Vango Stanford 800XL

Having dealt with many tents over the years I decided it was time to upgrade to one with a fully sewn in groundsheet ; my previous tent had one of the bathtub style ground sheets for the living area with failed drastically in keeping the rain out to begin with yet holding it in place at the raised end thereby causing the water to flow over the ground sheet of the sleeping pod and I woke up to find myself underwater. Prior to that my tents were open to the elements and there is not much worse than squelching in mud right outside your sleeping area.I considered an air filled tent then remembered how many tubes I hear pop when camping in hot weather so figured poles were better (they can be repaired with tape readily available pretty much 24/7) and whilst mooching around looking for one which was completely sewn in but also offered a little more room than my 3 man dome, I came across the Vango 800. I've heard good-and-bad things about Vango but the price was about right for what I wanted to pay. When I then saw it has a "lights out" inner I realised it was the one-for-me; the only thing I hate about camping is how light it is in the mornings (I do like a dark room to sleep in).This is really my only gripe about the tent and as you will see from the photo's the "lights out" is just a gimmick. Only the back has a darkened panel. The front with doors and the sides are no different to any other tent, with the exception being the air panels are slightly darker and the roof is a pale shade of grey. The seperator panel to split the sleeping pods into 2 is dark but still useless at blocking anything when the top and front are letting in the light. If you don't like the light coming in do not buy this tent; if the sun is up at 5am, so will you be (the photo's I've attached were taken at 05:45 on a partially cloudy day - not really what I would class as "lights out"!).However, if you can cope with that (eye shades help - as long as you don't have them too tight so they slip down and strangle you) then this is a great purchase. As a 40 something female I can put this tent up on-my-own in about 45 minutes (it would be easier with 2 (or even 3 people) however that's not always possible). If you can put up a small tent on your own, you can put this one up. At 5ft 4 I can easily attach the tops of the sleeping pods too.The poles are easy to thread, with the 2 outer ones being colour coded. It's a solid, sturdy and rigid tent; the additional straps inside helping to stop a lot of movement in high winds (I've had it atop a hill in 45 mph winds and it held up just fine). The sleeping pod ground clips can be a bit stiff to unclip, however, perseverence and a bit of jiggery pokery will soon see them budge.Both entrance doors have zips (these can be a little sticky) which go only half way around which makes it a lot easier than having to unzip all the way, although only the front entrance has a fly screen so it is really the only one you can open during the day unless you want to share your sitting area with all manner of winged creatures. The 2 airvents (either side) at the bottoms help to draw air through and as yet I've not experienced any condensation at all within it (and the weekend just gone we had the kind of weather which is perfect for creating it - my car was dripping from it) and they have helped circulate enough air that even the sleeping pod never once felt damp.The "porch" over the entrance door does very little in the way of stopping water from dripping into the tent on a rainy day unless the wind is blowing from behind, so is really more of a decorative feature. The rear door does have riveted holes for extending outwards to create a canopy, but I think the poles for keeping it in place must be an additional extra as I never had any with mine when it arrived.There is a full-sized window either side (with covers if you don't want to let in the light) which are ideal on those dark, wet days (even more so, if like me you love to watch the rain and listen to it hammering on the roof at the tent at the same time - something so relaxing about that).The groundsheet could do with being a little thicker (you definitely need a footprint with this tent) but it's sturdy enough and doesn't wriggle and writhe about as some others do.The sleeping pods are a generous size, with a good head height and half-moon vents on each door, however, if you had 2 double mattresses either side there would be no room for anything else (I like to keep my bag and camera in the pod with me). It says they are kingsize but I really do not see how that would work, especially if you had the seperator in place (although that doesn't really do much in the grand-scheme-of-things as it has gaps at the sides and bottom).The sitting area will easily take a decent sized table and we had 10 sitting around one evening for dinner, in the rain with both doors shut and never felt cramped.All-in-all it's a good tent that should serve you well.

4. April sollte das Zelt aus England geliefert werden und es war schon am 31. März da.Also Zustellung, hier in diesem Fall, TOP.Das Zelt ist 310 cm Breit, also dacht ich, ich könnte es mal kurz bei uns im Hof aufbauen.Nein funktionierte nicht, da unser Hof etwas über 310 cm breit ist und ich das Gestänge nicht ,ohne das Zelt zu beschädigen, einführen kann. Von der Verarbeitung der Nähte und Befestigungsösen ist das Zelt super. Allein nur vom Auslegen wird mir klar, dass unsere vierköpfige Familie im Urlaub darin auch an Regentagen ausreichend Platz hat.Aus meiner Sicht eine lohnende Anschaffung für qualitatives Produkt.