iKamper Skycamp and Annex Review with Photos

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Hourless Life

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Many of you have asked for photos of our setup so I figured I'd post them here in the review section. I did a full review of the iKamper Skycamp which you can read here.

For those that just want photos here you go...

We'll be all over the USA this year, hope we get to connect with many of you on the journey. We're on our 6th year of fulltime travel (with toddler God help us) haha. All of these photos were taken at Overland Expo West 2019.

Let me know if y'all have any questions.

Eric aka Jeepsies
Our Overlanding Blog can be found at Jeepsies.com


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PapaDave

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Many of you have asked for photos of our setup so I figured I'd post them here in the review section. I did a full review of the iKamper Skycamp which you can read here.

For those that just want photos here you go...

We'll be all over the USA this year, hope we get to connect with many of you on the journey. We're on our 6th year of fulltime travel (with toddler God help us) haha. All of these photos were taken at Overland Expo West 2019.

Let me know if y'all have any questions.

Eric aka Jeepsies
Our Overlanding Blog can be found at Jeepsies.com


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Did your annex come with a floor?
 

Hourless Life

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Did your annex come with a floor?
No the Skycamp Annex doesn't come with a floor, and honestly you don't want a permanent floor in an annex. We do keep two tarps in our kit that we can stake down for a floor if we want one. But a floor in an Annex is just a mess of a disaster.
 

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No the Skycamp Annex doesn't come with a floor, and honestly you don't want a permanent floor in an annex. We do keep two tarps in our kit that we can stake down for a floor if we want one. But a floor in an Annex is just a mess of a disaster.
Makes sense just was trying to determine off of the photos, great write up and I agree 100% as I purchased one back in November. I can’t say enough nice things about it!
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@Jeepsies I am very interested in the iKamper. My only hang up is I need a RTT that will support a load. I want to be able to bring my Canoe along on my trips. Its a Kevlar boat and only weighs 35#. I have chatted with the iKamper guys. They say no, but, I understand that they would not want to accept the liability if it failed.

I am thinking it is possible. I am wondering what the hinge looks like? How sturdy is it? Can it be beefed up? Is it possible to assess the underside of the roof section to mount brackets for rails? How flimsy is the top in stock form?

My plan would be to 1) reinforce the hinge if necessary, 2) have a thick coat of X-liner applied to stiffen up the top, 3) Install rail brackets that cover a long section with several holes and a backing plate to distribute the load over a wider area.
 

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@Jeepsies I am very interested in the iKamper. My only hang up is I need a RTT that will support a load. I want to be able to bring my Canoe along on my trips. Its a Kevlar boat and only weighs 35#. I have chatted with the iKamper guys. They say no, but, I understand that they would not want to accept the liability if it failed.

I am thinking it is possible. I am wondering what the hinge looks like? How sturdy is it? Can it be beefed up? Is it possible to assess the underside of the roof section to mount brackets for rails? How flimsy is the top in stock form?

My plan would be to 1) reinforce the hinge if necessary, 2) have a thick coat of X-liner applied to stiffen up the top, 3) Install rail brackets that cover a long section with several holes and a backing plate to distribute the load over a wider area.
We have the Rocky Black which is rhino-lined and more sturdy than the stock. I don’t know that I’d put anything on top though.

I see you are PNW. If that is short for Pacific Northwest as I believe it is, you may want to visit the iKamper crew in person. Pretty sure their USA HQ office is somewhere in the Seattle area.

Just an idea.
 

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We have the Rocky Black which is rhino-lined and more sturdy than the stock. I don’t know that I’d put anything on top though.

I see you are PNW. If that is short for Pacific Northwest as I believe it is, you may want to visit the iKamper crew in person. Pretty sure their USA HQ office is somewhere in the Seattle area.

Just an idea.
That's correct. I didn't realize they were up here. Gunna look that up.

What do you feel the weak point would be?
 

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That's correct. I didn't realize they were up here. Gunna look that up.

What do you feel the weak point would be?
The Skycamp hard shell was not designed to carry a load, to a certain weight and also not designed to have items mounted by way of drilling. It’s simply that. It is a double wall design with an air chamber between both walls. The interior and exterior shell walls vary in thickness. I work for Rhino Adventure Gear in California and we honestly have the most real world experience with the iKamper, being the largest dealer in the US. We’ve installed hundreds of iKampers and know the tents quite well. If you’d like to mount a kayak or other item, wait a couple more months for the iKamper XCover. They’ve addressed the gear mounting need with this tent.
 

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The Skycamp hard shell was not designed to carry a load, to a certain weight and also not designed to have items mounted by way of drilling. It’s simply that. It is a double wall design with an air chamber between both walls. The interior and exterior shell walls vary in thickness. I work for Rhino Adventure Gear in California and we honestly have the most real world experience with the iKamper, being the largest dealer in the US. We’ve installed hundreds of iKampers and know the tents quite well. If you’d like to mount a kayak or other item, wait a couple more months for the iKamper XCover. They’ve addressed the gear mounting need with this tent.
I appreciate the info. I didn't realize they were double walled. The Autohomes mount the brackets on the sides of the top, but they probably planned for it by reinforcing that area. Guess I am back to looking.
 
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Since your kayak is so light you could fab up a bracket that goes around the RTT with a hinge. I have very little fab skills and I bought a $25 Habour Frieght cut off wheel, 1” square tube from the hardware store, and paid a guy $80 to weld my cuts. The photos below are my telescoping slide mount for my shower system, but you could make a C shaped mount that puts the load on the rack or attach it to the rails on the bottom of the iKamper with a hinge at the elbow that then flips the kayak over before opening the tent. The kayak could even still stay attached.

Just showing how cuts and simple welds can make perfect mounts for unusual mounting situations
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@PapaDave Perfect example of “if there’s a will, there’s a way”. That’s a sweet use of truck crossbars. Honestly @PNW EXPLR once you get your setup or plan out your setup in more detail, you can start to think outside the box and make things work. Don’t drill thru the tent for sure, but you may be able to carry your kayaks by some other method. I was actually looking at some way to carry rafts or kayaks as well on my iKamper for the summer Sierra camping trips.
 
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Since your kayak is so light you could fab up a bracket that goes around the RTT with a hinge. I have very little fab skills and I bought a $25 Habour Frieght cut off wheel, 1” square tube from the hardware store, and paid a guy $80 to weld my cuts. The photos below are my telescoping slide mount for my shower system, but you could make a C shaped mount that puts the load on the rack or attach it to the rails on the bottom of the iKamper with a hinge at the elbow that then flips the kayak over before opening the tent. The kayak could even still stay attached.

Just showing how cuts and simple welds can make perfect mounts for unusual mounting situations
This is a good idea. I have been giving this some thought as a Plan B option. Was thinking I could build a hinged rack above the tent so that they kind of opened together. I will have to draw something up to see what it would look like.
 
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@PapaDave Perfect example of “if there’s a will, there’s a way”. That’s a sweet use of truck crossbars. Honestly @PNW EXPLR once you get your setup or plan out your setup in more detail, you can start to think outside the box and make things work. Don’t drill thru the tent for sure, but you may be able to carry your kayaks by some other method. I was actually looking at some way to carry rafts or kayaks as well on my iKamper for the summer Sierra camping trips.
Very true. I definitely have the will. Just need to engineer the way. I really like the iKamper the best because of the size when opened.
 

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I'm curious how the IKamper does noise-wise in the desert winds so frequent in SoCal deserts? I'm figuring it's somewhere in between a classic RTT and a hardshell like a Jame Baroud.
 

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I'm curious how the IKamper does noise-wise in the desert winds so frequent in SoCal deserts? I'm figuring it's somewhere in between a classic RTT and a hardshell like a Jame Baroud.
It's pretty quiet. One of the other advantages is you can move your vehicle so the clam shell (top) is faced into the wind. This allows the hardshell to take on the majority of the wind and act as a windbreak. I love this tent.
 
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It's pretty quiet. One of the other advantages is you can move your vehicle so the clam shell (top) is faced into the wind. This allows the hardshell to take on the majority of the wind and act as a windbreak. I love this tent.
I agree it’s not bad, and in my interior pocket of the tent I have a bag of earplugs. Works great for wind and dumb party people :)
 

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It's pretty quiet. One of the other advantages is you can move your vehicle so the clam shell (top) is faced into the wind. This allows the hardshell to take on the majority of the wind and act as a windbreak. I love this tent.
Thanks for the info! I really like the new features added to the 2.0 version so I'm back to considering it again. The quick setup and take down is high on my list, with how it handles wind a close second.
 

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Thanks for the info! I really like the new features added to the 2.0 version so I'm back to considering it again. The quick setup and take down is high on my list, with how it handles wind a close second.
I’ve had both bag and hard top, i love my iKamper. Never going back to soft top again