Eezi-Awn or other RTT user tips
- Thread starter p1michaud
- Start date
Mike S
Sponsor - AutoHomeUSA
grahamfitter said:I bolted my new Overcamp RTT onto my Jeep yesterday and slept in it last night. After all the talk of uncomfortable mattresses I wasn't sure what to expect but I was really comfortable and I slept like a baby.
Glad you got it set up and tried it out. It is a nice, simple, tough tent!
The elastic hold down cord has a set of hooks that hold the ends together - first thing to do is unhook these.
Second, spread (pull) the side of the cover away from the tent and pull/lift the side of the cover nearest you towards you and lift it over the corners on your side. Once you get the cord loose and the first two corners off, it goes pretty swiftly.
I just use my thumbs (about 3" about) and push in under the tent, sliding the elastic over the hook. I stand on the sliders/bumpers or open a door and stand on the sill.
Graham, I roughly fold the cover and stuff it between the bottom of the tent platform and the vehicle roof. handy and out of the way.
Hope this helps some.
grahamfitter
Expedition Leader
Mike S said:
Ah, obvious now you mention it. Thanks, Mike!
Cheers,
Graham
xcmountain80
Expedition Leader
Since the refurbish of my Hannibal 1.2m tent I washed the tent in the washing machine. Waterproofed it with a product which name eludes me but was purchased at a boat supply store ad was meant for canvas. I store my bedding in the tent well the 2" foam topper.
Aaron
Aaron
p1michaud
Expedition Leader
robert j. yates
Explorer
articulate said:
The ARB Adventure off-road light works just fine for my needs. I use the 12v adapter off the back of my Horizon and simply snake the power cord into the tent.
http://www.adventuretrailers.com/12volt_solar.html
travel dodge
Adventurer
SO I just put 1000 miles mixed tarmac and dirt with my new overland installed. It is amazing how much attention that thing gets and a comfortable place to sleep it provides. I got the kelty base camp double sleeping bag that works great inside.
My next question what can I do about the cover.. I can't see it lasting long. I covered it with a cheep tarp and a chinch strap which made me feel better but I would love to find a thick canvas or semi cloth cover that could cover it on all sides. Anyone else have an answer on how to extra cover a rtt.
My next question what can I do about the cover.. I can't see it lasting long. I covered it with a cheep tarp and a chinch strap which made me feel better but I would love to find a thick canvas or semi cloth cover that could cover it on all sides. Anyone else have an answer on how to extra cover a rtt.
travel dodge
Adventurer
Is there a Auto Home overland tent owners manual on the web. I feel there are so many streach cords under the tent that I am not using the right to hold the cover on. Buying it used it may never have been set up right.
Bergger
Explorer
I bought one of these last year and it works well.
http://tarps.com/canvas.htm
Seems very well made. Here's a picture of it covering my tent cot on the back of my truck. Going down the hwy at 75mph the thing did not flap or make any noise at all. Much nicer than the plastic tarps. If I have any issues with my Eezi Awn cover I'll probably try to use this.
View attachment 18087
http://tarps.com/canvas.htm
Seems very well made. Here's a picture of it covering my tent cot on the back of my truck. Going down the hwy at 75mph the thing did not flap or make any noise at all. Much nicer than the plastic tarps. If I have any issues with my Eezi Awn cover I'll probably try to use this.
View attachment 18087
Mike S
Sponsor - AutoHomeUSA
travel dodge said:
We are putting up a new (revised) web site in a week or so. It will have manuals for all the tents in PDF format. And lots of other stuff.
The cover that came with your tent is HD PVC. It is about as tough as anything that can be folded up. There should be only ONE bungee that circles the bottom of the cover through the loops on the cover. The bungee has hooks on each end that should be released prior to installation or removal. Once the cover is in place, hook the ends of the bungee cord together, then use the thumbs of both hands to hook the bungee to the retaining hooks under the tent platform. The compression straps are attached to the tent platform, so there is no stress on the cover.
We carry extra OverLand covers and all sorts of other spare parts. If you want your cover to last forever do two things... first, take a mill file and take any sharp edges off the aluminum ladder and the square aluminum under-channels on the tent. Second, use Goo or Barge cement to glue PVC or I/O carpet patches on the inside of the cover in the stress areas - the corners, and the upper edge where it meets the ladder and other metal parts of the tent.
Call me if you are having problems or need answers, and I'll try to help out.
Mike
travel dodge
Adventurer
So I was doing it wrong,, I will need to fix that. The cord that wraps around the cover gets hooked into the little plastic hooks on the bottom.. that should make it fit better and easier to put on.. What are the rest of the streach cords for? I saw on the eziawn uses streach cords in the middle to pull the tent sides in to make packing easier. Should all the cords I have under my tent be placed inside some how.
Thanks Mike, I will be ordering the ladder extention and other rtt toys soon once I use it enough to find out everything I need.
Thanks Mike, I will be ordering the ladder extention and other rtt toys soon once I use it enough to find out everything I need.
Lemsteraak
Adventurer
I have a couple ideas. The first one is for No-See-Ums, for all you desert guys, ignore, but those of us who have camped in Mangrove swamps, listen up. We have played with different netting, no-see-um nets are like cloth, not enough air passes through, so you are hot and miserable. Big mess is better but the little guys can fly through. We use a medium mesh, the little guys can't fly through and have to land on the mesh. Now, you spray the mesh with Avon's "Skin so Soft" and they can't stand it and don't land. So, you have airflow and no little bad guys. No-see-ums are the worst little vampires, they would give me welts for days.
Oh, an aside on the "Skin so Soft", I was talking to a retired Marine in Florida. He said that the Marines bought the formula from Avon to figure out why it worked so well against flying insects. Part of the reason it works so well is the fragrance, take away the pretty fragrance and it doesn't work, so the Marines abandoned the project, can't have Marines smelling too good, not right. He might have been leading me on, but I don't know how, but the stuff works. The old Florida "crackers" would spray insecticide on all their screens, pretty toxic. That is why I was so impressed with Skin so Soft, non toxic.
Second idea, folding RTT are a pain when it is really cold. I don't mean the "brrrrr" cold, I mean scrape the ice off the top to fold cold. I've spent many a cold night in a little OverCamp and several blizzards in one. The problem is when you scrape off all the snow and ice off the top, your hands become snow and ice. There is no way you can hook up the travel cover, so I just throw it on, attach a couple hooks and hop in the car to warm up. After my hands are warm, and have driven a couple miles, I stop and hook up the rest of the travel cover. The thing I've found is that when you first put on the travel cover, the tent is sticking up all goofy on the side opposite the hinges. After a couple miles it squishes down and it is easy to hook up the rest, and it looks perfect. Your housekeeping tip of the day.
Rich @ AutoHomeUS
Oh, an aside on the "Skin so Soft", I was talking to a retired Marine in Florida. He said that the Marines bought the formula from Avon to figure out why it worked so well against flying insects. Part of the reason it works so well is the fragrance, take away the pretty fragrance and it doesn't work, so the Marines abandoned the project, can't have Marines smelling too good, not right. He might have been leading me on, but I don't know how, but the stuff works. The old Florida "crackers" would spray insecticide on all their screens, pretty toxic. That is why I was so impressed with Skin so Soft, non toxic.
Second idea, folding RTT are a pain when it is really cold. I don't mean the "brrrrr" cold, I mean scrape the ice off the top to fold cold. I've spent many a cold night in a little OverCamp and several blizzards in one. The problem is when you scrape off all the snow and ice off the top, your hands become snow and ice. There is no way you can hook up the travel cover, so I just throw it on, attach a couple hooks and hop in the car to warm up. After my hands are warm, and have driven a couple miles, I stop and hook up the rest of the travel cover. The thing I've found is that when you first put on the travel cover, the tent is sticking up all goofy on the side opposite the hinges. After a couple miles it squishes down and it is easy to hook up the rest, and it looks perfect. Your housekeeping tip of the day.
Rich @ AutoHomeUS
articulate
Expedition Leader
This one just hit me like a ton of bricks the other day, but it'll only be practical for those using the tent low, such as on a trailer or over the truck bed.
Behold, the Eezi-Paper Towel Holder:
Look how happy my assistant is to have a domesticated method of dispensing paper towels around camp:
Behold, the Eezi-Paper Towel Holder:
Look how happy my assistant is to have a domesticated method of dispensing paper towels around camp: