I used to have a VE25, it was probably my favourite possession...but it all went so wrong.

One hot summers day, when camping at a popular site with my partner, a small child ran past the tent, tripping over the guy line, ripping it clean off the side of the tent! picked up the guy line and brought it to me, saying 'this came off'. I told him not to run around the site, in case similar accidents happened again, and then spent the rest of the day sulking about my poor tent :(
So...fast forward about 4 months to a very wet & windy night, in Snowdonia again, pitched my VE25 (shy of 1 guy!) on a nice spot, and went to the pub.
When we returned, the tent was tangled in a barbed wire fence, shredded to pieces. I've never been so pee'd off!!!
the following morning (we slept in a bunkhouse) we inspected the pitch, and found all the guy lines securely pegged into the ground, just unfortunately, not attached to the tent any more!! Cue many emails to TNF...to no avail, leaving me tent less!

So, about 6 months ago, we got offered another VE25 at a very discounted price, an offer I couldn't refuse. First time out, someone trips on the guys in the dark, rips it clean off...2nd night, same story, another guy ripped off,... so disappointing, I'd hoped the weakness was just a one off, but seems not.

The tent itself is lovely, so spacious, so many storage pockets too. Loads of room inside, and in the porches, and with the optional gear loft and footprint available, the flexibilities of the tent are brilliant.

The tent's bag is made of the same lightweight ripstop nylon...and needless to say, the first time you try to put the tent back in the bag, it rips!!

so, a message to North Face: WHY have you sacrificed quality and strength for a few grammes of weight...on a heavy tent that's not intended as a hike tent anyway?

Conclusion for potential customers: Great tent, lovely inside, probably ideal at remote high mountain camp sites which are free of clumsy children/drunken friends...but I'd have second thoughts about trusting it to withstand a storm, and when you're descending a significant summit, getting back to camp to find neatly arranged guy lines, but no tent would be a massive psychological trauma, and quite possibly a fatal mistake!

EDIT:

I've since been in discussions with TNF, and the tent has gone to their warranty department...watch this space for an update!