Gear

I have found the Mountain Hardwear Trango 2 for a good price but it is still more expensive than other tents I have been looking at, such as the Marmot Grid. I am wondering if this tent is worth the money, please help!!.

I would be using the tent for a lot of car camping but I also would like to use it back-packing, At the moment I go back-packing all through the winter on Dartmoor, where the weather can get really foul with terrential rain. As well as Dartmoor I would like to start going further afield as soon as I finish school I would like to start going off and doing a lot more winter walking in snowy conditions and I would like to camp.

So...What i am asking is:Is this tent worth the money for my cryteria?

If not, any other suggestions for tents?

Thanks 

Mike

Mike,

without a price, it's hard to say if the price is right !

John

The Price is £292.50, hope this helps.

I go camping with my family still sometimes on holiday...and yes I am still at school, is it a problem?

Mike - a cursory google shows a best price of £330 for a 2009 model - so it seems you have a good price.

Will you be solo backpacking with this tent? If so, it's heavy at a min. weight of 4.15kg (which is still relatively heavy split between two). The Marmot Grid 2 is 2.5kg (I think)...

Hi thanks Jokaro,

Umm yeah I would be sharing the load, I have back-packed with tents of similar weights sharing loads (Vaude Mark III etc.), is the tents quality worth the weight?

Mike

If you're happy with the weight the Trango 2 is an excellent 4 season tent. For that price you could also consider the F10 Vortex (about £15 cheaper direct on ebay), which has a porch at each end and is a similar quality 4 season mountain tent - both are good enough to have been regularly used in the Himalaya.

One of the differences between the F10 and Trango is in the hydrostatic head of the flysheet; the F10 is 5,000mm and the Trango is 1,500mm. Now this is not the only factor to consider when assessing relative waterproof qualities - design, materials etc. There is a thread discussing HH somewhere on OM...

It's easy choosing tents...

i am a big fan of the vortex... i have camped in one numerous times and stands up to anytihng.... however 1,500mm is when a tent can be classed as waterproof soo... that migth be a factor.. what are the poles on the trango.

i have never used one and dont know what they are made out of?

Regards

John

The poles are Atlas Scandium XL I think. I was concerned by the HH of the Trango but on lots of review sites it said that the 'waterproofness' of the Trango was good?

I'll take a look at the F10 Vortex, thanks for the suggestion.

Mike

I have an F10 Spindrift which is the big brother of the vortex.  It is heavy but fantastic when the weather turns nasty.  I have seen some of the trangos up close but never used one, they look good.  The pros of the lower HH on the trango may mean you get less condensation but condensation is not a problem in the spindrift.  The downside is that if you touch the flysheet on the inside you may get water coming through with the lower HH.  Another thing to consider is that the lower HH may mean your tent looses some of it's waterproofness after a year or two of use, not a problem with 3000HH but may be worth thinking about.  My F10 has hads lots of use (5 years or so) and it still does not leak anywhere and you can brush up against the flysheet without worrying about water penetration.  Most cotton tents I thing were about 800HH and they still keep you dry if you are carefull...

The Trango (or Vortex) is much, much stronger than the likes of the Grid.  Which is good... but do you really need that?  If you're planning winter camping on the 'Gorms plateau then an expedition tent like that makes a lot of sense, but for much else it's serious overkill.  Just because you're sharing the load doesn't make the extra weight okay: you could be carrying other stuff instead, like beer that would make much more sense! 

I have a Bunker class tent, but I only use it out of a sea-kayak where the bulk and weight don't matter.  I might use it for n exposed winter overnighter, but then again I may well go for one of my lighter tents instead.  While not so strong, they are strong enough for most things, and you have to really go out of your way to make a good quality lightweight tent suffer.

On to hydrostatic head mentioned higher, firt thing to note is there are different ways of measuring it so you're not always comparing apples with apples.  MH make good quality tents that are expedition tested across the world, and the Trango will be perfectly able to shed any rain that gets thrown at it (assuming you've pitched it properly).

Similarly, with what the poles are made of, like bicycle frames the material is only part of the story.  Again, we know that F10 poles and MH poles are expedition tested on the biggest peaks and they will be (a) up to most jobs and (b) very probably comparably good.

A friend has a Trango and I was impressed by it, but she did use it for winter climbing expeditions as a base-camp tent.  For most camping use I would go for something lighter, which while weaker will be strong enough for most things if it's pitched with a bit of thought.  ALternatively, you can trade off the strength against extra space and comfort, or a little less weight and a little more space, or something like that.

Pete.