Vango Omega 250 Tent?

[scraynes]

Hello everyone,

Just looking at getting a bit of an all purpose tent for cycle tours and general mucking around closed to home and wandering if any of you have a view on the Vargo Omega 250.

It seems to do a good job of sitting in the middle of everything - price, size, and weight (3.6 kg).

I was also looking at the Vango Spectre 200 - lighter (2.5kg) but no porch to keep the panniers in etc.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Spencer

 

[vernon]

Hello everyone,

Just looking at getting a bit of an all purpose tent for cycle tours and general mucking around closed to home and wandering if any of you have a view on the Vargo Omega 250.

It seems to do a good job of sitting in the middle of everything - price, size, and weight (3.6 kg).

I was also looking at the Vango Spectre 200 - lighter (2.5kg) but no porch to keep the panniers in etc.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Spencer

The Spectre doesn't have a porch for storage but the ends have zipped storage compartments.

There's no harm in putting the panniers inside the tent with you especially if the tent is 'one person bigger' than ist user(s) i.e. a 200 or 250 for one person 300 or 350 for two people.

 

[PpPete]

We've got the Omega 350.

Pros - aluminium poles (not common on tent at this price point)
- easy to put (all in one pitch)
Cons - can't separate inner & outer for drying when you get home.
- too heavy for backpacking or touring IMO

For touring we use Vaude Taurus Ultralight (1.8 kgs) Plenty of room inside for 2 + panniers, leaving porch free for cooking when raining.

 

[scraynes]

This is the classic compromise isn't it! The Ogema would be much more useful for things other than cycle touring - but the spectre is that much lighter.

The difference in weight is about 1.1 KG - how noticeable is that going to be? I could easily loss that weight myself ;-) or every use less pegs - or cut them down in length a bit?

I also like the omega being one piece to erect - should be quicker to put up but with the advantage of being outer first in effect.

Thanks for your input so far.

Spencer

 

[jags]

they reckon the best tent on the planet for cycle touring is the hilleberg nallo gt,expensive but hey you get what you pay for with nobbs on.i have the akto great tent but if i could afford to buy the nallo nuff said.

 

[Fab Foodie]

We've a Vango 350 and it's a great weekend tent, big porch,easy to erect. If the 250 is just a smaller lighter version I reckon it should be fine. The Porch space would be very useful.

 

[vernon]

It's possible to have a perfectly affordable and useable tent without getting hung up on the weight and the cost.

Worrying about the odd kg of tent weight is silly when it equates to a litre of water. I can't say that I notice any difference in my pedalling performance when I take my 3.5kg Vango Hydra tent instead of my budget Argos 1.2kg Tiger Paws one man tent. There again the weight difference is around 1% of my body mass. Flyweights might feel the difference

 

[scraynes]

Thanks for the comments.

I've decided that the Omega 250 it shall be. I could easily loose the extra weight myself! Going forward the Omega seems a much more useful option. Teh potch would be so useful in the rain to keep the sleeping area clean.

I see that the 2010 model will have a few improvements, one being that the pack lenght will be about 7 cm shorter which is aimed at cycling. So will need to wait for that to be released unless I can get a bargin 2009 one.

I notice that the 2010 Omega 350 is out now, so hopefully the 250 will be along shortly.

Just as an aside, I'm planning on using the tent for a trip that I'm planning for next April/May. I will be going for St Malo to Sete on the Med coast. Route is abit undecided for the top half - but one I reach Bordeaux, looking to follow the Canal De Garonne and then the Canal du Midi.