Camping

This the annex system that might work, there are others out there.
https://tuffstuffoverland.com/produ...50136&pr_ref_pid=4185449201752&pr_seq=uniform

 

Either go solo or forgettaboutit ... with kids that small it seems to me 100% of the experience would be keeping up with the kids.

 

No offense, but who’s in charge? We’ve been taking our kids car camping since week 3, and my wife’s family started doing extended self-contained backpacking trips when she and her two sibs were all in early elementary school. Sure you gotta watch them, but it’s not a big deal to take young kids camping, it’s actually quite fun and rewarding.

 

Good point about the height concerns with a small one for a RTT, but a bed mounted one may be workable. I really like our roof mounted one, and we also have a trailer- but on regular weekends, we just take the truck as Cali has a 55mph speed limit for trailers and we can hit the remote parts of the desert a lot faster without it- plus being able to go further in without the trailer is a big plus as we like remote camping.

I guess for most in the rest of the country without trailer speed restrictions it’s not a big deal, but out here that’s one of the larger deciding factors for RTT’s and truck campers vs. off-road and standard camping trailers.

 

Idk what your terrain is like, or am I familiar with your climate OP, but I’m just gonna share my experience.

I do not have a RTT or awning.

I ground tent.
Biggest reason is the topography that is offered in Hawaii island. It’s volcanic rock, and not sand in majority of the places I go. Also, I fish.
I cannot be climbing up and down a ladder, to fight a fish from shoreline in the middle of the night.
Ground tent and military cot is where it’s at for my use. If it’s windy/rainy, I just set up more tarps on the side or wind breakers.
I made adjustable leg poles too. 5’ in length, gives me 10 ft adjustability, and I can set it level to the terrain (volcanic rock after all). Having it a 5 foot setup is also nice since it stores in my short bed, and leaves the rack available for the longer poles.

 

The other thing is I am a paraplegic. So going up and down a ladder is even harder for me. But it doesn’t stop me. Just a huge inconvenience. But we already have an awing on a swivel from front runner. (Full front runner rack on a diamondback tailgate cover. And the slim rack on the cab. But again we are a rock climbing family so I can get up and down no problem. Just hard and I’m honestly scared that my 2 yr old will fall thru the opening while we are (one parent) is dead asleep while the other is going to the bathroom. We have a portable commode that goes with us and just have to have me or my wife set it up. But if you don’t put it away then you have raccoon or other animals trying to climb all over everything. But usually my wife and I put the 2 yr old at our heads. And the 5 yr old in between us. There is so much room. Sometimes yes I do sleep on the ground but I’m just getting old, 36 and my wife is 36. We have the same birthday not that it matters. But my wife is down with the teardrop camper towed behind my Tacoma. We will just postpone the really long trip to yellow stone and climb out west till the trailer is done. But we can still do red river gorge and the Appalachian trail since a RTT would be hard to do since it’s a lot of nonlevel ground that you can’t pop up the RTT on.

 

I love this. Going to do this.

also at a drop of a hat. I can go anywhere like a hotel to shower which is a must once a week per the wife’s rules if she’s going. Or if we need ice or firewood. Since we don’t transport firewood.

 

I am in your boat. I am half Hawaiian on my moms side. I love going back and when I was stationed there for a little while. But I also have 3 mitarty cots. Maybe I can pump up a thin air mattress and lay it across the cots and rock that. I live in Indiana. But we travel a shit ton to rock climb. My 5 yr old has done half dome and the first leg of el captain. She loves it plus when her and my wife go for trail runs she is tired as hell. So she sometimes can’t get up and down the ladder due to being sore. (That’s both my wife and daughter actually!) but the north face just hooked us up with a wawona 6 person tent and foot print. So that’s covered. (Due to the new law of every nation park and state park must be accessible by wheelchair and disabled people. Thanks Congress and the trump Administration.) but it has a huge vestibule for my track chair and large “living quarters”. Here’s a picture of me in my track chair. I look like it’s not fitted for me cuz I had just taken delivery and wife snapped a picture to send to black rifle coffee. They are the guys who bought it for me. But thanks to BRCC. I can hit the beach or go on hard trails when super muddy.

 

58 with a 58 year old’s prostate here. Getting up 2 times a night to pee and navigating down those steps could prove fatal. That and we like to camp in bear county. We’re actually RPod shopping at this moment.

 

Tents really aren’t bad, but they do have drawbacks and even more so in certain use scenarios (but so does every choice, including a trailer like we run).

For us, the RTT sucked for a few key reasons:

- we camp at 9,000 ft of elevation and above so it’s always frigid and windy at night and that sucks in the tent.
- climbing out of the tent, down a cold aluminum ladder, to go to the bathroom late night/early morning sucks.
- either leaving the tent on the rig or removing it every time was a hassle
- adding a heater, power, hard surface for PC/etc is more delicate of a situation

With the trailer, we don’t even setup (except putting stabilizer jacks down), we don’t have to dry it out or dust off snow tl “close it up”, we have insulated walls and security due to the hard walls, we can setup camp and drive away for exploring, we can step out and pee, power and such is built in, wind is a minimal issue, we can stock the trailer and just hook up and go when we want to.


…that said, everywhere you go, from rough trails to parking lots, you have a trailer behind you.

 

Again, feel like a man alone on an island.

I have camped in 15* weather, snow, wind, monsoons, et al. Never a problem. I don't like lightning, so I don't camp when it threatens lightning.

I get the going-to-the-bathroom issues folks have voiced. I must be blessed with a healthy prostate, as the midnight bathroom breaks have not been a concern [knocks on wood]. My hunting buddy hates my guts and liver because I do not have to get up in the middle of the night. No getting up = no putting wood on the fire. We camp in a canvas tent wall tent when hunting, so it gets chilly. He's in his 70s, and must have a prostate the size of a grapefruit, so I just make sure I feed him a couple beers before bed. He gets up 2x a night...LOL.

I like that I can leave tge RTT on the bed and still tow my trailer with toys, or go stealthy with just the truck for backpacking trips.

There is no perfect setup that would cover all of the scenarios I find myself in, but the RTT helps me cover the most, so far. However, the writing is on the wall that when I get a few years older, I am going to need to switch up the setup to something like a 4x4 Sprinter so I can still boondock when needed, but also pull my toys when needed. I think my wife will be more comfortable as I continue to drag her around on trips. 2 years before we are empty nesters!

 

I loved my roof top tent. Less than ten minutes to completely set up camp. Around the same to clean up camp. Gave me a false sense of security from bears. Hauling the dogs up and getting out for leaks in the night sucked but those were minor inconveniences for the glory that was the roof top tent. However wife didn’t like it as she likes a big inflatable mattress.

Now I use a spring bar type tent that’s 30+ minutes to set up and leaves me ready for a nap after setup.

 

My normal set up is a Hammock, when there are no suitable trees I break out the hammock stand.

 

You put the tent on wife's 4runner. You can't tame me bro!

 

I haven't camped since owning my Taco, but if/when I do, I'll gladly tow a trailer!

More creature comforts....

 

I love my hammock setup the best of anything I own!! But my love is outmatched by my wife's hatred for them. So when I go solo, I go hammock. When she is along (most of the time), we RTT.

For the record, her biggest complaint is the bathroom issue, too. But she doesn't do the midnight trips yet, either.

 

Mine is a bed tent, love it. It also works great with my Diamondback tonneau because I take the tailgate leaf off and that leaves the other spot to put the fridge and various lights, etc, plus under the remaining leaf it stays much warmer too.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/posts/26442619/

 

EVER.

OP, sounds like a ground tent is the best option. I have twin boys both 2 1/2 and I can’t imagine the chaos that would ensue with a RTT or the fights we would have about climbing up and down the ladder for hours! My wife and I used to camp in our 2 person MSR hubba hubba but upgraded to some Coleman six person monster tent just to have some elbow room with the boys for camping!

 

Everyone has their personal preferences but I find it a bit odd that you’re cool hanging your kids off off a cliff but a completely enclosed tent elevated 6’ off the ground is your limit.

I also have two kids, they were 1 and 3 when we first started using a RTT. It’s never really been much of a safety issue. My wife and I would sleep with the kids between us so they had to crawl over us to get out.

Is it annoying to climb down in the middle of the night for the potty…yup but not much more annoying than a ground tent. You’re getting up in the middle of the night to help a 2 yr go potty whether you are in a ground tent or a RTT.

As for packing it up everyday. Yea it’s not ideal, but I typically don’t come back to the same spot each night so I’d be packing up a ground tent each day too. Except ground tents end up wetter and dirtier. And I have the option to leave all my bedding and the kids pj’s in the RTT so it’s ready to go the next night.

Ultimately, I will probably get rid of my RTT but not really for any of the reason mentioned in this thread.

 

I just fold the ladder up and use the strap to keep it out of reach of the kids. The tent supports itself as long as no one is in it.