RTT....its days may numbered

[washington taco]

I have two options. I have a RTT and a sleep platform in the bed of my truck. I prefer my sleep platform in my truck. When it rains the tent gets wet outside and damp inside. While stowing it you always brush up against a dirty truck. The weight penalty, drag penalty, CG penalty, cost penalty. With a platform in the bed under a topper you have solid walls, better heat retention, WAY easy pack up. The GF dont like sleeping in the back of the truck and that is the ONLY reason I have one. Sleeping in the tent or the back I of the truck use a one liter Nalgene bottle to pee.

 

[mhiscox]

Maggiolina/hard shell RTT's are different than the ones most are mentioning. They're very, very quick to deploy or close up. They also do not get sopping wet like most do, due to the water mostly sheeting off the top fiberglass shell.

What he said.

I had an Eezi-Awn and now have an Autohome Columbus. The Eezi-Awn was workable, not too much trouble, and better than a ground tent. The Columbus, though, is a different concept. Literally fifty times faster to deploy, twenty times faster to pack up, and dealing with a wet tent is about a tenth the problem. Shame about the cost, but it really is very cool to have your tent set itself up.

 

[REDrum]

Wow, my complaint post really took off....

Well I/we have not thrown in the towel on our RTT, yet, we are considering other options. Having wanted a RTT for near two decades, my expectations have not aligned with reality. Such is human nature. Kind of like when Borat visited the US....

Not unlike most gear I own, rarely does one device solve all, and having variations can prove very beneficial. My Mediterranean wife also likes the idea of a large canvas ground tent for the potential of propane heat; for the chilly shoulder seasons of New England. I love the RTT in the warm/hot summer months for its venting capability, and for being 6 feet off the warm ground, so its not going up FS quite yet.

The large Serengeti Dome tent is in our sights, we spent 3 nights in one last year in Guatemala and was amazed at how easily it set up and how well it was built. That, fitted with a double cot, double sleeping pad, a compact heater, and small folding martini bar, may be our alternative to the RTT.

 

[MANUCHAO]

^^^ what they said...
I too went from an Eezi-Awn to a Columbus.
The reason for this was that the wife could not set up or put away the Eezi-Awn on her own on a rig riding on 35" tires.
With the Columbus on the other hand she can do both with minimal effort.

The trade-off is space.
Which at least for us works best, specially during the winter months.

Mhiscox, how does your columbus handle heavy down pours?
I havent had the chance to use it under these conditions.
Any info would be great.

 

[Colin Hughes]

Both types, RTT or ground have there particular uses. I've been using a columbus or Maggiolina for a few years but it's a real drag carrying a small step ladder to get the canoe on and off the top of the RTT which is on top of a LR Discovery. Last month I did a quick week-end trip with the two dogs and took my old Eureka Northern Equinox. Haven't used it for a while. I forgot how easy it was to set up and how much room there was inside. With the new Therma-rest lo-pro camp cots and a nice mattress, this works really well for base camp setups where I need to drive the vehicle everyday to hike, etc. I just got a great deal on a Thule rocket box which will allow the canoe to be mounted beside it on the roof. The rocket box is also much easier to lift on and off and will hold tent, cots, sleeping bags, etc keeping the interior free of these things. My Maggiolina is up for sale and if it sells, great, if not, it will still see use as the trip dictates.

 

[proper4wd]

If you get to the point of selling it please let me know! Right around the corner.

 

[REDrum]

If you get to the point of selling it please let me know! Right around the corner.

Will do, I'll give you first refusal on it. If we head out to Burning Man this year, it be up FS in Sept, if we don't it could go as soon as April We also have the vestibule/annex and a spare [new] Hypalon cover.

 

[proper4wd]

Sounds good I would be on board for the whole set up. I'll touch base with you late winter/spring about it.

 

[DividingCreek]

I hated the ARB when mounted on the roof of my 130 so I bought a cheap ladder rack @ Pep Boys and mounted that to the bed rails on my Sankey trailer. I mounted the tent to the ladder rack. This gets the tent up to a usable height but keeps the bed of trailer usable and accessable from all sides. This winter I plan to have a canvas made that will enclose the tub but will allow the sides to roll up. For my uses this is proving to be perfect.

 

[mhiscox]

Mhiscox, how does your columbus handle heavy down pours?

Sorry that I missed this question for a few days . . .

My Columbus is pretty good in heavy rain. It really helps that, unlike a normal tent, most of the rain isn't falling on the fabric. The big slanted fiberglass roof is catching the biggest part of it, and the vertical sides are tight enough (on mine, at least) that I don't get any accumulation at the bottom.

I think that the buffeting with a heavy side wind is a little worse in the Columbus than in the Eezi-Awn, but it doesn't seem bad. All in all, my opinion is that the Columbus is the better Oregon winter tent: the time you save versus erecting the canvas tent is time you're not getting wet, and the Columbus holds fine to wind and heavy rain. (And it's certainly a better place to be in a storm than any of the ground tents I have.)

 

[jim65wagon]

Yes, and trailers...

Teardrop!

 

[rockwood]

I hate the price of RTT to. That said a buddy watched a bear roam around the campsite from his one night while I slept in a tent and my dog was in the truck...I knew nothing and the dog slept soundly.....
He found a dozen eggs at a neighboring campsite.

 

[madmax718]

What he said.

I had an Eezi-Awn and now have an Autohome Columbus. The Eezi-Awn was workable, not too much trouble, and better than a ground tent. The Columbus, though, is a different concept. Literally fifty times faster to deploy, twenty times faster to pack up, and dealing with a wet tent is about a tenth the problem. Shame about the cost, but it really is very cool to have your tent set itself up.

A friend had brought out a 6 man eddie bauer tent from target. This thing was a dome tent so it was a large setup time. However, the center height was way over 6 feet. It also had a "pass through duct"- for what I assume is either AC or heat.

 

[madmax718]

Will do, I'll give you first refusal on it. If we head out to Burning Man this year, it be up FS in Sept, if we don't it could go as soon as April We also have the vestibule/annex and a spare [new] Hypalon cover.

Please PM me if your considering going to burning man. Maybe we will caravan. Lol.

 

[Rattler]

We tent camped for the first couple of years we started going to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We quickly learned 2 things:
A. Tent placement was always good to start an argument (and we rarely do that).
B. The Upper Peninsula can be one giant rock at times.

I see the PITA part of having to set it up but after several years with it I can manage to do it in the dark fairly quick even. I do see us stepping up to a trailer in many years just to add more convenience as we get older.