*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

I saw a few vans set up to go off road and must admit I was jealous.

 

Id think you could fit 2 kids in the "lower" part. But maybe not in a short bed.

My friend has an Excursion that he built out the inside. I think he has more work to do, but it very cool so far

 

The ruggedized version should come with an anti condensation mat I believe.

Having somewhere for shoes/boots is a good idea as well. Keep in mind they will be dirty at some point. With my son and I, there is enough room in the tent. Add my wife to the mix and an alternate solution is needed. I haven't found a great solution for this yet. For now, I just throw an empty tote at the ladder and rock the Crocs if I need to get up in the night. The issue I haven't gotten a solution to is when it is raining. The ladder isnt covered, so I would have to get in the rain to get boots/shoes.

Maybe someone has a better solution.

 

I could but then I’d have to empty the bed of the truck. Part of the convenience of the RTT is being able to setup and get the kids in bed quickly. I feel like that would be lost.

 

if/when I get mine, I will need to redo my bed setup. But I also have 2 less people than your family

 

Get the Autana 3 so that the ladder is covered.

 

Do both. Wedge for you and the wife. Fab an awesome trailer for when the kids join and throw the tent on it. I'm sure you know someone with the skills

 

I have seen some that have shoe bags to hang on the side.

 

That was my other tepui choice. Ultimately the advantages of the ladder cover didn't seem to be enough for me. Collects water, more material to pack away, darker hole to climb in the dark (2 toddlers). It is what it is, can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

If I could do it again, I would probably have chosen the Autana over the Kukenam. Found out that when it rains and we climb in/out of the tent that the rain fly will drop water right down your back. We've had to rig up a tarp extension under the fly, to redirect the water further out. Not terrible, but it's one of those things that you don't really think about lol

 

Haha. I have a 4 cylinder. As it stands, it barely makes it through the mountains fully loaded. There is no way I'm dragging a trailer too.

 

I have the Tepui Kukenam 3 Ruggedized and it came with the anti-condensation mat.

 

My wife is the same way. She likes it for a bit of privacy when we have neighbors. Also can be used as an area to help keep weather off your gear. Outside of that maybe use it as covered/shaded area to keep the little one in?

 

Also thinking space for the dog.

 

That’s the only reason for us to bring and use the annex. He’s too big to get up into the tent and after being on the road/trails all day I don’t feel right having him sleep in the truck too. But when the dog stays home so does the annex.

 

Our puppy, 16 months now, this is over a month ago.

not picking his ass up to go to sleep.

 

Other option for the pup could be a small pop-up ground tent that would more than likely be cheaper than the annex. But if you'd also use it for a privacy area or any other of the listed reason maybe go with it? I know when people are looking to buy 2nd hand (if you end up selling it in the future) everyone seems to want the annex. We bought our ARB used and the previous owner had the annex, so far we have used it once out of the 4 trips this year. My wife prefers it more than I. It really isn't a huge hassle or really all that bulky. For weekend trips I try to convince we we don't need it but on 3+ night trips we would most likely end up taking it.

 

I spent $120 on my awning, and the walls are ~$200 from AutoAnything without a discount. The size is 6' x 8'. Thats much bigger than the annex, I believe

 

Ya, we have been poking around looking for a pup tent, just not sure if he will on his own. We went camping last week, and he slept in our tent on his bed. We are his support humans.

 

We bought the Annex and Awing. 75% of the time we've used neither. Reason being I'd say is set up time vs time at camp (often our trips are just myself and daughter overnight only). We're a family of 3 (4 if you include the dog). We the wife comes, so too does the dog and the packing and setup effort is exponential - she really likes the annex and when she comes along I like it as well so our tent isn't full of extra stuff.. it all just sits at the bottom of the annex.

The awning is hit and miss... depending on angle of sun/time of day etc... I think it would very useful if we were living back up in the north west where it rains all the time.