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  5. Isabella Polo
26/04/2012 Share this review   Share on Facebook icon Share on Twitter icon Share on Pinterest icon Share on Linked In icon
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Isabella Polo

Isabella Polo

6e0fcc3d-ed6d-4fc7-9803-f79f25e7a7de


OTHER INFO

Price £329.99
Packed size 40 x 77cm
Materials
Outer Ripstop polyester
Poles fibreglass
Dimensions
360 x 485cm
Height 200cm

CONTACT

Isabella
01844 20 2099
www.isabella.net

Our third festival option is a more traditional-style family tent. Isabella are known for their caravan awnings but have now moved into the tent market and this is one of their first offerings.

The Polo is undoubtedly a quality tent and with a hydrostatic head rating of 5,000mm should be enough to repel the worst festival downpours. But where it let itself down was in how difficult it was to pitch. This is something you can usually work through on a campsite without too much drama but at a festival, it’s a big negative. You simply don’t have the time or space to faff around with poles and awkward flysheets when you’re surrounded by dozens of other eager festival-goers. Although it’s not especially large, we found we needed two people to get the poles in place then raise the tent into position. The pole sleeves are colour coded which is good, but they are full length, making sliding in the fibreglass poles difficult and time-consuming.

Once you’ve actually got it pitched, the Polo is a decent tent. It has a good-sized living area and there’s enough room width-wise in the bedroom area for two adults and two children. However the sleeping space is actually quite short which makes stretching out quite difficult.

With two side doors – including one with a rain porch – mesh inner doors and PVC windows, lots of light can get in and the tent is generally light and airy. The stitched in groundsheet is an essential for a muddy festival campsite. The cable entry point will be useful for general camping holidays.

VERDICT

A good quality, compact weekend tent but quite tricky to pitch, which counts against it as a festival tent.