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i have both the vango icarus 500 and tigris 800 my mother has the Gelert horizon 6, and to be honest, i prefer my vango's....we have the green 2010 colours and my mother has the blue, her tent seems very dark and cold once inside. Our icarus is great for 3 adults (hubby, myself and 16yr old daughter) for weekend stays,  but any longer stays the tigris is what we go for...my mothers Gelert isnt as long as the tigris, and we found when 8 of us were staying we were all cramped in the living areas and the sleeping pods werent individual.  the tigris accommodated 9 pple 7 adults and 2 babies with plenty of room, one pod is a double double divided, the other two double pods were seperate pods. I like the idea of the tension straps for gusty days. in my mothers words..quote "i dont like my tent i wish i had bought the vango 600",

i do believe its all down to personal choice, but the best thing to do is find a tent shop that had tents on display, we have a great one in the NE at Prudhoe and it displays all vango, some Gelert, some Outwell and a few other makes..i purchased ours by going inside and basically having a good old nose around them.

ps..can i just add..the poles on the Gelert arent as strong as the Vango poles, my mam has had hers repaired twice and us none..

We are picking up a blue Vango

Icarus 500 tomorrow to use next weekend. For our longer extended holidays we have our home from home Outwell Maryland XL. We were going to take that, but for 2 nights its one hell of a lot of setting up and overkill using the big tent. Normally there are 6 of us, but for this mini break we are leaving 2 of the kids with family.

I have looked at the Gelert Horizon, but liked the vango. Might also by the extention once we have tried it out. Fingers crossed for good weather.

You can get a Hi gear Kalahari 8 for £130 or the 10 for £140 off ebay, these would be ideal for a family (there are only 4 of us and I use the 10 berth) useally in tent terms I half the size ie 6 man tent is a 3 man tent in the real world.

This seller  on eBay has some excellent bargins, if you do make a purchase make and offer (on the auctions that accept this) as he was selling a Kalahari 10 for £159 and I got it for £140 so there is a few more quid to save there.

I know a few people who have bought the Kalahari 10 (myself included) on this web site, My tent was brand new when I received it. So I was VERY happy indeed.

            I think it was the new vango air beam tents that had most problems with leaks,we have the 600 icarus and its been fine,the 600 if about 3ft wider than the 500 so a lot more extra space.