Vango Odyssey Air 800 Tent – No Metal Poles – 5 Rooms

Vango Odyssey Air 800 Tent is without metal poles, all air beam technology tent with 5 separate rooms and with 200 ft² (18.59 m²) of the floor area.

Key features & benefits

What sets this tent apart

Inflatable tent – air beams instead of poles

This is a new trend in the family camping tents manufacturing, though the first tent of this type known to me was by Kelty in 2012. But nowadays more and more brands come with new and improved tents with air beams. In the case here, you have 5 pre-angled AirBeams which provide a strong and flexible structure, and this is what makes it different from the Capri 600 XL Air tent from the same brand where one metal pole is used for the porch.

Tents within the tent

The floor plan below shows the floor area where you see the two sleeping zones which are tents within the tent, even with their own floors. The central zone is the sitting area:

Each of the two sleeping tents is with the divider, so this creates 5 separate rooms; you have 4 sleeping rooms plus the central zone, lots of options for organization and privacy. All the areas here are floored.

The inner tents are separated from the outer shell, so this takes a few centimeters on each side, but this reduces issues of condensation and improves ventilation.

Who is it for

Sizewise, this is a tent for 8 people, and the setup is such that it is suitable for families with older kids. This is because of the two sleeping areas that are on the opposite sides of the central living area so that parents have some privacy, and kids have some independence.

Obviously, the tent is suitable for groups of friends as well. The dimensions are 710 x 290 cm, which gives 2.32 square meters per person if used for 8 people, so this is a lot of space.

Season-wise, this is a true 3-season tent, though better suited for a cooler environment. After all, Vango is a Scottish company. This is why I have included it in my list with tents for cold weather camping. The shell tent is 70D polyester fire retardant and with a waterproof rating 4000 mm, which is far more than enough for any 3-season use. In fact, many 4-season tents have a smaller value; but bear in mind this tent is with air beams which cannot withstand any snow pressure.

The packed size is really good for such a big tent, so you have 70 x 41 x 41 cm, and the weight 21.55 kg is not so bad either. So this is a tool for places with a motorized access.

More about the structure

The tent is with two external doors on the opposite sides, and with two PVC windows, and this all is in the sitting area. So space is fully closed and designed to preserve the warmth. Surprisingly, one of the doors is without mesh, which makes it almost useless. This is seen in several of the tents from the same brand (see the Capri 600 as well), and it is not clear to me why such a design.

For stability against winds, they have added their patented TBS II (tension band system), so those are removable bands which go from the sides where they are attached close to the floor, to the top point on the ceiling, you can see them in the picture below. But the tent is with numerous external guy-out points and guylines, it is indeed designed well to cope with winds.

Both sleeping areas are with two inner doors, you can see one of the two inner tents in the picture above. One of the external doors is with a small awning to protect you from rain when getting in and out, it is shown below.

The sleeping areas are the double-layer type, and the sitting area is a single layer. This looks good enough for a cooler environment. The tent is with vents on the two narrow sides positioned close to the ceiling, behind the sleeping cocoons. In the central sitting area under the two PVC windows, you also have vents and it is essential to keep them open all the time. There is mesh on the inner doors to allow for the air flow.

The tent seems to be practically identical to the Vango Centara 800 tent which is sold under this name in the UK, I did not see any difference here except for 5 cm in the height and in the width. So I contacted the manufacturer Vango and got this reply: “Odyssey has a linked-in groundsheet in the living area, whereas the Centara is fully sewn in.”.

The meaning should be obvious, and you should be aware of the fact that the floor is not actually sealed in the living area. Note that the sleeping areas in the two inner tents are with their own bathtub-type floors and fully sealed.

So, see the video showing the Centara tent to get some more feeling about the space and livability of this great structure, the same you have in the Odyssey tent:

On the other hand, on the UK market, they also have the  Vango Stanford 800 which also looks very similar but with metal poles. But there is also the Vango Odyssey 800 with metal poles, quite confusing.

Good and less good features

Here is my short summary:

The price & rating

As of the moment of writing the text, the Amazon price of this tent is $337. This makes it around $18 per square meter, quite reasonable for all what you have here. Here is my rating for this tent:

Specifications

• Capacity: 8 people.
• Weight: 47.5 lb (21.55 kg).
• Dimensions: 710 x 290 cm.
• Floor area:
  – Sitting area: 78 ft² (7.25 m²).
  – Sleeping areas: 122 ft² (11.34 m²).
  – Total area: 200 ft² (18.59 m²).
• Area per person: 25 ft² (2.32 m²).
• Peak height: 80.7 in (205 cm).
• Packsize: 27.6 x 16.1 x 16.1 in (70 x 41 x 41 cm).
• Pitching time: 10 minutes.

Vango Odyssey Air 800 vs Competitors

In the table below I give the Odyssey tent side by side with two other tents for 8 people, quite different in the style and in materials. Please follow the links to see more. Obviously, the other two tents are far more affordable, but they offer far less.

What is Vango

You might want to know a bit about the company behind this great tent. So Vango is a company founded in 1966 in Scotland, and they have been building camping equipment in all these decades. They became famous for their Force Ten Classic iconic tent as early as in 1967. They started the inflatable tents industry in 2011. All in all, this is a highly respected and reputable brand well known in the UK.

Final thoughts

Thank you for reading. If you still need something different, just look around, this site is all about family camping tents. Please use the comment box below if you have any question or comment. Have a nice day.