I honestly never thought that I would own a windbreak. Call me a snob, but the bright stripy ones that adorn our beaches every summer seem like something from a bygone era to me, a memory of happy childhood days on the Lleyn Peninsula beaches. A couple of miserable summers, camping in windy fields in the Peak District and North Wales resulted in a portion of humble pie and the realisation that they actually serve a purpose. On one campsite we fetched an old one out of a skip at the site office and jerry-rigged it with what its of string and rocks we could get together. It worked, but was hardly practical and looked a mess with its torn edges flapping in the gale. So I went looking, figuring that somebody would have gone to the effort of designing something a little more sensible than the standard beach version (for one thing it’s not practical to bash 1inch wooden stakes into hard ground as opposed to soft sand). Lo and behold Vango (amongst others) have done just that and designed something relatively light weight, robust, and very practical. I say relatively light weight as the poles are steel which makes it heavier than it might be. Presumably this is for strength, but I don’t see why they couldn’t be made from aluminium. Essentially it’s a large rectangular piece of material with sleeves for the poles. The poles have spikes on each end, one for pressing into the floor, one for attaching a guy line. It comes with enough guys to anchor it in pretty strong winds. There are three poles which means you can put a bend in it if necessary, to make a calm kitchen area. In summary it’s an excellent car boot camping accessory, but not really something you would want to carry far in your rucksack. There is a larger version should you need it, and have a big enough boot, but I went for the smaller one as it fitted all the criteria I had – small, relatively light weight and versatile. Well done Vango.

You can see more about the windbreak on their website.

Dimensions L300cm / H100cm
Total Weight 1.60kg
Pack Size 42 x 8 x 8cm

Retails at £30