UKC

I've been looking for a new car camping tent & quite like the look of some of the Vango ones. We use some 2015/2016 models at Scouts and they are pretty bombproof. 

However, Vango now seem to have introduced a pointy ‘gothic arch’ into the poles, which looks to me to be a weak point in the curve. Does anybody have any experience of these poles and whether they are robust enough for 3 season use?

Got a cheap Vango tent as a emergency one, as my previous one has developed some leaks. Has the arch in the pole. Made me frown when I encountered it also. The overall quality of the of the tent is so dismal that I won't be buying Vango again. 

Lightwave have/has some pointy arches on some of their lightweight tents. I'm sure they argued that they were stronger IIRC. 

I have a Vango Spirit (the 2.5 man tent) of 2012 vintage which has the pointed shape. This is a really well made and robust tent, and I think the point may well be the strongest part of the pole. The point also works well with the diagonal tension straps because you can put more tension on without the pole bowing out.

The short kinked section does mean that the poles don't fold up quite as neatly.

In summary I think it improves the shape of the tent with minimal downsides.

NB the Spirit was ~£550 pounds worth of tent in 2012, so a different beast from the <£200 tents with this feature.

Fundamentally the Gothic Arch will be strong for the height, and never heard of any problems specific to this part of the poles (I was dealing with Vango in a previous job), and they've been using it for a good few years now.

Quality of the manufacture and materials used will probably be more important at the value end of the market. 

I'd guess that for tents at that price point it introduces an unnecessary additional point of weakness.

Hey Fozzy, which tent are you talking about? The Hydra and Mirage both seem like cracking 3 / 4 season tents in terms of bang for buck, so hopefully someone who has one can comment. I've had two vango tech tents and the quality is great in my experience. 

I'm thinking about buying a hydra for an all year round hiking tent and I'll probably ditch the inner for warmer months.  If you look at the spec for the F10 Makalu, both the Hydra and Mirage have similar design but stronger fly sheets and heavier aluminum poles so solid for Scottish summer and winter weather. 

For car camping / base tent I highly recommend the Vango Omega series. I have the 350. Got it on Gum tree for £35 and it's a spanking tent. It took one week of torrential rain and gales in the Lakes last year and shrugged it off, and there was some serious tent carnage on the site including a trashed land rover defender safari number...the fello and his Mrs were clearly displeased with their windy, wet night, 2 meters off the ground, but you got to get high to avoid those herdwick sheep!

I lived in the omega 350 for 2 weeks last year. I'm 6ft and I'd deffo go for the 500XL if I buy another car / base camp tent. Same pitch time, so the height wins for longer stays.

Can anyone that owns a Vango hydra or mirage please advise how they handled snow load this winter if you managed to get out?

Camping rocks!

Wouldn't that depend upon real the world rate of failures, or absence of them?