RTT ups and downs

No can do brother, but trust me she is a looker and has one of the nicest turd cutters you will ever see. I definitely out punted my coverage with her!

 

I really like that term, turd cutter.

 

Love my RTT. Super comfortable and sets up in like 5 mins by myself. Wife will not sleep on ground anymore. My RTT was only 1650$ CAN and it’s about 9’x5’ once opened, plenty of room. RTT can be set up on rocks, uneven/rough seurfaces etc.

The biggest downside to any RTT is drying it out if you brake it down while it’s wet. You can’t open it in your living room and dry it out like you would with a regular ground tent. Also, It’s a bit annoying carrying my 70 pound dog up the stairs but not a big deal at all.

I would not go back to sleeping on the ground, I freaking love this thing. It makes me want to get out more.

 

Valid pros for a RTT, but the scenarios you speak of are pretty rare in my experience. I can think of maybe 5 instances over several decades and hundreds of camping trips where a RTT would have been an overtly superior option for me. Ultimately, had I decided on a RTT, I would still bring a ground tent. I’ve seen many more instances where a RTT would not work or be ideal than vice versa. Regarding RTT awnings & all those ancillary items, a good bud of mine has an iKamper with awnings/vestibules & when we camp, it takes him a good 30 mins to get everything deployed, zipped together & guyed out. Plus he has a standalone shit/shower vestibule. He seems to like his rig, but by the time he’s done setting up, I’ve already been set up for 20 mins & have grub cooking on the Coleman.

I think I’d need to have a little overlanding trailer on which to mount a RTT for it to be a legitimate option.

You should like the Shift Pod since construction and deployment is basically identical to Gazelle. I just felt the SP had that ‘overlanding tax’(aka overpriced) and I didn’t really like the idea of a silver tent. Reviews I saw said they didn’t insulate quite as well as anticipated, so that fact also didn’t seem to justify its cost and I looked elsewhere. That’s why I went with the Gazelle. The Gazelle material is thick enough to where it feels like a ‘shelter’ more just a tent, if that makes sense. It’s been great, plus the floor is removable/replaceable.

 

Gazelle till I die. The RTT is to slow and really I rather be wheeling. We have a couple RTT set ups in the group, they are by far the slowest at breaking down and moving. Don't get me wrong they look cool, and you can park in a swamp and set it up, but not for me.
Incase you guys have not seen these, American Adventure Lab created new mounts for large tents like the Gazelle.

https://youtu.be/NABaRhZh-oA

 

Yup. About 30lbs, 55” in length, maybe 18” diameter. Different strokes for different folks though. A RTT simply doesn’t accomplish what I want from a camping rig. I fully understand why folks love them too.

 

Does anyone know of a hard shell fold out RTT that is accessible from the side. I am old and don't want to feel like I am climbing in and out of a tree house. What I am looking for is to have an RTT that is mounted at the top of the bad so I can step up onto the tailgate, open the tent and sit down.

 

Desert Armor has side accessible hard shell tents and rear accessible hard shell wedges.

 

I want the opening here, not just a window.

 

I couldn’t quite tell what your ratchet straps are anchored to or how they orient with the mount, but if there is a way to feed a strap into the mount itself, I’d use endless ratchet straps. This would allow your strap to attach to the mount directly rather than the rack itself, so your strap would be cinching the tent directly to the mount and the endless ratchet allows you to cinch super tight since you’ll never have the bottoming out issue you run into with two piece ratchet straps.

Same concept as running a giant zip tie through the bracket and around the tent, if you get what I’m saying.

You could lay the ratchet strap on the cradle of the mount and bolt the strap to cradle. Then set your tent in place on the strap on the mount, ratchet it tight, cut some excess length off the straps, torch the ends to stop fraying. Then you could just ratchet the strap to itself for stowing purposes when the tent is not stowed on the roof. I suppose before you assemble the mount, you could also run the strap under the cradle part before you bolt it onto the mount, effectively capturing the strap to the mount, which would eliminate the need to make bolt holes in the strap.

 

+1 for a RTT- camping among rocks and cholla spines, cows and buffalo, cow pies, mud and snow puts ground tents in the “leave it in the garage, let’s go” category.

 

You can turn the thing 90 degrees to face back- a wedge does that also.

 

You’re looking for a clamshell style tent. They’re the thinnest and fastest/easiest to deploy, but they are also the longest.

 

Gfc for the win, started with a rtt and moved up to a GFC and won’t ever go back

 

Well just bought a hardshell RTT, so hopefully I won't have any regrets. I think it really comes down to your camping style though. For me, if I'm out camping then I'm out climbing, so the ritual has always been to break camp first thing then head out to wherever I'm climbing for the day. I've been ground camping my whole life so far, and I will tell you set up really isn't that bad. Tear down, on the other hand is what's always been inconvenient - it always takes longer to pack your bag up into its stuff sack and pack up the pad than it takes to deploy, so the prospect of leaving my bedding in place as I pack up the tent makes me excited.

Camping style also depends on your cooking rituals. For me, I only bust out a stove for breakfast and dinner; lunch is nomad fare. Some people get to a site and get set up basecamp style. Some people don't have anywhere particular to be or a particular timeline to stick to. For me, if I'm out then I live by sunrise and sunset; moonrise; high tide and low tide; onset of rain or wind; and position relative to objective.

 

Then the tent opens over the tailgate. I want to be able to stand on the tailgate and the sit into the tent and lie

Nope, I don't want it to be higher than, or over the cab.

 

I don't know of any RTT that does that. For what you want, sounds like you need a DECKED or bed platform, and a high rise camper shell, and a long bed. Or if you're dead set on a tent, a bed platform and one of those bed tents from Walmart.

 

I made a slide out deck for my short bed that lets you lay straight- then we put a modified dome tent over the back. If you are interested, look for it here on TW- I posted it a while back.

 

Thanks for the heads up, I ended up with these straps here.

$30 Dakine Tie Down Straps 12Ft - Sun Flare, One Size

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RYY9GCK?th=1&language=en_US

 

I'm enjoying reading posts by the outdoorsmen who must stay away from all the yucky weeds, vegetation, rocks, bugs, mud and cow poop.....