Bush Company Alpha RTT

T

tomtaylz

Member
Okie Preacher said:
This thing is the Bomb! Thanks, Rex, for the fantastic service!

More pictures of her in use to follow.

View attachment 584170
Click to expand...

Curious your thoughts now you've had it awhile. Very few of these out in the wild but it sure looks like they've taken the AluCab and done some improvements.

Also any additional pictures such as when closed, and overall impression of quality would be fantastic!
 
Last edited:
Okie Preacher

Okie Preacher

Member
tomtaylz said:
Curious your thoughts now you've had it awhile. Very few of these out in the wild but it sure looks like they've taken the AluCab and done some improvements.
Click to expand...
Any thoughts I have on the Alpha to this point are overwhelmingly positive. My wife and I have only been able to put her to use for a half a dozen nights to date, but we are settling into a very comfortable pattern. A couple observations:
  • Coming from a soft-sided RTT, the time necessary for setup and teardown is a game changer. We tend to move daily and drive late, so the ability to flip two latches and have the tent prepped in 60 seconds is amazing. Teardown is much the same and the lid will close with a mattress topper, a fitted and a top sheet, a down comforter, three full-sized down pillows, and the ladder (stored in its bag) inside.
  • I wired a short jumper cable through a 50 amp circuit breaker from the secondary house battery (engine compartment, passenger-side, rear) to an Anderson plug secured in the engine bay just in front of the drivers seat. A quick pop of the hood, and a cable from that Anderson plug to the plug mounted to the bottom of the tent and we have all the power necessary to recharge any electronic devices, power the provided LED light, and a Sirocco fan which mounts to the interior of the tent. None of those items are "necessary," but make life very convenient and comfortable.
  • I was concerned about the big awning "flapping" excessively in the wind. We were in New Mexico a couple weeks ago and a Thunderstorm blew in around midnight. I woke up, reached out the back window and attached the supplied straps to the rings and tensioned the whole awning. It shut down any "flap" and I rolled over and quickly went back to sleep.
  • The windows and the mesh are well thought out and functional. The ventilation is nothing short of excellent. (The canvas is stiff on initial use, but is breaking in quickly.)
  • I am a side sleeper and find the mattress to be firm, but very supportive and comfortable. We had a foam topper in our previous RTT and don't believe it will be necessary in the Alpha.
  • The overall quality of construction is excellent, as should be expected in this class of tent (AluCab/Stealth/Etc.). But as a tall guy @ 6'3" with size 14 feet on the bottom end, I find that I can lay flat on my back with plenty of clearance in all dimensions--something not possible for me in the AluCab.
Time will tell--we are hoping to head to the mountains for three weeks in July/August--but our initial impressions are that the Alpha is as advertised.

And, a word on the dealer--Midguard Adventure & Rex Guardione. I can't say enough good things about Rex. He has been attentive and super responsive to any questions and followup. If you are looking for a Bush Company Alpha, Rex is your man.

rds
 
T

tomtaylz

Member
Okie Preacher said:
Any thoughts I have on the Alpha to this point are overwhelmingly positive. My wife and I have only been able to put her to use for a half a dozen nights to date, but we are settling into a very comfortable pattern. A couple observations:
  • Coming from a soft-sided RTT, the time necessary for setup and teardown is a game changer. We tend to move daily and drive late, so the ability to flip two latches and have the tent prepped in 60 seconds is amazing. Teardown is much the same and the lid will close with a mattress topper, a fitted and a top sheet, a down comforter, three full-sized down pillows, and the ladder (stored in its bag) inside.
  • I wired a short jumper cable through a 50 amp circuit breaker from the secondary house battery (engine compartment, passenger-side, rear) to an Anderson plug secured in the engine bay just in front of the drivers seat. A quick pop of the hood, and a cable from that Anderson plug to the plug mounted to the bottom of the tent and we have all the power necessary to recharge any electronic devices, power the provided LED light, and a Sirocco fan which mounts to the interior of the tent. None of those items are "necessary," but make life very convenient and comfortable.
  • I was concerned about the big awning "flapping" excessively in the wind. We were in New Mexico a couple weeks ago and a Thunderstorm blew in around midnight. I woke up, reached out the back window and attached the supplied straps to the rings and tensioned the whole awning. It shut down any "flap" and I rolled over and quickly went back to sleep.
  • The windows and the mesh are well thought out and functional. The ventilation is nothing short of excellent. (The canvas is stiff on initial use, but is breaking in quickly.)
  • I am a side sleeper and find the mattress to be firm, but very supportive and comfortable. We had a foam topper in our previous RTT and don't believe it will be necessary in the Alpha.
  • The overall quality of construction is excellent, as should be expected in this class of tent (AluCab/Stealth/Etc.). But as a tall guy @ 6'3" with size 14 feet on the bottom end, I find that I can lay flat on my back with plenty of clearance in all dimensions--something not possible for me in the AluCab.
Time will tell--we are hoping to head to the mountains for three weeks in July/August--but our initial impressions are that the Alpha is as advertised.

And, a word on the dealer--Midguard Adventure & Rex Guardione. I can't say enough good things about Rex. He has been attentive and super responsive to any questions and followup. If you are looking for a Bush Company Alpha, Rex is your man.

rds
Click to expand...

Thanks! If you have any additional photos of the tent - closed or open - I'd love to see them. How is condensation in the tent?
 
Okie Preacher

Okie Preacher

Member
tomtaylz said:
Thanks! If you have any additional photos of the tent - closed or open - I'd love to see them. How is condensation in the tent?
Click to expand...
I will work on getting some pics posted.

To this point we have put it to use in "low condensation" situations. But, there are two factors with the Alpha which will, I believe, make it handle moisture well: one is the excellent ventilation, and the other is that it is a true double wall tent. I am anxious to put it to the test. Our prior tent was a condensation trap! We always took a bath towel up with us to dry the interior in the morning--or to scrape off the layer of frost and ice in the winter months!
 
P

pouya

New member
Okie Preacher said:
I will work on getting some pics posted.

To this point we have put it to use in "low condensation" situations. But, there are two factors with the Alpha which will, I believe, make it handle moisture well: one is the excellent ventilation, and the other is that it is a true double wall tent. I am anxious to put it to the test. Our prior tent was a condensation trap! We always took a bath towel up with us to dry the interior in the morning--or to scrape off the layer of frost and ice in the winter months!
Click to expand...
give us an updated review and on the moisture control when you can.
 
dstock

dstock

Explorer
I'd be curious to hear how the 4Runner handles with all that weight on the roof. I believe the tent alone weighs 238lbs, plus the weight of the rack underneath it. Thanks!
 
Okie Preacher

Okie Preacher

Member
dstock said:
I'd be curious to hear how the 4Runner handles with all that weight on the roof. I believe the tent alone weighs 238lbs, plus the weight of the rack underneath it. Thanks!
Click to expand...
To this point I have not noticed any adverse handling issues. We have not been on any trails of consequence, but I have 2,500 or so Interstate/around town miles with it mounted and don't even notice it.

We knew we were looking at moving to a hardshell tent when I freshened up the suspension and used the estimated weight of all our usual components when picking the Dobinson's springs and struts to replace my original Icons...so she actually might ride better with it on the top than without it.
 
dstock

dstock

Explorer
Okie Preacher said:
To this point I have not noticed any adverse handling issues. We have not been on any trails of consequence, but I have 2,500 or so Interstate/around town miles with it mounted and don't even notice it.

We knew we were looking at moving to a hardshell tent when I freshened up the suspension and used the estimated weight of all our usual components when picking the Dobinson's springs and struts to replace my original Icons...so she actually might ride better with it on the top than without it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for info! On my Jeep, the current RTT is about 150lbs I believe, and the Rhino Rack platform is another 60lbs so I'm already in the neighborhood. I could lose the platform and just go with crossbars since the Alpha would cover the whole thing. We also have a 2018 4Runner (still stock for the moment) and I'd like to have the ability to use it on that as well which is the other reason I asked about drive-ability.
 
C

cbboard

Member
Big thanks to Okie Preacher for showing me his Alpha tent last weekend. We absolutely loved it, so we purchased one of the last remaining Bush Co/CVT branded units that just made it to Oregon. We are waiting for it to ship to us in OKC.

However, we just discovered that Bush Co changed the design for the USA market from multiple "side to side" mounting ails to only two "front to back" rails spaced 45.5" apart which is wider than a lot of roof racks and factory rails. This totally changes how I was planning mounting it to my LR4. I am pretty disappointed and trying to figure out another option. Probably going have to go completely custom unless someone has some other ideas.
 
pdxstinggray

pdxstinggray

New member
does anyone know what the bottom of the tent is made of? Am wondering if its ok to spray with water when washing the rig....
 
dstock

dstock

Explorer
cbboard said:
Big thanks to Okie Preacher for showing me his Alpha tent last weekend. We absolutely loved it, so we purchased one of the last remaining Bush Co/CVT branded units that just made it to Oregon. We are waiting for it to ship to us in OKC.

However, we just discovered that Bush Co changed the design for the USA market from multiple "side to side" mounting ails to only two "front to back" rails spaced 45.5" apart which is wider than a lot of roof racks and factory rails. This totally changes how I was planning mounting it to my LR4. I am pretty disappointed and trying to figure out another option. Probably going have to go completely custom unless someone has some other ideas.
Click to expand...

Personally, I would not trust a factory rack with that much weight on it unless you can find out it is truly rated to hold 250lbs dynamic.
 
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