Keeping a RTT clean

Greetings, Everyone.

I've got a RTT that I love to go camping in. I love it for all the reasons there are to enjoy a RTT, but I have found one thing I struggle with. For the life of me I cannot seem to keep dirt from boots/shoes from winding up in the tent.

I even bought camp shoes (knock off crocs) in hopes that they'd stay a bit cleaner just in camp, but the mountains didn't cooperate during Elk season. Mud, dirt, leaves, etc. all wound up on the ladder rungs, and even up in the tent. General entry process is I climb the ladder, flip around to sit in the tent with my legs hanging out, take off the shoes and beat them together to try and shed the debris. Then climb in and put the shoes/boots in the bottom corner of the tent near the door with whatever clothing I am shedding to go to bed.

Nothing to rant or rave about but if anyone has tips or tricks for keeping the dirt outside the tent, well then I'd love to hear the them! I'll be putting the same thread up over on Tundras and if anything good pops up I'll be sure to post it over here.



Because I know it will be asked, I am running an iKamper Skycamp Mini 3.0 over the bed. Previously on my Tundra, but it will be mounted up on the Taco come spring. I do not have the shoe/gear bags that hang from the bottom either, as they sit so far under the tent I don't see how they could be accessed for ingress/egress of the tent. Pics for attention.

 

My Roam RTT came with boot bags that hang outside near the ladder. I employ the same method you do to remove my boots, but put them in the bags. The don't come in the tent unless I want to warm them up, like I did last week when it was -2F in the morning. You can sort of see the bags in this picture:

 

I would suggest that you treat it like every other tent and never go in it with shoes/boots

 

Hard to see in the pic, but those look like they stick out further/are closer to the edge of the tent platform. Sadly, the iKamper had the mounting points deep under the platform. Great for keeping them out of rain/snow, but completely inaccessible when in the tent. Standing in snow/mud at the base to put on/take off the boots is what I'm trying to avoid by wearing the shoes into the tent before removal. As you said, in cold weather I'm not keen on leaving the footwear outside either.

 

I bought a mat and leave my shoes outside. My brother uses just a 4'x4' piece of outdoor carpet.

 

I also have the boot bag from Roam. My Roam tent also came with a gear net on the bottom that is slightly less convenient, but you could rig up something like that. The only dirt we usually get in the tent usually comes from using sandals at night when we use the bathroom and the grass is covered in dew. All you can do at that point is try to brush your feet off as best you can after removing your shoes/sandals.

 

Some suggestions from Tundras.com have come in. Here's a link. https://www.tundras.com/threads/keeping-a-rtt-clean.117555/#post-3022211

So far I'm liking post #4

 

Hook a bag on the top rung of the ladder facing in towards the truck?

 

This. Sometimes the best solution is the simplest one. I have a Roam Tent as well, so I have the boot bags (which can slide the width of the opening if need be). Never had a problem.

 

this is how my tundra was set up with our annex. Heavy removable rubber floor and no dirt ever in the tent.

the taco ain’t high enough yet to set up the annex you can set the shoe bag hanging though.

 

Yeah...this is a problem of sorts. I have a low rise crossbar set-up with a 2.5" lift. Still not tall enough. It works, but it's not ideal.

 

I dont have an RTT but used to have the same struggles w dirt etc.
Hand broom w dust pan, wet towel, portable small vacuum if permitted. (Usually a $40 one from Amazon works) plugs into the rear of truck.

 

we have a double boot bag, and it works perfectly. It's mounted to the ladder via straps BUT you can get them where they mount to the base. Bags can be hosed out if they get too dirty and haven't had any issues.

 

You could put a door mat (plenty of inexpensive ones on Amazon) or get a Surf Grass mat https://www.cbadventuresupply.com/collections/in-stock-products/products/surf-grass-mat-xl that you can place on the ground at the bottom of your ladder where you can remove/change shoes. That would keep the ladder rungs free of debris and dirt. iKamper makes a really great shoe rack that you can attach near the ladder to keep your shoes protected and off of the ground: https://ikamper.com/products/shoe-rack