We just bought our first RTT, and took it on the Cabot Trail in December 2016. We spent months reading other folks reviews and watching YouTube videos, so here's what we think of our tent in an effort to help others on the same quest.
Tuff Stuff RTT, Overland Model
http://tuffstuff4x4.com/products/tuf...changing-room/
After months of YouTube video and online reviews, this is the tent we settled on. Overall, very impressed with the tent from our first trip.
Setup - very straight forward out of the box. Put on the mounting hardware, lined it up on the factory roof rails and tightened it down. All tools for installation were included with the tent, along with the annex. We did decide to shorten the mounting bars, and we accomplished that with a reciprocating saw and a Dremel to smooth it out prior to installing the end caps.
Opening/Closing - very easy, and can be done by one person. The ladder provides sufficient leverage to open the tent from the ground, and the side step or rear bumper on the 4Runner was sufficient for all other operations. The pins on the ladder do not always lock into place, so it is important to verify they've locked before fully extending the ladder, otherwise, you will pull out the bottom half of the ladder and need to reseat it before opening the tent. Closing can be done with one person, but two makes it easier. One person on the ladder side, and one person on the opposite side to fold the tent into itself while it is lowered.
Cover - stiff at first, but got easier with each usage. The cold weather also plays a part in how stiff it is, so warmer is a bit easier. The cover zipper and Velcro straps held up well during the drive, and the tent stayed dry despite all of the blowing rain, snow and ice during our trip.
Annex - we think this is a must have for an RTT. Provides space to hold your gear, change, and provides some shelter from the weather other than the tent itself. This model included the annex and the floor. We used the annex with and without the floor, depending on the weather. The shape of the annex makes it tricky for pitching, and will differ depending on the model of your vehicle and it's height off the ground. At first we did not use the channel system to attach the rear side of the annex, and while this worked with zero wind, it will not work in a windy condition. It's a bit inconvenient, as you have to remove the travel cover in order to fully install the annex, but if it is windy, this channel is a vital part of the stability of the annex. Both the travel cover and annex channel attachments are very stiff, but by the third usage, was much easier to install. The annex also has vent holes, and this was pretty important to us. Since it was so cold and windy, we used both our Mr. Buddy Heater and propane stove in the annex, and these vent holes ensured that we had sufficient fresh air moving through the annex to avoid a build up of carbon monoxide.
Weather Proof - we had all the confidence in the world in the tent, but the first night on the Cabot Trail really cemented that belief. With wind conditions in excess of 30 MPH, the tent held up really, really well. There was no evidence of damage due to strain on staking points, zippers, seams or rain fly straps. As one could expect, it was noisy; we had some slack in our annex material as we have stock tires installed, with no lift kit, and the material flapped all night. (Woody the Dog was not a fan at all!) The tent and rain fly flapped a bit as well despite being tightened as much as possible, but the annex was the main contributor to the noise. In addition, this tent has many small openings due to its folding nature, but we had zero snow in the tent due to access from hinge points, vents or zippers. Only snow was due to us tracking it in the annex or blowing in when we opened the annex door.
Initial Setup Photos:
Tent after first windstorm (granted, we had good snow shelter from the trees)
The only modification we have made to the tent is to install a strip of adhesive LED lights across the ridgepole. Works great!
Tuff Stuff RTT, Overland Model
http://tuffstuff4x4.com/products/tuf...changing-room/
After months of YouTube video and online reviews, this is the tent we settled on. Overall, very impressed with the tent from our first trip.
Setup - very straight forward out of the box. Put on the mounting hardware, lined it up on the factory roof rails and tightened it down. All tools for installation were included with the tent, along with the annex. We did decide to shorten the mounting bars, and we accomplished that with a reciprocating saw and a Dremel to smooth it out prior to installing the end caps.
Opening/Closing - very easy, and can be done by one person. The ladder provides sufficient leverage to open the tent from the ground, and the side step or rear bumper on the 4Runner was sufficient for all other operations. The pins on the ladder do not always lock into place, so it is important to verify they've locked before fully extending the ladder, otherwise, you will pull out the bottom half of the ladder and need to reseat it before opening the tent. Closing can be done with one person, but two makes it easier. One person on the ladder side, and one person on the opposite side to fold the tent into itself while it is lowered.
Cover - stiff at first, but got easier with each usage. The cold weather also plays a part in how stiff it is, so warmer is a bit easier. The cover zipper and Velcro straps held up well during the drive, and the tent stayed dry despite all of the blowing rain, snow and ice during our trip.
Annex - we think this is a must have for an RTT. Provides space to hold your gear, change, and provides some shelter from the weather other than the tent itself. This model included the annex and the floor. We used the annex with and without the floor, depending on the weather. The shape of the annex makes it tricky for pitching, and will differ depending on the model of your vehicle and it's height off the ground. At first we did not use the channel system to attach the rear side of the annex, and while this worked with zero wind, it will not work in a windy condition. It's a bit inconvenient, as you have to remove the travel cover in order to fully install the annex, but if it is windy, this channel is a vital part of the stability of the annex. Both the travel cover and annex channel attachments are very stiff, but by the third usage, was much easier to install. The annex also has vent holes, and this was pretty important to us. Since it was so cold and windy, we used both our Mr. Buddy Heater and propane stove in the annex, and these vent holes ensured that we had sufficient fresh air moving through the annex to avoid a build up of carbon monoxide.
Weather Proof - we had all the confidence in the world in the tent, but the first night on the Cabot Trail really cemented that belief. With wind conditions in excess of 30 MPH, the tent held up really, really well. There was no evidence of damage due to strain on staking points, zippers, seams or rain fly straps. As one could expect, it was noisy; we had some slack in our annex material as we have stock tires installed, with no lift kit, and the material flapped all night. (Woody the Dog was not a fan at all!) The tent and rain fly flapped a bit as well despite being tightened as much as possible, but the annex was the main contributor to the noise. In addition, this tent has many small openings due to its folding nature, but we had zero snow in the tent due to access from hinge points, vents or zippers. Only snow was due to us tracking it in the annex or blowing in when we opened the annex door.
Initial Setup Photos:
Tent after first windstorm (granted, we had good snow shelter from the trees)
The only modification we have made to the tent is to install a strip of adhesive LED lights across the ridgepole. Works great!
