RTT and Surfboards

[Super Doody]

I'm thinking about getting a RTT. For people who surf and travel with a RTT, how do you carry your boards esp the longboard? Pictures would be great. Because you can't go to baja without a longboard. Thanks.:sombrero: :safari-rig:

 

[adventurebuddies]

The "issue" of carrying longboards was a major determining factor for me in choosing which RTT to buy. This is one reason why I decided on the Magiolina Grand Tour which allows you to mount crossbars on it. I carry 2 longboards up there and I can raise the tent with the boards on top. An added bonus of them being up 14 feet in the air is the extra night time security in Baja. On my truck the crossbars on the top of the tent are 8'8" off the ground so loading boards is a bit of a pain, but manageable. It gets a bit of a "grapes of wrath" look with the tent on the Land Cruiser and then the boards on the tent.

I never seem to be able to post pictures on this site, plus I don't have any of boards on the roof with the tent up.

 

[grahamfitter]

For what its worth, I usually travel with several whitewater kayaks which are way heavier than surfboards. I went with an Autohome Overcamp RTT which occupies just half the rack leaving plenty of space to strap kayaks to the other half of the rack. The tent is basic and compact but I like it. The only real disadvantage is the inboard sleeper can't easily get to the ladder in the night.

Surfboards are so light though you can strap them to anything and not worry about it. The only thing that would bug me is if I had to remove them to open the tent. If you can add roof-bars to a hard-shell RTT and leave the boards in place when the tent is open that would be ideal.

Cheers,
Graham

 

[viatierra]

For similar reasons I choose the Maggiolina Extreme. It comes with a reinforced roof and two adjustable crossbars. It is rated to hold 40 lbs. As everyone has said before, you can crank open the tent without unloading the top. The only drawback is that it's pretty high. My Tacoma sits at 7' 4". For some reason, I don't have any pictures of the top. It would be easy to snap one and post if interested.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Stilts

A Dumb Q.

So you get to your off the beaten path surf spot in Baja. you wake up in your RTT with your favorite long sled on the roof......The surf will not wait a moment longer as the wind line on the outside is moving in rapidly

How do you get the sled down from the roof without waking the wiffski??

 

[viatierra]

Priorities. Spousal sleep or a ride blessed by Neptune? I suppose you could use stilts, but I find most RTTs come with a handy ladder.

A Dumb Q.

So you get to your off the beaten path surf spot in Baja. you wake up in your RTT with your favorite long sled on the roof......The surf will not wait a moment longer as the wind line on the outside is moving in rapidly

How do you get the sled down from the roof without waking the wiffski??

 

[kcowyo]

Depends what kind of RTT you are considering, but blupaddler makes carrying his Eezi Awn and 'boards work. Might PM him for additional info -

 

[Super Doody]

For similar reasons I choose the Maggiolina Extreme. It comes with a reinforced roof and two adjustable crossbars. It is rated to hold 40 lbs. As everyone has said before, you can crank open the tent without unloading the top. The only drawback is that it's pretty high. My Tacoma sits at 7' 4". For some reason, I don't have any pictures of the top. It would be easy to snap one and post if interested.

Yeah I don't want the overal height to be too high for handling and mpg reasons. I was thinking last night, if i had enough room (~3'') between the roof of my camper and the bottom of the cross bars, I could squeeze my longboard between that space.

Since we're on the subject of MPG, I noticed that even with the roof rack empty, it was impacting my MPG.

Thanks for the reply folks.

 

[grahamfitter]

Since we're on the subject of MPG, I noticed that even with the roof rack empty, it was impacting my MPG.

As did I, but it didn't get any worse after the rack was loaded.

Cheers,
Graham

 

[adventurebuddies]

Racks are terrible for MPG because they disrupt the air flow. From my personal experience, drag coefficient affects MPG far more than weight. My MPG improved slightly when I went from the full roof basket to the Maggiolina even though the RTT weighs more.