Rtt newb needs help

The_Dude

The_Dude

Adventurer
Hey guys,

My wife and I are in the process of trying to determine how nice a tent we need. We will use it 10-30 nights a year.

Looking at smittybilt, Arb and Hinterland Tents.

The hinterland is around 2000 whereas the Smittybilt start around 1k. Arb falls in the mid price range.

Looking for comparison and experience intel.

Admittedly smittybilt makes me nervous but seems like it's a good knock off of Arb.

Hinterland looks sweet but man they are pricey.

I feel like the Arb could be a good in between.

If I can get a cheaper tent I can up grade to the timbren suspension on the trailer.


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rickc

rickc

Adventurer
I was in the same position a few months ago; I went with an ARB Simpson III. I believe that until the end of this month, they are still offering the annex for free with every order. I've only camped in it 6 times to date and have no significant complaints so far. Here are the comments I shared with ARB:

- The four tent base to aluminum channel bolts were about 4mm too long; when fitted according to the instructions, the bolt ends would stick out below the plane of the base of the aluminum channels and catch on my roofrack equipment, scratching it badly if I’d not noticed. I cut about 4mm roof each bolt and all is well.
- The aluminum channel ends were rough cut and very sharp; I filed the swarf off and softened the edges. Why no plastic end plugs? Someone is going to rip a hole in their arm one day.
- Almost all the holes in the aluminum channel had attached swarf; no biggie to remove with a screwdriver but this should have been done at the factory.
- The tent and mattress were full of swarf and aluminum pieces; I had to remove the mattress and vacuum everything; I’m still finding bits every time I open the tent.

Again, not biggies. Some things to consider:
- what vehicle and roof rack system do you have/are planning?
- what else are you planning to put up top and how heavy is this stuff?
- what's the dynamic load limit of your vehicle/rack set-up?
- going off-road?

An ARB Simpson III weighs around 155lb; a pretty common weight for most 2 person RTTs. I can get this up and down by myself but it's not easy; my platform is about 6'4" high.

From many threads I've followed on this and other forums, there is not enough attention paid to dynamic and static load bearing capability of vehicles and rack systems; for most bar-style roof rack systems, the manufacturers recommend a 50% reduction in load bearing for off-road; more a function of the attachment to the roof method than the bars themselves; supports that are bolted/riveted to the roof have a bigger load rating so research this stuff before buying new bars.

For example; a Rhino Rack "HD", clamp-style bars setup is rated for 70lb dynamic per bar so 150lbs dynamic total BUT for paved roads; half of this for non-paved. Already not enough for a Simpson III and half of this for off road situations. The Rhino Rack RTL600 system means drilling and riveting but cranks the load up significantly to 220lbs paved with a 1.5 load factor for off-road so 147lb off road; still not enough for a Simpson III! Do the math! Choose wisely!
 
The_Dude

The_Dude

Adventurer
I am going to be running it on an off road trailer. It's a local company and they carry Arb, smittybilt and Hinterland. So those are the options right now at leasy


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rudee13

rudee13

Member
I have the smittybilt xl mounted on a trailer and love it for its size. From what I hear they're hard to come find and have been on back order for months. Maybe your guy has some in stock.

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The_Dude

The_Dude

Adventurer
Right now the one I am looking at is the Arb Simpson 3. Anyone have one?


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Stryder106

Stryder106

Explorer
Of the three you are considering, I would go with the ARB. I did a ton of research and ultimately made a top 2 - Howling Moon and Eezi-Awn because I wanted a tent that I would never have to replace and could use in any conditions. Similar price points, Eezi-Awn heavier duty and a tad better quality, but the Howling Moon had some additional features that were appealing and the quality was only slightly below the Eezi-Awn. I went with Howling Moon - but tried for 5 months and still no tent. So, I flipped and went with Eezi-Awn - got it in a few days.
//
Moral of the story - it is wise to consider the company you are going to be doing business with as part of your decision.
//
If you want to feel better about the price points of those three tents you are considering, go stare at the Eezi-Awn and Howling Moon prices for awhile - you'll feel downright giddy about only (ONLY!!!) paying $2K for a tent.
 
S

soul-surfer

Member
I was considering very similar options and also shopping the used market to try and stretch my dollars a bit further. I kept finding solid used deals but 700+ miles away and I didn't really have the time to make an adventure out of getting one. After I saw the ARB promotion for the free annex with purchase of a Simpson III I spoke to Southeast overland in North Carolina. Due to the fact that ARB had these in the warehouse I purchased for 5% off + free annex + free shipping. That settled things for me. I felt the price was to good to pass up. The tent arrived 2 days ago in great shape. I'm going to try and install it this weekend and get out in it next weekend.

I felt the ARB was a better choice of the smittybuilt for me as I like the covered entry and you could only get that on the XL version which would have been awfully large for my 4runner roof. As well its usually just my daughter, I and our trusty pup when camping. I'm sure the smittybuilt would hold up fine as I have seen quite few others that are really happy with theirs but I wanted to buy what I felt was going to make me happy for the longer term.

I don't know if that helps but thought I'd throw it out there.

I think the Tepui and CVT look solid and there are plenty of lightly used options out there but they just never came up close to me.
 
stingray1300

stingray1300

Explorer
Those other brands, local or not, you should take eatsleepwoof's advice: look in to Tepui tents.
.
Smittybuilts aren't even on the radar screen of anything one might consider "quality" (anything they sell - they don't make anything, just sell it). ARB has been running behind Tepui in a few major ways; customer service being one of them. No experience with Hinterland.
.
There sure are a plethora of RTT "makers" (?) out there these days.... beware.
 
K

Kyle Kelso

Adventurer
One thing to notice, the Smittybilt is made of ripstop polyester where most others are a poly-cotton blend. I bought a Smittybilt XL because they were less than half the price of the other tents I was looking at. I haven't unpacked or installed it yet so I can't comment on actual quality but while I don't expect it to be as good as Tepui or some other brands I don't expect it to be less than half the quality ;)
 
captwoody

captwoody

Adventurer
I also have a Smittybuilt tent have had it for three years only problem after initial troubleshooting was exterior compression straps got dry rot and broke. converted to ratchet straps to hold tent down to trailer works out easier anyway. and yes mattress not very good, thinking of going to synmat megamat double. but if I had to do again would buy a tepui met to many people happy with them and there service.
 
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