Wedge Campers & Assorted Oddities

The great thing about shows like this, is that they are specific to off roading and camping. If setting up your vehicle is your hobby, like it is for me, it’s a bit of sensory overload. I was geeking out at Expo.

Outdoor trade shows cover so many other vendors, for so many sports/ pastimes/ hobbies that may not apply to you. Same with RV shows. At expo, probably 80% of the vendors applied to what I like to do. That obviously doesn’t mean I was going to buy all the products, but at least I could see and compare them in person. So much better than online.

If you’re into this stuff, you’ll definitely walk away with something new. It could be a decision on a product to buy, an idea of how to setup your vehicle, or maybe a friend or two.

Well worth it IMO, but I’m obviously a nerd about this stuff.

 

Honestly I thought the only reason AT was releasing the Summit was to compete with the other wedge manufacturers - I was expecting the price was going to be more in the ~6-7.5k$ range and I would not have been the least bit bothered by that as I imagine these Nemo tents are much more costly than the wedge style tents. I personally don't know why anyone would prefer the Summit over the Habitat (in my mind the Habitat is going to cannibalize the Summit if they remain the same price) but everyone has their own taste and I guess thats why AT is offering them. Personally I think the Summit is not really competing with the Drifter or GFC at that price.

Not sure about people buying AT (vs other offerings) for the "cool expo factor" but I see what you are saying about the market dominance, and with that comes brand familiarity and brand loyalty. They have that going for them now, but honestly that may wane as I'm not sure if their marketing is up to par with some of the up and comers.

 

Here are the initial shots of the Snap Treehouse. I used it for one night last weekend and it performed great. I was told it rained but I hadn't even noticed. This was the initial model but for the overland west show; mine has some significant differences that I'll post once the modifications are done.



This is about 100 lbs of boats on top. It was certainly harder to open but still handled fine. That said, I don't think I would sleep in it with that much weight up top.



You can also see the ladder has dual use for loading on top as well.

 

Interesting but strange how the rear hatch opens. So I'm guessing that you have to enter the tent by a back opening and not the truck bed?

 

Nope, you enter through the truck bed near the tailgate from the inside. I don't like the single rear door so mine is being made with split doors at the rear.

 

^ Do you know if they can do barn/ambulance style full doors (eliminate the tailgate)? And, no window on the rear portion of the tent?!

And it appears to have been humid in your camp photo: Any condensation issue?

 

Yes to the barn doors. So I kept the tailgate because I rely on my backup camera and I am told it is not easy to replace that in a way that still uses the same screen. the upper barn door style seems to be a good compromise for me.

I agree that a window on the main rear tent section would be preferable. Snap has been great so far with the requests I made already so I'm sure they could accommodate if someone asked for it.

It was very humid there. This was by a creek in western MD after a heavy rain that night. I had no moisture issues inside at all. The roof has a carpet on the inside top so that should stop any condensation issues before they start. Also, it ventilates a lot better than you would think as long as you keep the screens partially open.

 

Well I suppose I should have done more research before making that decision. Sounds like full doors wouldn't be hard to make work and since I am doing the barn door style anyway I could do that in the future with minor modifications. Thanks.

 

Here is our Camera Relocation Kit:
http://www.pelfreybilt.com/product/camera-relocation-mount/

DISCLAIMER:
Due to Toyota camera manufacturing variations, there appears to be at least two different cameras on the Tacoma’s. Pelfreybilt includes both styles with your order, to allow you to choose the best fit for your camera. If for some reason neither configuration works-please let us know so we can assist with making one that fits your truck

Thanks @inv3ctiv3

-Pelfreybilt
www.pelfreybilt.com

 

Prepping my bed caps for the kB voodoo rails....

 

except hi lift.

 

make sure you seal underneath those holes too. the top of the bed is not flat. dirt, dust, mud, water, will come up and over if you don't run wheel well liners.

 

Since it wasn't easy to tell some details from my earlier pictures I took some shots inside. It isn't easy to get good pictures with so little room but I'll try to explain what is in each picture.

This is in the back right inside the tailgate. The ladder is how you climb into the bed platform.


There is a gap the whole back width that you can stand in.



The other side has a power center that you can use the anderson connectors to add power to. This powers the cig lighter outlet, usb outlet and the lights over and under the bed.


The bed platform also is on hydraulic lifters so it can go out of the way when you want more space below.


As for the tent at the rear of the vehicle having no window, I am told it is because every model they tested or looked at leaked there or had to be sealed frequently so it didn't. As someone who has had a travel trailer before, it makes sense. The more seams you have the more yearly maintenance needs done.

 

Glad to see yet another option. Good to see they have slightly different twists to make them different from each other.

Looking forward to longer term reviews of each of these as well. See if there are any differences in how well they hold up.

 

Thanks for the photos! Hard to believe this info is not on their website. Walk around videos showing all operable parts should be a minimum

 

Thanks for posting the pics....there is a thread on Expo where people are upset because there are not good pics on Snap's website so could you please forward these so they can update their site

I have an order in myself for a Treehouse and I also want the top barndoors, maybe it would be worth looking into full size barn doors but I like a tail gate for a quick stop and sit "front porch"

I would like to see different LED lights and might explore options to ship to them.

Also I bought a Darche Exclipse 270deg awning at Overland Expo and will be shipping that to Snap so they can install rivnuts and put on the awning correctly for me.

Please keep us posted on your build process so I can track those ahead of me

 

I must have missed all of that......

 

What got banned? I'm really out of the loop since everyone else seems to know what you are referencing, sorry.

 

So they got started later than others in this space and were working long hours just to get this model ready for the Outdoor Expo. Now that that is done, my model is almost finished and a lot of the pictures will be of mine. I also have an awning they are installing but it's just a cheap shittybilt one. They came up with a great way to install my solar panel though. It looks like it's going to be really nice so I'll post pics once that is done.

I'm not sure where you are in the line but mine is really close. I stopped in yesterday and they were installing the tent material to the bed. My wiring is mostly done and they are just waiting on the powder coater to return the doors so they can be installed and then finish my solar panel install. After mine is a guy from NY and his is all welded together and the main frame is ready to go to the powder coat shop.

They are getting a lot faster with them now that they worked out some better processes and added some features. They also need to update all the photos on the site since the model on there is an early prototype and they have made big improvements since then.

 

Thanks DoorDing, that makes sense now. I hadn't heard about that but I'll have to ask them about it. I've talked about Tacoma World with them in the past and they never mentioned an incident so I'll need to see who did it and help fix whatever happened. It does surprise me they would make that kind of mistake.