Vango Genesis 500 Airbeam Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Vango Genesis 500 Airbeam

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Vango > Genesis 500 Airbeam Reviews

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

Yes
5 (more 5 berth tents)
18.00 KG
Ł525.00
1
Fully Sewn-in
Inflatable

Average User Rating:

8.75/10 from 8 reviews

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8 Reviews of the Genesis 500 Airbeam

By: Adewicks Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 8 from 10

I brought the Genesis 500 second hand from the for sale section of this site.

I agree with all that has been said by previous contributors, porch & storage for the living area etc. Having said that I must say I love this tent, it’s perfect for short stays for me and the wife.

If you can pick this tent up for a good price then I’ wouldn’t hesitate.

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By: Carpcodger Reason: I've used one Made in: 2014 Rating: 8 from 10

Used our airbeam for the first time during a great week spent in Somerset.

Very quick and easy to both put up and pack away.

The tent withstood a couple of downpours , our only gripe was the water getting in when the doors were opened .

Could someone kindly recommend which Vango small porch is compatible to us with the genesis 500.

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By: Susiex Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 9 from 10

Most of the points have been made in previous reviews so I'll not repeat them. I love this tent. I can put it up by myself (Don't let my other half know though) simply and easily,and I'm very unfit!

We were away in it this last weekend, it blew a gale and poured with rain for a good few hours, and we stayed dry, plus the tent withstood all the wind. I felt safe in it. I would like a bigger one, but haven't the money. This tent is marketed as a weekend tent which it is ideal for. Having said that, we could happily holiday in it for a couple of weeks. Couple of niggles - a porch over one of the side doors would be nice. Room is wasted by the front sloping a lot, and the doors are fiddly. We simply got a Vango small porch, and we tack it on the side. Sorted!

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By: Steel Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 9 from 10

I'll keep this brief as the other reviews have covered the main points in depth.

This is my first 'inflatable tent' having owned more than 10 tents from one man domes to a Vango Diablo 600.

I wanted a spacious tent that I could put up on my own.

It's easy and quick to erect with the supplied pump, only problem I encountered was that the pump kept disconnecting from the valve which slowed things down a bit. Second time around I had an electric pump which made things much easier.

Plenty of room for 4 people all using single airbeds.

This tent withstood heavy winds and rain with no problems at all.

The bag is generously big so putting the tent back in is very quick.

A couple of small niggles:

I would have liked 2 way zips on the all of the doors including the bedrooms

When the tent is wet it was difficult to stop the water running in when opening the doors.

Not sure how long the sewn in groundsheet would last without using a footprint.

The only other point applies to nearly all tents, why give you 2 small offcuts of fabric to tie the tent up with once you've rolled it up. A couple of cheap luggage straps would make life so much easier.

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

We have a really good quality 5 man Kampa Frinton Classic cotton canvas tent, but there's no two ways about it, it's heavy, the poles are heavy & it takes two of us 40 minutes to put up. I'd been thinking about possibly buying a 'weekender' tent for some time. I wasn't so bothered about having a tent as big as the Kampa, but it seems that the choice is either a tiny tent that you can't stand up in, or straight to a 5 man - & my hubby insists on being able to stand up in the tent! He had spotted the blow up tents last year, to be honest I thought they were a bit of an expensive gimmick, but Taunton Leisure have an outdoor tent display near us, so we went to have a look at them. I was really surprised by how substantial & solid the air beams are, so we bought the smallest available, the Genesis 500. It's actually marginally bigger than our Kampa!

We have only done one weekend in it so far, & it wasn't exactly put through the mill, as camping conditions were perfect for a change. It took 12 minutes to pitch, including pegging. Hubby reckons he can get that down to 6 or 8, but we shall see. We'd packed light, so had the tent up, gear unpacked & were sat out in the sunshine in under an hour, which is what we were looking for in a weekend tent.

Hubby is in love with 'his' tent - my only reservations are that it does feel a bit basic compared to the Kampa - there are no bells & whistles ie living area storage pockets & I rather miss the front opening & canopy (although I suspect in inclement weather it's a godsend as will presumably be water tight & draught free). My biggist niggle however is that there is no porch over the door, not even an 'eyebrow'. This seems like a real backward step in such a revolutionary new tent design. Having spent 5 years in our old tent being soaked by rain running off the top of the tent every time we unzipped the door, we really love the deep porch on the Kampa, but the Genesis has nothing. However, as we really intend it to be a bit of a fair weather tent anyway, I guess this won't be too much of a problem.

Overall this tent is perfectly suited to what we wanted, a weekend & festival tent. Spacious & relatively lightweight, simple to pitch, (taking down takes a bit longer, although it comes down quickly it seemed to be full of air & was like trying to get a parachute in a sock!), the guy ropes are a nice touch with their new design runners & little velcro ties. It is expensive. However, when comparing to the price of hiring a pod or a yurt, I think it's a justifiable investment, & I'm sure we'll get good use out it.

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By: Jazzist Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 10 from 10

Excellent tent.

TBH the only niggles I have is that it doesn't have any porch area or front door, we were limited by budget. Some of the new but more expensive Airbeam tents are stunning e.G. The Lumen V 500 or Lumen V 600XL would probably be perfect for us. Having said that they use poles for the porch so pitching time is increased.

I can easily pitch the Genesis 500 alone which is great, prevents any arguments!

We are very happy with the Genesis 500 and will be using it as our main tent until it's worn out, hope to get at least 5 years out of it with several trips a year before justifying anything else!

I might look into tarping or something like that to create a windbreaked and covered area for outdoor sitting/shade and cooking.

Workmanship appears to be first rate with no niggles at all. The Airbeam system is not a gimmick, one person can easily erect a 5 man tent! Packing up is probably more impressive than erecting, just undo the valves, unpeg, roll up! You can have it from fully erected to in its bag in 10 minutes single handedly.

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By: APJ666 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 8 from 10

We've been camping for a couple of years now and have an excellent Outwell Montana 6. However, we've found the time to pitch the Outwell makes one/two night stops impractical. So we hunted around for something which would be quick to pitch and settled on the Genesis 500.

Let's face it, the Vango Airbeams are expensive - the Gensis 500 is about Ł525, but we managed to haggle 10% off. The price makes this a very considered purchase and we deliberated for several weeks, but always came back to the same argument - if we spend Ł250 on a pole tent, would we always kick ourselves for not paying the extra for a blow up?

Anyhow, cost aside, this is a great tent. Peg out the 4 corners, use the hand pump to inflate 3 tubes et voila! At least that's what the marketing blurb would have you think. Pitching time of 4mins? No way! After blowing up, you still have to go round and peg the base and then peg all the guylines (the patented guyline runners are excellent!), not to mention laying out the footprint and trying to get the carpet the right way round. Perhaps 45mins then (but we are slow!).

Inside, there's enough room for two double airbeds and plenty of space for 2A+1C and all can stand up in the main tent area. A large front window lets in loads of light and has a zip-up curtain. Annoyingly, the two side windows are toggle fasten. A cable entry point and light hanging hook are good touches, but the interior is not a patch on the Outwell, which has lots of storage pouches and other nice touches.

We experienced quite a bit of rain on our first trip, which the tent handled well and we had no problems with the inflated beams or the rigidity of the tent.

Packing away was a quick affair, simply remove the air valves on the beams to instantly deflate, then fold and roll up. Note that the manufacturers description is incorrect - there is no roller bag, only a carry bag for the tent.

So for a quick few days away in a spacious tent, the Airbeam Genesis 500 is an ideal, if costly, option. However, I would prefer our faithful Outwell for a long camping trip in one place.

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By: Dolphia1 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 9 from 10

As a family tent (myself, husband and an 8 year old) we own an Outwell Montana Lake, however I wanted to be able to go camping with just myself and my daughter when husband was working.

To do this with the Montana was impossible, plus my back could not withstand all the lifting and bending. With this in mind I brought the Genesis 500, I liked the idea of quick pitching time and the ease in which it went up.

I tried it for the first time this weekend (22/6/13) and I certainly put it to the test. Pegging in was easy, 6 pegs at first. I then started the blowing up process :-) I was a little wary with the pumping action with my bad back but found that it did not need a lot of air and in no time the beam over the bedroom quarters was done (i forgot to follow the instructions and apparently you were supposed to do the middle beam first.Oopps). I repeated with the middle and front beam and they do literally just erect themselves as you pump. I finished off pegging the rest of the tent as instructed, put out all the guidelines (which I love on this make, as they are adjustable in a way I have not seen before) and in no time at all they were all pegged down.

Over the next 3 days the heavens opened many a time, no leakages which was a bonus. The wind however on the first night approached in excess of 25 mph, with gusts of 35 mph, the tent shook a lot and a couple of times the front beam bent in but the TBS (tension band system) worked a treat and it popped straight out again. This may have been due to the excessive wind or my dodgy pegging but it was my first time out on my own. It did however stay up when many the next day left the campsite! It was that windy that some turned up and did not stay!

There was plenty of room in the tent for the two of us especially as we had two full size cot beds in their, along with our clothes etc if all 3 of us camped, there would still be enough room for the 3 beds but that would be about it. The living area was a good size with a double table and 2 garden chairs. There is plenty of room for my daughter and I but with 3 of us it would be adequate but cozy.

Putting the tent away does take a little time as you are trying to expel air from the beams as well as from inside the tent as normal, a little like trying to pack away a balloon but I did get there. Rolling the tent twice does help and everything went back into the bag. The only thing noted on packing away was condensation on the underside of the tent itself, where the base of the airbeams meet the groundsheet (a foot print was used), It was not excessive but worth checking and having a towel handy.

I did miss having the storage pockets that I get in the living area of the Montana. The Genesis does have pockets but they are in the sleeping area, which means you have to keep in and out and they are low down (not particular good for my back but ok for some!)

I honestly cannot fault the air beam and I am only dropping 1 star due to the bend in the beam which like I said may not be the fault of the tent itself but the user :-) Would highly recommend to anyone who wants to set up camp with minimal fuss, I love my new tent and cannot wait to go away again :-)

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Manufacturer's Description

Weekend campers will delight in the size and flexibility of the new Vango Genesis 500 Airbeam tent. With a higher front beam it has a large porch space and double entry for ease of access - this model will impress seasoned and new campers alike.

Specification:

Total weight: 18.00kg
Packed : 72x38x33cm
Pitching time: 4 mins

Features:

Vango AirBeam® Technology
All-in-one or flysheet first pitching
TBS II - Vango's patented system which gives unrivalled stability
Polyester flysheet - ProTex 4000HH, 70D
Sewn in polyester groundsheet
Lightweight inner tent groundsheet
Reflective guyline and webbing points
Rain gutter zip covers diverts rain away from the zip
All tent doors have a full secondary mesh door
Line Lok patented guyline runners
Breathable polyester 'Lights Out' inner with front and rear mesh
Large Crystal Clear PVC windows, with privacy curtains,
Supplied with a double action pump and pressure gauge
Roller bag takes the burden out of moving the tent

... there may be more info on their website

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