Sure-Fire Ways to Improve Your Roof Top Tent

[HenryJ]

...So how does this stuff work? Does it just allow airflow between the mattress and the floor? Seems it would have to be pretty hard to keep an adults weight supported off the tent floor. ... it's about $12.00 a foot so x2 8ft x 2ft runs would be around $200.00 to cover my RRT floor, not cheap.

It seems to work great. The condensation forms where the body heat warms the platform. This allows enough airflow that the condensation is greatly reduced or eliminated. Best thing is the mattress does not soak up the moisture.
The stuff is pretty stiff. The way it is "spider-webbed", I doubt that even under full compression it would block air flow. We found it to offer better comfort to our mattress. Kind of like a small box spring under it.
Ours is still in the family. My sister owns it now. She stitched an edging around the outer edge. The edge would snag the window netting when folding or deploying. That was a very good idea.

A very good investment, even at that price IMO. I would do it again, and may do so for our new trailer.

 

[Corey]

I have a small rip about 1' long in my skeeter netting on the left side door that happened a few years back, probably from one time when I left the doors zipped and folded them away.
Proper way on the Maggiolina models is to leave the doors unzipped and simply fold them in when the top is lowered.

Anyway, I saw a product called Tear-Aid mentioned in this thread by Ksmith.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/76214-Kodiak-tent-question-for-owners

I ordered some the other day from Amazon, the type A for fabric.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A0PLWY/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

Will try it out a few weekends from now when I try out the light that Mike sent to me, and I will report back how the Tear-Aid worked or did not work.

 

[Rattler]

I am going to use a 12 v. blanket on the chilly nights but I saw that one place has cigarettte to plug adapters. I think I will be wiring a couple of them in for some things.

Plus I want to subscribe to this thread . . . . .

 

[dblosch]

It seems to work great. ... The edge would snag the window netting when folding or deploying. That was a very good idea.

Hey HenryJ- did you buy enough hypervent to completely cover the floor? Did you just cut two long narrow strips to cover the floor width-wise? I'm trying to determine the most cost effective way to get this done correctly. It seems like doing it that way will work the best- but cost the most, and I'll have lots of excess. Cutting two shorter pieces and laying them crossways seems like it would allow one of them to slide around when folding the tent...

FYI My tent is the standard 1.4 meters wide...

 

[Rattler]

I started a thread a bit ago but didn't get much response. Has anyone else needed to "update" their waterproofing? Mine seems to be letting a little more moisture in when it rains. I picked up some stuff from West Marine I was recommended to try. Now I just need the time to do it before it gets too cold out.

 

[HenryJ]

Hey HenryJ- did you buy enough hypervent to completely cover the floor?

I did. I still have a roll remnant about a foot wide left as scrap.
It comes with a flap on one side of the backing that overlaps for joining pieces. I use upholstery/cloth contact adhesive to put the pieces together to form a mat that matched the mattress.

The investment is worthwhile. It not only added the protection from moisture, but a great deal of comfort too.

 

[dblosch]

Thanks for that HenryJ-

For anyone else who's looking, I found that defender marine has Hypervent slightly cheaper than the first site listed... http://www.defender.com/category.jsp?path=-1|406|62335|61628&id=552832 The $30 saved was enough to put me over the edge.

Should have mine by Friday.


:wavey:
Thanks!
Dan

 

[Mad_Texan]

One time I had deployed the RTT while on a high ridge. During the night some gusts of wind managed to lift the folding half up a bit. I thought about staking out the ladder but I decided to add a couple of these D-Rings on the bottom of each outside corner.

View attachment 93487

With these I can deploy a couple of guy lines for a more balanced tie-down of the RTT.

Used the D-ring idea just went to my bumper...leveled the floor of the tent and kept the ladder in place...

 

[teotwaki]

Used the D-ring idea just went to my bumper...leveled the floor of the tent and kept the ladder in place...

Nice!

 

[General Automag]

That stuff looked familiar to me for some reason.. Was thinking heavy duty prefilter on a large air handler unit for a while.. Finally found that stuff, but it was to dense..

Finally found it.. It's the matting that is put behind masonry walls to give an air space for moisture to evap.. You should be able to get two 4ft wide strips long enough to cover the bottom under a matress for about $15. Should be able to find it at most masonary supply houses..

Do you have the exact name of what the matting is called? We use our RTT for the first time this past week, and there was a lot of condensation under the mattress which isn't good. Your solution is a lot cheaper than the material from Hypervent Marine.

 

[teotwaki]

Do you have the exact name of what the matting is called? We use our RTT for the first time this past week, and there was a lot of condensation under the mattress which isn't good. Your solution is a lot cheaper than the material from Hypervent Marine.

Hey Jim, try this direct link for: Hypervent Condensation Prevention Matting
Material: Spun Polymer Bonded to a Breathable Fabric Layer
Color: White, Dimensions: 39" Wide x 3/4" Thick
Sold by the Foot


http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|406|62335|61628|552832&id=1818021

Then compare to http://www.cavclear.com/arch/masonrymat.htm and http://www.keenebuilding.com/residential-cav-air-ator.aspx

 

[General Automag]

I did. I still have a roll remnant about a foot wide left as scrap.
It comes with a flap on one side of the backing that overlaps for joining pieces. I use upholstery/cloth contact adhesive to put the pieces together to form a mat that matched the mattress.

The investment is worthwhile. It not only added the protection from moisture, but a great deal of comfort too.

How did you cut the HyperVent matting to cover the floor/mattress of your roof top tent? Did you use two 39" strips running lengthwise? Our RTT is the typical 55" (1.4m) x 95" (2.4m). With a 39" wide strip going lengthwise, you would need 16 linear feet and would you use two pieces. This would seem better than cutting 3 pieces 55" wide which would necessitate you ordering approximately 14 linear feet.

 

[HenryJ]

How did you cut the HyperVent matting to cover the floor/mattress of your roof top tent? Did you use two 39" strips running lengthwise?

Our tent was 71"x 94". I think 16' was the right choice for ours. Two pieces lengthwise trimmed to width. It has been a very long time ago now so I can not be 100% positive. All the receipts went with the trailer when we sold it, even though it is still in the family.
$200 seems like a big investment, but I still believe it was worth it.

I do have a remnant 12"x89". I am not sure exactly how that came to be?

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Installed a 12v 9 LED light bar in the Mt Hood. Built in switch, worked great! I installed the same thing under my trailer lid... very handy light, only $19.00 too.

I also plan on installing some of the mat to prevent condensation. The last trip out was my first with this RTT, and it was pretty damp the next morning under the mattress. Not good. Aired it out well at home, but still, in winter you don't get much time to air out a tent?

Will be ordering some of this mat soon! Also looking for tent heating options that do not cost more than my Jeep. Catalytic's look interesting, but do all now state that they should NOT be used while sleeping. They do require a minimum sq" of venting for fresh air too. Might be a good option for before bed and in the AM to cut the chill? Anyone have any good links to 12v heating blankets?

 

[Haggis]

Early this spring we picked up an Autohome Maggiolina Extreme to ride around on the back of our Tundra…

We've been real pleased with it so far; just wish we had more time to use it. But the one thing I wasn't happy with was the way the ladder rested on the side rails of the truck as a result of the rack system I had fabbed up. Plus the angle of the ladder resulted in awkward feeling as you climbed into the tent. So I did some head scratching and came up with a solution...Porches.

Their made from consumer grade aluminum scaffolding planks, made by Werner, mounted to thick walled 2” aluminum angle. Than attached to the rails using stainless fasteners with capture nuts that slide in the rail's slot. Their pretty stout and don't flex at all under my weight. Slots cut into each outboard side of the porches allow the access ladder to mount up to either side or to have a ladder on both sides at the same time. They are painted with Dupli-Color bedliner to give the porches some extra grip on the surface.

....

The porches have worked out very well, not only do they reposition the ladder but allow us a place to sit and remove our shoes that are often covered in the detritus of soggy, muddy Pennsylvania and thus keeping the tent a whole lot cleaner inside. Occasionally we use ‘em to knock the sand off too...

Another benefit to the porches is that they are useful as extra storage racks. They are perfectly sized for throwing our easy-up canopy up on which frees up some space under the cover.

Now all they need is a welcome mat and some flower boxes. :elkgrin: