Vango Spirit 200 + (plus) pole breakage?

[bretonbikes]

Looking at the construction of such poles most appear to come from the same few Chinese factories - you will see that the thin ferrule is held in place by being pushed into the pole section and then four small dimples being bashed into it to grip. Often with new poles you'll see tiny cracks here, and with time those cracks will open so it's worth keeping an eye on them to predict when they are about to go. This is where most failures occur. By definition then the worst poles will be those with lots of joints in order to make a shorter pole - try to avoid such designs. Some poles (like DAC) are now an interference fit rather than dimples and they do seem to last better.

As I say I'm hopeful of the retailer and Vango sorting this, but on the design issues you mention, I have no idea what DAC poles are. A manufacturer?

I was wondering if short section poles may be an issue as I noticed that the new 55cm sections of pole which Vango sent me seemed to flex rather more than the shorter sections used on the tent - the 55cm length of course was cut down to the appropriate length and as I may have noted elsewhere the lengths are not all the same. I rather had the impression that the shorter lengths didn't flex as much and instead transmitted more force to the join between the ferrule and the "outer" of the next pole. In both cases it was this "outer" which broke. The ferrules lived merrily on.

I don't have all of the tent poles in front of me at the moment but yes I did note that many seemed to have the ferrules fastened to the rest of the pole by the "dimples" method. This might be something to do with the fact that the pole metal is colour coded but the ferrule is bog standard silver.

The replacement 55cm sections are completely silver and there are no dimples that I can see where the ferrule joins the rest of the pole - maybe they are interference fit.

I should stress though that I inspected all the poles for damage, saw no cracks or anything, and no ferrules have failed.

The problem is that at the joints the alloy is actually twice the thickness (i.e. the ferrul and the pole combined) so that section will be very resistant to bending so yes a pole with many joints will be much less flexible, and at each joint the thinner pole section will be stressed where it meets the stiff joint rather like bending a stick over your knee.

Looks like the replacements are better - DAC are a pole manufacturer.

As an aside, our season has just finished, and the aforementioned Robens tents http://www.robens.de/en/Products/Tents/ ... odge2.aspx are the first we've ever had to complete a season without a single pole breakage and have been hugely popular with our clients. Can't tell you what a relief it is to be able to give out totally reliable gear!

[Sweep]

Well some good (ish) news.

Vango came back to me via outdoorworlddirect and have said that they are going to "professionally repair" the tent pole sleeve on the flysheet so that apparently I won't be able to tell it from new. They accelerated the process because of oddities with my situation. I'm a bit puzzled as to how this is more economic for them than just swapping the bit out with another Chinese bit rolled off the production line at a rate of knots but there you go. If the repair is that good I'm happy. I had kind of started to lean towards maybe asking for a refund as I still have doubts (understandable I think in the circumstances) about the tent, but these things have a certain momentum and I have been pushing hard. I've also asked them to sort the non-buckling pitching buckles, so more sewing for them.

http://www.outdoorworlddirect.co.uk have been very good with this issue and very responsive and I would definitely recomend them. And no premium rate number - see below - which I think always creates a good impression/gives you the feeling that a company is actually willing to speak to you. It helped I think that I was able to give them a complete pitching history with dates and locations. This wasn't actually much trouble for me since it had been used so little.

A few things Vango owners might be interested in.

http://www.campingspares.co.uk, Vango's sister company, seems to stress that if a pole section breaks it is vital that all the bits are put back together in the same order. While it is clearly important that any gothic arch remains in the centre, I have no idea at all why this might be. When I repaired the first pole, though ignorant of this rule, I definitely put everything back in the same order simply because of the way I did the job, but the latest broken pole was returned to them in bits (it was taken apart to get it out of the sleeve) so hopefully they will just give me an entirely new pole.

Bretonbikes seems to be a bit of expert on poles so maybe he/she has an idea why the pole fairy might be annoyed by sections going back in a different order.

If you need to contact Vango, particularly from a field on your mobile, it might be an idea to scribble this phone number on the tent pitching instructions instead of the premium rate one (followed by inevitable press this for, that for ..) they give. Doesn't create a good impression.

The number: 0141 773 5475 .

I'll definitely be taking at least one spare pole section in future, and a hacksaw blade, and the temporary repair sleeve/splint, and maybe the repair sleeve/splint from another tent.

[bretonbikes]

Well some good (ish) news.

Vango came back to me via outdoorworlddirect and have said that they are going to "professionally repair" the tent pole sleeve on the flysheet so that apparently I won't be able to tell it from new. They accelerated the process because of oddities with my situation. I'm a bit puzzled as to how this is more economic for them than just swapping the bit out with another Chinese bit rolled off the production line at a rate of knots but there you go. If the repair is that good I'm happy. I had kind of started to lean towards maybe asking for a refund as I still have doubts (understandable I think in the circumstances) about the tent, but these things have a certain momentum and I have been pushing hard. I've also asked them to sort the non-buckling pitching buckles, so more sewing for them.

http://www.outdoorworlddirect.co.uk have been very good with this issue and very responsive and I would definitely recomend them. And no premium rate number - see below - which I think always creates a good impression/gives you the feeling that a company is actually willing to speak to you. It helped I think that I was able to give them a complete pitching history with dates and locations. This wasn't actually much trouble for me since it had been used so little.

A few things Vango owners might be interested in.

http://www.campingspares.co.uk, Vango's sister company, seems to stress that if a pole section breaks it is vital that all the bits are put back together in the same order. While it is clearly important that any gothic arch remains in the centre, I have no idea at all why this might be. When I repaired the first pole, though ignorant of this rule, I definitely put everything back in the same order simply because of the way I did the job, but the latest broken pole was returned to them in bits (it was taken apart to get it out of the sleeve) so hopefully they will just give me an entirely new pole.

Bretonbikes seems to be a bit of expert on poles so maybe he/she has an idea why the pole fairy might be annoyed by sections going back in a different order.

If you need to contact Vango, particularly from a field on your mobile, it might be an idea to scribble this phone number on the tent pitching instructions instead of the premium rate one (followed by inevitable press this for, that for ..) they give. Doesn't create a good impression.

The number: 0141 773 5475 .

I'll definitely be taking at least one spare pole section in future, and a hacksaw blade, and the temporary repair sleeve/splint, and maybe the repair sleeve/splint from another tent.

Not heard about keeping sections all the same order? Perhaps they take a 'set' or if they are pre-bent that's all important?

My expertise in poles comes from the dustbin full of broken poles I've accumulated some seasons rather than any technical skill:-) And yes take at least two sleeves for breaks - rather like spokes sometimes a break is a one-off, sometimes the harbinger of something rather more serious. In extremis any DIY shop will cut you a piece of copper pipe to do the job.

[Sweep]

No, the only pre-bent sections with the Vango are the gothic arches.

The "same order dictat" is here under assembling sections - the alloy bit.

http://www.campingspares.co.uk/acatalog/Faqs.html

I have two Coleman tents and they use rather a lot of pre-bent sections.

This might be a good idea initially (the poles do seem to bend and flex nicely which seems good) but what the hell do you do if one of those should break?

[Sweep]

http://www.campingspares.co.uk/acatalog ... parts.html

Answering my own question - maybe here. Some of their prices seem decent, some less so.

[bretonbikes]

No, the only pre-bent sections with the Vango are the gothic arches.

The "same order dictat" is here under assembling sections - the alloy bit.

http://www.campingspares.co.uk/acatalog/Faqs.html

I have two Coleman tents and they use rather a lot of pre-bent sections.

This might be a good idea initially (the poles do seem to bend and flex nicely which seems good) but what the hell do you do if one of those should break?

Hmm - i suspect that merely refers to tents that have various bends and angles in some tubes and it is just easier to state it as a general rule so that the order isn't lost.

Nice to see a company with decent back-up in spares though...

[andymiller]

Sorry if this has already been said but I haven't time to read through all the posts.

Vaude do a short length of tube which you fit over the broken section of pole - it's very simple but effective as an emergency repair. Presumably other manufacturers do something similar (or perhaps you could make one yourself). Having got me through several weeks with a broken pole, it's on my 'Don't Leave Home Without One' list.

[Sweep]

Hmm - i suspect that merely refers to tents that have various bends and angles in some tubes and it is just easier to state it as a general rule so that the order isn't lost.

You may well be right - maybe the endless exclusions in Vango's "guarantee" and my paranoia about their breaking poles is getting to me. Or maybe Vango's tent instructions are also being written by their lawyers.

[margyparker]

We have the same tent. My husband used it for 4 days and then we used it on the end to end. Same pole broke.

[Sweep]

Update

Tent returned from Vango - I got them to accelerate their normal process of what I gather is about 5 weeks for "special circumstances"

Tent has been repaired. You can see where they've done it but functionally it is as good as new.

They also sorted the pole and in addition, to my surprise, sent a spare "gothic arch" small section and on further examination I realised that the angle and dimensions of that are the same on all three poles. So that was good of them. Although that wasn't the bit that went on mine and I don't really expect it to - in both instances it was the sleeve of the join that went rather than the ferrule and the gothic arch bit has a ferrule either side. Might be an idea for owners of the tent (and similar ones) to secure a spare of this bit as while you can repair other broken poles with the repair sleeve and some duct tape, or even cut new pole section to length and insert that, I'm not sure what you could do if this bit were to go.

The tent was just outside it's "guarantee" but I sent them a full and very detailed and true pitching history. They sorted it free of charge as a "gesture of goodwill" - I suppose in case there's any legal comeback from them establishing the expectation that a tent will outlast 10 nights/protect themselves from piss-takers..

Oh the apparently mis-threaded rear-of-tent tensioning buckles were apparently on the rght way round - clearly you are meant to peg the loop formed by the buckle rather than what seems to be the natural bit to peg/formed as if to take a peg. Doing it their way though may twist the strap a bit (amongst many cautions they warn you not to twist anything) and actually be as much of a faff as my previous system. Not much in it,

So the tent is now really good as new.

My only question now I suppose is whether that is good enough - after my experience I do have certain concerns/worries about the tent. I'm not altogether convinced by it's design/execution.

After it went away and I was unsure what was going to happen I did get another tent (!) and although I haven't yet camped in it, it was half the list price and half the actual purchase price and I can't help feeling that it's probably effectively just as good, maybe better.

[dofeleader]

I've just come back from a 4 day Gold expedition where on the first night the group managed to break the gothic arch section in exactly the same place on two poles; the ferrule snapped off completely from one end on both of them. Apparently a gust of wind caught the tent as they were erecting it. The tent was new in Feb 2012 and has been used a total of 7 nights since then. They managed to "fix" one pole with the sleeve provided in the emergency kit but not both. I will be writing to Vango and the retailer as I think this is either a design fault or a Friday afternoon job. It is a DofE recommended tent and this is not satisfactory.

[Sweep]

Good luck dofeleader.

Despite the free repair I got I no longer have a great deal of confidence in this tent - both times I had a breakage I was within a day's cycle ride of home so I was lucky.

Your situation sounds very similar to mine in terms of usage/guarantee period - ie: hardly any use but technically outside the one year guarantee.

I'd get in touch and then send them a very detailed letter with full details of pitching dates (so they can check the weather!) and places and making the very reasonable point that though you are outside the guarantee by a tiny bit their product appears to be suspect/flawed.

I look forward to your report back.

<EDITED for typo>

[niggle]

After it went away and I was unsure what was going to happen I did get another tent (!) and although I haven't yet camped in it, it was half the list price and half the actual purchase price and I can't help feeling that it's probably effectively just as good, maybe better.

So what was the other tent and how has that behaved?

[Sweep]

Coleman Avior X3 as recommended on here- no longer available I think - mine cost around £80 end of stock deal.

If you search for it you will find a fair bit on it on this forum.

Maker's spec here:


http://www.coleman.eu/p-22794-avior8482-x3.aspx

It hasn't actually been used in anger yet unless you count my front lawn (which bemused the neighbours) but I generally like what I see so far. Porch is substantially smaller than the Vango and you have to be careful not to let water in when getting in and out of the side but I do have the feeling that it's tougher than the Vango, maybe because it's designers weren't so obsessed with weight saving.

I rather like Coleman tents - I have another one as well tho I decided that that's too small to be practical for cycle touring.

[drossall]

I've got a Coleman Epsilon 2, which is quite small, but good for carrying by bike.

I've just come back from a 4 day Gold expedition where on the first night the group managed to break the gothic arch section in exactly the same place on two poles; the ferrule snapped off completely from one end on both of them.

It's the zips that my Scouts break. Some tents only last a few camps. We try to buy the same make each time and mix and match parts, but even then the cost adds up. I have to have training sessions on how to operate a zip...

Going back to my earlier post, my son in law bought an old Force Ten on eBay recently. Took a while to remember how to put it up