Sure-Fire Ways to Improve Your Roof Top Tent

[Lucky j]

Air mattress can be confy, but they can be cold in well, cold night.

I picked up the air mattress linked below to stick in my tent after a few uncomfortable nights and one grumpy girlfriend at the end of the last camping trip lol. The measurements on it are perfect for my Tepui. Its good quality and its light years ahead of the last Walmart brand air mattress that i had. hopefully this will be much more comfortable for both of us. I figures I would share it here since I have had a hard time finding a mattress to fit the floor of the tent.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CWZE642/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Thumperer]

LOVE many of the ideas here. I hope this thread keeps developing!

 

[nucktaco]

ive read through i think every page and havent seen a question regarding this. we have a Wild Coast Tents Big Sky. took it out for its first trip down the cali coast at the begining of june. our luck it rained almost every night. i had forgotten the rainfly at home but stayed dry inside. i did find that the next time i opened the tent up my mattress and bedding were soaked. i was able to use bungee cords and string up the mattress and bedding and dry it out but was a pain in the ***.

when packing your tent up wet is anyone else having issues with the mattress/bedding getting soaked? :smiley_drive:

thanks,
scott

 

[Lucky j]

Nope, but I always have the rain fly, so maybe the heavier material of the tent is not soak cause protectec by the rainfly.

ive read through i think every page and havent seen a question regarding this. we have a Wild Coast Tents Big Sky. took it out for its first trip down the cali coast at the begining of june. our luck it rained almost every night. i had forgotten the rainfly at home but stayed dry inside. i did find that the next time i opened the tent up my mattress and bedding were soaked. i was able to use bungee cords and string up the mattress and bedding and dry it out but was a pain in the ***.

when packing your tent up wet is anyone else having issues with the mattress/bedding getting soaked? :smiley_drive:

thanks,
scott

 

[nucktaco]

Nope, but I always have the rain fly, so maybe the heavier material of the tent is not soak cause protectec by the rainfly.

Well got the rain fly on now and waterproofed the tent to hopefully that helps. Going out for 2 nights this weekend so I'll see how it does.

 

[dirt roamer]

Anyone rig up a quick mount for a Tuff Stuff or similar RTT? I have a Land Rover LR3 and there isn't even much room for an open end/closed end wrench between the rack and the roof. It's a pain to start the nut on the bolt and to tighten/loosen.

 

[Lucky j]

Had the same issue with my girls friend toyota RAV 4. So I made her by a set of round thule bars and the kit for her car, and we got about 1 more inch of space that made a huge difference.

 

[FNFJ]

What did you use to make this? I have a 95lb Golden Retriever that would like to sleep in the tent with me.

I've always taken my dogs with me camping... however they were always small enough to lift up into the tent. The 1st week of this past August I'd adopted another pup. Only this time she is a 3 yr. 90 lb. Rottweiler. Way too much for this old man to lift up & down as needed. So I decided to make a ramp to place over the ladder for her to go in & out as needed. I remove the ramp & move the ladder back into a support position for me to get in the tent. I'm thinking about contacting Tepui to see about purchasing a 2nd ladder that I could add & remove to the other side. I would leave it connected while at camp for Sara to enter & leave as she needs... of course it will be removed during transport.

 

[VicMackey]

Subscribed. Lots of great ideas here.

 

[Eberin]

99% of the time I mount the RTT by myself it's manageable but not really fun, to help me and not damage the rack as I slide it across I added some felt adhesive on the bottom, also added a small layer of gorilla glue to help hold it in place, not expecting a long term solution but it enables me to lean the rack against the gobi and slide it up without scratching the rack leading to rust

 

[WillBeck]

I installed two of these:

One in each corner of the tent's fold out floor section, opposite where the ladder is centered.

During high winds in exposed camping areas I use them to anchor the tent platform to prevent unwanted lift from hoisting the ladder into the air as the hinged section lifts up. In this rocky area of the White Rim Trail I took a 5 gallon bucket and hung it from the upwind D-ring and filled the bucket with rocks. You can just make it out in this photo, almost resting on the ground.

Photo from this trip report: http://suntothenorth.blogspot.com/2014/05/exploring-with-expedition-trailer-in.html

It seems Tepui really pays attention to threads like this, as my ruggedized Kukenam has 2 of these on each corner of the ten half that folds outward. I hang lights from mine, but using them to stake down the tent is a good idea as well. I've had mine in 30-35ish mph winds, and the flapping wasn't bad. I felt the floor lift once or twice, but nothing to make me nervous.

 

[GetZ]

or this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj58hEMPEFA

10/10
Would watch again

 

[Cypry]

Call of Nature

I call it the Waz Tube .... Call of nature at 3am on a cold night is very frustrating even in a ground tent. Tackling a ladder etc etc is worse. Lid on the business end for hygiene. Tube attached to base runs under mattress ( background) and out the tent pivot hole to a bucket below for proper disposal in the morning. Simple but effective :victory:
Simple LED strips ( Ebay) clipped to underside of tent for light. Can also be moved up stairs but I prefer to leave them here. Plugs straight into ciggy lighter with a very low power draw
Apologies if image's are not right way up but are fine on my computer

 

[apruitt9]

Closing up?

I have issues with my Mt Shasta Ext when it is time to close up the tent. It collapses fine but all the external tent material ends up on the other side and leads to a lot of time spent tucking and stuffing all that material in to get cover on. Am I doing something wrong, is there a solution to this? I have a couple of black straps inside tent that I don't know what they are for, could be related! Thanks!

 

[jesperjes]

I have issues with my Mt Shasta Ext when it is time to close up the tent. It collapses fine but all the external tent material ends up on the other side and leads to a lot of time spent tucking and stuffing all that material in to get cover on. Am I doing something wrong, is there a solution to this? I have a couple of black straps inside tent that I don't know what they are for, could be related! Thanks!

See post #318
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...rove-Your-Roof-Top-Tent?p=1642452#post1642452

I'm guessing the black straps you're refering to inside the tent is for grapping when climbing in/out of the tent.