Hi All
First post - but if this saves anyone from damaging their tent during construction, it will have been worth it!....
We also bought the Rage Vardo 8 off ebay and for a bargain price of £54.
But on the first occasion putting it up, I managed to damage 3 of the joints on the aluminium poles. The problem occurred when, attempting to translate the instructions, I clipped the flysheet onto the side clips too early, tensioning the joints before they should have been....I may take a look at the construction methods you lot have suggested and do a diagrammatic version for anyone interested...although you lot seem to have sorted your issues.
After contacting the exporters and distributors by email I have come to a dead end in replacing them. Neither company has replied to my emails (in which I offered to purchase the poles, I wasn't expecting them for free!). Perhaps customer service isn't all it's cracked up to be on the website once the deal is done.
As Tentastic are the only importers/distributors in this country I'm in the situation of either i) not using the tent ever...or.....ii) buying a whole new tent, leaving me with an almost complete but useless spare!
It's a shame that companies can't be bothered to ensure instructions are correct AND easy to follow....these were neither.
Good luck with your various trips
------------- Kev
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I found the instructions to be totally useless too.
I managed to work it our after ditching the enclosed instructions & used a picture of the tent off the internet to work it out. Easy once you do the first one. 1st time however I forgot the little curved bits that connect the long aluminium poles to the fibreglass poles & bent a couple of aluminium poles. I emailed Tentastic & Neal there was wonderful. I have since purchased a complete set of spare poles for £15 just in case any break in the future.
We were due to go camping in South Devon this week but the Met Office have forcast a severe weather warning! Should one trust the met office as they don't seem to have a clue most of the time.
I will try again with Tentastic (to be fair they were good with an initial enquiry I had before I managed to break the poles) - is there a specific email address for Neal?
Try neal at bhpretail.com or ring him on 01772 705070. He supplied a pole free to a friend & then offered me a discount code for my complete set. He was very helpful & admitted they were working on the instructions!
We've just watched the weather on BBC's Countryfile & have decided against going. The tent looks good but 60mph winds & torrential rain might be a little too much!
At least we have everything for next year!
Cheers
Capt Insano
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