Hondo Garage's New Thing

I’ve got an honest question here and I’m looking for an honest answer:

Background info:

Where I live it rains a lot, and RTTs have been mostly a total fail. If you do any winter, fall, or spring camping they just turn into a moldy mess unless you pop it up on every single dry winter day, or remove it from your vehicle entirely. People I know with them have a love/hate relationship with them and most are up for sale within the 1st year. If I visit them they always have their tent up in the driveway trying to dry it out. They are clearly far more hassle than they are worth in this part of the world. I’m so very glad I never got sucked in to buying one of those jeezless things.

My question:

The GFC has piqued my curiosity as it appeals to me on a few levels. I could afford one and like the idea and like the looks, however......that mold question nags at me. Are these canvas pop up “campers” just another mold farm in waiting? Is anyone struggling with keeping these things fresh and dry? I’d appreciate some honesty. I know we all have a tendency to fan-boy our latest cool purchase, but I’m interested in any dissenting opinions if they are out there, especially from people using these things in rainy areas.

 

Do you remove the cushions when you are not using the camper?

 

They don't have as many folds all laying on top of each other when collapsed when compared to an RTT, so it should stay a bit dryer. That being said, it's still canvas compressed down on top of itself. I'm pretty sure they're using mold-resistant canvas, but so are most good RTT manufacturers. There are anti-mold sprays and washes you can use on canvas to help cut down on growth, whether on this on another RTT. You're still going to need to open this up and let it dry out.

One benefit with the wedge-type or other hard-roof designs is that they're easier to pop open and heat up. You can usually let air circulate through the inside without having to open a canvas window/door, which helps keep the canvas taught and wrinkle free to speed up drying.

I seriously considered buying one of these for some time but dragged my feet for too long. They're over a year out on builds now. At this point, I think it'll be cheaper and quicker to just design my own and contract with a local machinist to help out with the parts of the build I can't do myself. That way I can go with a hard-sided pop-up. Similar to the image below, but build it as a bed cap instead of a slide in camper.

 

I remembered to take some quick pics today.

 

Sorry if the answer is hidden in this massive thread. Does the ceiling translucent material touch the cushions when it is closed?

 

I think there is. I appreciate your help and am not trying to poke fun, but honestly it is the “showing it off” idea that I’m really trying to avoid. A lot of folks were showing off their RTTs and then a year later they are desperate to offload it on Craigslist. I’m not certain the GFC will not be the same thing all over again, but I’m open to the idea it’s not.

 

Thanks for this. I appreciate it.

 

I'm not in Alaska, but mine was Burried in the snow most of the winter. And we've been getting tons of snow here in the mountains of Colorado. Brushed it off a few times, and didn't have any issues. Even had a pretty thick layer of ice on the roof a few times.

I did see some slight leaking in heavy rain between the tent and frame, otherwise I've had zero issues. No leaking in the tent ever.

Thankfully it's dug out of the snow and I'm heading to Utah this week to get a start on the wheeling season.

 

Mine’s in Alaska but it really doesn’t compare to the wetness of the PNW. It’s pretty dry up here and the snow is extremely dry at consistent subzero temperatures. The only moisture I had inside the tent was from my heater and my breath and that all froze just about right away and stayed frozen. Once it started warming up about two weeks ago I popped the top, wiped everything down with a towel and left it up in the sun with the windows open to maximize airflow and dry out any residual moisture.

 

Got out to Moab this weekend.





Elk steak tacos on the skottle.

 

One more. Bedding net works really well

 

I’ll be in Moab next week!

Please tell us more about the bedding net.

 

Nice. The weather is perfect, especially coming from the winter we had in CO.

I bought the D-rings in the ad at the bottom of the page from Amazon. Ran them with the preexisting bolts in the space frame and used a tailgate net I had sitting around from a while ago. I may try to find a bungee net to keep stuff in there more securely. It works really well, you just drag the bedding off the bed and it's secured right below the fixed platform. I stole the idea from someone in this thread I believe.

 

I was worried about how long it would take to close down the tent since it was only my second time having the tent open and it was pretty chilly at 40 degrees overnight. Left out the two smaller bed panels and it maybe took ten seconds to close down the entire tent. So far, the GFC is exceeding my expectations in every way. Absolutely perfect for my type of camping.

 

Anybody upgrade to the new side window tent option? I was told by GFC they recommend that you replace the entire tent because they are using an updated material so the top can close easier with the addition of the side window. Curious if it’s worth upgrading. I’m looking for the ability to exit out the side via ladder instead of removing a panel each time.

 

Nice setup!

 

I have a love/hate relationship with the “products discussed” feature at the bottom on this forum.
I love it because I can look it over and find all kinds of cool and useful items. Hate it because my Amazon cart is always full and I spend money, haha.
I have a whole grab bag full of shit to take out to GFC with me ready for when I pickup the camper in June. I’m not returning home to Ohio for a few weeks so I’m basically just going to be building it out on the road while camping out if it. Haha.

 

Thank you.

 

That’s what dreams are made of right there! Looks a little more moist than my June visit last year. Awesome setup! Thanks for the pics!

 

I did the same thing. Had a box in my truck for months with the flannel sheets, d rings, the levels I added, all the T-nuts I ordered. Gotta go prepared.