#Vango airbeam tent problems trial

It was the crash of the stove hitting the ground which initially woke me it was the sound of the wind howling around which got me out of my sleeping bag to check everything was ok. With the awning securely in place, however, we were confident that our cooking equipment would be just fineвЂ¦ Our first outing in this tent proved to be something of a baptism of fire on the second night, we were presented with a severe weather warning (wind and rain) and the promise of truly testing conditions. The Capri 500XL is not vast, so we decided to add the awning for a little extraВ space вЂ“ specifically in order to house our food-prep table, stove (when not in use), cool box and kitchenware. In principle, adding a bespoke extension onto the side or front of a tent is a great idea вЂ“ it gives you more storage space in which to organise things which, in turn, ultimately adds to your comfort. There are also plenty of pockets all around, which come in handy for storing things like books, torches, teddy bears(!) and more besides. ThereвЂ™s plenty of space in the sleeping area itself, which comes with a removable toggled inner divider вЂ“ perfect for partitioning the space for privacy. These lead to a single living area with the bedroom area at the far end. Such a delight! This is thanks, in part, to the excellent double-action pump supplied with the tent.ДЄccess is granted via two doors вЂ“ one at the front (a covered entrance with bug-stopping mesh) and one at the side (which does not feature mesh, sadly). Gone are the frustrations of lengthy setup/pull-down times and having to wrangle multiple poles through flapping canvas sleeves in practice, each of the fourВ inflatable tubes of the Capri 500XL took less than a minute to reach its suggested pressure. Those of you familiar with VangoвЂ™s AirBeam technology will appreciate that it makes a huge difference to the start and end of any camping trip. In many ways, it can be thought of as a no-fuss, practical shelter suitable for 5 people (as designated by вЂ500вЂ™ in the name), with enough space for comfortable camping without compromise. The first thing to say is that convenience is one of this tentвЂ™s biggest selling points. Some were ideally level and sheltered others were on a slope by necessity and rather more exposed than we would have liked.Д«ut at the end of the day, you have to make the best of whatВ youвЂ™re presented withВ and trust in the equipment. Everything from baking-hot days and muggy evenings to afternoon downpours and thunder & lightning storms raging throughout the night. Weather-wise, this setup has had to contend with a lot. The picture above shows the awning in situ. This is a relatively spacious model in its most basic form, but we chose to add on the separately-available side awning with the following dimensions вЂ“ Length: 155cm, Width: 345cm, Height: 212cm.

I have pictures if you need to identify it.As we draw to the end of the fair-weather camping season, itвЂ™s time to reflect on the tent which my family and I have used for each of this yearвЂ™s week-long (and weekend) magazine feature trips вЂ“ the Vango Capri 500XL AirBeam. The tent was ok in use but we were disappointed, The Checking tag on the item said it was Checked or Manufactured on 30.10.21 and initialled R(squiggle) Purchase order P019131 for AMG. We tried to call the Helpline but couldnвЂ™t get thro (out of hours), so we had to take the tent anyway as there was no time to get a replacement. The cut was not a torn seam and looked very much like a sloppy cut by some scissors.

#Vango airbeam tent problems trial

We decided to put it up as a trial run shortly before leaving for the festival and discovered the cut in the fabric close to a sewn seam with some loose trailing thread. However more seriously it had a cut in the fabric when we first opened it.

Firstly I didnвЂ™t receive any delivery tracking information to tell me when the item would be delivered and so it was fortunate that I was in when it did. We have used a Vango ICARUS 500 for some years and have been very pleased but wanted a slightly smaller and lighter tent to take to a Festival so bought a BETA 550XL.