Vango say that the beams in an AirBeam, create a strong and rigid tent structure combined with a very easy and quick pitch time, so we couldn’t wait to put the Solaris through it’s paces and see how it performed for ourselves.
Having never pitched an inflatable beam tent before, we found the Vango valve system incredibly easy, and inflating the tent was indeed very fast. When we pulled out the pump on the first inflated beam, we’d failed to lock it in place however, and the whole thing deflated on us. We didn’t make the same mistake again!
Whilst Mr. CWS inflated the beams, I set about pegging out the guy ropes, and we found that the whole process was indeed quick.
There are a good number of guy ropes all around the tent, which made the tent feel nice and secure, the tent incorporates Vango’s internal tension system too, giving the tent extra stability in high winds. Once the beams were inflated, they were surprisingly rigid and didn’t take up as much internal space as I’d feared they might.
We tend to go for very large tents usually as a result of our hobby, because we have a lot of costume, props and accessories to take along with us when we camp at events. Having looked at the dimensions, we weren’t convinced the Solaris would be big enough for our usual needs, and expected it to only be suitable for short weekend trips. We were pleasantly surprised however and found the tent extremely spacious.
The tent worked very well for us, and even with our usual furniture, camp kitchen and so on, the tent never felt at all cramped. I previously owned a Vango Icarus 500, with an additional extension, which I used happily for many years, and the Solaris is an ideal, slightly bigger replacement. The addition of the front porch is brilliant, and effectively added to the amount of overall usable living space, and the height of the tent is great too, helping it to feel nice and big.
Our Verdict
The addition of the front porch provided extra living space, perfect for summer evenings. It’s also a great place to retreat to away from the hot sun, and from rain showers too; and we experienced some real extremes in weather over the weekend, and were incredibly grateful to have a covered outdoor area. The manufacturing quality is excellent, as you’d expect from Vango, and we loved the abundant clever design features (see our pictures below).
After using the Solaris, we are absolute converts to AirBeam tents, and certainly won’t be sad to see the back of pole tents (apart from our beloved bell tent of course!). The Solaris is ideal for when my health doesn’t allow me to help with pitching too, as the AirBeam tent is super easy for one person to put up on their own.
We think the Solaris is perfect for anyone wanting to invest in a high quality AirBeam tent, and it provides ample space for couples who glamp, or for smaller families. This is definitely much more than just the weekend tent we thought it would be, and we’d have no hesitation in using this for our longer camping trips.
The Solaris is a truly excellent tent, and we’re already looking forward to camping in it again!
What We Liked
We loved the oversized bag, which made packing the tent away easy.
Pack size of the tent and pump is good.
Super fast pitching time and pumping up the AirBeams was lots of fun.
Shell Robshaw-Bryan is an outdoor and travel writer, journalist and the founder of Camping with Style, one of the UK's longest-running camping and glamping blogs, now in its twelfth year.
A nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl at heart, Shell launched the blog following a serious snowboarding accident that left her with a broken back. Rather than retreat indoors and accept the gloomy prognosis she was given, she turned to the healing power of nature and the outdoors to aid her recovery. She's been writing about it ever since.
From open water swimming, horse riding, kayaking, snowboarding and hill walking to glamping, meditation, luxury travel and microadventures, Shell writes from genuine first-hand experience and has been featured in publications including The Telegraph, Guardian and HuffPost.
She believes wholeheartedly that the outside world is the best therapy there is and she continues making the case for it, one adventure at a time.
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