I have been having a look & am after a canopy to go on our Vango Columbia 600. The tent is quite a few years old (think it was new in 2009) & Vango no longer make a canopy to fit. Vango have recommended the Samara 600 canopy, although I am concerned this won't be wide enough - the tent we have is 445cm wide, the Samara 600 canopy is 440 cm. The other option is the Sungari 600 canopy. I have searched Ebay & the internet, so I was wondering if anyone here may have any suggestions of where else I could look, or even may have one they are looking to get rid or/sell?
Thanks
------------- Nadine x
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Hi
I wouldnt have thought 5cm less on the width would be a problem as most canopies dont fit snuggly anyway. Unless you can find a genuine canopy anything is going to be a bit of a compromise.
Good luck with it anyway.
------------- Experience enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Everything has been said before, but since nobody ever listens we have to keep going back and saying it all over again and again and again
We also have a Columbia 600 (well 2 exactly as we love the tent and managed to secure a spare very cheap!).
The Columbia 600 is unusually wide at the front and the canopies you name are the only ones I have found that fit. 5cm won't make a difference at all. We use the 290cm wide small Vango sun canopy on our 300cm wide Kampa Bude 4 and its a perfect fit - so the odd few cms won't hurt. It will be a case of watching for a second hand one to come up I expect now. The Sungari and Columbia ones ran out several years ago.
We tend to just use the small Vango Adventure Tarp with longer guyropes for front shelter on our Columbia 600. It is wide enough to span the roof pole and overlap down the sides of the tent (about 15cm each side). It stretches out far enough to shield the bottom of the front door and to even have the cooker under shelter (useful for occasional outside cooking for food that spits). If the rain is coming in at an angle sideways we either offset the tarp and just have the door open or peg out the window section. Its not for everyone, but for us the dedicated canopy was just too large (when the whole of the front of the tent opens anyway). It proved particularly great this last summer in rainy Exmoor - enabling us to keep the tent door open.
------------- Love our set-up and need no more tents or gear, so trying to stop looking!
Thanks for the responses, & thanks for the suggestion Speedcamp - I shall definitely look into this for the summer. We had quite a rainy two weeks just outside Dartmoor (Tavistock) last summer too which is what made us realise that a canopy would be useful, especially for cooking. I shall continue looking...
Thanks
------------- Nadine x
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes