The Vango Banshee 300 makes a great two man tent for all but the toughest conditions, and justifies its price with a number of useful features.
The Bottom Line
(4 / 5)
- Sleeps 2 (comfortably)
- Fairly heavy (2.8kg)
- Reasonably priced
- Easy pitch
Purchasing
The Vango Banshee 300 normally comes in just under £200 from Vango, but there are often deals for nearer £100. It is available at vango.co.uk and amazon.co.uk.
Included
The Banshee 300 doesn’t come with many accessories. It includes:
- Inner
- Rain Fly
- 2x Aluminium Alloy Poles
- Set of Stakes
- 3 Bags – for poles, for pegs and tent itself
Pitching
The Vango Banshee 300 pitches outer-first (or, alternatively, the inner and outer can be packed together to pitch in one piece), which is handy for wetter trips, and the tent goes up very easily.
The two poles are different lengths, and accidentally swapping them is a sure way to snap one (as I have done). Overall, if set correctly (which does take some tinkering), it can be pitched in minutes by one person easily – if the tension bands (see later) are well adjusted, pitching is far quicker than the advertised 7 minutes.
General Comments
The tent has a 5000mm Hydrostatic Head rating, meaning its up to pretty well anything you can throw at it. As such, mine has never once wetted out, even after several weeks of persistent Lake District rains.
It is held together by Vango’s proprietary Tension Band System (TBS-II), which allows for more internal space and fewer stakes. For this a band connects the bottom ends of each of the poles, and two go over the top of the inner. These allow adjustment of the shape of the tent and, when set right, make setting up a breeze.
There is one ‘foyer,’ a vestibule on its left side, which has room enough for boots and a small pack. At the main end of the tent, a D-zip gives access to an otherwise lost space under the fly. This is excellent for storing extra gear – a useful feature. None of these two areas have a groundsheet, but carrying a bin-bag to use for this is far from strenuous.
Vango advertises the Banshee 300 as a three-person tent. In reality, unless you want to sleep with someone’s feet in your face and no space for gear, this is wishful thinking. Even for two, the tent can feel overcrowded. This is especially if both people need to be moving around – e.g. packing – at the same time.
Quality
As with pretty much any Vango product, it is hard to fault this guy. My three complaints, however, are significant: firstly, a snapped pole is not a risk worth taking. Be very careful to get the right pole in the right sleeve. Secondly, the stuff-sack of the tent is very thin and tears very easily – fortunately, its not space-efficient either, so I just left it at home and packed it tighter than the bag would have allowed. My third issue lies with the stakes supplied: they are very flimsy and bend extremely easily, especially when pitching in rocky areas (see our Tent Tips).
If you solve these three issues (which is easy to do with practice), the rest of the tent is excellently made and has never caused me any problems.
Comparing Tents
If you’re considering buying a tent, have a look at our comparison of the Banshee to Vango’s Nevis range here.