Smittybilt RTT question

[TJDon]

I wound up being offered a smittybilt RTT overlander (the smaller of the two SB offers) brand new at a price I couldn’t pass up. I’ve used it now 4 times and it’s been a struggle in knowing how much I’m able to fold up inside of it and travel with. I’ve kept a deflated air mattress and one sleeping bag along with the stock foam mattress inside and that seemed to be all it could handle. I didn’t want to force it in fear of something breaking and the Velcro side straps not holding it down folded. Any of you guys with this tent do anything different?


Someday I’ll step up to a higher quality and one that can accommodate more being kept inside. But for now, this will do

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

This is a tricky question because all of these RTTs are different.

For ours, we keep sleeping bags, pillows, the foam mattress that comes with the tent, the window poles (the metal poles with the hooks in the end), and a collapsable Ikea box for shoes, all in the tent when it's folded up without any issues.

You shouldn't have had a problem with the air mattress up there, depending on the mattress and the thickness of your sleeping bags. Down-filled, synthetic Backpacker sleeping bags will compress a lot more than the heavy canvas ones will.

The real limiting factor with stuff inside the tent is best checked at the hinges. When you fold it, the hinges are 'Fixed' width and so anything wider than that width would be putting undue pressure on the mechanism. I'll see if I can draw a picture to show you what I mean.

That being said, we found the Smittybilt velcro and straps to be crap. We had to replace all of ours, so if you find yours aren't very sturdy it could be an issue of strap quality, not stuffing of the tent. Home Depot has tons of cam-lock straps that are way better than the Velcro/D-Link straps, and honestly it's such a handy upgrade I recommend it even for nicer tents. The cam locks are easier to use when wet, get tighter, and hold way more securely, and are not impacted by mud and grime nearly as severely.

Edit: Here is the picture that I'm talking about; your limiting gap is at the hinge end since those hinges are fixed and without flex, so as long as the end opposite the hinges is not "alligatoring", you should be OK. Of course, things compress and squish, but if I can't get the two halves even, and avoid that 'alligatoring', using the velcro straps (before I put the cover on) I take stuff out until it is even. As I said, the SB velcro is really terrible and you might need to replace it, but it's only about $10 worth of stuff to do that job, and then this principle of 'anti-alligatoring' will apply and not do any long-term harm to your tent (at least, not that I've noticed in the 7+ years we've been using various RTTs).

 

[TJDon]

I am definitely going to play more with how much I can keep inside to lessen the load inside my rig.

Those cam locks. Do you have a pic of how yours are or a link to what your describing?

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

Sure! The ones we got are here:

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/husky-1-inch-x-8-ft-lashing-strap-2-pack-/1001063552

However I should have gotten these ones which work better; the ones we got are a bit tricky in the wet and I know from other applications that these work better; however they are also a lot more expensive.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/nite-ize-tie-down-strap-camjam-18-feet-/1000789237

I also know a lot of people use 1.5” or 2” webbing (whatever works) with a buckle — the plastic backpack style ones that pinch to open. This is likely what I’ll do next as the buckle strap is a bit annoying to thread through the cam each time. The cam is very secure but I think a high quality buckle would work too.

 

[TJDon]

Oohhh. Ok ok, ya I’ve used those straps for other applications. I’ll play around with it this weekend and test how much I can keep in the tent and come up with either using a cinch strap like the one you use or something like a adjustable buckle of sorts.
Thank you for your help, appreciate it

 

[NathanPAnderson]

I have the stock mattress and an additional 3" memory foam mattress on top of it, a fitted sheet, and a quilt in mine and although it's a bit tight, it folds up no problem. In the winter months I will probably remove the foam and leave my sleeping bag inside, which is about the same thickness folded up.