Vango Spirit 200 + (plus) tent pole breakage?

[BrazingSaddles]

Our Vango failed during our three month cycle tour - two out of the three poles. The response we got was extremely unsatisfactory "they are consumables" and thus not guaranteed. Shitbags! The design was a copy of a Hilleberg but they put an apex in the poles which is the weak spot. You get what you pay for I guess. So we pottered into Konstanz, spent a wonderful few hours in an amazing camping shop, parted with a fair amount of cash for an MSR tent, and have not regretted that purchase since.

 

[willem]

Good poles are really expensive, so manufacturers of budget tents shop around for cheap poles they hope will be good enough. Not apparently in this case. With Hilleberg you pay a lot, but you get more convenience and reliability. With our Hillebergs, we have never broken a pole in now fifteen years of sometimes hard use. Statistically that could be a freak just like poles of other makes that brake frequently, but it makes me feel more secure.
Willem

 

[Blue Hills]

I wouldn't be altogether surprised to find that the Vango poles are the same spec/effectively the same product as this:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/aluminium-pole-kit-id_4743808.html

At that price for the whole set, they are clearly cheap. Vango charge something over £5 for a single section of "their" poles. I need to do some more research on these Decathlon poles though/check that the lengths of the sections are sufficient to act as spares, suitably cut down, for the Vango. I'll definitely be taking a spare pole section or two on future trips.