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Thanks, good to hear from someone who owns it. Yes, the extra vestibule is definitely what attracted me to it (besides it being a Vango). One or two reviewers on youtube also let on that they had come by car, which left me wondering if I was being realistic about this as a solo bike tent. As you can probably tell, I am a bit new to the topic and am still finding my way. I have done loads of research.
I did try to camp in Scotland many years ago with a cheapie ancient and tiny tent I picked up. The experience was awful - midges, loud neigbours and a feeling of claustrophobia. Gave it to a charity shop the next day. Anyway, I loved Scotland, so enjoy reading of your rides there.
But I have been yearning for this again, with better equipment. Want to get closer to the natural world and its sounds.
Hornsweep-
I know that the whole motorbike thing means it's not totally equivalent, but I was also struggling with the most suitable tent vs vestibule vs weight thing. In the end for the trip both me and the mate went for bivi's and the tarp.
The mate is a unit, 6'5 South African, and definitely used every inch of space in the Rab Ridge Raider. I think realistically it would have suited me at 6' and slight shoulders, but although he struggled a little bit to roll around in the night he managed to sleep. The bug net was useful even though we didn't have any midges.
The bivi I used had more than enough space for me and valuables. I sewed up a velcro bug net to attach to the storm flap on my bivi. It allowed me to keep some ventilation and avoid any insects getting inside.
The large ripstop tarp was way more suitable as a vestibule, as it was draped over us to keep off the majority of the overnight drizzle and dew, but loads of room underneath for storage without stinking up our sleep.
TL:DR - I think regardless of the tent/bivi/whatever, carrying an UL tarp to use for vestibule is worth the 300-500g penalty.
pdlouche
I think that's what we have.
Yeah, it's hefty, somewhere over 2kg but we bought it with a plan to do Scotland in winter and wanted the extra room for cooking, getting changed in, that our 1kg Fly Creek HV UL2 didn't provide and we weren't too concerned about weight. Pack size is a bigger issue and it's hard to get this small enough to work on certain setups.
I've only used it in Belgium from the back of car so can't give real world use other than to say the extra vestibule bit is quite handy.