I'm vaguely looking at doing the odd overnight camping trip with my 5 year old son, so need (if i can persuade DP) a tent that's very quick and easy to pitch. We would mostly be doing fair weather camping. Future potential uses would be DP and DS together, DP by himself when helping at scout trips, garden camping, pup tent when DS is older (site depending) etc.
I've been looking at the Vango Ark 400. Plenty of space for two of us, and our stuff, and enough room to squeeze in if DP decides to turn up last minute. I don't think there's that much difference in weight/pitching time/pack size with the smaller sizes, and a larger one will give us more flexibility. The porch will mean I can sit separately and do some reading while DS is alseep.
Any thoughts? Or suggestions for a different tent?
Do you think it's suitable?
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I was looking at the Ark 400 as a quick pitch overnight tent.
I liked the size and weight and was hoping to get a bit if a bargain but I kept getting outbid on eBay!
I ended up buying a Gelert Quest Quick Pitch tent for £62.
As a pop up tent it only takes a few minutes to pitch and is spacious enough for 2 but it could fit 3 in if we used the mats rather than our airbeds. I like the fact it has a good sized porch area for our kit.
The Ark sounds like a good option for your needs and has good reviews.
i went to skye island a few years ago with a Vango Omega 350 - fantastic tent - 5000mm h/h and very secure.
except 1 night, a storm came with high winds and very heavy rain. the tent bounced about but was fine and no water came through the flysheet.
but this tent had in the living area - a clip-in groundsheet. with the wind howling, the rain was getting blown in through the gap between the tent and the ground sheet as essentially its only held in place with a few clips, so everything in the living area was getting soaked. also, the wind was lifting the flysheet over the door zip so water was dripping in there too - was pretty horrendous.
the tent should have had a sewn in or zip in style groundsheet especially as the flysheet is soooo waterproof on this model.
so i sold that as i had bought instead a Kampa Minnis4, it has similiar size to the vango, bit taller in middle but it has a sewn in groundsheet all round the tent even under the bedroom pods, so will be warmer, draught free and essentially dry!. it cost 99.95 and is still available in ebay for that. excellent little, easy to pitch tent and highly recommended.
my kampa minnis4 :-
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