Mt. Rainier vs. Mt. McKinley from CVT

[sarodplayer]

Hi all,

I am ********** in the middle of utilizing the 20% discount from CVT (I know it expired Sunday but I have already paid for the Rainier and debating whether to go for the McKinley).

I am a single dad with three kids and although they are 9 and 7(x2...twin boys) and we may fit in the Rainier, I am wondering about once they get older.

Now with the annex room, I am sure I can sleep at least another 4 people down below so no shortage of room....but if I am in a situation where I just want to deploy the top and sleep 4, is the Rainier going to do it or be uncomfortable?

I have a 2006 Sienna with factory rack on top. 87" of length is really stretching it I think but then again, I am not necessarily going to have that vehicle forever.

All ideas and thoughts welcome!

I have until Thursday night to make a decision. Tent will ship this Friday.

Thanks!

 

[Runt]

Hi,
I can tell you this: If you are under 6' you can sleep East - West and three kids and you are okay for now. My three and I are cozy up there but it works. The wife has to stay home though. If you meet some one you won't have room! Yes the Anex is awesome but its a bit of work to put on and unless your some place for more then a day or two you probably wont bother. If I did it all over again I would get the larger McKinley RTT.

 

[justrom]

If you've got the space for the McKinley on your rig it is probably the better option. Boys get big fast and the Rainer isn't that big. If you use "backpacker tent" math where people sleep head to toe and you only get 24" of width at the shoulders it would probably hold 4 people. But sleeping piled on top of each other kind of defeats the purpose of the extra comfort of a RTT.

I've slept in the annex before and while it does take some time to set up and tear down your boys are getting big enough to help set up. That may make the annex a viable option since you don't have to pack up the entire campsite by yourself and you could still tear down and be ready to leave in a reasonable amount of time.

Another option depending on what type of rig you have might be to put one person on a sleeping platform in the vehicle and put the others in the tent.

 

[sarodplayer]

For the 2 folks that end up sleeping "suspended" if you go east-west, how stable are things with the single ladder? Also, with the Mc.Kinley comes the 2-ladder setup which will be more stable but take up more space in the annex. Ultimately, even though the annex is a great area to sleep in, you are back to "sleeping on the ground" unless of course you take along a couple of cots...which then takes up more space inside your car.

If I go McKinley and say N-S orientation for sleeping, then I still have less than 24" of width...more like 21.75 and then back to E-W orientation, the only difference is a lot more leg room...I am 5'10" but the pillow does stick out some more and I am sure my kids are going to be taller than me.

Decisions...decisions.

I really do not want to buy twice but am also scared to end up with a behemoth I cannot handle. I just measured my roof rack and the rack portion of it (with slides, etc.) will cause 18" to 19" of overhang with the McKinley vs. 12" overhang with the Rainier.

So there it is...21% more shoulder width for 24% more wieght but have more overhang (50%) which may or may not be tolerable but makes E-W sleeping even more viable compared to Rainier since I would feel a lot more comfortable with 2 ladders than just one.

 

[Stegerman]

Just my 2 cents: I have 2 kids 13 boy and 16 girl . I have a Shasta and we've have been sleeping 2 up and 1 in the 4runner, understanding that with the gender difference sleeping in the same tent wasn't desired to begin with. II recently purchased an expedition trailer to mount the tent on. It has a rack that creates enough covered space to lay a deck and create a sleeping space. My point (if I have one) is by the time your kids are bigger (3-5 yrs) they will probably appreciate the ability to have more room. If it were me, I would keep the Rainer now for the weight and size convenience. In 3-5 years you might want another option anyway. You can either add a trailer and another smaller RTT or buy a smaller teardrop and put the tent on that for 2 sleeping spaces, like this:

For me the smaller footprint and flexibility was the right choice.

 

[sarodplayer]

Thanks to all who replied. I went ahead and decided on the McKinley. Figured I would be done with it. In a few years, when they want their own space, I think it will still be good to have the extra room. Besides for another $400 (well 320 due to the discount), I decided against an awning and to get the more stable 2-ladder configuration.

Stegerman, that set up looks NICE! How much do tear-drop trailers like that go for?

 

[Stegerman]

It's not mine. I pulled it off the net for an example of what you could do. I think those trailers run about 7k without the tent.


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