Is this a camping or an expedition post? Gonna say the EV forum as no matter how much is written about trucks we all have to sleep somewhere.
Before a two week trip through Baja California and Baja Sur we purchased a Mt. Baker tent from Bobby Culpepper at CVT. First it should be known that Bobby is incredibly nice, fun to talk with and, for us, was incredibly accommodating when our arrival in Bend was delayed due to bad weather around Shasta. And it also should be said that if you are traveling to his shop to pick up a tent from a big urban area don't ask him what he pays for his commodious space. It will bum you out. (But couldn't be benefiting a nicer person.)
On our trip, which saw below freezing night time temperatures, heavy wind, rain and a fair amount of rotten road but no hard 4wd work (mud and beach driving only) the tent was great. It stayed on the roof, didn't stress the generally poor gutter racks (making a new rack is on the list), didn't make noise while driving with the exception listed below and was a super solid sleeping platform.
And convenient, so convenient. No more sleeping in the truck or setting up a tent every night. I don't think the convenience and comfort of a pop-up tent can be overstated. Even on a short trip like this it was awesome. The mattress isn't super thick or memory foam but it is perfectly comfortable, the length of the tent is adequate for a tall person (longer would be great but I am accustomed to a life of things being too short and feel for those taller than I am). The tent's roof is tall enough that one can sit up comfortably, a Thermarest chair sleeve would make a good addition to the set up for sitting in the tent and editing photos on the computer/ reviewing maps for the next day's trip.
The tent is well made, the fiberglass work is good, fabric is wind blocking in 30- 40mph gusts, windows & doors are nice sizes and vent the tent well. The interior insulation is welcome in cold weather and I imagine also in hot weather. It opens and closes easily and without headache (tucking in the sides is a necessity but not likely unique to this tent). The ladder is telescoping, comes with a bag and is great if not a little heavier duty than in might need to be.
The only issues I saw were:
• Hydraulic struts stopped their auto opening and closing action quite quickly, I will probably replace them with something heavier from McMaster-Carr. They held the tent open fine without the post, even in heavy wind and we never raised the tent with a load on the rack. (I have a surf board problem and while the tent might support a board or two my coffin bag stuffed with four surfboards and a couple wetsuits was a ***** even to get on and off the tent every day. I am rethinking board storage beneath the tent with the rack for a board or two. I told you, it's a problem....)
• The rear wall needs to be guyed or it sags a little into a tall person's face while laying down. Either the roof doesn't raise high enough or the tent wall is too long or the weight of the spring steel for the awning is too much but the back wall needs some help. This only for a tall person (I am 6'-2"), a person of ordinary height would have no problem.
• We are among CVT owners who would prefer a door rather than a window in the back- a door would make our set up with the platform better and ease the removal of the mattress for cleaning post camping. New models will have three doors.
• Some of the rivet work wasn't well executed where the insulated lining meets the edge of the fiberglass shell- no big deal to me but something that could be addressed in quality control. Certainly only an aesthetic issue with no impact on function/ fastening of parts and only affected a few rivets.
• The zipper at the driver's side came out of alignment occasionally while on the trip. The zipper was easy to realign and looks like will be serviceable for a long while. It was just a small hassle to fix it in the dark and cold when I would have rather been in my sleeping bag.
• The tent (at least in the orientation that we had it in) created enough vacuum beneath it that the sun roof, on our truck merely a glass pop-up, made noise. For us it wasn't a problem as we were able to open the clamp a little to tighten the fit but others may have more trouble. A dam at the bottom front of the tent may be a useful accessory. Once I blast through the tent into the cab it'll be a non-issue! I never liked the sun roof anyway....
I have not owned any other roof top tents and there may well be some Ferrari of a tent out there that is better than all others but for my money this one is great. It is cost effective, comfortable, convenient and appears so far to be durable. Honestly I think that were there ever a durability issue to come up Bobby would likely take care of it to an owner's satisfaction. His just seems to be that sort of business.
I'm not sure what our next trip will be but we'll be sleeping upstairs in the fort. If I remember I'll update this with observations from other trips as the tent gets broken in. I'll gladly answer questions based on my experience so far if any of you folks have them (I might not check the forum every day but I promise I'll check). This is a product I can recommend highly- it's a great way to car camp and a great tent. Get one if you can!
Best,
Jeff
Before a two week trip through Baja California and Baja Sur we purchased a Mt. Baker tent from Bobby Culpepper at CVT. First it should be known that Bobby is incredibly nice, fun to talk with and, for us, was incredibly accommodating when our arrival in Bend was delayed due to bad weather around Shasta. And it also should be said that if you are traveling to his shop to pick up a tent from a big urban area don't ask him what he pays for his commodious space. It will bum you out. (But couldn't be benefiting a nicer person.)
On our trip, which saw below freezing night time temperatures, heavy wind, rain and a fair amount of rotten road but no hard 4wd work (mud and beach driving only) the tent was great. It stayed on the roof, didn't stress the generally poor gutter racks (making a new rack is on the list), didn't make noise while driving with the exception listed below and was a super solid sleeping platform.
And convenient, so convenient. No more sleeping in the truck or setting up a tent every night. I don't think the convenience and comfort of a pop-up tent can be overstated. Even on a short trip like this it was awesome. The mattress isn't super thick or memory foam but it is perfectly comfortable, the length of the tent is adequate for a tall person (longer would be great but I am accustomed to a life of things being too short and feel for those taller than I am). The tent's roof is tall enough that one can sit up comfortably, a Thermarest chair sleeve would make a good addition to the set up for sitting in the tent and editing photos on the computer/ reviewing maps for the next day's trip.
The tent is well made, the fiberglass work is good, fabric is wind blocking in 30- 40mph gusts, windows & doors are nice sizes and vent the tent well. The interior insulation is welcome in cold weather and I imagine also in hot weather. It opens and closes easily and without headache (tucking in the sides is a necessity but not likely unique to this tent). The ladder is telescoping, comes with a bag and is great if not a little heavier duty than in might need to be.
The only issues I saw were:
• Hydraulic struts stopped their auto opening and closing action quite quickly, I will probably replace them with something heavier from McMaster-Carr. They held the tent open fine without the post, even in heavy wind and we never raised the tent with a load on the rack. (I have a surf board problem and while the tent might support a board or two my coffin bag stuffed with four surfboards and a couple wetsuits was a ***** even to get on and off the tent every day. I am rethinking board storage beneath the tent with the rack for a board or two. I told you, it's a problem....)
• The rear wall needs to be guyed or it sags a little into a tall person's face while laying down. Either the roof doesn't raise high enough or the tent wall is too long or the weight of the spring steel for the awning is too much but the back wall needs some help. This only for a tall person (I am 6'-2"), a person of ordinary height would have no problem.
• We are among CVT owners who would prefer a door rather than a window in the back- a door would make our set up with the platform better and ease the removal of the mattress for cleaning post camping. New models will have three doors.
• Some of the rivet work wasn't well executed where the insulated lining meets the edge of the fiberglass shell- no big deal to me but something that could be addressed in quality control. Certainly only an aesthetic issue with no impact on function/ fastening of parts and only affected a few rivets.
• The zipper at the driver's side came out of alignment occasionally while on the trip. The zipper was easy to realign and looks like will be serviceable for a long while. It was just a small hassle to fix it in the dark and cold when I would have rather been in my sleeping bag.
• The tent (at least in the orientation that we had it in) created enough vacuum beneath it that the sun roof, on our truck merely a glass pop-up, made noise. For us it wasn't a problem as we were able to open the clamp a little to tighten the fit but others may have more trouble. A dam at the bottom front of the tent may be a useful accessory. Once I blast through the tent into the cab it'll be a non-issue! I never liked the sun roof anyway....
I have not owned any other roof top tents and there may well be some Ferrari of a tent out there that is better than all others but for my money this one is great. It is cost effective, comfortable, convenient and appears so far to be durable. Honestly I think that were there ever a durability issue to come up Bobby would likely take care of it to an owner's satisfaction. His just seems to be that sort of business.
I'm not sure what our next trip will be but we'll be sleeping upstairs in the fort. If I remember I'll update this with observations from other trips as the tent gets broken in. I'll gladly answer questions based on my experience so far if any of you folks have them (I might not check the forum every day but I promise I'll check). This is a product I can recommend highly- it's a great way to car camp and a great tent. Get one if you can!
Best,
Jeff
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