*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

Holy crap! I thought $500 for an arcteryx was crazy.

 

I'm pretty sure my Tepui ayer weighed less then my ifs skid or the rack it sat on. I'd hate to see a compromise in quality. These tents are built to last and handle extreme weather conditions. I say keep up the good work and don't change a thing.

 

Lifetime warranty ain't cheap. Buy one and keep it for life. I have three actually lol, down, hard shell, soft shell. Any time they need replacing I just send it in and they send me this years model.

 

Maybe its just me but honestly I don't think 140lbs for an RTT with a (basically) queen size memory foam mattress is that bad.. Think about how heavy the base is, add in the mattress, fabric, tent poles etc.. I don't think its that bad

 

Well yeah ours weigh more but I meant the normal one to compare it to an equivalent CVT size

 

Unfortunately I am knee deep in a lab report (8 more pages ) so I can't get into this right now. I will put down my thoughts tomorrow night when I have some time to actually think about it .

 

I dont think weight is really anything that needs to be improved. Sure they could try to cut out some weight for those who wanted but I'd see them making it an option...sort of like the ruggerized model.

Anything i suggest is pretty minor

One thing I was thinking about was the door on the Mt Shasta and Autana (i believe the Autana is the similar model as the Shasta). With the overhang it would be nice if the door could be the whole side of the tent instead of the same size as the non-overhang size. not a huge improvement but could do that and then add a bit wider ladder too. Would just be nice when tossing stuff up into it.

Something other than a zipper for the cover. Maybe its just me but after being out on dusty roads the zipper just isnt smoother feeling anymore. Even with some wd40, that helps but needs to be reapplied. Maybe some industrial velcro instead?


Hmm im trying to think of anything else but nothing is really coming to mind.

 

Use bees wax on the zipper.

 

Mostly for me it is just fabric. Which seems the only argument is cost vs durability. Plenty of ground tents use a light fabric and endure far harsher conditions than RTT's. Then there is the argument about "4 season" tents. The only thing a 4 season tent needs to do is withstand increased wind and the accumulation of snow fall. Heck, people camp with tarps in the winter. Successfully camping in the winter is largely due to your sleeping gear and location (no wind) not the tent. I am just as cold in my tipi without the stove as I was in my rugged RTT in negative temps. Actually, I might be warmer given I have better insulation under me. They don't even include an option to run a heater in the RTT's which leads to some questionable heater use from owners.

That said, people saying the price wouldn't be worth it to save weight should look at places people are already cutting corners to save weight on our trucks. The cost between an aluminum bumper compared to a steel bumper is pretty steep. You also lose some strength BUT you save weight and that is what people are paying a premium for.

Another thing I want to see improved would just be a new design for the frame. These things are not that sturdy and they simply increase the diameter of the poles as a "fix". My tipi, that uses one pole and 8 stake out points, (minimum) holds up better to wind...

 

Like this? https://www.google.com/search?q=har...ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI8r3W8vn1yAIVi0WICh2y4wGG

I almost got a hard shell RTT but then you can't put it on a bed rack thats lower than the cab

 

Ohh gotcha. Im interested to see what it would look like open..

 

Just wanted to add my RTT to the post. I'm the Tacoma. A friend brought the Cruiser. We were driving around Bodie.

I've got the Eezi Awn and he has the CVT.

 

I agree with @DoorDing that packing the RTT can take a while. When I first got mine, I thought it would be faster than a ground tent, but the reality is it's the same speed or slower. I like the hard shell options, but I can't see spending $3k on just a tent when you're half way to a flippac.

I think what I would like to see a hybrid that has a hangout that completely covers the ladder (similar to an RTT area where the annex attaches to). I love this feature on my RTT. After getting caught in a few storms, it gave me an area to take off my rain gear and climb into the tent dry. My buddy with an Autohome basically had to climb in fast and take all his wet gear into the tent. It's nice to have cover like that.

 

My RTT does that but it adds another level of setup. The tent and then the walls and I usually have to stake the walls down because of wind or kids. The RTT is nice for comfort but it isn't any quicker than a big tent.

 

You have a hard shell that does that? What brand is it?

 

Oh sorry not a hard shell. My Eezi Awn has a cover over the ladder entrance and annex walls. Hard shell would be nice for when it rains and you have to pack up.

 

Yeah min is the same as yours, although I haven't used the annex since it's such a pain to setup, BUT a hardshell with that overhang would be killer.

 

Yeah. I haven't been caught out in the rain yet but I'm not looking forward to packing it up and finding a place to dry it out either. If there was a hardshell that slept 2 adults and 2 kids I'd be interested in upgrading.