Vaude Campo 3 Man Dome Tent

Please note I am writing this purely from the point of view of a camping novice so all technical details may not be included .

I've had this tent for a couple of years now well more like 4-5 years. At the time of purchase you could get in in Argos for about £160.00 but I managed to get it sent from a German supplier who was selling them on eBay . It cost about £104.00 in all including p+p.

The reason I chose this tent was ...
...that could be packed /carried around should need be ,so it needed to be light weight ,it weighs about 4.5 kg
-I was due to holiday with a friend, and as they were giving me a lift in their car with all there stuff I didnt want to be taking up a lot of room.
-As it was just my son and I who would be staying in the tent there was no need for it to be a huge tent.
-I wanted something that would be easy for me to put up and take back ... more

Please note I am writing this purely from the point of view of a camping novice so all technical details may not be included .

I've had this tent for a couple of years now well more like 4-5 years. At the time of purchase you could get in in Argos for about £160.00 but I managed to get it sent from a German supplier who was selling them on eBay . It cost about £104.00 in all including p+p.

The reason I chose this tent was for the following reasons:

-I wanted something that could be packed /carried around should need be ,so it needed to be light weight ,it weighs about 4.5 kg
-I was due to holiday with a friend, and as they were giving me a lift in their car with all there stuff I didnt want to be taking up a lot of room.
-As it was just my son and I who would be staying in the tent there was no need for it to be a huge tent.
-I wanted something that would be easy for me to put up and take back down quickly without to much messing.
-I wanted High Quality

About the Tent

The tent comes in a purpose made made bag and is no higher then 29 inches/ 74 cm ,the depth when stood up is no bigger then 10 inches/25 cm ,so is cylindrical in shape.(i'm sure could be folded smaller by someone who knows -as thats how big it is after I repacked it)
also included was 10 standard 7 inch tent pegs . Guy rope was included .

This tent comes only with 3 poles which are light and fold down small and very quickly . Although they seem small and fold down easily ,when in place they are strong and hold the tent up very sturdily. Also a repair part was included should one of your poles be damaged .

Putting up the Tent.

First Lay a ground sheet.

You have 2 main poles which you put through across the diagonal of the top of the inner tent,it attaches with little plastic hooks running across the top/sides the end of the poles slot into holes at the corners to hold them firmly in place. This holds the inner tent in a sturdy upright position.
After the inner tent is up , which can be done faster then the speed of light , you get the outer tent and chuck it over the top and line up the two porches at either side . The outer Tent clips onto the poles also. Then you run the third and final pole across the top on the outside of the outer tent to make the porches lift up and hold in place (which makes a small shelters/porch areas at either ends of the outer tent.Then its time to tent peg it down so it doesn't blow away!

You need your own rubber mallet to hit the pegs into the ground as it doesn't come supplied with one.

This tent is just as quick to take down as put up-it may take a couple of goes at folding it though to get it back in the bag-I'm rubbish at that sort of thing.
If you take it down when it is wet ,and you have to pack it, then you MUST take it out and hang it to dry at the earliest moment you get so as it doesn't go mouldy and rot from the damp -that would be a very expensive mistake to make.

This tent didn't come with added ground sheet so you will need to buy one for yourself. A lot of campsites only allow breathable groundsheets other wise a big tarpaulin would do.(thats what I use)

This tent may be ideal for some trekkers /backpackers due to its size (though there are smaller/lighter tents on the market)It could be suitable as a second tent- for the kids or just for a couple who want to pack light for a quick getaway. it is a three seasons tent according to information I had with it.

The sleeping area is a fair size for two + some luggage but if you are trekkers travelling light you could fit three people snuggly. Though if you are over 6 foot or even just under it is even snugger!

The tent has an entrance on both sides of it (as already mentioned),each comes out into a porch ,so if it were raining and the sleeping compartment and porch were open you would still be sheltered quite a bit.(depending on how you open the porch,as there are several ways) The door to the sleeping compartment unzips about 6-8 inches off the ground so you need to take a small step getting in and out . Due to the size this is not a tent for standing in -it is basically just for sleeping and at a push getting changed in . each door to the sleeping compartment has two zips on it. and there is also an air vent across the top of each door .The vents are mosquito net type material so you won't get bugs coming in.(very important!)

It would be too small to use a gas lamp/heater or cooking equipment inside, so you need to do this outside the tent -But i'm guessing that common sense would tell you that if you had this tent.

Inside the tent the are four very useful quite large pouch pockets located in each corner on the sides of the inner tent. I found these very handy for storing my contact lense stuff and torches etc.

Because of its size ,Its not a tent that can be heated easily overnight with gas heaters etc as that would be very dangerous. and therefore i'd say unless you are equipped for 'all' conditions and not just a novice camper like myself, you should stick to warmer overnight climates and not camp say for instance up the mountains where temperatures drop below freezing overnight even in the peek of summer during a heat wave ! I say this speaking from experience!!

I know that there aren't many technical details here but I lost the specifications booklet and can't seem to find my exact model no. on the tent label ,when I googled it there are several models out now all similar ,but I don't want to give the wrong specific details for my product.

I do feel that this tent was a great investment and hopefully I will get much more use and enjoyment from it over the coming years. There are cheaper tents out there but this tent is built to last where as other cheaper versions do not. I have a couple of friends who are on there 2nd and 3rd cheaper tents . So if you are an avid camper I think it is probably better in the long run to buy something decent rather then keep buying rubbish that breaks

These Tents still retail between £100 - £170

Happy Camping
 

...less