Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

I can imagine alone it may be, but my wife and I can pack that thing down from a full set up in 3 minutes.

 

I get that, I wouldn't have spent that on one. I spent $800 on my bachelor and no shipping cause I was in the area already to pick it up. For me it made it a lot easier to set up in the dark which I seem to do quite a bit. Also got tired of waking up wet on the ground. Usually from setting up the ground tent in the dark.

 

Definitely a nice to have. One of the biggest perks to me is not having to find a spot to setup up a ground tent that is level with no rocks, roots or humps to dig in my back.

 

Does an RTT help keep the rain out better too? That's one of my main reasons for wanting one, wet weather camping.

 

Mine has always stayed dry inside, but so have my good quality ground tents. There's obviously less worry about water soaking up from the ground though. A big downside is drying it afterwards, a ground tent I can pitch in the garage or basement to dry if it's still raining when I get home. I can't do that with my RTT.

 

I slept in a ground tent once and got cancer.

 

RTT is key for our group due to frequently camping at old mining sites. More often then not the ground is covered in rocks or is uneven.

I also like the fact that it's self contained with all the bedding and mounts in an area that doesn't take up storage space.

That's about it though. Setup & tear down takes a while, especially with kids and the annex. Have to worry about drying it out after rain. Sucks to get up and down the ladder in the middle of the night.

It's cool though. I think it makes me want to get out and camp more often. It's also the main driving force to make my girlfriend want to do the same - she has to have a good nights sleep otherwise it can be scary having to tip-toe around her in the morning lol.

 

The self containment is the main thing for me. Add the fact that it is always ready to go being on the truck is another perk since I don't remove it.

The tent drying out would have to happen with a ground tent as well so thats a wash imo. But ground tents you end up getting muddy/dirty where as the rtt will stay pretty clean other than the ladder.

 

So peaceful.

 

What kind of RTT is that? Two story?

 

Very funny.
Interestingly this area did have some "two story outhouses". When the snow got too deep to access the lower they "went" to the second story. Adds a new dimension to "spring cleaning".

 

I put my stock interior back in the truck since i took out the fridge, doing so i had to pull the second battery out.
Im wanting to mount i in the bed now, is the composite bed strong enough to bolt in a battery tray and hold the battery in place while romping through some trails. Would hate for the bed to rip/crack at the mount and the battery fly loose.

Would large washer on the bottom side do the trick? Im not looking for a dimple died fancy battery tray, just a simple stock style mount.

 

No problems. I would use two stacked fender washers for a battery, or some bits of 3/16 plate. For reference, Toyota uses a metal backing plate on their bed mounted cargo rings that is approximately 2" x 3" and officially rates it for 400 lb pull as I recall.

 

Y'all don't just pee in bottles in the middle of the night?

 

It's pretty rare that I even have to pee in the middle of the night. Being in the tent would be extra motivation to hold it.

 

Negative on the bottle. I sleep in the cab if solo, so I open the door and stand on slider and go. If in ground tent, then I go for a short walk. And walking around at night in the desert is one of the coolest activities ever.

 

Do you have a pic of the bracket that holds the rotos and the propane tank closer up? I'm interested in trying to get mine set up that way. Been trying to find a way to carry propane.

 

+1 - the walking around, not the other...

 

Solo trips I do.

Girlfriend isn't fond of a possible accident