RTT Annex?

[Box Rocket]

I find the annex to be a mixed bag. I don't use it every time for sure. If I am alone or with my boys it only gets used in inclement weather or wind to give us some additional shelter from the elements. If my wife is with us it gets used every time. My wife is a HUGE proponent of the annex and when we attend events for Tepui that is the drum she beats with potential customers, especially the women. She finds the privacy of the annex a major plus. As has been mentioned she can stand in the annex and change clothes comfortably and in privacy and not have to do it lying on her back in the sleeping area. We have a camp toilet privy that we usually set up but in bad weather we can bring the camp toilet into the annex at night so we can take care of natures business without having to worry about the weather. Again, for my wife it's all about the privacy. She prefers the Tepui Autana with the extended privacy canopy that puts the ladder inside the annex. The tents that place the annex behind the ladder aren't as nice for privacy or for staying out of the elements.

 

[OwyheeMagpie]

Well, I spent the weekend in the Autana. First off the annex is well worth it. I put my MrBuddy in there and it was 32 degrees outside and 67 inside, plus we had 3 chairs, my camp table and an ice chest inside the annex. The three of us stayed comfortably warm until bed time, it was awesome.

Setting up the tent and getting to bed can be way fast but taking it down, tucking all the fabric in and getting the travel cover nicely situated takes finess and time. I'm sure it will come easier with time but big deal, being able to get some where late and just pop it open and hop in is where it's at!

All in all it was sweet, no sense in disclosing my entire opinion here so I'll write up a review soon. I have a few things to nitpick about the tent and I'll post pics later also. I actually had a few small disappointments also but if anyone is wondering I ended up purchasing it, ultimately I guess that explains what I think of Tepui. Overall I'm satisfied and happy to sport the Tepui logo on my roof, I look forward to using the hell out of it and I know it will outperform my expectations.

Also thanks Box Rocket for getting me pricing, sorry I by passed you but living 35 minutes from Santa Cruz and doing the whole rental thing ended up working out easier for my situation my I decided to make the purchase. I'll be sure to let Griffin know you were very helpful! Thanks!

 

[Box Rocket]

No worries! Glad you got to try one out. Looking forward to hearing your feedback. I wonder how many of the issues were a result of the tent being a rental?

 

[OwyheeMagpie]

None were the result from rental, my "rental" was bran new apparently. I believe it too, it was clean as hell and honestly needed to air out for a few hours. It smelled new, plus I unpacked and zipped the bran new floor to the annex walls. All in all my gripes aren't any huge issues, quite frankly the overall quality is great, there are things I can nitpick but I'm also a perfectionist with OCD so take that into consideration as well. To sum it up, I've researched materials, manufacturing processes and different aspects that go into RTT's over 5 or 6 years. In the scheme of things they aren't THAT expensive but non the less its still hard to cough up 1450 bucks or so up front. To sum it up, the materials are right, the quality is pretty good, I actually like the telescoping ladder once you get a good idea of how each section latches vs using the bottom red releases and so on. Plus the folks at Tepui are pretty easy going, the facility is basically bran new and fully stocked. That makes me feel confident when I need parts or what ever. They were very accommodating with the rental and always prompt with e mails, they've even offered personal phone numbers to accommodate my schedule on the holiday weekend which gives the company a mom and pop feel. After seeing the facility and seeing how they've grown over the years I'm confident they'll be around for quite a while. I'll be sure include pictures of the things I've noticed when looking the tent over.

 

[Box Rocket]

Cool. Well you seem to be in good company around here being an OCD perfectionist. .......or someone who is "detail oriented" if you want to use a more flattering term. Whatever you want to call it, the feedback is welcome. It's those details that we can fix when we get the feedback and keep providing the best tents on the market.

 

[OwyheeMagpie]

Feed back and constructive criticism are how people and companies grow. I'll probably have photos and a review posted next week sometime. The crappy part about all these reviews, including how mine will be, is all the opinions on quality vary. Plus, how many people, including current RTT owners, have owned or used multiple brands? Let alone seen any other RTT in person besides the one on their rig? I know I haven't seen many at all. With that being said I'll try my best to be thorough and informative.

 

[caddo]

Our tent came with a annex.. (Tepui gran sabana) and although it does sound great and nice for having annex.. I have not bothered with using it, yet. I see it as more trouble than it's worth, probably because we dont camp in raining weathers (kind of hard to find around here) and taking the cover off just to put the annex on kind of defeats the purpose of our reason in getting a RTT (I want really short setup and tear down time), and the most important factor that we didn't use our annex at all - the tent is sitting on a trailer rack that is only about 4.5' off the ground.

I guess if you ask me whether or not having an annex is a plus, I will say, check clearance first.

(I wish there was an option to not get the annex when purchasing the gran sabana, although it's kind of late now, heh. )

 

[Finlay]

We have an annex with our CVT Rainier. It's nice to have at times, sometimes really nice, and a pain in other times.

That it is detachable is a great feature - I can choose to not bring it, and really, if I do and don't use it, it sits in the crate in the bed of the truck. It does add to the set up and tear down times.

But, man - Having a place to ditch muddy shoes and dry off the dogs before crawling up to bed is such a nice option to have.

 

[Chandlerdoom]

I guess I can put some input into the discussion

Spent a week camping a week ago in moab and surrounding areas, 30ish degrees during the day. Keeping the floor attached makes attaching the annex a much faster setup, which matters in the cold. But with the annex I was able to wear my shoes from outside to inside without worrying, change standing up, have space to sort through my bags, able to put on and take off my overalls, place to make some food without standing out in the cold, and an area to set my propane heater for the night.

So is it worth it? I think it all depends on the plan is for the next day, the first two nights we didn't bother with the annex because in the morning we were heading out right away.

 

[cactusjk]

Any feedback from those with ladders outside the annex?

 

[pray4surf]

Any feedback from those with ladders outside the annex?

Love our annex. I don't mind the climb outside, but I tend to camp in much less inclement weather than most. It stays attached to the RTT nearly all the time and it may or may not get deployed depending on the situation.

Yes, it would be nicer to have the covered ladder - if/when I ever replace our smaller CampingLab RTT, we'd upgrade

 

[MJCake1]

We use half the time for the same reasons like privacy if required and putting the potty in case a quick run is required in the middle of the night.

 

[Chili]

The Annex (with ladder inside) was a must for my wife and I. The only time we have not set it up was when we knew we were only staying for one night, and ultimately wished we had. It's definitely better for "base camp" purposes than for those who move frequently. If it were just me I would probably make do without, but I don't complain that the wife demands it.

The main benefits for us are: space for our bags, a place to change in privacy, a place to use the camp potty at night, a place to hang out if the weather is too bad (mainly heavy rain), etc.

Obvious drawbacks are the size of the packed annex, and additional set-up time, but after doing it a few times we have come up with a pretty simple routine and folding pattern that makes it much easier.