So, time to bounce an idea off of ExPo. I've been considering selling my RTT in favor of a slightly different system that I feel might be more practical. The RTT limits my cargo space quite a bit, and the tent itself can occasionally be a bit of a pain if I'm deciding to remain at one campsite and explore from there. I have to close it up every single time, take some of the bedding out, and put the cover on. And then at the end of the day I need to set it up again. Then there's the issue of a canoe. I've been planning on getting a canoe, and I feel like it would be more difficult to put the canoe on top of the truck with the RTT in the back. The last thing I'd want is the canoe rubbing on the tent cover. Plus I don't know how much I trust the stock roof rack to hold a large canoe, so I'd have to come up with a good aftermarket solution (which I was thinking about doing anyway, but I've been reconsidering it for a couple reasons).
In the place of the RTT would be a fiberglass shell with windoors. I could install my Yakima racks which are currently holding my tent on the top, which would be a great place to set a canoe, as well as mount a 2-2.5 meter awning and Road Shower type shower. With the bed as a sealed up cargo space, this frees me up in a few ways. I would greatly increase my usable cargo space, meaning if I had company come with I could throw the bags in the back instead of at their feet. The other, more important thing to consider in this situation is I could put my dogs in a kennel in the back instead of having them taking up passenger space. This also applies to when I have kids in the future. It would also help in camp, because having hard sided storage means I wouldn't have to move my cooler/fridge and kitchen boxes into the back seat at night for fear of bears. The topper would keep it all secure. Because I'd be attaching the Yakima racks to the topper, I'd also have some convenient bolts coming through to attach an overhead cargo net to. We could easily store lighter stuff up and out of the way where it wouldn't take up any of the lower cargo area. The cap I'd be getting is a Century Crown, which is basically a copy of the Leer 100R. Here's a few pics to give you a general idea of how it would look.
Not the same cap, but this is with an awning mounted the way I'd do it.
"But what about a tent?!" I hear you cry. Well, I've been looking at these:
This design is based on the Oztent, which is much loved and well used throughout Australia. Yes, when taken down it is very large still, but I could just toss it on the Yakima racks and strap it down. When staked down they are very sturdy and will withstand wind pretty well. Plus they are HUGE! They are 6'4" wide by 7' deep and 6'8" tall. That would allow me to use any sleeping solution I want, really. The best part is this: Yes, CVT sells the Black Butte for $425, but
Tepui sells the same thing (they call it an awning extension) for $270. From what I've been looking at, it's a hell of a setup for that amount. As for bedding, we would go to these:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Lightning-Set-Cot/747013.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dlightning%2Bcot%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=lightning+cot&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products. I tried one out in the store today and it was super nice. With my sleeping pad, it is very comfortable. Yes they do take up more space, but I'd have a lot more space to keep them in. This would still be a fast and easy tent setup, and it'd be very comfortable and very spacious.
Overall I think this setup would be very practical (more so than what I'm doing now) and only very slightly more effort than the RTT I've got now. Now it boils down to the numbers...
A new cap is spendy, about $1500. Add to that the two cots ($160) and the tent ($270), and we're around the $2000 range. I have a friend very interested in my RTT, so that would take care of about $700. Now I'm down to $1300, which I think is very reasonable for what I'd be getting. It's quite the chunk of change, but I think it might be worth the jump. I can't think of why this wouldn't be a more reasonable/practical setup than what I'm using now.
What does ExPo think?
