Howling moon Stargazer

[yngbuck19]

Does anyone have pictures of the Howling moon stargazer RTT in use? I'm trying to see how the door zippers work if they zip down when opening like the side windows do or if the doors zip up and roll up like a lot of other RTT's like CVT and Tepui. I have been looking at as many pictures as I can Google and it seems the Howling moon stargazer series tents the doors zip down to open and the Howling moon Deluxe series tents the doors zip up to open.

I'm interested in purchasing one of these as my third and final roof top tent. In the past two and a half years I have purchased a Tepui Kukenam Ruggedized and a CVT Mt McKinley Stargazer and I sold them both due to different reasons and they were all mounted to my Manley ORV trailer at some point.

Can anyone with a Howling moon Stargazer confirm this?

I prefer the zip down to open because of the privacy factor while still providing a good breeze through the tent even though I have heard this design may get your sleeping bags or pillows a little wet with the morning dew or rain.

Thoughts? Opinions? Input? Anyone else noticed this?

Thanks, Robby

 

[NM-Frontier]

The door zippers zip down on my Stargazer Tourer(covered entry). I leave the door open and tucked under the mattress most of the time.

The entry door looks the same as this side, but with the vestibule covering. Hard to see but it zips down and the entire zipper(both mesh and canvas) are covered with a flap. This helps with rain from entering through the zipper with out the rain fly. The roof hatches work the same. I never use the rain fly due to this feature. Best RTT by far, you can really see the difference in design and materials in the South African tents over the others, well worth the extra coin if you plan to really spend some time using the tent. Plus having the roof open is as good as it gets!:sombrero:

 

[Mgyver1]

The front and rear door on my 1.4 Stargazer Tourer open from the bottom up. The outside flap and the mesh can each be rolled up, or in the case of the back door it can be propped open with the spring rods. The side window covers unzip from the top down from the inside. I also don't run the rain fly and, although I've only had one night of decent rain, it preformed remarkably.

 

[yngbuck19]

So how do you guys rate the mesh that is over the windows and doors? Is it sufficient for Gnats or Midges and No-seeums ? Or is it kinda more course just for mosquitoes and the like?

Also have you guys experienced any pooling of water on top of the tent over the ladder? One of my previous roof top tents did and it was quite annoying.

 

[Mgyver1]

So how do you guys rate the mesh that is over the windows and doors? Is it sufficient for Gnats or Midges and No-seeums ? Or is it kinda more course just for mosquitoes and the like?

Also have you guys experienced any pooling of water on top of the tent over the ladder? One of my previous roof top tents did and it was quite annoying.

I have had no problem with the window or door mesh and it seems sufficient in keeping bugs out.

I did have water pool over the entrance, however I did not have the guy ropes attached which would have held the awning more taught. I'm sure it would've still pooled some water even if they were staked, but not nearly what it did when it wasn't.

This is what I had after a night of rain and no staking out the guy lines

 

[Stryder106]

I don't mean to hijack this thread - but I am trying to pull the trigger on a RTT. I was leaning hard towards the Eezi-Awn, but three things are giving me pause: 1) The price; 2) No open roof for stars; 3) No floor in the annex. I only ever want to buy 1 tent (because I have to custom fab a rack for my Avalanche) so the Eezi-Awn is at the top of my list due to it's quality - but the lack of the other features (as mentioned) is holding me back.
//
Then I come across Howling Moon. Looks like the perfect RTT - high quality, and the features I'm after. But, there isn't a great deal of information: Websites show an Annex, state "Annex Optional" but then I can't find ANY information on the annex -size, cost, etc. Who did you guys talk to when you bought your tents? Thanks

 

[yngbuck19]

Size of the annex would obviously depend on the size of the tent you get the tents come in three sizes 1.4M 1.6M and 1.8M I believe. Sierra Expeditions and Adventure Ready are the two websites I've been browsing the most because they are Howling moon dealers located in the US. Those two Web sites don't have the best or the most pictures that's why I came here for clarification and more pictures. Sierra Expeditions has a price for the annex on their website Adventure Ready does not I believe the price of the annex depends on the size of the annex 1.4, 1.6, and 1.8 because of cost of material probably. I have noticed Sierra Expeditions does not have the 1.6 stargazer in stock so I'll be getting mine from Adventure Ready most likely. I'm mounting the tent to my M416 trailer so I don't think it will be tall enough to utilize the annex. Look for other pictures of the annex on other Australian or South African websites they have pictures of the annex but only exterior pictures and it looks very useful from what I've seen but my tent won't be mounted high enough until I fabricate a custom rack for my M416 trailer. Hope this helps and also let's keep this thread going there just isn't enough info or fine details about these tents out there unless you see one in person.

Thanks, Robby

 

[Stryder106]

Hi Robby - agreed. They show pictures of the outside, but no cost information. No actual dimension information - I get the 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 - but those are for the tent width, so that would only be one dimension of the annex - how deep is it? How much do they cost? (If there's only three options, then putting a price out there should be too difficult). I think the 1.4 is the right size for me (fabbing an over-bed rack for my Avalanche). I want to orient so it opens to the rear, so the annex could enclose my tailgate area in the even of rain or bugs or need for shade - so understanding how deep it is will factor into my decision. Thanks.

 

[harbinger808]

We have a 1.6 Stargazer and my kids love the roof opening features at night. The mesh screens have done well and not allowed any bugs in. The one gripe I have is that some of the points where the threading is have some of the holes "enlarging" which has let some water in at night. Not alot but enough to have an annoying wet spot. I plan on fixing this with some Tenacious Tape. Also, if you use the rainfly, make sure that the 3 U shaped poles allow the rainfly to have a small gap between it and the tent. My middle pole actually sits really low so I've found 2 rubber pieces to stuff in the holes I found of my kids toys. Using the guy lines while its rains really helps to keep rain from pooling on the annex and helps with tensioning the fabric of the entire tent. I did the same as Mgyver1 once and had a very cold unexpected shower while packing up
All in all, we are very happy with our Stargazer even though it is a getting a bit small for us now that our kids decided that they love to steamroller us in their sleep. On a side note, we've back Ikampers Skycamp for more interior space and ease or packing and setting up. I may look into a tailor/sewing shop to recreated the stagazer feature into the new tent.

 

[yngbuck19]

That's good to hear confirmation on the Flying Teeth bugs not getting in the tent.
For the excess rain problem I would just try get one of my machinist friends to make a set of these...

(I take no credit for these photos, I just stumbled across them in The RTT improvements Sticky thread. Post #445)

 

[NM-Frontier]

@Mgyver1 - Interesting that our doors roll opposite ways? Mine is from 2012 so maybe they changed the design.

Mesh is great keeps every thing out that I have ran into so far. I have not had any pooling like in the above picture, even after some good rains, but I do always stake out the guy lines.

@yngbuck19 - Robby, I would hit up https://www.sierraexpeditions.com/ Aka @flyingwil for all things Howling Moon. Give Wil a call as he can have what you are looking for that may not be up on his site, plus his customer service is the best in the biz. He can answer any of your questions on the specs.

To me these tents sit right next to Eezi-Awn on quality.

 

[Stryder106]

I spoke to Wil at length today - really nice guy and very knowledgeable.

 

[yngbuck19]

I spoke to Wil at length today - really nice guy and very knowledgeable.

What did you find out? If you don't mind sharing.

 

[Stryder106]

Apparently my post didn't stick. He sells Eezi-Awn, Howling Moon, 23Zero, and ARB RTTs (all on my consideration list) - he sold his Eezi-Awn and now uses a Howling Moon. Said the wood floor on the EA flexes when offroad and loosens the rivets - and they have to be redone periodically. No such issue with the Howling Moon. Installs everything he sells. Seriously knowledgeable guy - except on global supply chain and import tax rates with ISP and LCD nations (South Africa - eh hem). Does NOT offer a AAA discount - LOL!!!!

 

[Mgyver1]

I do like how the HM's annex has the large door on the front that doubles as a canopy.