Quote:
Originally Posted by jditom
Romer,
You are the one who got me looking at these for all the reasons you have listed. Let me know how it feels when you get inside of one.
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You may recall I had a thread in the 80's section about the CG effects of a RTT and some folks recommended against bringing one to the Rubicon because they are about 120lbs and big and bulky. Plus they had to stay on the vehicle.
I ended up finding on on the Salt Lake City Craigslist and Troy Demille (Live Rust) was kind enough to go look at it and buy it for me. He held it for a while and handed it off to Tom in Moab last weekend and Tom brought it home to me. Cruiser folk are the best.
Besides the price, I bought this for several reasons:
1) It's 40lbs and it can be put on the roof without any help. My daighter can put it on her 4runner by herself (I hope)
2) Because it's only 40 lbs its impact on my COG when I do the Rubithon this summer should be minimal.
3) If it is a problem, I can take it off the roof and store it inside the truck.
4) It can be setup as a RTT or setup on the ground with the legs putting you 6" above the ground.
daughterofromer has been bugging me for a while for one so this is for me to use on the Rubithon and then for her to use. She thinks its cool and perfect because she can handle it. I may or may not get another RTT after that as I have my off road pup up. Although I wouldn't pull the trailer on any real trails just to a central camping area over a moderate trail.
So looking at the tent, it's bulky and heavy as a big bag of dog food. I was able to carry it by myself.
Not apparent in the pictures from the web site, one side is a little taller than the other. It's the side you would have your head at to allow more headroom when you sit up.
It goes up in under two minutes.
It has doors on either side and you can hook the ladder to either side.
If you mount it on a roof rack like in the picture, then you will have to have the ladder coming off the back end
For a side entry you can turn the tent in camp or run with the tent turned the other way on your rack, which would not be very aerodynamic
The material is pretty stout. Getting in the tent you have to watch out for the metal bar in the middle. Otherwise it's fairly comfortable and the bottom material is comfortable with just a sleeping bag on top.
For a big guy its not the easiest thing to get in and out of, but that might be true for any RTT.
This seemed like there was more room than a two man tent. Obviously off the truck it works just fine and you don't have to worry about small rocks or bumps as you have 6 inches of separation.
Your head and feet are up higher, but that was pretty comfy when I laid down for a few minutes.
Marly gives her apoproval
For expedition travel, I think I would prefer a larger RTT like the ARB tent. That would not work for Rachel's 4runner.
I think this is a good compromise for the Rubithon trip and for any camping where you want to leave camp setup and drive your truck.