Experience of Sleeping in a RTT?

[Corey]

My Maggiolina AirLander has been on my roof since the spring of 2008, and I find sleeping in it a lot of fun, and it is nice to not have to be constricted to a sleeping bag.
I use a heavy weight winter down comforter along with flannel sheets, and two full size pillows, same setup as on my bed at home.
Never get cold, the only complaint is getting up in the middle of the night and heading down the ladder to hit the loo.

 

[LostInTheWorld]

My wife and I have done a lot of backpacking and also RTT camping in our Maggiolina. I like both. I like backpacking to get to cool places that we can't "jeep" to, but I sleep WAY better in our Maggiolina. Most nights in the Maggiolina we just use quilts instead of sleeping bags. It's almost as comfortable as sleeping at home.

Maybe I've just never found the right sleeping pad for tent camping, but after a night of sleeping on the ground I always feel a bit beat up.

Here is a photo gallery of our RTT in use. We are starting an expedition truck build, so we will probably be selling it soon.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=2942

Michael

 

[aaen]

Well having just slept in a RTT for the last week and being a ground/cot person, I found it interesting.

I ended up borrowing my buddies VMI Extender trailer (sweet trailer by the way) as I am currently btw contracts and waiting on the new one to start up (hopefully within a few days).

The setup for someone who has never used one, but knows all about them is super simple, I never found ground tents to be that difficult either if you buy a good quality one, I typically used exped tents and currently use a Gemini 2 with a Helinox cot and exped synmat LW for my sleep platform (I sleep very well in that setup but the tent is a bit small was bought for my adv bike days). Time to setup was slightly similar but I suspect the RTT will be faster as I didn't know where his clips/poles were and was unfamiliar with the trailer.

The size of the tent is crazy, I can fit at least a two extra people in there possibly three if they are friendly with each other and don't mind cuddling. As a single camper it was like walking into a hotel and realizing you have a king size bed to yourself. my ground tent I'm lucky if I can get into it even though it says two man. What size man are they referring to? This man must be about 6 ft and as thin as a pencil.

The sleep quality, well I can envision with a extra foam topper to get some thickness so I am not literally sleeping on two boards would be ideal. I compare it to my days sailing on boats and those ****ty foam cushion mattresses. Not supportive and you always wake up sore no matter what size you are, just not a comfy sleep, find myself tossing and turning. I just came off a boat for a few days of sailing and it was the same there as well.

Overall, I am impressed with a RTT, with a few small tweaks (mattress mainly), so much that so that I am thinking it may meet my needs.

The draw back though is having it attached to the bed of my truck/camper. I don't want to break down the camp daily, if I am heading off to go mtb'ing, scuba diving etc, then I can't use the bed of my truck for my gear. So this puts me with a trailer mount which raises the cost of owning one drastically. Sadly I tried out a VMI, never should have as that is what I would want a trailer to be. ,

I have another 3-4 days in the RTT then I'll revise my thoughts. At the moment I'm probably 50/50.

Regards

Steve

 

[Kevin108]

My wife and I have had our Smittybilt RTT for a year or so. I bought the cheapest one I could find just to see what I thought about them. Last year found me recovering from an arm surgery and my wife opening her own business, so we've not gotten out nearly as much as we wanted, but we've got about a week in the tent so far. I was originally looking at a Tepui, but realized I could get the Smitty RTT and awning and still have enough left over for 3 tanks of gas for trips. I have not been disappointed with either!

When someone is climbing in and out or changing clothes is the only time I notice the suspension wobble. It's never violent or jarring, just some gentle swaying.

Your vehicle suspension tries to keep the body level anyway, so it's actually easier to find a good spot with a RTT than with a ground tent. You can always stack some wood blocks or rocks under the tires to fine tune things, but I've always been to find a good spot just buy surveying an area on foot and paying attention to the grade.

I'm 250+ with arthritic knees and have no problem getting in and out. I've worked construction my whole life, so ladders are second nature to me. That would be the only point of concern for me as far as offering a recommendation for a RTT.

 

[greg.potter]

I have had two different hard top RTT's. I like the comfort of a thick foam mattress and not having to pack things up - just close it down and drive away. Not having to worry about the ground surface, getting sand or mud into the tent are major advantages that I appreciate. I have several high end mountaineering tents which I use for adventures away from where the vehicle can go - but wouldn't go back to them for vehicle based camping.

 

[dman93]

I've only used an RTT twice; four nights in Death Valley in a borrowed Tepui GS a few months ago, and 4 nights just this past weekend in our new Tepui Kukenam. So far I think the only real cons are slower setup and tear down compared to the small 2 pole tents I'm used to. On the other hand, if the truck is or can be reasonably level, that's it. No searching for a flat AND smooth area (much easier to level 4 tire contact points, and it doesn't matter if there's a 6" rock or roots under the truck). Hauling it around on the roof all the time won't be ideal; on the other hand with bedding stored inside, it's one less thing to pack. Anyway, regarding the getting up in the night to pee issue: my wife wasn't crazy about the ladder at first, but got used to it quickly. And for me, honestly it's easier to climb up and down than to bend and wriggle my way out of a low ground tent. I considered a Springbar or Oztent or Kodiak, but they are pretty bulky and heavy, and with a DCSB Taco and two mountain bikes in the bed, space is at a premium. So far, we're loving it. Tepui's mattress seems as good as anything I've used in a ground tent, and the footprint of our Kukenam (wide enough for two at ~56", but plenty long for gear bags at the head at 96") is roomier than most tents I've owned.

 

[Binth]

I just spent my first night in my RTT and I must agree with the mattress assesment, it was not the most comfortable thing and that was one of the draws for me. For those of you that are adding a topper are you just getting a twin bed one or are you cutting something down to size?

I bought the fitted sheet as well so perhaps I can put the topper underneath.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I have spent around 50 nights so far this year in my poptop and look forward to 50 more before the year ends. I use a suspension frame with 2" of travel under an EXPED mattress. My nights are as good as it gets and in no way comes close to sleeping on the ground.

 

[FosterWV]

Great info, and perfect timing! We just got back from a 3 day trip and while taking down our ground tent I decided I'll own a RTT sooner than later!

Quick newb question, do you leave everything like mattress, blanket in the RTT? Also how long does it take to set up?
This will be on a 4x6 trailer I'm currently building as a BaseCamp type set up.

I'm just so tired of a leaking air mattress, uneven ground, and tearing down a tent

Thanks!

 

[Corey]

I have the hardshell AutoHome Maggiolina AirLander, and everything stays in it which is the down comforter, flannel sheets, two full size pillows, ladder, etc.

This is how I arrange it before putting the top down.

 

[FosterWV]

Thanks, that looks great but I'm leaning towards a soft tent style because of my budget.

I'm just hoping I can leave a good foam style mattress and blanket in it.

 

[Corey]

I think most of the soft sided ones have a pretty good mattress in them too.
Mine is 3" thick I believe.

This is an old video of mine from 2009 when the tent was on the factory rack, too far up IMO.
The next year in 2010 I got a low profile BajaRack rack that lowered the tent closer to the roof a few inches.

I have never setup a softsided tent, but mine is very easy, takes a minute or so.
If you are interested in a hardshell, check the classifieds here.
A member just picked up one similar to mine, same brand.

 

[FosterWV]

That's slick!

Never thought about the classifieds, I'll start watching.
Thanks

 

[outdoornate65]

I purchased my used AH Maggi a few weeks back and just got my first chance to really camp in it last week.
I have mounted the tent on my 4x8' utility trailer via an alum ladder rack.

We did six days camping here in Colorado and I really enjoyed the experience of sleeping off the ground on a real mattress.
We had rain everyday of our trip and the tent was bone dry inside.

On a trip last month, my kids complained that they were cold while sleeping in the tent but I did not find that to be the case. I was perfectly fine with just a sleeping bag over me as a "quilt".

So far.....digging the RTT.

 

[bigskypylot]

I have a CVT Summit Series which I absolutely love. The only gripe I have is with the mattress that come with it. I ended up replacing the mattress with a custom one which made a world of difference.

http://coastlinervandoffroad.com/Roof_Top_Tent_Mattress.php

Iwould fold up the tent with the foam mattress and do the same with the custom one. Once I get done with the trip, I will take the mattress out until the next trip.