Well, just a few days after my previous post I received an email from Amazon advising that they are unable to supply the Vaude Power Lizard UL I ordered and it has been ‘discontinued’! This smacks of Vaude being unhappy with Amazon selling it at £256 (against an RRP of £350) and refusing to supply them, even though Amazon upped the price last week to £296!
I can probably get hold of a VPL for £300 but it doesn’t look such good value at that price against a Laser Comp (available for around £220 ) and the Scarp 1 (circa £230 depending on exchange rate, VAT and handling charges). The up-shot is I’m back to square one! Bugger!
Get a Scarp. I was setting up my new flysheet on mine at the weekend. It is stunning and with the extra poles it gives you so many options. Two porches as well. Weight is still light.
It's odd when manufactures do that. If Vaude sell the tent to all merchants at a certain price and amazon can still make a profit reselling at a low price, isn't it a good thing for Vaude? What skin is it off their nose?
Who's soon? 🙂
That's a shame. I was looking forward to a review. I guess it's a question of weight vs. function. The Scarp is functionally the best tent. The LC or VPL are both lighter. Have you thought about the Duomid?
Thanks Martin/Robin. The Scarp is definitely tempting but I cant help feeling its a little porky around 0.5kg heavier than the Laser Comp. There aren't that many user reviews – I'm sure there are plenty of others still waiting for you to give it a first outing this year!! Two years ago the arguments were all about the Laser v Akto and I tended to side with the Laser. The Scarp feels like an evolved Akto whereas the VPL appears to have evolved from the Laser Comp.
Robin, the DuoMid is a little left-field minimalist for me. It amazes me that Terra Nova haven't addressed the common complaints about the LC over the years – or at least incorporated some of your mods. Others such as Vaude have stepped in to evolve the basic single-hoop design without compromising weight too much. I must admit the few VPL pic's I've seen haven't showed a particularly taut pitch so it will be interesting to see if the VPL is any more stable (or quieter) than the Comp in high winds.
250g more than a Laser Comp. More space and hight. Better in the wind and packs small. Fast to pitch. Lot faster than a LC. Better ventilation and simple to split the inner from the outer. I rate the LC over the Akto but the Scarp is class. I have used it with the old flysheet high wildcamping in bad weather and it is superb. Chris Townsend reviewed it and rates it highly. He used it on the 09 Challenge. I did a review on it and did not like the high cut fly. Now corrected and improved.
Hey Martin, you're twisting my arm!! I recall Robin reporting a weight of 1390g without the crossover poles whereas the LC was around 900g, but can't disagree with the features/stability. Been looking for the Chris Townsend review without joy.
It was in the TGO. Click the word Scarp on my blog label cloud and be tempted.
Thanks Martin. Can't find my old copy of TGO and the review is not on the TGO or Chris Townsend websites. Have you tried 2-up in your Scarp yet – its gonna be tight but is it possible (2-doors prob help). Do you find the porch big enough to cook in – I've read conflicting reports on this?
UPDATE – I contacted Chris Townsend direct and he kindly emailed me his review.
Chris said in the review that the porch is Ok but you can peg back the inner to make a bigger space to cook. I posted a photo a long time back of a Laser having the inner pegged back with a spare tent peg and it shows how much room you can get doing this. I rate the porches as there are two and this gives more ventilation. He used the Scarp in Scotland a lot testing it and on the Challenge. So it works. Add in the updated flysheet and it is a winner. Light is not always right. Sometimes a few grams more can give a lot more comfort, performance and space.
My Laser Comp weighs 1.1kg on my digital scales (with titanium pegs). Most things do seem to be a bit heavier than advertised weight. Time to get new scales ;o).
I'll be using the Scarp in two weeks time and will give an update then.
Cheers Martin/Robin, I've emailed Henry at Tarptent to find out current lead times, though I'm resigned to no new tent for Easter.
Robin, all that extra weight must be due to your mods..! The mezzanine floor and kitchen sink must have added a few grammes..lol:)
A bit late on this one: I approximately confirm Robin's measurements for the LaserComp. As supplied mine weighed 1kg exactly. I carry a mixture of decent titanium pegs and it's around 1.1kg, no mods.
Hi Geoff, thanks for the feedback – its interesting to see what real-world weights are compared to the manufacturers figures. At around 1.1kg the Scarp would appear to be only 250g heavier – not bad considering it has 5 mini-poles at each end to aid stability. I wonder if Henry could produce a 'lite' version complete with carbon poles at the ends – with 10 of them you would need to strip much weight per pole to drop another 100g+.