Vango Event Tent Utility Tent / Tarp Reviews and Details

Utility Tent / Tarp Reviews: Vango Event Tent

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Vango > Event Tent Reviews

Current Model?
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Weight:
RRP on date added:

Yes
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19.50 KG
Ł149.99

Average User Rating:

8.43/10 from 7 reviews

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7 Reviews of the Event Tent

By: Coffeegirl_forever Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 10 from 10

Excellent! I've used mine for various things including as a kitchen and lounge in the wet weather. We sat 9 of us inside at an ale festival but really 5 comfortably. Having clear panels, doors and fly sheets makes it flexible. My only regret is leaving it up in 60-70mph gusts on Shell Island (aka tent graveyard). It's great value for money with sturdy poles, durable zips and raised edge groundsheet.

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By: 74giggles Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2014 Rating: 9 from 10

Bought to replace a pop-up gazebo which never was that wonderful. Pitched it in the garden in just over 10 minutes, pretty good for a first attempt, but there were 4 of us.

We did find it a bit tricky to put together, juggling poles and trying not to rip the fly sheet. With practise it will get better. The central connective section looks to be strong unlike some other event tents.

We too find putting the bottom pins in fiddly, but again with practise and time I'm sure it will get easier.

Impressed by the size once up, plenty of room for 4 of us and a small table. When packed up its smaller than the old gazebo, but is heavier.

I'm looking to using it!

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By: Chrisgl Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 8 from 10

Used ours Vango Event Tent very successfully as a day shelter and as a place to have a small sing-around in.

One BIG problem is the hook fixing of the tent to the poles where the material and poles bend to form the roof.

The first tent required so much effort to hook to the poles that the stitching gave way. Vango were very helpful and replaced the whole tent. However the replacement suffered the same problem.

SIMPLE SOLUTION:

The hooks are not solid - there's a gap runs through from the hook end to the section where the tape sits - it is not easy to describe.

I removed the hooks from the tape loops and threaded a rubber loop (approx 2' diameter) through each tape loop and then threaded the hooks onto the rubbers.

Fairly easy to do (nigh on impossible to describe here)

It has transformed putting the tent up and I'm baffled that Vango don't incorporate this into the design since it'd be very simple - no change to the tent design at all.

Apart from that I'm very happy with the tent and would buy another.

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By: Ambops Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 8 from 10

We bought the day tent to use as a extension for our tent when we go camping,put it up in garden today for first time to check all was ok, like the other reviews I found putting the poles into the top piece very fiddly,the poles wanted to go further in then the push buttons would let it.The joints were very stiff to put together,found erecting ok but very tight inserting the pins,would definitely recommend splitting poles as mentioned in other reviews,once up was impressed with the size of it,it was blowing a gale outside but inside you didnt notice at all,all zipped window covers thats a nice feature and the 3 doors make it very versatile.

Taking it down was awkward,2 of the poles stuck fast and would not split,had to disconnect from top piece then stand on them to pull apart,other than that no problems.Hoping the poles will get easier the more its used,so as a quick use of tent is not really a good judge I will up date after using it for 2 weeks in July but at moment very happy with it,would recommend to anyone that wants that bit of extra space. We got it from gooutdoors,they priced matched it and got extra 10% off so got it for 112,bargain

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By: JimCall Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 6 from 10

This is a follow up from my original review in June this year. The Event tent has had 5 months of very heavy use over 4 wet and windy trips to Glen Coe.

I am disappointed with the following:-

1. The tent leaks at the seams - especially the window and mozzie net zips. It is bad enough to cause puddles on the floor and land on tables, cookers and equipment.

2. The poles are a bugger to break apart - the buttons stick making it difficult to press them in to release and the pole sections themselves sometimes need a tap with the back of my axe to separate them. I don't need that hassle when I drop the tent in the rain.

3. The tent is very hard to pitch properly being hexagonal in shape. I always end up with a panel too slack and flapping about resulting in constant re-positioning of pegs to try and tension the panels correctly.

4. One of the top clips has come loose at the stitching and at least one other is showing signs of stress at the same clip point. I feel there is undue stress on the fabric near the top of the upright poles and no end of adjustment seems to help, I have put a photo up to show.

5. The bathtub style groundsheet is fully waterproof but when using a door, the groundsheet tends to flop down on the ground allowing rain water to pool on the groundsheet. I am maybe being too critical here as most groundsheets will allow some water in at the door.

I didn't want to be negative about this tent as it has a huge amount of useable space and it actually performs well in high wind but these observations have put me off it so much that I have now bought an Outwell Oklahoma day tent to replace it.

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By: Rutlandbelle Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 9 from 10

I wanted a tent / gazebo to replace my heavy and cumbersome 'pop up' market quality gazebo for outside events where I sell my hand made crafts. I also wanted to be able to sleep in it, if necessary, if I was at an event where that was possible (festivals, etc.) so I could have the shop and my bed in the same place, and not have to lug about a huge gazebo AND a tent, and have to pitch both.

After researching for a while, I decided to go with Jim's reviews on this and purchased it. I managed to find it for Ł119 delivered which was great.

It arrived yesterday, day after I ordered it.

I have just pitched it in the garden to try it out and am impressed with how easy it is to put up. As a 5'2' no-longer-young woman, it was surprisingly simple and trouble free. I had no problem locating the push buttons into the spider arrangement at the top, and all the poles fitted together fine. There didn't seem to be any undue stretching anywhere, in fact it was much easier and quicker than the gazebo, which is heavier and needs 4 people to get it up properly, and my two bedroom tent.

There did seem to be rather a lot of loops at the bottom of each section of the tent, which I am not sure of the purpose. Some are for the groundsheet,I am assuming the rest are for pegging?

Size wise it wasn't quite as large as I had imagined for floor space. Although there is plenty of room for two 6 x 2 tables plus smaller ones and a chair etc., if I were to sleep in it then I would have to compromise with one large table and the camp bed, which would double as seating during the day. However, I still think this would be easier than the two structure approach.

With the window shades up and the doors open, it's a lovely shape for trading and is light and airy with plenty of headroom. Large windows are an advantage too, so one can set up according to the direction of the wind with plenty of access as well. I like the fact that the groundsheet is optional, as I wouldn't necessarily want the groundsheet down for trading purposes.

I used Jim's advice for locating the pins into the bottoms of the poles (separate the bottom section of pole, insert pins, reaffix poles) which worked really well. Otherwise I don't know how one would fit the pins in. The instructions say to 'bend from the opposite side' but I didn't really understand what they meant, and as the poles are rather thick steel, bending wasn't really an option.

I thought I'd time myself taking it down. It would be about ten minutes (without packing away) if I could separate the poles! I had a bit of a problem with the spring buttons at the top and resorted to using a small stick to push them in far enough to get the poles out. This worked ok once I had thought it up. However, there are two poles with straight connections that are stuck together and awaiting a brainwave from me . As they are steel I will try heat, and if that works maybe some WD 40 should go in the bag when I pack it up.

As far as weatherability is concerned I can't yet comment as it was the perfect pitching day today, still, cool and dry. From Jim's review though it seems as if it's fairly robust in the weather, at least on soft standing.

I am interested to see how it would perform if I take it to a hard standing street market situation. I usually use sand filled feet for the gazebo and I am hoping that I would be able to utilise these with this tent, using bungee cords with half a foot round each leg, and perhaps a couple of bricks or something with the guys. If I get to do this I may report back as to how it's worked.

Weight wise it was heavier than I would have liked although it's still easier for me to manage than the exceptionally heavy gazebo I've been using. Partly this is because it is slightly lighter in weight, but also the package is smaller and so it will fit onto the luggage trolley I use to move stuff around with. Also if necessary I can separate the poles and the tent into different packages to make it more convenient to move around. Even so, if I can use this as tent and shop combined, it will leave much more space in the car.

One strange thing before I leave. Once erected, I opened up the window blinds and doors and all the flying insects in the vicinity immediately came in and wandered around the inside of the roof. I don't know what the attraction is but in the short time it was up it certainly made an impression on the local bug life!

I was planning to use this on the coming weekend for an event, but now it looks as if they are offering me space in their own outside shelter. If so, it may be next year before this comes into its own, but given today's performance I will be looking forward to it instead of dreading it like I do with the gazebo.

It's only got 9 points due to the difficulty of separating the poles, and 'cos I haven't been able to test it in the wind and the rain. Otherwise I love it.

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By: JimCall Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 9 from 10

I bought this to replace an ageing Sunncamp handy tent which took a right old battering in Glencoe one stormy night.

First the good things:-

6 steel poles give this tent a comforting feel of strength. The steel top poles locate in a star shaped tube with spring buttons & holes again giving extra strength. At Ł145, its almost half the price of my other short listed day tent, the Outwell Oklahoma. I like the double zips and zipped mozzie nets on the 3 doors. I also like the 3 large windows complete with zipped curtains. The ground sheet is a riser which simply clips in on 6 sides. Oh I forgot to mention, it is hexagonal shaped so the internal space is huge! With the 3 doors rolled up it can be used as a gazebo. Lots of light gets in.

Now the not so good things:-

Actually there are not many and at this stage (first time pitch in my tiny back garden) they are more observations than down points. The star shaped metal tube has 6 (obviously!) tubes with locating holes. At the moment when inserting the (6) roof poles (2 sections each with spring retainers) I am having difficulty inserting them so that the spring buttons click into place in the holes. I am assuming this will ease with time and I may need to take the rough edge off the pole ends with a soft file to aid this. One of the bottom edges(a window side) didn't look quite taught and appeared to flap about a bit. This I believe is down to my poor first time pitching and certainly one of the upright poles (3 sections each) seemed to be at a rather jaunty angle! I would like to have had a pegging point at the centre of at least the 3 window sections but it does come with a nice storm flap so it may not be an issue. The tent sides are clipped to the poles with finger nippers (just like the Outwell ones!) and the top ones seem to have a fair bit of stress on them. Again I think this might just be my first pitch syndrome but I did hear a wee seam stretching (yikes!) and my sewing skills are poor(one to keep an eye on I think).

Other observations:-

The underside of the tent has 6 floor tapes which should be kept tight when pitched, this allows the correct pegging point distance to be accurately set out. I never realised this at first and it may be the cause of my poor first pitch. The groundsheet if used sits over the tapes but if the groundsheet is not to be used I would recommend pegging them to avoid tripping over them. Because the tent is hexagonal there is a lot of usable space inside and the sides alternate between door & window so if the wind changes direction, you simply switch to another door!

The 6 bottom pins (locating into the bottom of the poles)can be fiddly to insert and I used my 'split the pole section' technique to aid insertion.

I pitched it on my own in about 20 mins but with experience this time will drop.

It does tend to creep about a bit when pitching so it may not end up exactly where you want it! I don't have a lot of garden space so I found this a problem but it wont be at the campsite.

Finally, it is a very good utility tent and I believe good value for money. I intend to use it as a camp kitchen and a chill out area. (I am even thinking about sleeping in it with perhaps my small inflatable stand alone dome tent inner as a sleep pod). I also intend to use it in the garden as a gazebo.

I have held back a point because I have no idea how this thing will perform in foul weather yet but first impressions are very good and it does have a 3000mm hydro head so it SHOULD keep the rain at bay! I may report back once it has had the full Glencoe weather treatment!

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Manufacturer's Description

For any group or family looking for stand-up space which is versatile and flexible. The steel structure provides excellent stability and is easy to pitch. Can also be used as a start / finish hut for sports events or as a base tent at festivals.

Body: Protex® polyester 3000 embossed

Poles: PowerPlus steel 19mm

Windows: PVC with internal covers

Doors: 3 parallel zip doors with full mesh doors

Groundsheet: Riser® groundsheet

Pack size 80 x 22 x 22cm

... there may be more info on their website

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