North Ridge Torre XL

[digitalcaptive]

Not so much a review but here goes

On Friday in preparation for the coming years camp outs and in the interest of losing some weight from my luggage I went looking for a new tent at Go Outdoors.
My current Vango Beta 450 has served me well for two years worth of xrv style camping and is going to remain my backup but at 7.5kg like its owner it***8217;s a bit on the heavy side but I have benefitted from the copious amounts of space that comes with the extra weight.
When looking for the replacement one thing I was sure of was that I needed a tent with a porch (after last Novembers peak district camp this space proved invaluable in keeping wet from the sleeping area).
After reading a bit about what was available three tents seemed to fit my requirements, Coleman Phad 3, Vango Omega 250, and the North Ridge Torre XL so armed with a bit of insight of I went, Go Outdoors (Loughborough) had all three of the tents I was looking at pitched outside so I got the chance to have a proper look, first the Coleman, this looks and incredibly sturdy structure and bags of room in the sleeping area spoiled only by the fact that the porch although having quite a large footprint tapered off sharply at the top rendering it less useful that others I had seen ....so discounted this one, The Vango Omega 250...Now this tent always appealed to me and to be honest I really thought this was the one I'd be going home with but the display tent was showing really bad wear marks where the poles went into the loop and the zip on the door had come away from the tent fabric, I'm aware that these display tents have probably been there "on display" for a while with hundreds of people climbing in and out of them but this put me off even though the tent in every other aspect ticked all the boxes....but discounted this one too!
The North Ridge Torre XL ..... Now specification wise this tent really impresses for starters Fly sheet Hydrostatic Head 5000mm and 4.4kg (other specs I'll post later) this figure alone is rarely quoted in tents within my budget the footprint of this tent seems massive for a two man and the space is really useable, Not unlike the Omega in many aspects but just seemed better quality this was enough for me to decide on this for my next tent so off home I go £135.00 lighter.
Well today I thought I'd better have a test pitch prior to our Peil Island meet at the end of this month .......so here goes.........Oh......no pegs! bugger, right so an hour and a half later I'd been and swapped it at Go Outdoors and was ready to go.....again.... Not much to report really 20 minutes to erect, Typical of all other tunnel tents I'd pitched before it, made easier by colour coding poles and tent, This is supposed to be a "flysheet first" type pitching but in reality it looks like it would pitch as one, I've left the bedroom in place anyway so we'll see at Peil Island

So far? I'm pleased with my choice, If this tent lasts as well as my old Beta then I'll have no complaints. All in all it looks like I've managed to shave over 3kg from my luggage without too much compromise on space

Berth:
2
Bedrooms:
1
Doors:
1
Height (cm):
105.00
Length (cm):
120.00
Width (cm):
255.00
Flysheet Hydrostatic Head (mm):
5000
Weight (kg):
4.40
Pack Size (cm):
57 x 17 x 16
Bedroom Dimensions (cm):
140 x 215 x 110
Pitching Order:
Outer First
Pole Style:
Alloy




Before anyone mentions it, yes I know its not tentioned up correctly, It was just a test pitch to familiarise myself with the tent