Hello, first post so please be kind!
Decided to take the plunge and get a new tent for our family (2 adults and two children ages 3 & 7). Friends have got an Outwell and a Vango between them so looked at them first (all internet at the moment - not sure where is near to us in Eastbourne that actually has these on display)
Anyway, narrowed it down to the following 5!
Outwell Montana 6 (2014). £430
Outwell Montana 6P (2015). £600
Vango Azure V600 (2014). £400
Vango Orava 600XL. £450
Kampa Croyde 6 (2014). £320
The Montanas are the only ones that split the bedrooms 50/50; all the others are 2:1 or 1:1:1. More room for us sounds sensible but not sure a dbl air bed would fit in the small side of an Azure (120 cm). Assume sleeping mats would fit?
All are rated at 4000hh except the Montana 6P and the Orava which are 6000 and 5000 respectively. Not sure if that makes a difference.
Like the look of the Orava and it seems pretty good value but I assume not out yet so no reviews (sounds like a busy 1st March in tent land!)
Any advice on which to go for/avoid and what to look out for?
Any help gratefully received!
Cheers, Liam.
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All I can say is I love the Orava, it has been our most popular pre season order tent. Its already proven in the sense the poles and fabric etc are the same a few tents that have been around for a few seasons from Vango, its just a great new design.
They layout is just perfect for most families.
Some will say the the poles are only glassfibre but they are the thickest glassfibre poles I have seen and the previous models that used these poles were nice and stable.
Pack size is not huge either which helps when trying to fit all your kit in the car.
Now all the others you have mentioned are great tents also, second on my list would be the Croyde due to the design and then the Montana 6p
------------- Gary Cross - The masked camping guru.
Thanks Gary, I think we are also discounting the Azure on account of the smaller bedroom and leaning towards the Orava. We've a couple of questions if you or anyone else can answer them:
Does the Orava or Croyde have zip up privacy screens (instead of roll up/down) like the Montana?
Does the Orava have any mesh doors?
Are the fibre glass poles likely to be an issue?
Are the carpets/footprints usefull/necessary?
I think we've just about talked ourselves in to the Orava or the Croyde 6 so any other major differences we should now about?
Welcome to the forum!
We are a similar family group - two adults, two children aged 5 and 7.
We have a Vango Isis/Iris 600 and a vango maritsa 700. We love the extra space in the maritsa, but honestly it's a bit big and a bit of a faff for anything other than the main holiday. The isis is much better for weekends.
We have footprints and carpets for both. I wouldn't be without the footprint. It protects the bottom of the tent, and it helps me immensely with getting the position of the pitch right and all that. (Although that alone wouldn't really be a good reason to get one I dont think!)
The carpet I'm less sure about. We usually take it with us, put it out, get annoyed with it, and take it up again. It could well be just my children, but it gets wrinkled and then the chairs get stuck on it, the children fall over it etc etc. it is nicer underfoot though. Again, I think it's one of those things I'll persevere with for the main hols, but not a weekend.
Having said all that, I've just had a nifty idea about sticky Velcro....... Hmm. I'll let you know how it works!
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I can't answer about that particluar tent but I have had a couple of tents with fibreglass poles and have never had an issue. I haven't camped in really strong winds but it has been fairly windy and mine have stood through it. If it is very windy then poles can break but so can steel in very bad weather and to be honest if the forecast was that bad I would pack up and head home if at all possible
We find the steel poles a lot easier to thread into the tent sleeve making the tent easier to pitch. Tent also feels more stable. However, we had a fibre glass poled Vango ( tigris 600) and camped for years with it with no problem my brother now has it and loves it - tho he has recently talking about upgrading to an airbeam!
Can you make it to the camping show at the nec that way you can have a good look at wots available.
Post last edited on 13/02/2015 09:14:43
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Topic: Which 6 berth for Newbie?
