A million RTT questions on here.. Im looking into the Camping lab medium for my Dodge.. because its in my price range... am i paying for im getting? There are plenty more out there that cost a ton more so im wondering should i fork out the cash on an ezi or another model? Thoughts and opinions are much appreciated!
RTT.. yet again..
- Thread starter scduboy
- Start date
4RunAmok
Explorer
I think he was asking about the Camping Lab RTT rather than the Dodge. 
I have a friend who purchased a camping lab tent, and there are some subtle differences from the ARB and Eziawn tents. But he has had plenty of use out of his no complaints that I'm aware of. It's a good value for the price.
I have a friend who purchased a camping lab tent, and there are some subtle differences from the ARB and Eziawn tents. But he has had plenty of use out of his no complaints that I'm aware of. It's a good value for the price.
ltngaines
Adventurer
I have the Camping Lab "Large" and love it. They are great to deal with, shipping was on time and not broke. Great tent.
rshuckfinn
Adventurer
Eezi Awn is the best tent on the market. It is imported from South Africa. It will last longer then the camping labs because of the high quality material that is used. Camping Labs is about half the price. I have herd no complaints about their tents either, but im sure the quality is not the same. Its kinda like comparing a ford to a BMW or Mercedes its just hard to do.
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FurthurOnTheFly
Glamping Society
We had ort CL tent for over 3 years and never had a problem with it. We have had two friends who broke the zippers on the cover, but I feel they were naturally overly rough with their property anyway. If you take care of your stuff it will last a lot longer no matter what it is.
We personally looked at Eezi-Awns before buying our CL...now maybe the one we saw was a fluke, but the material was not even attached properly...looked like they had turned a 5 year old loose with a staple gun. The people I know who have them rave about them but in the end we just couldn't justify the price for something we weren't sure we would even like.
My one complaint is about the cover, I do wish it was designed like the Eezi-Awn cover where you just throw it up there and ratchet it on instead of the zip. We carried a lot of stuff on the roof in addition to the RTT and sometimes things just got in the way.
I say if this is your first experience in an RTT, buy a CL to test the waters. If in a couple of years you love the RTT experience then spend the cash on one of the South African brands.
We personally looked at Eezi-Awns before buying our CL...now maybe the one we saw was a fluke, but the material was not even attached properly...looked like they had turned a 5 year old loose with a staple gun. The people I know who have them rave about them but in the end we just couldn't justify the price for something we weren't sure we would even like.
My one complaint is about the cover, I do wish it was designed like the Eezi-Awn cover where you just throw it up there and ratchet it on instead of the zip. We carried a lot of stuff on the roof in addition to the RTT and sometimes things just got in the way.
I say if this is your first experience in an RTT, buy a CL to test the waters. If in a couple of years you love the RTT experience then spend the cash on one of the South African brands.
I think I'm one of those two friends that Heidi was talking about!
I'll admit that I push my FJ to the limits and the cover has sustained a great deal of "use". I bought my tent used from a friend who had already had it for a year or so. I LOVE my tent and all, but Heidi's right about the cover. Frustrating to say the least.
My zipper is completely broken now. Fortunately it's broken/stuck in the 80% closed position. I stopped in at a random upholstery shop to see what they could do on replacing the zipper. The guy quoted me just under $200 and said it would take him two weeks to fix.
I've been trying to get a replacement cover from Fernando at CL for two months now. He said it would cost $90 for the replacement cover. That was two months ago. That's at least 6 trips I've missed out on due to not being able to use the RTT. At this point I'd be hard pressed to pick a solution: Hold on to the hope that I'll actually be able to get a response on the $90 replacement from Camping Lab or post it up in the classified section and start saving for an EeziAwn or some other RTT.
Again, I love, love, LOVE my CL, but just wish I could be able to use it!!
Does anyone have ANY suggestions on how I can get a replacement cover? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Starting to show some bald spots from pulling my hair out over this issue!!
Thanks,
Remmie
thanks for the replys! One more question... thoughts on the ARB? Ive been reading alot of complaints about not having a cover of the ladder and door. Folks are saying when you go to get out of the tent stuff gets in etc. Also being able to zip up the entire ladder also keeps the unwanted out... is it worth it?
Look at the howling moon tents as well. I rate it as a better tent than the Eezi Awn, better construction, better ladder (more forgiving on bare feet), better doors (complete zip up). I have used an Eezi Awn since the first model was launched in South Africa, they have served me well, but howling moon have overtaken them in quality and features. My personal opinion of course.
http://www.ironman4x4.com/html/rooftop_tent.html#
looks like the ARB model.. any imput on this RTT maker?
Howling moon looks like a nice tent too. i need to look into them more!
looks like the ARB model.. any imput on this RTT maker?
Howling moon looks like a nice tent too. i need to look into them more!
cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
It looks like the old, ARB model. ~3 year ago ARB made many needed usability changes to this model and have subsequently made even more to what I'm calling their Simpson IIIC model.
cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
No problem at all. I detailed many of the changes here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/28164-New-ARB-Series-III-RTT?p=445009#post445009
Keep in mind that was for the Simpson II to Simpson III, they have since introduced the IIIB and now the IIIC, I've got a couple here, when things slow down I plan to write up a similar 'report' contrasting the upgrades.