Enthusiast II
What ever you decide to do getting out of a nylon tent into a canvas tent is life changing. At night you exhale a lot of water vapor and that becomes trapped inside of a nylon tent, but not with a canvas tent because they breathe. Seeping in the low 20's I have awoken with ice crystals all over the walls of the canvas RTT and still felt dry, I couldn't believe it at first. Then when the sun comes out and starts to warm things up it just evaporates, and you never really notice it at all. It's always a chore to get the moisture out of the inside of a nylon tent when you're on the go, canvas just evaporates. The interesting thing is the that underside of the nylon 'rain fly' is wet while the canvas is dry almost every morning, and it's on the outside of the tent.
TRUST ME WHEN I SAY RAIN IS WORSE THAN SNOW! Snow is cold, but you can keep things dry in the snow, rain water always comes up through the bottom of the tent! We would always cancel our plans if it looked like rain, now that is just part of being in the outdoors. I can remember one trip with the ground tent where we planned to camp between storms, rushing as the rain began to fall getting our bedding wet in the process while getting it back in the roof bag!
We do a lot of camping in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, where you put large rocks on the tent stakes and inside of your tent so the wind doesn't blow it away. With a ground tent I got tired of waking up covered in sand, it's in everything including your mouth, nose and eye's, the eyes are definitely the worst. You have to put anything that you don't want to have sand inside in your sleeping bag or in another bag inside of the tent.
I searched around before buying my RTT and found Gordigear. The Gordigear RTT is only $1150.00 + Shipping in the US. They have been making them for more than 20 years and have been used in expeditions throughout Australia and Africa, so there not one of these Johnny come lately companies. They really only have one size 56"x94" which is nearly the dimensions of a Queen sized mattress 60"x80". If you can get your dog up the ladder it will fit inside of the tent with you. They make two models with or without the cover over the ladder, I opted for the one without, but internal dimensions are the same regardless. I probably would go with the cover over the ladder because if you get the annex it has a much larger footprint. Also if your in inclement weather where you can get to the potty without getting wet.
If in the wind You must face the ladder down wind. I tie the overhang or ladder side back to my rock sliders so it is easy to to move in case of the wind change that you know is coming after a storm passes in the desert. With all of these type of tents it is important to tie the over hang side to strengthen the hinge down preferably back to the vehicle to the vehicle. I tie the overhang or ladder side back to my rock sliders with a ratchet strap so it is easy to to move in case of the wind change that is coming after the storm passes.
TRUST ME WHEN I SAY RAIN IS WORSE THAN SNOW! Snow is cold, but you can keep things dry in the snow, rain water always comes up through the bottom of the tent! We would always cancel our plans if it looked like rain, now that is just part of being in the outdoors. I can remember one trip with the ground tent where we planned to camp between storms, rushing as the rain began to fall getting our bedding wet in the process while getting it back in the roof bag!
We do a lot of camping in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, where you put large rocks on the tent stakes and inside of your tent so the wind doesn't blow it away. With a ground tent I got tired of waking up covered in sand, it's in everything including your mouth, nose and eye's, the eyes are definitely the worst. You have to put anything that you don't want to have sand inside in your sleeping bag or in another bag inside of the tent.
I searched around before buying my RTT and found Gordigear. The Gordigear RTT is only $1150.00 + Shipping in the US. They have been making them for more than 20 years and have been used in expeditions throughout Australia and Africa, so there not one of these Johnny come lately companies. They really only have one size 56"x94" which is nearly the dimensions of a Queen sized mattress 60"x80". If you can get your dog up the ladder it will fit inside of the tent with you. They make two models with or without the cover over the ladder, I opted for the one without, but internal dimensions are the same regardless. I probably would go with the cover over the ladder because if you get the annex it has a much larger footprint. Also if your in inclement weather where you can get to the potty without getting wet.
If in the wind You must face the ladder down wind. I tie the overhang or ladder side back to my rock sliders so it is easy to to move in case of the wind change that you know is coming after a storm passes in the desert. With all of these type of tents it is important to tie the over hang side to strengthen the hinge down preferably back to the vehicle to the vehicle. I tie the overhang or ladder side back to my rock sliders with a ratchet strap so it is easy to to move in case of the wind change that is coming after the storm passes.
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