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Hi,

We are currently looking for a tent to accomodate a family of four (kids are 4 and7). We already have a Vango Icarus 500 for weekends and are now looking for a  tent with three bedrooms so kids don't have to share whilst we are on longer holidays (they are not the best at sharing!!).

We like the Sunncamp Victory 600 but have not been able to find any reviews of this tent. The Vango Columbia is also a front runner but it does not come with a built in canopy like the Victory so no space for cooking in the rain.

Anybody got experience /views of either of these tents? Any others we should consider?

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve

We have the Columbia 600 and you can add the Sungari 600 canopy, carpet and footprint as they fit. The canopy only comes in sage, which may influence which colour of Columbia you go for. We haven't bothered with a canopy as we cook inside if the weather is really rough with the side porch entrance or front (with tarp) open for a rapid exit. We put the stove on the opposite side from the porch towards the front of the tent, so that our son has access and a big play area (enough for a Thomas train set) well away from the stove (which also has plenty of room around it). If its really windy a canopy (either loose or built in) can destabilise a tent, so we wouldn't go for a canopied tent anyway, but at least with a removable canopy you can take it down in the wind and the tent itself has a very good wind-shedding shape. We have a Vango Adventure Tarp that with longer guy ropes and the use of a tent porch pole will fit over the roof pole of the Columbia and provide shelter for the front if you want to keep the rain off and the front door open. We use it with all our tents and can be used stand alone as a separate shelter.

The Columbia is brill for the money, very waterproof and stable with the belt and brace TBSII and steel pole combination. The 2/3 bedroom options beats many others for bedroom flexibility. It is also relatively quick to pitch and take down. We have tried several pitching styles and decided now to stick to the one in the Vango pitching video - it is the best IOHO. We find the enclosed side porch invaluable for boots, balls, folding loo and a barrier to get little-ones to take off footwear before entering the main tent. Our carpet is still clean after 4 weeks of use thanks to the porch and you don't get water running into the tent when it rains! A photo on the tent review page shows the value of the porch (and its small separate groundsheet) - THE MUD!

Any questions - just ask! Oh yes, like most tents - you'll want better tent pegs. We went for rock pegs all round. 

Helen

We've just bought the Sunncamp Victory 600 and will be using it next week for the first time, I'll let you know how it went :)

We decided on the Victory just because of the built in canopy, I would have preferred a full SIG but the canopy swung it!

Thats the one I'm looking to get

Did you buy the Carpet / Footprint for this ....... I'm very temped

Mark