New From Vango Scoop

We're just back from the sunny Midlands and a sneak preview of some of the stuff that's new from Vango for the Spring/Summer 2002 season, which means that most of it won't be in the shops until March or so next year.

To be honest, we don't expect cutting-edge design from the Scottish company - if you're after sound kit at a decent price, they've always been a good option - but some of the top end tents for next year look like they'd hold their own with the best.

Incidentally, as we reported a couple of weeks back, sister-name Phoenix is now just a clothing brand. From the Spring 2002 season, all the tents, sleeping bags and packs will be badged as Vango. Got it? Okay, enough stuffing, here are a few of the more interesting items from the range...

Tents

With the Phoenix tents gone to the great trash can in the sky, there are now three top-end Force Ten expedition/mountain tents - prices from £280 to £400. And if Force Ten reminds you of old scout tents, don't worry, these are serious geodesic, all-singing, all dancing jobbies with a load of features.

The two things that really stand out are the new SL66 fabric on the two-man Ascent and the TSS pole support system on the larger Vortex and Spindrift designs.

SL66 is a new Du Pont flysheet fabric that's claimed to be lighter but stronger than previous fabrics. It uses a dense weave that feels smoother than the other Vango fly fabrics and is also used on the new Vango Phantom ultralightweight tent aimed at backpackers, cyclists and climbers.

TSS stands for Tri-Support System. It's a stabilising gizmo that provides extra support at the base of the main poles using a pair of mini support poles to form a stable tripod and increase the overall rigidity of the pole - it looks a little unusual, but you can feel the additional stiffness in the poles and the additional weight should be minimal.

Sleeping Bags Again it's goodbye to the Phoenix brand and those whacky metallic bags and strange diagonal zips. They're history. Instead everything's Vango and, as we reported a couple of weeks back, all the bags in the range are being tested for temperature rating in a top French laboratory, so what you see on the label should be what you get.

The most interesting of the bags is in the shops already. Called the Predator, it's a synthetic bag using two different types of insulation - DuPont Thermolite Extra in the body and side areas and Thermolite Micro for the base section, which is compressed when the bag is being used.

The Predators use 3D construction, which means there's a seperate sidewall, which helps to surround the body more effectively than a 'flat' bag and prevent dead air spots, say Vango. Interesting idea. The warmest 2.2 kilo Predator 400 is comfort rated down to minus 18 degrees C, but priced at £90.00.

If you're a weight-saving freak on a tight budget, keep an eye open for the new Venom range which use goose down, a hlf-zip and lightweight fabrics to keep weight down and pack size tiny, with prices ranging between £70 and £100.

Packs It's mostly tweaking rather than revolution on the pack front with the big Denali, Pumori and Canyon packs all getting hydration system compatibility built in for next year. Brilliant, we reckon there's no excuse not to.

The other sacks that really caught our eye were the new Super Canyon 40+8 and 50+10. They're pretty much no nonsense technical day/weekend sacks - the smaller one looks like an ideal Scottish winter mountaineering pack - but they're unusual in that they have an adjustable back system, which is unusual in a relatively small capacity pack. At £55 and £45 respectively, they look like they're going to be in the classic Vango no-nonsense, good value mould.