Sure-Fire Ways to Improve Your Roof Top Tent

[Lucky j]

I have to say, I am a bit puzzuled by the reall efficiency of this mod, relatively to the rest of the tent material.

You are unsulating the portion of the tent that is already to most insulatated sufrace of the tent. I do not know about your tent, but I know that my ARB have a styrofoam sandwich for the floor. But for sure, you have the matress witch is acctualy about 2" of insulation wity a nylon shell that cut air movement, when the surroundind walls and roof are not more than a wind breaker with a R caracteristic of about 0.

So I realy wonder how adding insulation under the floor when heat gets lost by the walls and top will really make a difference.

I have slept in my tent at the same temperature you have, and never felt the cold from the mattress.

But I know that that kind of insulation can make a huges difference, but not in the way you are using it. UnlessI mist some other mod you did

So yep, puzzuled by this.

Last fall, I decided to try something to improve the ol' RTT. I finally got a couple of rolls of duct insulation. That aluminum floor does a great job of radiating cold... I'm talking about the 20ºF in the morning cold at Green River Lakes in Wyoming (8,000ft) in September.

This past September, we camped at 9,200ft on Cinnamon Pass, CO, and it was unbelievably cozy! The insulation adds R3. Just enough to really make a difference. Now we have a 3.5 season tent. Hope this answers someone's questions about doing this.View attachment 490146View attachment 490147View attachment 490146View attachment 490147

 

[tae73]

Glad to hear this from others. I see videos of people packing other RTTs up and I am just like really?

How long ago did you buy yours?

November 2018 during black Friday sale.

 

[roving1]

November 2018 during black Friday sale.

Ok. Got mine in Oct 2017. Think that would be far enough apart if there was an irregular batch. Seems like that's just how they are designed.

 

[roving1]

I have to say, I am a bit puzzuled by the reall efficiency of this mod, relatively to the rest of the tent material.

You are unsulating the portion of the tent that is already to most insulatated sufrace of the tent. I do not know about your tent, but I know that my ARB have a styrofoam sandwich for the floor. But for sure, you have the matress witch is acctualy about 2" of insulation wity a nylon shell that cut air movement, when the surroundind walls and roof are not more than a wind breaker with a R caracteristic of about 0.

So I realy wonder how adding insulation under the floor when heat gets lost by the walls and top will really make a difference.

I have slept in my tent at the same temperature you have, and never felt the cold from the mattress.

But I know that that kind of insulation can make a huges difference, but not in the way you are using it. UnlessI mist some other mod you did

So yep, puzzuled by this.

My floor is metal. The air temp is ok but with just the OEM mat I can feel the metal wicking heat away from me from contact.

 

[Fording]

My floor is metal. The air temp is ok but with just the OEM mat I can feel the metal wicking heat away from me from contact.

That’s definitely something I forget. My summit series Mt Ranier has the aluminum sandwhich floor. The Pioneer and a number of other lighter duty RTTs have just plate or even plywood floor. Sometimes even a tiny bit of insulation makes a notable difference.

 

[Lucky j]

My floor is metal. The air temp is ok but with just the OEM mat I can feel the metal wicking heat away from me from contact.

I get it. Funny how sometime built feature can look like a better quality product, more sturdy and able to wistand more abuse and that sometime thos same caracteristic makes them less interesting for other purpose. And I am not saying this just for you tent, but for many of the things that are offered outhere.

I have experince this my self many times with some of the things I own.

 

[Stabwell]

I love my new Alu-cab gen 3 tent. However, on a recent trip to Monument Valley, we got hit with a bad windstorm. I listened to the zippers jangling all night long. Decided right then they needed to be silenced before another trip. So I cut all 24 zipper pulls off and replaced them with reflective 3mm cord.

 

[richmondbob]

Good solution and it looks sharp. For anyone not wanting to cut their zip pulls off wrap some reflective tape around the pulls - no noise and easy to see.

I love my new Alu-cab gen 3 tent. However, on a recent trip to Monument Valley, we got hit with a bad windstorm. I listened to the zippers jangling all night long. Decided right then they needed to be silenced before another trip. So I cut all 24 zipper pulls off and replaced them with reflective 3mm cord.

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[Beowulf]

Any know if the Tepui table can be mounted to supports that are not perfectly vertical? Does it swivel on its attachment? What diameter poles can it be mounted to?

 

[etherbunny]

I love my new Alu-cab gen 3 tent. However, on a recent trip to Monument Valley, we got hit with a bad windstorm. I listened to the zippers jangling all night long. Decided right then they needed to be silenced before another trip. So I cut all 24 zipper pulls off and replaced them with reflective 3mm cord.

View attachment 504041View attachment 504042

Looks fantastic! Where did you get the black plastic pieces used to finish off your pulls?

 

[Stabwell]

Looks fantastic! Where did you get the black plastic pieces used to finish off your pulls?

Amazon, just search for zipper pull cord ends. Bunch on eBay too.

 

[dr_r2r]

Might try this lighted ones for the door from REI.
https://www.rei.com/product/808287/nite-ize-ziplit-led-zipper-pull-light-package-of-2

 

[DrDerka]

I purchased a used Tepui explore series Ayer 2 about a year ago and it was missing some parts. I purchased the rain fly bars and I thought I had everything. Looking through everyone’s pictures it looks like I am missing the inner bungee cords. Does anyone know how long those are? I was planning on making some but I didn’t want to put to much tension on them and rip the sides.

 

[TOUGE]

I purchased a used Tepui explore series Ayer 2 about a year ago and it was missing some parts. I purchased the rain fly bars and I thought I had everything. Looking through everyone’s pictures it looks like I am missing the inner bungee cords. Does anyone know how long those are? I was planning on making some but I didn’t want to put to much tension on them and rip the sides.

bungee cord length 29", total with clips 33". They are only to hold the sides in to making closing it up easier. They didn't make much of a difference in high wind.

 

[DrDerka]

bungee cord length 29", total with clips 33". They are only to hold the sides in to making closing it up easier. They didn't make much of a difference in high wind.

Thank you!