By: Blonde Two
June 2021 – With camping so popular this year, tents seem to be in short supply. To help you Get Outside, we’ve located an excellent range of Vango tents still in stock at Winfield Outdoors.
Vango tent review
The Vango Soul 300 is orange …
Well in truth, it comes in three different colours: Blonde-One-Blue, Blonde-Two-Orange and Manly-Black; but as it bills itself as, “An ideal starter tent.” and I was doing the ordering, I choose orange to perfectly compliment my sleeping bag, ‘Big Orange’.
Because it is a starter tent, I decided that taking the Soul 300 up into Dartmoor’s unpredictable weather for its first outing might be a bit too Blonde; so I plumped for a family meadow camp in the shadow of the Malvern Hills.
An easy tent to pitch
There were many things that I liked about the tent’s design:
PITCHING: It has an easy to pitch, two pole, inner first system. Some people don’t like inner first tents, but they do tend to be stable and the Soul was no exception. Anybody who has a modicum of tent experience would be able to pitch it quickly, but there are plentiful instructions for the true beginner.
Plenty of storage space for a small tent
SHAPE: Although the porch is small when zipped up (big enough only for boots, stoves and slugs), the wide open front of this tent allows plenty of headroom for sitting in bed and admiring the views (in my case, a beautiful oak tree and my equally beautiful niece and nephew). 
The inside is spacious with adequate sleeping space for three without walking kit. If like me, you sometimes struggle to ‘dismount’ your tent, the wide porch allows for a more dignified exit than some other small tents.
Great for summer and spring camping
WEATHER PROTECTION: I initially thought that I would not take this tent if I was wild camping on Dartmoor; but after my meadow camp, I had second thoughts. We had a fair amount of weather; it stayed stable in the wind and I detected only one drip onto the inner after a night of heavy rain. The hydrostatic head (waterprooficity) is 3,000 which is perfectly adequate for all but the wettest British camping outings.
Check your tent pegs
NIGGLES: I can honestly say that I enjoyed my camp in this tent and plan to use it again many times over the summer (cue rain). There were a couple of things that prospective buyers should be aware of: 1) It arrived with two pegs too few for the number of peg points. I am awaiting a reply from Vango on this. (Later note: The helpful chaps at Vango assure me that pegs are hand counted before distribution but should there be any missing, they are happy to send some out.) 2) The wide porch, although very pleasing, does mean that you have to be careful not to allow drips in when you open the door.
A great first-time tent
For a spring into summer camp, I would recommend this tent. It is suitable for two walkers, three campers with a car or a Blonde who fancies relaxing in spacious luxury. It doesn’t have all of the mod-cons that Vango sometimes supply (I missed a double zip for ventilation) but little touches like pockets and a lantern hook add to the enjoyment, and made my three night camp a very pleasant experience.
Buy a tent today
If you haven’t joined the rush to try camping yet, we Blondes can definitely recommend it. Why not invest in your first tent today, and get started on a whole new life adventure.
The Vango doesn’t look like a tent you would carry very far, but I would still be interested to know how much it weighs. If you are reviewing anything that has to be carried its weight is probably the most important detail potential users would want to know. Having said that, you do acknowledge it would be suitable for motorists, and a reader could also Google the item and get the full specification.
“Starter” equipment – one of my all time ranting subjects.
First of all please be clear I am not specifically referring to your Vango, but your post has just set me off.
A novice in any endeavour is at the stage when they need all the help they can get, and the last thing they need is to put up with with some inferior, badly performing, difficult to use equipment. Can you imagine, for a random example, joining a cycling club and entering your first time trial with a “starter” bike that weighs probably three times as much as those of the enthusiast members. Ok, you may argue that buying the best is expensive when you are not sure if you will continue, but being hampered by the mediocre is likely to put you off before you get very far. My advice is to buy the very best you can afford.
I admit to being guilty of contravening my own advice and we all learn by experience. My first backpacking rucksack weighed in the region of 1.5kg (circa 1980) – my present one weighs 750g. To be fair, in 1980 lightweight gear was more or less unheard of.
Weight=2.92kg okay if shared by two. Pack size 50x15x15cm but we Blondes encourage stuffing rather than packing. Starter equipment is a big issue for us as our youngsters have very limited resources, there is a balance. This isn’t a Ten Tors tent but might do for summer DofE.
Wow, this is an old post but I thought I’d chip in anyway… I’m on a budget and needing two tents: one I can use on my own with two children for backups on walks to refuges, in case the refuge is already taken, and a second for if my partner also comes, in which case we need two tents. The weight of this one isn’t great but with the kids carrying their own sleeping gear it’s manageable for me – and I would rather spend less and carry more than spend a very unrelaxing night out on the hill worrying about my children doing something daft like poking something through the tent or basically breaking it (usually in ways I hadn’t imagined possible.) So while I’d love to be spending top dollars on a super-lightweight little tent cost is a more important factor than weight.
It is quite heavy, especially if you end up carrying kids’ kit as well. That said, you are right it is an old post but the tent is still going strong.
If you have camped with 30 kilograms of soggy doggy, your preference will always be to pitch the outer first and attach the inner from the inside. Drying K9 while naughtily cooking a cuppa under the outer tent is bliss in typical English camping weather and I have never had the inner detach from the outer even in Storm force winds. Looking at this tent, I’d say it ought to have an arch over the entrance and a forward peg (I know lots of people hate these, but they are the cheapest way to stop rain dripping onto your night attire when you peep out in the morning.) Aside from that, it isn’t intended for backpacking is it? More of a summer picnicky weekend tent – and very useful if the price is right. I try not to wear out my very expensive mountain backpacking tent on those kinds of trips because I couldn’t replace it. So for me, given that it is properly waterproof, if I needed that kind of tent,much would depend on the price.
We Blondes leave Harry-the-Jack at home when we go camping but I can see how well your dog drying system would work. Summer camping definitely but it would do more than that if it needed to.
Would it be suitable for a weekend at a music festival?
Indeed it would. Plenty of space and up to a bit of rain.
I presume this is an old review resurrected? I read it and my first thought was, how much does it weigh? I then progressed to “comments” and was surprised to see my own comment from May 2015 which in retrospect was a bit harsh, but most of it wasn’t directed at this tent in particular because it would be too heavy for backpacking anyway, but my general comments about “starter” equipment still hold true.
It was a new comment on an old (but popular) post. A lot of our posts now rank highly on search engine pages… which is most gratifying.
Would this really be too heavy to backpack with, as a previous commenter suggested? I’m planning to start camping with my partner this spring. We’re both mid 30’s and pretty unfit. Neither of us drive so we’ll be travelling on foot, bus and train.
It is a bit bulky for long distance backpacking but you can split tent carrying between you with one person taking the fly and inner and the other taking the poles and pegs.
I’ve just bought this tent for our first motorcycle two night camping trip. Weve camped before and my daughter has just done her DofE Silver and fancies a father and daughter trip. I needed something big enough for two with room for bike gear but small and light enough to be packed on the bike. After many reviews online and YouTube this tent in my opinion comes out top. As for rain getting in the porch or for cooking in the doorway , I plan to erect a tarp from the top of the tent door across to the bike parked in front. That should give us more room and weather protection….. great site by the way…..Will update you after our trip
Have a wonderful trip… We can’t wait to hear all about it!