Thule RTT thoughts?

Anyone have experience with Thule RTTs?

My wife and I are wanting to get out and explore more (i.e. camping). I grew up camping a ton, have the basic camping gear for ground tent camping. She hasn't really gone camping much throughout her life and isn't fond of sleeping on the ground. I found a Thule RTT from REI for less than $1,000 once you apply their sale going on right now:

https://www.rei.com/product/116149/tepui-tents-explorer-series-ayer-2-tent-tan?sku=1161490001

Comes out to $919 plus you get a dividend back for being a member. This is like one of the cheapest RTT's I've found. I know "you get what you pay for" but I also have no experience with RTTs so maybe the price is just reflective of size/options, but quality is still there. I don't know and hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction.

I understand i'll need the bed rack to mount it which is an additional cost.

 

My other much more budget friendly approach was to build a platform in the bed of my truck and find a ground tent that is like 6ft x 4ft and just put it on the platform... but I can't find one with the doors on the long end of the tents. It's also surprisingly hard to find tents in that dimension.

 

Any tepui/Thule tent is good quality and is backed w good service

 

Had an Ayer before I moved up to my Kukenam. Much like most ground tents, the capacity is oversold. That Ayer is more like 1 man and a clothes bag. Also, if you are ~6 foot, the Ayer is really pretty short. My head and toes were touching the ends. Ended up finding a 3 man Kukenam and it fits much better for me and the dog. That extra 6 inches (1 foot unfolded) really makes a difference.

 

Interesting. I'm 5'11" and my wife is 5'5". We also have a dog that would come with us but I have a dog platform for him in the back of my AC where he could sleep. That Kukenam is like $500 more.

 

I promise you. You'll wish you spent that extra cheddar up front, rather than buying one twice. Not saying the Ayer wouldn't work, but it'd be much more comfortable.

 

What about looking into a truck bed tent such as a Napier? More affordable and offers lots of room. Also consider a air mattress that fits around the wheel wells in the bed inside the tent.

 

If i were gonna go the tent in the bed route i kind was hoping for on top of a platform so i could still store things underneath it. I've researched those "truck tents" and it looks like you can't really have much else in the bed when you have them installed. More of a convenience thing i guess of not having to unload/load all my 'stuff'.

 

If I was going with an RTT in that $1k range, I would consider a larger RTT such as the smittybilt.

 

Consider the materials that it's made of. The Thule RTTs use a different fabric than other RTTs. They are most similar to the Tepui Baja Series.

 

Nice, I'll check out Smittybilt.

Is the Tepui fabric not as durable as other brands?

 

If you use the 20% off coupon, you will not be eligible for the member dividend. Just something to keep in mind since you mentioned it in your post!

 

My bad. I forgot Thule bought Tepui. They are basically the same. Thule/Tepui makes a few different "series" of tents. The Baja series (might be called Low Profile now) is made of polyester, more like the material a typical ground tent is made of (actually I think ground tents are usually ripstop nylon, but it's similar). The Explorer series uses canvas. The Ruggedized is just heavier canvas and the frame and platform are a bit more heavy duty.

I got the Thule confused with the Yakima. Yakima makes something similar to the Baja/Low Pro tent that Thule is selling.