precarious step ladder and nearly passed out in the heat/smell when I got there !!!
Put me off budget hotels .... Novotel are nice but pricey so this year we are camping all the way as long as we can get a good b&b tent
I must add that we don't plan to do long days drive with a camp stopover .... 3-4 hours drive, pitch, let the kids play, chill, up early, drive a bit more !
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Sleeps 5 and is standing height but there's virtually no living area - just sumwhere to put your clothes but its just that - a tent for sleeping in en-route to your destination.
The 500 is no longer on vangos website but if you go onto eBay or google there's still some around.
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There's a lady has reviewed it on here in the vango airbeam section of the tent reviews and she gives it a 10/10 so that's a good sign.
There's one on eBay for £299.99 on a buy it now - might be worth checking yeoman s, camping world online, go etc someone might have a few left to clear out as it looks like vango have dropped this model from their range
I think for a stopover tent that you can stand in, sleep in, goes up and down in minutes with minimum of fuss and as long as you don't need loads of storage / living space ( & why would you need to in a stop - over tent ? ) this could possibly be your answer!
Good luck and be sure to let us know how you get on!
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Topic: Help needed deciding on stopover tent
