Oztent RV 4 or RV5?

[Alex M]

I have finally received permission from the boss (wife) to get an Oztent for an upcoming 2 week trip in March. My plan is to get an Oztent RV4 or RV5 along with the porch add ons. What I am not sure about is if there are any good reasons to go with the RV4 as opposed to the RV5 other than the price. From what I can tell they both fold down to the same size. Is the weight difference substantial enough to make it more difficult to load and unload onto a roof rack? Or are there any other differences that I am not seeing?

Our current family size is me, my wife, a 2 year old and and new born, plus a great dane and a little yapper as well. I want to make sure I have enough room for the growing family, but also want to make sure the equipment I get is not too cumbersome to handle on my own.

Any input would be great, as I will be pulling the trigger before the end of the week.

Thanks!

 

[codename607]

I've had an RV5 in the past and based on the size of your family I would say you need the RV5 as well. Since your spending that much money on a tent you want to get something that you can use for a while.

 

[ExpedH3T]

RV5 for sure with the size of the family, I have an RV5 and imagining your family footprint it's the only option.

 

[Nullifier]

We have has an rv4 since 2007. It's great but now that we have kids camping with us we are upgrading. Trying to decide between adding a tag along tent to the rv4 or going all in on a jettent f25x. If I was starting out from scratch I would get an rv5 especially with kids.

 

[GORM]

It's all about the cots!

Anybody put your cots along the walls of the oztent rv4? Which brand cots do you find fit without touching the ends of the tent? I'm making decision on rv4 or rv5 as well and this point seems to be the driving decision for me. Specs have the rv4 depth at 7'10". I'm worried about the slanted rear portion of the tent taking up space that the cot cannot clear. That means wet feet or a wet head!

The tent will really just be for my wife and I; two cots and gear. My teenage kids can sleep in the old tent that they can figure out how to pitch themselves. 😱

Thanks all. Spring is here and camping time is imminent.

 

[GORM]

So I went with the RV-5, the only pic I have now is th tent in my basement as it has been raining every day for about a week. I had spoken to someone at Family Tent Camping about the rv-4 and rv-5 and the oztent brand cots. What they shared which I pass along to those with the same questions is that the gecko (which is the middle one) will fit in the Rv-4 along the wall but the King Goanna (largest one) will touch the front of the Rv-4 tent. Even though I have not decided on which cot I want, that was enough to justify the extra $125 and 10 lbs of weight and get the Rv5 so I would not have to worry about what cot to get. You definitely cannot take full advantage of the 8'6" depth based on my basement test though it was obviously hard to guy line out the tent.

Will post pics and some stats on the width/height specs.

thanks

 

[NCLRbear]

Go with the 5. I borrowed the 4 from a friend and it was my wife and I with our 2 year old and it was fine. we ended up buying the 5. a few friends have OzTents and they said go with the 5. We will be having a baby any day now so it will be the 4 of us now in the tent. If you get two cots for the adults you can stow your gear underneath and still have plenty of room for two kids.

 

[bomar]

I have a RV-4 and a king goanna cot for many many years and yes it takes the full length but it fits and works great. I am about to get the tag along since we have 2 kids now.

RV series is great.

 

[krax]

I'd get the RV-5 for anything more than solo camping. The difference in cost and packed size just isn't enough to go smaller, unless you're choosing another tent design (i.e. Jet Tent, Nemo Wagontop)

My RV-5 houses two people and two dogs very well, with enough room for some bags and room to change clothes if need be. It doesn't get claustrophobic during long storms and I think the extra room may help with keeping the condensation down.

 

[El Solis]

Get the 5! I have one and can fit 2 king Goanna stretchers and 2 kiddo cots (the adults are on the side walls and the then the kids sleep with their heads in the middle and feet under our cots. Still plenty of room for gear. In also got the side walls and front panel so we have an area for going potty and changing and our lab sleeps at the door of the tent although there is room in the tent if he wants in. My kids are now 3 and 5 but this cot works well. Packs small, is cheap but not cheaply made, and sets up/breaks down in seconds.

 

[zelatore]

Get the 5. I have the RV4 and use it in the same way you're talking about, with 2 cots running down each side. I then put my 'tent stuff' box (a big Riged box from Home Depot) between the cots to act as a night stand. Works fine, but with the OzTent cots it's *just* a bit too short and I can end up brushing the slanted back of the tent with my feet. Were I doing it again I'd just get the 5 since it's not like you're pinching ounces or inches once you've committed to something this big anyway.