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 Topic: Hartford XL vs Diablo 600 Review
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18/8/2006 at 10:55pm
Location: Nottingham
Outfit: Outwell Vermont XL
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Joined: 25/5/2006 Standard Member
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Due to a recent very unexpected fault in my Vango Diablo, I have now owned, and camped in, both of these amazing tents so feel in a good position to advise potential buyers of these two tents. I am comparing the Vango Diablo 600 (Approx £240) to the Outwell Hartford XL + Canopy (Approx £265 together) to make it a fair fight as the Vango’s porch knocks the socks off the Outwell without the canopy. My comparison of the two is below:
First Impressions – The Outwell is the sexier looking tent in my opinion, with the Vango’s blue colour scheme not quite cutting the mustard compared to the Outwell’s overall brighter, light green façade. I also liked the luminous yellow guy ropes (they do not glow in the dark) on the Outwell.
Result – One-nil to the Outwell
Ease of putting up – They are both very similar designs (pitched inner first with SIG) and we found it very simple to put up the Hartford XL first time of asking after several ‘practices’ with the Diablo. However, the Outwell is probably the better thought out design due to having Velcro rather than ties to attach the flysheet onto the inner and with far less ‘pushing poles through sleeves’ to bother with. However, after putting the Hartford XL up, we still had the large Canopy to muck around with, which added extra time onto the erection. The Diablo’s sizeable porch is of course built in to the fly sheet and therefore already up.
Result – despite the Outwell’s more cunning effort reducing design, I will have to call this a draw as effectively you have one and a half tents to put up with the Outwell, thus taking slightly longer. Two-One to the Outwell
Design – As already stated, there seems to have been more thought put into the design of the Outwell, making it more camper friendly. However, the overall designs of both have different strengths. The Vango’s design seemed to be a bit more weather-proof, in that it was better for battening down the hatches in a storm. All the windows had Velcro in addition to the zips – something strangely missing on the Outwell - and also the inner tent seemed to be slightly more enclosed to the elements with less ventilation points. I can imagine the Outwell with its slightly more mesh-based inner and lack of Window Velcro being slightly too ‘airy’ in stormy weather. There is, of course, a flip side to this being that, in nice weather, the Outwell is infinitely the nicer place to be. The Outwell also has ventilation flaps above the windows and lovely skylights to watch the stars under, so it’s a bit swings and roundabouts in these respects.
Regarding the shape of the tent, again I can imagine the Vango being a better shape in a storm compared to the Hartford + Canopy layout. The main reason for this being that, with the Porch door closed on the Vango, you have the semi-geodesic shape that is as streamlined as a large tent can be. The Outwell’s canopy is rather large and has no door, so may get ragged around in a storm slightly (I have not experienced any sort of wind with this tent yet). If you can ignore the lack of a door on the Outwell though, you do get a massive porch with loads of headroom for tall people. I am 6’2” (186cm) and had to stoop ever so slightly when cooking in the Porch of the Diablo which was not good for my back.
Result – I would have to call this a draw also, due to both tents having excellent buying points dependant on your needs. Three-two to the Outwell.
Build Quality – This goes to the Outwell hands down. The poles are thicker and seem a lot more robust plus the guy ropes are thicker and easier to adjust. Everything else is about equal (Flysheet and Inner) so I will award this to the Outwell.
Result - Four-two to the Outwell.
Size – This one’s a draw, with the Diablo having slightly larger living space and slightly larger bedrooms (albeit marginally), but the Canopy on the Outwell is massive (bigger than the Diablo porch).
Result – Five-three to the Outwell
Ease of packing away – The Outwell wins this hands down due to having an oversize bag to store it in. After having packed the Diablo away several times (which can be done) we had it down to a fine art (my son lying on the folded up flysheet and inner), we therefore found it extremely simple to put the Outwell away. The poles were also quicker to remove due to having less sleeve to extract the poles from.
Result – Six-three to the Outwell.
As you can see we are very satisfied with our change from Vango to Outwell. This would have never happened if one of the zips hadn’t broken on our second holiday with the Diablo, but are glad fate took its course as we love the Outwell. The extra bedroom is of course an extra bonus on top of the above and gives our son a room to himself rather than sharing with his baby sister.
They are both fantastic tents of course and would have been extremely satisfied for many camping trips with our Diablo if it hadn’t developed a couple of problems. I can therefore recommend them both, but would lean towards the Hartford myself if buying a new tent again. Don’t forget no tent is perfect (both these tents have a slight sagging bedroom problem) but these two are as good as can be found at this price point and would keep the average camper comfortable and dry in all conditions the UK weather could throw at them. Just consider what your priorities are and make your choice.
Happy Camping!
Karl (Glendo90)
P.S. All comments/questions are welcome.
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Karl
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