Vango Banshee XD 300 Tent
The Vango Banshee XD 300 is a great little backpacking tent. Better for two people than three!
Review Score
Our Score: 9.2/10
We've given the Vango Banshee XD 300 Tent the Thumbs Up award.
Value for MoneyQualityPracticality
The good
- Lightweight and fits into a backpack
- Good quality materials
- Easy to pitch
The not so good
- Three people would be cramped. Better with two.
- The porch is only on one side.
This was a hands-on product review. The product was supplied to us to test and conduct the review.
Price Guide
Vango Banshee XD 300 Tent Videos
Vango Banshee XD 300 Tent Photos
Vango Banshee Tent
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Tent in its Bag
Porch Area
The Tent Poles
vango backpacking award
The Banshee XD 300 Tent Layout
Tent Pegs
Ventillation Flaps Open
Our Review
Vango sent us over their Vango Banshee XD 300 so that we can review it on some non-car camping trips. This needed to be a tent that we could easily carry in a backpack or on a bike. Fortunately, the Banshee XD 300 ticks that box!
The Vango Banshee XD 300 tent in its bag. This measures just 46.0 x ø18.0cm, and so easily fits into a backpack. It also only weighs just over 3kg.
Pitching the Banshee XD 300
If all you have is your backpack and you need to get your tent up quickly to get out of the rain, you don't want a complicated tent that's going to take time to set-up.
Again, the Vango Banshee XD 300 ticks another box. This is a very simple tent to pitch, with a few tent poles, clearly colour coded as to where they go.
These are the tent poles for the Vango Banshee 300 XD tent.
There are only a few tent poles to slide into the flysheet, and these are colour coded.
One thing I was particularly impressed with was the tent pegs. These were lightweight but very substantial aluminium.
The tent pegs that come with the Vango Banshee are very good. They are lightweight aluminium and very thick.
The tent pitched, but the main door with the porch is on the other side.
Inside the Tent
So the official size of this tent is for three people, though that would feel very cramped. Being a backpacking tent, it's not going to have lots of room.
The Banshee XD 300 Tent Layout. To fit three people, you have to sleep in different directions and get very snug.
It's important to note that the porch area for boots and bags is only on one side of the tent.
Within the tent, there are large ventilation windows. However, we did find an issue with condensation (more on that below).
There are ventilation flaps at both ends of the tent's interior.
On one side of the tent, there is a small porch area for shoes and bags.
Looking out of the tent at our campfire in the evening
Condensation Issue
When taking this tent camping, one issue we did have was condensation between the flysheet and the inner tent.
There was no condensation inside the tent, and the flysheet was dry on the outside. The only water was between the two.
We had a problem with condensation between the flysheet and the inner tent.
I'd never seen it this bad before. It might have something to do with the location and weather, and so we'll update this review if this happens again.
Fortunately, it's easy to remove the inner from the flysheet to dry them both out.
Drying out the tent before packing away.
Verdict
Despite an issue with the condensation (which might have been environmental), this proved to be a great tent. It's lightweight and easily fits into a backpack, and is easy to pitch and put away.
It also appears well made with good tent poles and quality tent pegs, and despite that, it isn't too expensive.
So, if you want to take your child on a camping adventure and need a smaller lightweight tent, the Vango Banshee XD 300 gets the Thumbs Up.
Details
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