Still no regrets over the RTT? I've been shopping and it looks like I'm going to be out around $1800 for a (Tepui) tent to comfortably fit 2 or 3 people. I hadn't considered one of these until now. How is it to put away after it's been raining?
I'm finding the RV-4 on eBay for $999 and the RV-5 for $1099. Hrmm.
No regrets at all.
They both take around the same amount of time to set up (give or take 45-60 seconds), they are both durable, both are generally carried on the roof, and both are packed with great features. Here is where they differ:
1. Storing sleeping gear.
- The RTT takes the cake here by far because you can keep all of your bedding in the tent if you want. It's easy to do and means you have a lot less bulky (albeit light) stuff in the rig. I got around this problem by storing my bedding in a cargo net above the bed.
2. Warmth.
- The RTT will keep you a bit warmer because of the insulated floor. A tent heater will solve this sort of issue though. Just turn it on for a short time at night when you need it, warm the tent up, shut it off, and go back to sleep. I think a heater would be a bit more tricky to use in a RTT, but I do know there are people that do it.
3. Mobility.
- This is one of the biggest reasons I got the Oztent. Yes a RTT is quicker to pack up and you don't have to do much lifting, but you'll be doing much more of it. Every time you want to go somewhere, you have to pack the tent up. It gets old after a while. The Oztent can be left behind.
4. Height.
- This one could go either way. If you sleep soundly through the night and like waking up to a taller vantage point, the RTT is great. But I have dogs, I routinely need to get up to use a nearby tree in the middle of the night, and I don't like climbing up and down a ladder in bare feet. This is a big plus for the Oztent in my opinion and in my particular situation.
5. Moisture.
- The Oztent has to be rolled up. If you sleep on wet ground or get rained on, the bottom will be wet, and you'll have to flip it over in dry weather to dry it off. Not a great difficulty, but something to think about. Otherwise, it's exactly the same as a RTT to put away wet. Not at all difficult or irritating to do, but you'll want to open it up to dry it out afterwards.
It's kind of six of one, half dozen of the other. I love RTTs. I used to own one and I loved it dearly. The comfort, the cool factory, the ease of use, all of it was great. But they have their downsides, and most of those are practical things. Mostly though, it depends on how you are using the tent and what style of camping you're doing. If you're going from place to place all the time and only stopping to sleep at night, then I think the RTT is a better choice, although the Oztent can be used in that manner with minimal difficulty. We had a couple nights like that on my Canada trip and I wasn't wishing for my RTT back. But if the whole trip had involved only stopping for one night at a time, then the RTT would have been nice. If you are more inclined to stay in one place for a couple nights and explore the surrounding area from there, then the Oztent is a much better bet.
Both tents were designed to do pretty much the same sort of thing. They're both touring style setups. And both of them do the job pretty well all things considered. It's more a matter of compromises, and the deciding factor is where you want those compromises to be. There is no one perfect solution.
If you're still looking at the RV tents, ********'s Sporting Goods sells them on their website. If you sign up for their mailing list, you get 10% off. That brings that RV-4 down $100. Just sayin'
