AT Horizon extra sleeping room

Romer

Adventurer
Spent the week in Moab. I thought it would be a bit cramped with my 22 year old daughter and I both in the bed, so I bought one of the best thermarest pads that was suppose to expand to 3.5", it did not and slept on the ground. It was no where as comfortable as the RTT mattress. I would have prefered a cot, but the angle of the ladder does not allow one

Curious what others have done to add a sleeping spot on the ground of the changing room
 

socaljeeper

Adventurer
That is where I sleep when the entire family is along for a trip, on a cot. Why is the angle of the ladder in the way?
 

Romer

Adventurer
Do you use a low to the ground cot? Got a recommendation?

I have the Globetrotter which is mounted on a 7" rack above the trailer. This is key to the ladder position because it is a different RTT then some run.

It essentially starts at the lip of the RTT directly above the storage box and angle down to the floor.

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Essentially, the ladder comes down in the middle of the changing room, the Foam pad just fits there

Sorry for leaving key details out
 
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XJBANKER

Explorer
I would have just slept next to your daughter. You made her and you are just sleeping. Too many people have their minds poluted an think that there might be something wrong with it. I would sleep next to you if i would be more comfortable. But if you or your daughter are stuck on the wierd view then you could look into some type of an add on room like the oz tent
 

Romer

Adventurer
I would have just slept next to your daughter. You made her and you are just sleeping. Too many people have their minds poluted an think that there might be something wrong with it. I would sleep next to you if i would be more comfortable. But if you or your daughter are stuck on the wierd view then you could look into some type of an add on room like the oz tent

Thats not it. We did that on the Rubicon in a small RTT (Oasis II)

I could have done that on this trip, but in a few weeks I will have both 19 and 22 year old daughters to go camping with and three will not fit up there and wanted to come up with a system that 3 could use this, tight but comfortable
 

Fireman78

Expedition Leader
Sorry to hear you weren't happy with the Therma-rest you bought. I am wondering which one it was you got? . I have had this one..http://cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/camp-and-comfort/dreamtime/product (The Dreamtime) for several years and it is, without a doubt, the best 200 I ever spent for a camp item. It is the thickest, warmest, softest, everythingest one ever in the history of the world! However, I lived out of a Rucksack or a RedBag for a majority of my days, so ones "Comfort" level is most likely on a different level as mine. I love the fact that you go camping with your daughters. i have two and hope they always camp with daddy no matter how old they and I get.
 
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Romer

Adventurer
Sorry to hear you weren't happy with the Therma-rest you bought. I am wondering which one it was you got? . I have had this one..http://cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/mattresses/camp-and-comfort/dreamtime/product (The Dreamtime) for several years and it is, without a doubt, the best 200 I ever spent for a camp item. It is the thickest, warmest, softest, everythingest one ever in the history of the world! However, I lived out of a Rucksack or a RedBag for a majority of my days, so ones "Comfort" level is most likely on a different level as mine. I love the fact that you go camping with your daughters. i have two and hope they always camp with daddy no matter how old they and I get.

That is the one I got, but after even blowing into it, I did not get 3.5" of foam. Maybe its defective, I got it at REI so Ican take it back
 

Fireman78

Expedition Leader
I think it's 2" of air mattress, and 1.5 inchs of egg crate. Lately I started using mine with my RTT mattress. I just got back from 2 weeks soild in that little RTT It's more comfy then my bed at home.
 

cnynrat

Expedition Leader
That is the one I got, but after even blowing into it, I did not get 3.5" of foam. Maybe its defective, I got it at REI so Ican take it back


Was it the first time you unrolled it? All the Thermarest products advise you to leave them unrolled for a while before the first use to give the foam time to expand fully. This is necessary because they might have been stored in a compressed state for a long time.

We have a pair of Dreamtimes for tent camping and they are the most comfortable thing we've used to sleep on the ground, and much more comfortable than our RTT mattress.
 

socaljeeper

Adventurer
I see what you mean now with the ladder being in the way. It seems that the ladder is not a key support for holding the tent up, like most RTT. Is this correct? Can you somehow maybe make it removable, so you can take it off at night to fit the cot in there?
 

bigwapitijohnny

Adventurer
One thing that I was wondering as well...

Romer,

This issue is one that I have been trying to figure out as well. There is not a real option for a trailer mounted RTT (Changing room). The height issue really hinders the added bonus room option. I look forward to your solution.

By the way, what a blessing it is to be able to camp with your daughters still...I just hope that my son will still be willing to camp with me when he is in his twenties...:wings:

Regards,

BWJ
 

Romer

Adventurer
I see what you mean now with the ladder being in the way. It seems that the ladder is not a key support for holding the tent up, like most RTT. Is this correct? Can you somehow maybe make it removable, so you can take it off at night to fit the cot in there?

Thats correct. I can remove the ladder, but then I will hear "Dad, I have to go to the bathroom from a 22 year old :D

Romer,

This issue is one that I have been trying to figure out as well. There is not a real option for a trailer mounted RTT (Changing room). The height issue really hinders the added bonus room option. I look forward to your solution.

By the way, what a blessing it is to be able to camp with your daughters still...I just hope that my son will still be willing to camp with me when he is in his twenties...:wings:

Regards,

BWJ

Actually, with the globetrotter, the entire changing room is available to stand in and ther is plenty of room. The thermarest and sleeping bag do fit under the ladder. I will take some specific measurements this weekend with the angle of the ladder etc to see how wide it is at various points to put something taller like a low profile cot in place


Thanks for the tip on letting the thermarest air out, I will give it a try
 

elmo_4_vt

Explorer
What I'm doing with mine... Since I've had the same complaint. The bottom of the ladder is just extruded aluminum, and a steel insert for strength at the bottom. If you drill out the rivets, the steel insert will come right out, I will then chop about 6" off of the bottom and re-insert the steel support. That will take care of the angle. I've tested the new angle and it is still easy to traverse.

The only other thing that I'm going to do is add an extension to the top piece so that the top of the ladder is pushed away slightly from the base of the mattress. This will give me more room for opening up my side storage doors and I think it will be easier to find the ladder with it set off the mattress a couple more inches.

I'll post some pictures once I get mine done, but it will probably be a week or two with the way work is.

-
 

Atoyot1031

Observer
Ken,
You could always move back into a popup. Room for 4 adults, heat, running water, can go anywhere an AT can go. I'm using 3" memory foam on top of 1/2" camping foam mattresses. Comfy to say the least. At CM it was a staedy 65 degrees at night, and we could eat breakfast and dinner without the added grit.:elkgrin:
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