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“Although we have a large tent for longer camping...”

written by on 23/05/2010

Although we have a large tent for longer camping holidays, we wanted something that was light and easy to put up for shorter stays.



The Vango Icarus 500 fits the bill perfectly. It is a tunnel tent with only three poles, has a sewn in groundsheet and bedrooms already fitted so you really can pitch the lot in one. Its really easy and with a little practice ( and not too strong winds) it can be pitched in about ten mins.



Inside, the living space is a reasonable size and feels light and airy. There is a door to the side with no see um mesh and obviously one to the front which for some reason doesn't have mesh ( unless this has been improved since we bought ours in 2009?)



There are plenty of air vents throughout the tent. I feel the heat really badly and I think this is the best ventilated tent we have owned.



The bedroom area can be divided into two rooms or used as one big room. We usually use one side for us and the other for the camping loo at night and general storage.



I think you would be hard pushed to get five adults in this tent but I image it would probably be OK for very small families or luxurious and roomy for a couple as we use it.



I agree with the niggle mentioned by other reviewers; It is a pain that the door is not fixable at the bottom. We sorted this by sticking velcro on which has done the trick.



We have used this tent in very wet weather and windy weather and had no major problems but it did blow about a bit!



I would recommend purchasing the awning as it does give you a lot more space and somewhere to leave muddy boots and muddy dogs to avoid mucking up the main living area. It retails for about £50.00 which I thought was pretty reasonable.



All in all this is my favourite tent we have ever purchased and a really pretty shade of blue too!