Vango Venture 500 Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Vango Venture 500

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Vango > Venture 500 Reviews

Current Model?
Berths:
Weight:
RRP on date added:
Bedroom inners:
Living area groundsheet:
Pitching Style:

Discontinued
5 (more 5 berth tents)
11.25 KG
Ł125.00
2
Bathtub
Fly first

Average User Rating:

7.88/10 from 68 reviews

Viewed: 214262 times

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68 Reviews of the Venture 500 Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

By: Campintent Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2007 Rating: 8 from 10

Pitching style is all-in-one, not fly first as described.

I've used this tent every year since buying it and must have used it way more than a dozen times, often for two weeks at a stretch. I am fairly tall (6ft 4in / 193cm) and so this tent's height was it's main attraction for me. Although it's billed as a 5-man tent, it actually suits 2 mature adults very well. Unfortunately, it's size is also it's major flaw. There's a little bracing pole which supports the roof between the porch and the inner, called the 'brow pole', which snapped in a strong wind once. In June 2015, the porch pole snapped in a very high wind. This tent just isn't designed for windy conditions, but you can't always predict that when you set up camp, so it's really a bad design flaw. The guy ropes provided are inadequate and I use extra guy lines through the eyelets to brace it front and back. I have also cut a slit in the porch pole sleeve to allow me to add two extra guys to brace the top of the curve. That seems to have done the job.

The good news is that spare poles can be easily purchased online from Vango via their campingspares.Co.Uk website.

Pitching the tent is fairly straightforward, but is fiddly as the poles can easily get snagged in their sleeves, so a bit of care is required. Getting the poles to rise into position requires two people. The 'bathtub' porch groundsheet can be fiddly to fix down and doesn't always sit neatly. It would have been far better if it had been sewn-in all round. Like a lot of these dome and/or tunnel tents, unzipping the side door in rain causes a torrent of water to poor in off the roof and flood the groundsheet, which isn't great, so have a cloth or some kitchen towel standing by.

Grumbles aside, this is a lovely large and airy tent with plenty of sleeping space and loads of room to stash things in the porch. Despite the snapped poles, the tent fabric has proved to be very strong and has survived the punishment inflicted upon it when thrashing around in a wind with broken poles not providing support. Both bits of damage have occurred in Britain, but the tent has provided enjoyable accommodation many times in France and Spain when the weather has been kinder.

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By: Sakki66 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2005 Rating: 5 from 10

We have only used this tent 3 times. You may not believe this from my review but I really like the look of our tent. It is smart and neat. As for it being fit for purpose, now that is a different story. We didn't get this cheap, we paid full whack for this before they dropped in price. The first time we used this was for my wife and myself. We slept on the floor, on our friends large manicured lawn, to try it out. I can say it was spacious enough for two of us and not too much equipment. It is very easy to put up. Two main poles for the dome and one for the front. The bedroom compartment is domed, tall with a separate sleeping net. It was big enough for the big airbed that my wife wanted, with 3 foot either side to get in and out. The room can be divided in two by a purpose built sheet. All internal pegs/ties are colour co-ordinated. It has a small vent that is really fairly useless. The front area is Ok if the weather is good but not really big enough for two people if it rains (unless you both want to sit facing each other reading a book) and I would never want to spend any time in that area with our two children if it is a rainy day. The main problem is that the floor space is a lot more than the head space due to the angle of the front. That also means that rain or bright hot sun can get in if you want to leave the door open as you are open to the sky. Anyway, our first adventure was our first holiday and it was very wet and windy and I had to get out in the middle of the night as it was lifting upward. It blew around all over the place and as the dome is so tall and the wind can easily get under it then it would have made a great balloon if I hadn't tried to hammer all the pegs back in on sharp angles, as they lifted repeatedly. Not what you want to be doing in the early hours of a wet and windy night. The second holiday was yesterday. It was a very warm night. My wife, myself and two children slept in it and it really needs more ventilation for that dome as everything gets wet. My 3yr old little girl's beds were soaked as the sides became drenched as the heat built up over night with more than just a couple in it. The front gets wet too so leaving the bedroom door open (or just mesh) didn't help. Shame as we both like our tent and our little ones love it. But I think it will need to be replaced by something like a tunnel tent to give us more practical family space. I will be looking more at the ventilation in future as I don't plan holidaying in the wet that often :) I am not sure if I got more wet on the night it tried to become a balloon or the hot night when it became drenched inside.

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By: Burscobilly Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2005 Rating: 8 from 10

An excellent tent with space for two adults for any length of holiday, although now we have a little Billy it has sadly been demoted to a weekend tent.

The bag contains everything and the tent fits back into it with relative ease. The bag is strong and well made.

Pitching is a straightforward exercise and I note and agree with comments above about poles snagging when you remove them.

We chose this tent because you can stand up in it and the bedroom area takes a double bed with ease.

We bought poles to use the front door as a canopy and this was a worthwhile investment.

Sadly the Venture is no longer made, but we will continue to use ours for those shorter breaks. Although a smaller and more basic tent than our recently acquired Outwell Georgia 5P the advantage is weight and pack size.

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By: Cardi Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2007 Rating: 7 from 10

Good tent just had to replace 2 of the poles,part my fault part design if tent erected with bedroom facing prevailing wind no probs side on to wind puts a lot of strain on the poles I should know better.Mind you it was force 7 gusting 9 overnight and torrential rain no problem for the tent cover so to sum up Vango tents in general are well made even they cant perform miracles.

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By: Rach21cat Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2007 Rating: 9 from 10

We have loved this tent - it is really easy to pitch & has a sensible layout. It was perfect for 2 adults when camping for several days, however we now have 2 children (aged 5 & 10 months) & it is definitely far too small now! The sleeping area can just about squash in 2 double airbeds but the living area is just too small now.

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By: Moi123 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 9 from 10

We bought this tent second hand and have used it in various locations and weather, including heavy wind and rain. It is now showing signs of wear and have had to patch a tear in the fabric at the back of the tent. The elastic in one of the poles has broken and one pole is also broken. However we are thinking of patching it up and using it one more summer.

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By: Tentcamper2012 Reason: I've used one Made in: 2010 Rating: 8 from 10

I bought this tent for me and my hubby to go travelling south east coast in , it has been a fantastic tent for the money.

When we booked our first expedition we were surprise to see the price difference between 2man tent and 4 man tent and 6man tent , due to the fact there was only 2 of us in the tent we decided to gamble and select 2 man tent , WORTH TAKING! we have done this to all 5 of of little adventures and no site as had a problem with it , apart from one were we got told by the warden it looked too big to be a two man'er , we explained it was two single bedrooms and he didnt have an issue and returned to duties.

I would recommend this tent to any couples and definitely try the 2man tent option if available.

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By: Hairnaround Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2008 Rating: 9 from 10

Been using this tent for 4 years now . We love it, and now my son and daughter have got one each. Really easy to put up. Good headroom. We only sleep 2 people in it. So we have plenty of room. A good all round reliable cheap tent. We always use an additional groundsheet to protect the tents own groundsheet, and now we've included a couple of the cheap picnic blankets on the floor, for a plush feel to the feet. Easy to shake out the bits off the rugs.

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By: Delta240 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2006 Rating: 9 from 10

The best tent we've owned so far, even better with the porch attachment though it doesn't fit as nice as we'd like.

Recently camped in Northumberland (Beadnell Bay) and the tent was damaged (poles split) due to very strong winds. Would be nice to find somewhere we could buy spares easily.

Was impressed that tent took so much punishment, winds must have been 60mph+

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By: Julie Gelder Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2007 Rating: 8 from 10

This is our second tent and really like the way it is easy to put up. It has stood up to the strongest wind and rain and we love it. Plenty of room too with fridge, table chairs cooking stuff etc. The only problem is that the elastics that are on the bottom of the fly sheet you need keep coming undone.

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68 User Reviews of the Venture 500 - Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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Manufacturer's Description

This is a classic small family dome tent with and extended porch area that forms the main living space. The Vango Venture 500 also features excellent head height throughout, a large front panel door and a side 'J' door for in/out flexibility. The PE groundsheet (5000mm hydrostatic head) is completely detachable for ease of cleaning however, when in place inside the tents, the 'riser' trim of the groundsheet will ensure that it will exclude the worst of the elements.

The bedroom, although advertised as a 5-berth will more comfortably sleep four - and there is a divider curtain down the centre for of the bedrooms for privacy. Other features include, two 'Crystal Clear' windows with internal covers, multiple vents, a Protex 3000 durable polyester flysheet (3000mm hydrostatic head), taped seams, colour coded poles and continuous pole sleeves, flysheet first pitching, breathable polyester inner with mesh vents, Powerflex poles, storage pockets, lantern hanging point, carry bag, repair kit. Flame retardant throughout.

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