Vango Harris 500 Review: End of Line — Worth Buying on Clearance?
The Vango Harris 500 is an end-of-line tent. It is a mid-priced five-berth villa tent, the Sierra 500 has replaced it, and what remains on sale is 2024 clearance stock. The last versions we can find on sale are 2024-season stock, now heavily discounted, and one retailer’s Harris 500 page now opens on its replacement, the Sierra 500. If you can get one cheaply it may still be a good buy. Just know that the paperwork is thin and the specifications do not always agree.
End of line
Vango no longer lists the Harris 500 as a current tent. The newest stock we can find is the 2024 season, retailers are clearing it at up to 40% off, and its replacement is the Sierra 500 (4,000 mm flysheet against the Harris’s 3,000 mm). Buy the Harris only at a clearance price; at anything near the old RRP, buy the Sierra instead.
Where the reviews line up
We found less independent evidence for the Harris 500 than for most tents we cover. It comes from three places. First, Vango’s own specification, which reaches us through retailer listings because Vango’s website would not load for us. Second, the owner reviews at UK Campsite. Third, the Camping and Caravanning Club’s “On test” review of its smaller sibling, the Harris Air 350. None of the three has reviewed the five-berth tent itself in depth, and no retailer we could read shows owner ratings with a count.
Here is what they agree on. The Harris is a villa tent with upright walls and a canopy already attached at the front, so you get covered space outside the door without buying an extra. The bedroom is 3 metres wide, which is how Vango gets to five sleepers at 60 cm each. The flysheet is rated 3,000 mm hydrostatic head, a normal figure for a summer family tent and well short of the 4,000 mm on the Sierra 500 that replaces it.
What sleeping five actually means is our own sum, not a reviewer’s finding. Most single airbeds are wider than Vango’s 60 cm space per person. So five adults on airbeds will not fit. The practical fit is two adults and two or three children, or three adults.
The real decision is about the price. At the £300 we saw for the poled version, or £240 for clearance Air stock, it is a reasonable tent for summer weekends. At full price (£475 poled, £600 Air), the newer Sierra gives you a more waterproof flysheet for similar money.
The three sources this summary is built from
- Vango, via retailer listingsThe manufacturer’s specification as five UK and European retailers print it. They disagree on weight and bedroom size.
- UK CampsiteOwner reviews. There is one, scored 8/10, and it is of the Harris Air 350, not the 500.
- Camping and Caravanning ClubClub magazine “On test”, June 2024, of the Harris Air 350. The verdict is behind the members’ paywall.
Before the review: which Harris 500?
“Harris 500” covers several tents. There is the poled Harris 500, with fibreglass poles, and the Harris Air 500, with inflatable AirBeams (SK Camping calls it the “Harris 500 Air”). There are also the cotton-blend Harris TC 500 and the longer Harris 500XL. This page covers the first two. The newest listings we found are both marked 2024, and we found no 2026 Harris 500 anywhere. Attwoolls’ Harris 500 page now forwards to the Sierra 500 (Poled) 2026, and Bergfreunde lists the Harris 500 as no longer available. Read that as Vango replacing the Harris with the Sierra. We could not get it confirmed by Vango.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Berths | 5 (Vango’s rating). Realistically 2 adults + 2–3 children, or 3 adults | Berths from every listing; the realistic figure is our reading of the 60 cm allowance |
| Space per sleeper | 60 cm. Called “Queen Size” bedrooms on the poled tent, and “Queen-sized” (Tiso) or “king sized” (SK Camping) on the Air | Retailers disagree on the label; the 60 cm figure is consistent |
| Bedroom (inner) size | 210 × 300 cm, 180 cm high | Bergfreunde (poled) and SK Camping (Air). How the bedroom is divided was not published |
| Overall size | 455 × 320 cm, 195 cm high (poled). Tiso gives 455 × 300 cm for the Air | Norwich Camping and Outdoor Action; SK Camping gives 455 × 320 for the Air |
| Porch | Pre-attached front canopy, plus a living area of undisclosed size | No retailer gives canopy dimensions |
| Hydrostatic head | 3,000 mm flysheet, fully taped seams. Sewn-in PE groundsheet | Norwich Camping, Tiso, Bergfreunde. Outdoor Action also gives 3,000 mm for the groundsheet |
| Fabric | Sentinel polyester (“Sentinel Eco”, with ColourLok Eco dyeing) | Several retailers |
| Pole type | Poled: Vango PowerFlex fibreglass. Air: AirBeam with a fibreglass canopy pole | Norwich Camping, Outdoor Action; SK Camping for the Air |
| Packed weight (poled) | 16.7 kg (Norwich Camping, Bergfreunde) or 17.7 kg (Outdoor Action) | Sources disagree by 1 kg; we print both |
| Packed size | Poled: 73 × 32 × 32 cm. Air: 68 × 44 × 40 cm | Consistent across listings. The Air pack is shorter but much fatter |
| Packed weight (Air) | Not published by any listing we could read | See “What we could not check” |
| Pitch time | 15 minutes (poled), as claimed by Vango | Manufacturer’s claim; no independent timing we could read |
| Weather testing | Wind and rain tested to EN ISO 5912; fire-retardant fabrics | Manufacturer’s claim |
| Warranty | Not stated on any listing we read | Vango’s own site returned an error |
| Price, poled | £299.96 at Outdoor Action (RRP £475); £475 at Norwich Camping | Both checked 3 October 2026 |
| Price, Air | £240 at Tiso (RRP £600, out of stock); £599.99 at SK Camping | Both checked 3 October 2026 |
Vango, via retailer listings
Vango’s own product page returned an error when we tried it, so we have the specification second-hand from five retailers. They agree on the basics: a 455 cm-long villa tent with a 3,000 mm Sentinel flysheet, taped seams, a sewn-in groundsheet, and a 3 m-wide darkened bedroom. Vango calls the bedrooms Nightfall, Lights-Out or Midnight depending on the listing. The poled tent has PowerFlex fibreglass poles and Vango’s Tension Band System, which tightens the frame against wind. Vango claims a 15-minute pitch.
They disagree on detail. The poled tent weighs 16.7 kg according to Norwich Camping and Bergfreunde, and 17.7 kg according to Outdoor Action. Tiso calls the Air version’s bedrooms queen-sized while SK Camping calls them king-sized, though both say 60 cm per person. Tiso gives the Air’s width as 300 cm where SK Camping and the poled listings give 320 cm. None of the five gives a warranty, canopy dimensions or the Air’s packed weight. The Air packs into a bag 68 cm long but 44 cm deep, a different shape for your boot from the poled tent’s 73 cm tube.
Watch: Vango Harris Air 350 & 500 Tent Review 2024
A walk-round of the 2024 AirBeam versions. The best match for the spec table above if you are weighing the Air against the poled tent.
Watch on YouTube ↗UK Campsite
UK Campsite is where British campers have reviewed their own tents for years. It has no entry for the Harris 500, and a single owner review of the three-berth Harris Air 350. One review is an anecdote, not a rating. We include it because the Air 350 shares the 500’s fabric, door design and canopy, so the owner’s points probably apply to the bigger tent too.
The owner scored it 8/10. They found inflating it and packing it away manageable, and liked the canopy, held up by a pole, as covered space for sitting and cooking. It stood up to wind and heavy rain once the storm straps were on, though they rate it a spring-and-summer tent. Their complaints were small and specific. The window curtains are “a bit fiddly” to toggle. The bathtub groundsheet toggles in rather than zipping. And there is only one zip on the bedroom door, which makes getting out at night awkward. Check that detail on any Harris you look at in a shop.
Watch: Vango Harris Range • 350 & 500
An overview of the 350 and 500 together, useful for seeing how much of the smaller tent the owner review describes carries over to the five-berth.
Watch on YouTube ↗Camping and Caravanning Club
The Club’s magazine is the closest thing to independent testing of the Harris range we could find, and the test is of the smaller Air 350, not the 500. The public part of the article says only that Vango released the Harris Air “in its Sentinel technical cotton fabric with AirBeams, giving it a much more luxurious feel”. The mention of cotton suggests the tent tested may be the cotton-blend Harris TC Air 350, not the polyester Air 350. The verdict, score, pros and cons are for members only. We have not seen them, and we do not guess at them here.
That leaves a gap. We could find no review from a national consumer title, outdoor magazine or trade publication of the Harris 500 itself. There are no pitch times or wind tests apart from Vango’s own. If an independent verdict matters to you, the newer Sierra Air 500 has a published review at Live for the Outdoors. The Harris does not.
Watch: Vango Harris 350 & 500XL (Poled) Tent Review 2024
A walk-round of the poled tents. Note this covers the longer 500XL, so the porch you see is bigger than the standard 500’s.
Watch on YouTube ↗Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- Pre-attached front canopy gives covered space outside the door without extra cost.
- Villa shape with upright walls and 195 cm height, so adults can stand up inside.
- Darkened bedrooms, which help with children and early summer mornings.
- Fully taped seams, sewn-in groundsheet and Vango’s Tension Band System for wind.
- An owner reports it held up in wind and heavy rain with the storm straps on (Air 350).
- Clearance prices: the poled tent at about £300, against an RRP of £475.
What people complain about
- 60 cm per sleeper means five adults will not fit on standard airbeds.
- 3,000 mm flysheet is ordinary; its replacement, the Sierra 500, is rated 4,000 mm.
- 16.7–17.7 kg packed (poled), a two-person lift from the car.
- Only one zip on the bedroom door, and fiddly toggled window curtains (owner, Air 350).
- No warranty term on any listing, and no published canopy size.
- End-of-line stock. Spares and replacement poles may get harder to find.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you are a family of four, or two adults with three small children, camping on summer weekends. You want a front canopy you can sit under and enough height to stand up, and you can get one at clearance prices. At around £300 for the poled tent, it costs well under its RRP.
Look elsewhere if you need room for five adults, you camp in spring and autumn when a higher hydrostatic head matters, or you want an independent test behind your purchase. In that case, compare the Sierra 500 at its current price before you buy. If you are paying close to full price, the Harris is the older tent for the same money.
What we could not check
- Vango’s own product pages. vango.co.uk returned an error, so every specification here comes through retailer listings. We could not confirm that the Harris 500 is discontinued, only that one retailer forwards it to the Sierra and another lists it as no longer available.
- Warranty. No listing we read gives a guarantee term, so we have not printed one.
- Packed weight. The poled tent is 16.7 kg or 17.7 kg depending on the retailer. The Air 500’s weight is not published anywhere we could read.
- Canopy and living-area size, and the bedroom layout. We have the 210 × 300 cm bedroom total, but not how it is split into rooms or how deep the porch is.
- Pitch time by an independent tester. The 15-minute figure is Vango’s claim.
- Owner ratings with a count. No UK retailer we could read shows them. Amazon blocked us, and we found no live Go Outdoors or Decathlon listing for the Harris 500. UK Campsite has one review, of the 350.
- The Camping and Caravanning Club verdict, which is for members only.
- The videos. We confirmed all three because each appeared, with the same title and web address, in two differently worded searches. We did not open them. The search listings did not show the channel names, so we cannot tell you who made them.
Sources and prices last checked 3 October 2026. Clearance stock sells out and prices move quickly, so check them before you order.