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hi there looking at buying a vango icarus 500 (2010) as a weekend tent for late season - reason being our larger tent is too difficult to dry out due to space, so was thinking a icarus would be ideal to take out for a couple of nights and still be able to dry it out once home - hence a few extra trips away for oct half term!

The one were looking at is a 2010 model and is 2000HH anyone got any experience as to whether this is enough for the later months  due to the great british weather lol

Thanks in advance

In this country we dont tend to get many solid columns of water we tend to get rain which comes down in droplets ranging in size from about 1mm to 8 mm depending on the amount being squeezed out of the clouds.

Dont get me wrong i do understand the dynamics of the HH test and i know that pretty much anything over 1500 will cope with anything we are likely to get over here.

The waterproofness of tents is far more likely to be dictated by the quality of the seam stitching and taping than by the HH of the material. 

thanks for the replies guys, i was looking at the 2010 model purely because of price but for the extra £50 or so im thinking i may go for this years at 3000 HH,

To be honest im not quite sure how HH works  but did read somewhere that 1500HH was the minimum for this country, Thanks again

Hiya, 2000 hh is enough for this country, I have a Vango Oregan 400 2000hh. Never leaked. It had everything thrown at it, which this country can give.  But if you want a piece of mind go for the 3000 hh.

Heather

As I understand HH. Imagine a drain pipe filled with water, to stop the water running out the bottom, wrap the end with a piece of tent fabric. HH is how many meters of water are inside the pipe before it starts to leak through. So 1500 HH will be one and a half meters of water inside the tube.

This only applies to synthetic tent fabric not natural fibre like cotton/canvas or poly cotton.

Recently I've stayed in tents that were 1,000, 1,500 and more, I experienced heavy rain each time and none of them leaked.

I'd not feel comfortable relying on the 1,000HH tent (It's a summer festival tent) but plan to use the 1,500HH one in October and I won't panic if the heavens open.

I'd look at a second hand canvas for that time of year for the same price

nice little vis a vis for £140 or offers

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cabanon-Vis-Vis-luxe-canvas-frame-tent-/260845063537?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_HikingCamping_Tents_JN&hash=item3cbb93cd71

Quote: Originally posted by raf48 on 31/8/2011

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As I understand HH. Imagine a drain pipe filled with water, to stop the water running out the bottom, wrap the end with a piece of tent fabric. HH is how many meters of water are inside the pipe before it starts to leak through. So 1500 HH will be one and a half meters of water inside the tube.

This only applies to synthetic tent fabric not natural fibre like cotton/canvas or poly cotton.

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