Review: Vango Helix 300 Tent
Anyone who reads this blog knows that we are massive camping fans, and love heading off with our family tent for a few days under canvas. Up until now, we’ve shied away from smaller backpacking style tents in favour of a rather more luxurious setup. This approach has it’s drawbacks however. We currently have to take Luke’s van away with us due to the size of our current tent and the ridiculous amount of gear we have. We originally fell in love with camping due to how simple it is and how much we enjoyed spending a few days outdoors getting back to basics. In recent times, both me and Luke have discussed getting a smaller tent and spending time at more rustic, semi wild campsites. We’ve even mentioned the possibility of trying some proper wild camping at some point, but all that would involve having to seriously downsize and invest in a new tent.
With that in mind, when Ellis Brigham got in touch to see if we wanted to try out the Vango Helix 300, we jumped at the chance.
First Impressions
Weighing in the realms of 2.5kg, the Helix 300 is tiny compared to what we’re used to (our gargantuan Outwell Montana 6AC) and it was a revelation having a tent that I could carry around. Although fairly big in terms of backpacking tents, as this sleeps 3 it could easily be carried by a couple of people with no issues at all.
Pitching
It’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with anything other than our airtent, so I was pleasantly surprised that, even though I’m out of practice, the Helix 300 was incredibly easy to pitch on my own. Depending on the conditions, there is the option to pitch flysheet or inner first. We’ve always gone inner first and found it very straightforward.
The Helix 300 consists of a classic tunnel design and has 2 poles; one long that goes at the front and a shorter one that goes at the rear. The corners can then be pegged out and you have your basic tent up in minutes.
The flysheet can then be put on and clipped into place at each corner.
Features
This might be more basic than we’re used to, but there are plenty of features that make this tent so versatile. First and foremost, it’s very spacious inside. Both me and Luke fit easily with room to spare. Even though he’s a wriggler, there’s even enough space for Finn to join us as well. This means that it’s a great option for when we just want to head off for a day or two, and taking mountains of stuff is too much like hard work. Likewise, our dream of wild camping is now within reach. If we ever manage a child free night, we’re heading straight out to the hills with this tent!
(Excuse my massive pregnant belly and complete lack of gracefulness in this video)
Final Thoughts
As much as we love this tent, (and we all really do, I haven’t found any negative points as of yet) I’m not quite ready to ditch our car camping ways entirely. A couple of times a year we’ll still head off for a week with our full set up, but I’m so excited about the fact that we have so many more options. If we fancy a spontaneous night or two away, we can now head off with minimal equipment and the Vango Helix 300. I also won’t feel so silly pitching up at a smaller, more basic campsite with this little beauty.
This tent was gifted to us by Ellis Brigham, all opinions are my own.
This looks a great tent for my son, who is off to festivals and to Dartmoor this summer. He wants a light weight and easy to carry, tent yet he is over 6 foot 3 so this looks perfect in fact. Thanks for the review and your pregnant tummy looks lovely! #adventurecalling
I haven’t been camping since I was at junior school when I was plagued with earwigs, this tent looks amazing #adventurecal!ing@_karendennis
This looks a great weekend tent and a great alternative to taking a huge one with you just for a few days or overnight. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to go backpack camping yet!
Thanks, Lauren!
A comprehensive review of what looks like a really super Tent. Hopefully, the weather will stay kind to you over the summer months and you can utilise it more and more. Happy Camping!!! #AdventureCalling
What a nifty little tent! Perfect for festivals. Great advice. #adventurecalling
Great review and amazed it packs down small enough for your 3-year old to carry! We still go all out camping with a 5-man tent (albeit a very old one now!) – I can’t do wet, smelly dog in a hiking tent! #AdventureCalling
We’ve always used Vango tents with our school DofE groups and they’ve never let us down. Great value and quality. #adventurecalling
This looks fab! Before children, Brian and I used small tents such as this one. In fact, we still have our 2 man Vaude tent somewhere. I’d love to go wild camping with the kids too, and this looks like the start of an answer!
#Adventurecalling