Part of Vango's Elite collection the Maritsa 600XL is a 6 man tent designed for medium to large families looking for plenty of sleeping and living space. Being in the Elite collection, it features incredibly strong but breathable 420d double ripstop fabrics, larger diameter beams, and strong and durable 'Super Zips' on all flysheet doors.
The solid construction and sheer size add up to a weight just under 50kg, this is carried along in an equally strong and durable roller bag.
Pitching
The Maritsa is part of Vango's airbeam collection. It's supplied with a good quality hand pump complete with pressure indicator. The hose locks firmly in place using a twist lock system, unlike some of the very first airbeam tents the hose always stays in place at both ends while you're pumping.
Inflating the five airbeams can be a bit of a workout but once it's done your tent is almost pitched, bar pegging out and fine tuning, so it's well worth the effort and it's so much quicker than pitching a pole style tent.
The bottom pegging points have adjustable webbing straps so you're able to increase the tension in the flysheet as well as moving it closer to the ground for optimal weather protection.
The guylines use a Line-Lok system which is easy to use and gets everything nicely secured, these are reflective to avoid night-time falls.
We weren't sure about the need for the hefty webbing strap guy lines at either end of the Maritsa and they resulted in some unwanted noise, with the wind creating a loud hum as it moved them around.
The porch for the side door has a refreshingly simple pole system, push each end into a plastic pocket et voila - done.
All in all set up is around 20 minutes if you're already familiar with basic tent pitching techniques, which is brilliant for a tent of this size.
Interior
The primary living space in the Maritsa is spacious and light. The tent tapers in towards the front but this somehow becomes unnoticeable, partly because you naturally set your furniture up to make the most of the space. A family of four (2 children and 2 adults) can happily mooch around inside when the great British weather necessitates.
The main space is accessed by a side door with porch on one side and larger side door on the other side, in warm weather opening these two doors gives a great cross flow of air through the tent to cool the interior space, it also kids to run free in both directions! They also feature large mesh vents so that you can have the doors shut on balmy summers nights while still getting a crossflow of air through the tent.
The narrower front section has a separate sewn in groundsheet as well as the option to seal the area off completely from the rest of the living space.
Initially we weren't overly convinced by this space, wondering what the point was, but we ended up naturally using the space for our large kitchen set up. We were able to cook with the front of the tent fully open and seal the rest of the living space off. This had the double benefit of reducing smells through the tent and stopping small kids from getting dangerously close to the stove. Being able to close off piles of food and cooking equipment at night so that you can fully relax in the clean and tidy living area is also quite a pleasing result!
The low-level ventilation that runs through the whole of the tent is both generous and easy to use. In standard UK weather you will probably find yourself having most vents open during the day and closed at night depending on the level of humidity in the air.
A large tower of pockets adorns the space between the bedrooms, there's also a smaller batch of pockets next to the side door, we found this useful for items like car keys and torches.
As always with Vango family tents, the windows in the Maritsa are plenty and you get a very clear view of the outside from the inside. The curtains are easy to use, with most simply zipping up and zipping back down to be tucked into a small pocket which partially holds them in, toggle clips doing the rest of the job.
Headroom in the Maritsa is fantastic, I'm 6ft 2" and there's a good amount of head space above me, in fact the general feeling in the tent is one of spaciousness and light.
Bedrooms
There are three bedrooms in the Maritsa 600XL, all described as 'king size', in reality they're the exact correct width for a standard double sleeping mat. This leaves no room to spare either side for small items that you might want close to hand at night, which is a shame.
Having said that, a zipped divider between two of the bedrooms allows you to make one more spacious bedroom. This works perfectly for parents and baby or toddler in one room, and an older child in the other. There are also plenty of large pockets for keeping night-time stuff organised.
The detachable clothes hanging rail is a neat addition if you're not using one of the bedrooms.
Ventilation into the bedrooms is good through a large opening at the back which feeds air to the mesh inner, you can also ventilate through zippable mesh panels in the doors.
We liked the pockets to stuff the doors into during the day, saving the hassle of rolling them up and strapping them.
Stability
This is a large tent, both in floor space and height so it's always going to be susceptible to movement from high wind.
Having said that it was stable when the wind was blowing but not howling. The internal tensioning system works well and can be unclipped when the air is still again. The webbing straps are clearly there in an effort to anchor the tent down in serious weather. Although this is a reasurring addition they have the unfortunate feature of humming loudly enough to wake you up at night as soon as the wind starts to blow. We opted to roll them up and secure them and suggest that they would need a redesign to be effective.
Final thoughts
Overall, the Maritsa 600XL is a decent family tent with lots of light, and a versatile living/cooking space. The bedrooms coud be wider but there are plenty of different configuration options depending on your needs and the amount of people in your family.
The front awning turned out to be a great addition, especially for family use. Pitching is a doddle considering the size, and the quality of construction is excellent. This tent isn't particularly cheap but then it isn't aimed at those looking for a disposable bargain for a single seasons camping.
