AD: Vango sent me the tent to review, but as always all opinions are my own.
As a small family of three we have tried a variety of tents over the past 8 years, from tiny three men tents with low roofs (not recommended), to a large tent with three bedrooms, which ended up being too much of a faff for us, as we don’t need all that space. So when Vango got in touch to see if I would like to try one of their new range family tents, I jumped at the chance. I had a good browse through the catalog and the Winslow 500 popped out as it seemed simple, yet spacious, and at £260 I found it to be really good value.
We always do at least two or three camping trips a year, so I wanted to make sure the tent was hardy enough, watertight for our great British summers, and hopefully big enough for the three of us, which includes 6ft3 dad!
I tested the tent out last weekend during our school camping weekend, and ended up putting the tent all by myself, which I was slightly worried about. Should I have had anything to worry about? Not at all. I got it up in about 40 minutes with plenty of water breaks (and one calipso) as the thermometer was hitting a balmy 28c.
Putting up the Vango Winslow 500 tent
The Vango Winslow 500 tent comes with basic instructions, but if you have ever put a tent up before you’ll be just fine as it’s all very intuitive.
The tent has three black poles and a stitched in groundsheet. And that’s pretty much it! Once you’ve put the three, well labeled, poles through the tent starts to get shape and you’re off to clipping and pegging. Simple.
The bedrooms also just clip in at the end, leaving you with two very spacious rooms with great height room, and a very large lounge area, which again has very good height room so you can use it for storage, chairs and a table, reading area – whatever you wish.
The two bedrooms can also be easily changed into one larger rooms if you’re sleeping with toddlers or baby.
Heat & Cold test
It may have been a better weekend had it not rained, but after two days of 30c we woke up to rain on our last day. The tent was fairly airy during the hot weather with two side vent windows (doors would have been draughtier, but it still worked), and the nights were cool and comfortable. I’m also very pleased to say that the inside of our tent was completely dry during and after the rain, which was a massive relief especially after the time we woke up in Nashville on a tent island! The water came off the tent pretty well as the material is nice and water-repellent.
Veredict
It may sound like an exaggeration but I found the balance of price, ease of pitch and the space makes this tent a fantastic option for small families, either two parents and two small children, or one bigger one. I know I won’t replace it anytime soon, and would likely get the same when it’s time. The quality and attention to detail really is exceptional, and the tent felt far sturdier than any of the other ones we’ve tried in the past.
I will take it out again at the end of August, so will update this post with anything extra, and hopefully a video tour of both putting the tent up and the tent itself as my battery ran out during our last trip! In the meantime, if you have any questions, please just leave me a comment below as I’m always happy to help!
Extras:
Canopy: The porch door can also extend by buying some extra king poles to create a canopy allowing for more circulation in those hotter days. I will do this for our next camping trip, so will show you what it looks like then.
Carpet: I used a large picnic blanket for lounge carpet, but you can buy one that actually fits here.
Find out more about the Winslow 500 and buy it here
