We took the Vango Lumen 500 on test with a reluctant camper and a two and a half year old hyperactive and over-excited child desperate to get into his new home for the weekend - after a 3 hour car journey the AirBeams proved to be a very useful feature, the fact that we were able to pitch such a large tent in around 20 minutes start to finish surprised both us and the other campers around us.
The only sticking point with the erection of the Lumen was the pump which Vango supply as part of the package. We found that the connectors from the pump to the hose kept popping off during use, this gets annoying after the fourth or fifth time of happening and means you have to contort your hands to hold the hose in place while you pump, thus slowing down your record breaking tent-pitching attempts.
Once the tent was up and the toddler had ran around it like a headless chicken for a while we were able to get in and investigate the internal space.
The tent is split into two bedrooms at the back separated by a removable divider, and a living area.
The bedrooms are billed in classic camping terms as 'three-man' and 'two-man'. They were about right for mum and dad in the larger room and the child in the smaller room with a bit of space to move around the beds but if you were going for a less luxurious camping experience you could certainly comfortably fit 5 people in on roll matts on the floor.
The front living space is generously proportioned in both height and square footage and feels particularly light and airy with all the curtains open. We were able to easily fit a picnic table, cooking equipment, comfortable seating and our assorted ’stuff’ inside without it feeling claustrophobic.
During our first night we found that the bedroom ventilation system made the space particularly cold and breezy. After investigation the next day I realised that in my haste to pitch the tent I'd left the vent in the fully open position thus allowing all the cold sea air in. The solution to this is to clip the top and bottom parts of the guy rope together which closes the vent to a degree, the option to fully close and seal the gap would be a welcome addition (some Velcro strips would solve this problem quickly, easily and cheaply).
The tent moves about a fair bit in the wind, as you would expect from a tent of this shape and size. Vango have attempted to combat this problem with internal tensioning straps. When connected up they run diagonally across the inner front of the tent as well as in front of the bedroom doors. You tension them up to take the slack out which is supposed to provide lateral stability to the beams. In practise we didn't notice much difference when in use but were strictly adhering to the notice to 'not overtighten!'. Next time we might pull them a touch tighter......
We weren’t able to make use of the sun canopy for the function it was intended but it did perform well as a storm porch for taking off wet shoes and clothes before getting into the tent. It's worth noting that Vango recommend that you don't use the storm porch in gusty weather but we felt that it was worth taking the risk to have somewhere dry to take off wet clothes and shoes without creating havoc in the living area.
The overiding impressions of the Vango Lumen V 500 are that it's bright, airy and spacious and is a worthy contender as a family camping tent. The ventilation system needs to be re-thought to take British weather into account although the fact that such a quick and easy fix could be applied means that it isn't by any means a deal breaker.
