RTT... A first time buyer's questions.

3d fj

Observer
I've been a lurker here for a long time. Only recently did i register here and i'm glad i did. I'd like to pick some of your brains here. My family is finally at the point where i can start to plan for camping trips. I have a 100 series LC and I will be camping during the spring/summer/fall months at any given time. I won't be camping in the winter. My wife is not that willing.

I've been reading and searching, and doing more reading and searching. There's autohome, hannibal, ironman, arb, camping labs, cascadia, mombasa, so on and so forth. If i am not looking for a hard shelled RTT, (to the first time buyer) they all look the same for the most part. Unfortunately, there isn't a store near me like EMS or REI that has these things on display to really evaluate. What i'd like to know, especially from those of you who have seen/experienced more than one tent, is... Are there key things to look out for or avoid when choosing a RTT? Of course if you have one model, you'll easily say "this tent suits me just fine, or my tent is awesome." My thinking is if everything is equal, apples to apples, why wouldn't you buy the less expensive model? What makes a similar suited ARB more expensive than a comparable camping lab or ironman? Brand? Country of origin? --> What's so bad about the made in china tents? Any and all input is appreciated.
 

Finlay

Triarius
Like you, I spent a good couple months shopping around and stuff first. I got a Cascadia tent. I'm pretty happy with it, so far, although we haven't really used it yet; just set it up a few times and tried it out. The first time I use it will be next weekend. I'm pretty excited, I think it's going to serve us well.

But my rationale for choosing that one was that the (comparatively) low price compared to the others. That meant that I had more money for the other gear I needed to buy. Plus, used ones are rare in WI, so there wasn't much opportunity to save money that way. The plan is for us to start small/cheap and upgrade later when/if we need to.

In fact, I want to get a trailer for it next, and then maybe upgrade the tent. Depending on how it holds up and developing a better understanding of what I care about in a RTT. I'm imagine we'll probably go with a popup style next for better fuel efficiency, although the larger size of the conventional style has more appeal to me at this moment.

Anyway, The ARB and Eezi-Awns of the world use a better canvas (here's a good article) and are a bit better construction. On balance, I would prefer that; however, as I say, I have some competing priorities and that requires some compromise. Others would have chosen differently, I'm sure.
 

Saiyan66

Adventurer
I know that at least Cascadia will rent tents, so you could plan a trip near them (if thats feasible) and check the tent out for a week to decide if that is the way you want to go. Their stuff looks to be good quality and comes in pretty close to the lowest priced range.
 

3d fj

Observer
Thanks for all the input here. This is a pretty tough decision. Initially, i wanted a large tent (ie. cascadia mt. rainer). The potential occupants would be my wife and two kids (3 y/o and 6 months now). This summer we are planning a trip somewhere with just my 3y/o and my wife. By getting a larger tent, i am trying to do a little future proofing. Now, i'm beginning to think i want a smaller tent with an annex. Now my thoughts are toward the ARB simpson or the ironman. The most significant difference that i can find by reading the specs is in the fabric used. The arb uses a poly-cotton fabric whereas the ironman uses a rip-stop nylon. All the ground tents i've ever used have been rip-stop nylon tents. If i've been fine with those, i should be fine with the ironman right? The price difference between the two is about $600 including annex. What i'm trying to figure out is, is the ARB worth $600 more? decisions.
 

gotink

Observer
Not in my mind ....only thing you get with arb in my mind, is the service ...I've got one of the knock offs, no problems with it so far had it a year and a bit know...the only people I known that have had problems with there tents had arbs....yes they got it fixed had great support,ect ect ..is it worth $600 bucks,not to me I saved enough that when the time comes to upgrade Im already that much ahead ;)
 

Colin Hughes

Explorer
I've been using either an Autohome Maggiolina Extreme or Columbus Variant for the last five years. The hard shell tents are well worth the extra money. Either one works for me, I do like the larger rear opening on the Variant though. Great on starry, clear nights. I've been able to adapt the roof rack on the Extreme to take Thule bars and carry my canoe on top of the tent.
 

GS1150

Observer
I was a first time rtt buyer until I bought and sold my ARB Simpson III with annex. It was a nice tent, but the things i didn't like was: I'm 5'9 180 and the mattress was too hard. 2nd is that sometimes, even as agile and flexible as I am I found it somewhat difficult to climb out of the small door. I researched for months before I ordered one in Colorado, never seen one before in person, and drove from Alabama while on vacation to pick it up. Without seeing one in person it's difficult, but if I did it again I'd go with one with a large entry like the Autohome, then look at other options especially with a family.
 
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kramme

Observer
I've been using either an Autohome Maggiolina Extreme or Columbus Variant for the last five years. The hard shell tents are well worth the extra money. Either one works for me, I do like the larger rear opening on the Variant though. Great on starry, clear nights. I've been able to adapt the roof rack on the Extreme to take Thule bars and carry my canoe on top of the tent.

Hi Colin, I have a Maggiolina Airtop, and yes I also love the Autohome products! When you get time I would love to hear more and/or see via a pic how you worked out carrying a canoe, I have been wanting to set something up to carry a Kayak.
 

Colin Hughes

Explorer
The Maggiolina Extreme has a built in roof rack. I was able to raise the smaller bars up using the Thule type crossbars that came with my Discovery so that I could install my Thule brackets and strap the canoe down. When I was using the Columbus, I used the foam blocks which attach to the gunnels and strapped the canoe over the tent and down to the Thule bars. I also secured it front and back.
 

3d fj

Observer
The more and more research i do, it still makes me undecided. With the two young kids, I'm thinking that my needs will include an annex. If it were just for my wife and I, then i'd look more into the maggiolina line. I really like the fact that with the hard tops, i can put my thule up there, and carry my fishing rods. With the soft tents, i will have to rig something where i can carry them inside. I'm leaning toward the ironman RTT right now based on price, included annex, i can pick it up (no shipping necessary), and eli @ camel4x4 is a great person to work with. I'm still a little bit out from ordering it, but if something in the classifieds comes up that is nearby and in great condition, i may jump.
 

BIGdaddy

Expedition Leader
This is what we ran into, as well. We rocked a Maggiolina for years and years. AMAZING tent. Never a bad night, though we did tire of having to get up/get down/get up, to go pee @ night.

Once we had kids, though, our needs changed, and we went back to ground tenting. Now that the kids are a bit older (7yo,5yo,2yo) we're considering our options for a Kings canyon trip this year...

We'll likely ground tent it again, but we've definitely looked at a few options:

-Westfalia van with pop-tent
-trailer tent like a lifetime/jumping jack style
-Offroad version of a coleman popup
-RTT on a trailer with an annex (similar to what you're considering)
-side by side Overcamp Autohome tents.

Good luck with your search. I don't know if you've looked @ Camping Lab, but they've got some fairly large tents available, too. (not sure if they have annexes, but worth a look anyways, and Fernando provides excellent customer service)

It's a tough decision, and sometimes the only way to know is to spend the $$ and see how it works for your family.

Cheers,

Brian
 

kramme

Observer
The Maggiolina Extreme has a built in roof rack. I was able to raise the smaller bars up using the Thule type crossbars that came with my Discovery so that I could install my Thule brackets and strap the canoe down. When I was using the Columbus, I used the foam blocks which attach to the gunnels and strapped the canoe over the tent and down to the Thule bars. I also secured it front and back.

Thanks for the reply, I forgot that with the extreme you can attach items above, it was built that way. For you to figure out how to attach to a Columbus that method is a good idea. Thanks for sharing.
 

Errant

Explorer
I've been using a Mombasa tent in the poly/cotton fabric for about three years now, and it's worked out well. I could not live without the annex room, as it's incredibly handy for changing, keeping the cooler out of the sun, getting out of the elements, etc. I have it opening towards the rear so that I can access the cargo area from within the annex. I don't have small children, but my dogs love it. I can leave the cargo door open into the annex and they sleep up in the cargo area.
 

3d fj

Observer
I've been using a Mombasa tent in the poly/cotton fabric for about three years now, and it's worked out well. I could not live without the annex room, as it's incredibly handy for changing, keeping the cooler out of the sun, getting out of the elements, etc. I have it opening towards the rear so that I can access the cargo area from within the annex. I don't have small children, but my dogs love it. I can leave the cargo door open into the annex and they sleep up in the cargo area.

I am curious.. which mombasa tent do you have? i'm looking at the adventure annex rtt from them. apparently, it comes with the extension over the ladder as well as the annex. I think i have to call them tomorrow. I wanna know if the annex comes with a zip in floor or is it open...

I was reading about the different materials for tents. I'm wondering. If you were given a choice, would it be better to get the rip-stop nylon material or the poly cotton material? I couldn't understand which was better based on what i was reading. i was reading where someone had mentioned that the poly cotton was better than rip-stop, but there was no explanation as to why. I don't know if this was a personal preference or not. So far, my choice is now between the mombasa adventure annex tent and the cascadia mt. rainer. Two of the larger tents out on the market.
 

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