Vango Monte Verde 900 Tent
Product Review & Walking Gear Test

	Monte Verde 900 Tent Vital Statistics: Guarantee: One year from date of purchase Colours: Blue, Green Weight: Canvas 26.90 Kgms/Poles 24.55 Kgms SRP: £650.00

Monte Verde 900 Tent

Vital Statistics:

Guarantee:
One year from date of purchase

Colours:
Blue, Green

Weight:
Canvas 26.90 Kgms/Poles 24.55 Kgms

SRP:
£650.00

Features to Note:

Pack Size:
Canvas 80 x 40 x 42 cms/Poles 86 x 20 x 20 cms
Protex® 5000 polyester flysheet (5000 mm HH)
Taped, double-stitched seams
Powerplus steel, pre-angled poles
Sewn-in polyethylene 10,000 HH groundsheet
Mesh doors x 3 plus mesh vents
Breathable fabric, flexible inners
Fire retartdant fabrics
Pitch time 50 mins

In-use Test:

The Vango Monte Verde 900 is one of Vango's premium tents for large groups. It comes in two bags - a roller bag for the canvas plus a carry bag for the poles - that fitted easily into the boot of a Passat.

Pitching was surprisingly easy, given its size; the first time it took 5 of us about 50 mins but this can probably be managed easily with 3 people. The substantial (and relatively heavy) poles were easy to push through the fly-sheet sleeves. Joy of joys - they didn't come apart mid way which so often seems to happen with lighter poles. In our experience (one of our testers is a Guide Leader - vintage many Guide camps), pitching the Monte Verde was a lot easier than with many tents of comparable size

The internal accommodation is provided via a series of 'pods' that each have a colour coded tab that matches tabs on the main tent to help in locating the hanging position. The pod system provided a really flexible way of using the internal space. The Monte Verde can certainly accommodate at least 9 people - 3 of the inner pods can sleep 2 and 1 can sleep 3. The pods each have own ground sheet. We've tested it so far with 6 people sleeping in it during a relatively cold night - overall there did not appear to be any build-up of condensation.

Aside from the pods, there's an excellent amount of space for communal activities and/or storage. The pods are so easily put in place that it's really easy to remove them for day-time group activities if the weather's bad - reinstating them quickly for night.

The main porch area is perfect for storing walking boots, backpacks or even bicycles. There is also a second entrance that can be used as an alternative to the main one.

There are several zip openings for electrical hook-up cables - each of which has a pocket underneath. These pockets (even when zipped shut) did seem to collect water during rain which meant that the pockets couldn't be used for keeping cables tidy, which we assumed was their purpose. Aside from that - the tent has been fine in some quite heavy rain and wind.

We thank the 1st Shawbury Guide Unit for their help with this test.

Buying Advice:

The Monte Verde 900 tent from Vango provides extremely flexible and comfortable accommodation for large groups. It's easy to pitch and to take down and there's lots of room to keep separate your walking, cycling gear etc. You might need to book two pitches though!

What do you think?

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