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Your take on the RTT vs. Ground tent debate

jadewolf

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I appreciate feedback so far.

I'll be honest...my biggest hangup in this "debate" is cost. Dont get me wrong, I dont mind spending some money for quality, Im just not sure thats the premium price on a RTT equates to much of a better tent. Plus the added cost of a rack just to mount it. I wanted to remove the money debate (until now) b/c I wanted to see if there was a perspective I wasnt really thinking of that could sway me. My leanings are more towards something with cold weather capability, but warm weather flexibility. Our RV is the summer getaway...I want to be able to get lost for a weekend in the shoulder seasons and on occasional trips....and some true winter camping (with some abilities to heat it). My leaning right now is shiftpod.
Oh yeah, once you factor in for money the choice becomes pretty obvious. For the price of a low end, lesser quality RTT & rack, you could easily buy a top of the line ground tent. Your cheapest RTTs (without the cost of a rack) are going to run you around $1000. For far less than that, you could get an expedition quality Marmot or North Face ground tent and still have a lot of cash to spare.

Heck, for the price of a rack and RTT together, you could buy a top of the line cold weather ground tent and a high quality three season tent.

The best way to mix good quality and reasonable price is definitely to go with a ground tent. Plus, you'll have much more versatility.
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CamperShamu

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I’ve had both and have settled on a ground tent (for now)

Rof Top Tent
- cool looking
- easy to travel with
- arrive at camp and you take up a small footprint (basically size of vehicle)
- easy enough to level out the Jeep with rocks or whatever
- extremely venerable if anything goes down outside
- pain In the ass to get down and piss in the middle of the night
- not a lot of interior space in the one I had, too small to chill up there
- worst part was The fact that if fpr some reason you need to get down the ladder, person entering camp or animal? Whatever it may be, you have to back out, legs first, and carefully go down a ladder.

the Roof Top Tent I bought was about $1,200 USD, knock off of Smittybilt but smaller interior.
I think I would enjoy an Ursa Minor, or possibly a iKamper Skycamp, but those are almost the price of an Ursa Minor so I will likely never try one out.

ground tent I have is 8 ft wide, I sleep on a cot and have ample room for both my Wife and I.


hope this input helps

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I like your setup. Does the gazelle fit 2 cots For 2 people and a dog? And what roof rack are you using that you have attached the awning to? Been on the lookout for tents for a while now. We use backpacking tents but have been thinking of getting into cots for some much needed comfort and space.
 

F800

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I like your setup. Does the gazelle fit 2 cots For 2 people and a dog? And what roof rack are you using that you have attached the awning to? Been on the lookout for tents for a while now. We use backpacking tents but have been thinking of getting into cots for some much needed comfort and space.
you would have more than Enough space for two cats and a dog and baggage.

im using the DeeZee Roof rack that I can easily dismount when not needed. I also ran the roof top tent on the roof rack without issue, it’s solid!

on the last trip, I chose to store the tent inside the jeep.

It’s huge but it worked out perfectly for me.

I have it strapped to a tuffy security deck.

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CamperShamu

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Thanks for the info. That is huge! But good to know it fits inside. You also mentioned you use a cot? Any one you recommend and do you manage to fit all that inside?
 

Chile1

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i'm digging the iKamper Skycamp 2.0 mounted on a low profile roof rack. Would the Mopar rack system hold a roof top tent?
 

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JimLee

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RTT for "camping trips" where I want to actually sleep and not have back pain. Ground tent for hardcore wheeling trips where I don't want the added weight up top. I have one of those gantry cranes from HF to lift and store a RTT + rack when I won't be using it. You can have more than 1 kind of camping setup..
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Levin_tom

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RTT for "camping trips" where I want to actually sleep and not have back pain. Ground tent for hardcore wheeling trips where I don't want the added weight up top. I have one of those gantry cranes from HF to lift and store a RTT + rack when I won't be using it. You can have more than 1 kind of camping setup..
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Exactly, you can have more than one camping setup. I use the RTT for camping with family and friends and a ground tent when wheeling, climbing, backpacking, bikepacking or any other activity where I consider a ground tent to be the better choice. Respect the outdoors. Leave no trace.
 
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mnjeeper

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For me I would love to have maybe up to three different options. A tent, my off-road Turtleback trailer, and a really nice luxury trailer.
I'd love a squaredrop trailer, my ground tent glamping setup and for my third, a sprinter style conversion and a trailer for the Jeep. Similar reasons to you, gear based on the trip.

I have the glamping, by summer I should have the squaredrop. The sprinter...well, I am not sure I can justify that. We'll see.
 

alksion

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I'd love a squaredrop trailer, my ground tent glamping setup and for my third, a sprinter style conversion and a trailer for the Jeep. Similar reasons to you, gear based on the trip.

I have the glamping, by summer I should have the squaredrop. The sprinter...well, I am not sure I can justify that. We'll see.
Hey I hear you 100% on the justification of the sprinter. Of course I just dropped a butt load of money on this turtle back so it would be some time away but I always like having things to look forward to even if it’s years off :)
 

johnnyj

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My 2cents...
I've done ground tents for years, box-style RTT, and Ursa Minor. For a million reasons, Ursa is my favorite. Good things cost money - mine was 7k, but again...at 42k cost of jeep I'm still under 50k before tax for a JLUR + Ursa. If you can afford the cost and the wait...there is no substitute.

This said - if I wasn't gonna rock the URSA, I'd be using a good clamshell RTT like Alucab and a backbone rack to support it. Reasons include ease of setup/teardown, weatherproofing (a "hard" roof dominates in rain/snow/wind if parked correctly) staying really, truly dry from ground water, etc. I hate having to pack away dew-covered tents or fool with poles, either. Click, Click, pull release strap....and I'm rdy for a beer. =)

For me, man-portable systems like normal tents are best for backpacking. I love backpacking/snowshoeing. When I grab the pack, the experience I'm looking for is wholly different than Jeeperlanding - though the Jeep might get me to the trailhead.

Jeep Wrangler JL Your take on the RTT vs. Ground tent debate 1635397712836
 

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My preference is RTT. I had a '19 JLUR but didn't want to raise center of gravity, and sold it and bought a diesel gladiator. It's great since I can run a bed rack instead and keep the tent just ever so slightly below the cab. It doesn't impact my mpg (and well, diesel), and doesn't impact the driving characteristics of the vehicle. Technically the COG is higher, but I don't notice it on the JT.

I have a 392 on order (not a huge fan of wheeling the Gladiator). Likely won't camp in that unless we're on some type of trail like the Rubicon in which case, it's a nice ground tent for me. Otherwise, I'll take the Gladiator.

Ursa would be cool but was never an option for me if I wanted to ever fit into parking garages, or my own garage, ever again. I don't mind parking the Gladiator outside from time to time. If I'm really using this thing for several day long adventures frequently, I'll move to an Alu Cab canopy camper. I get the advantage of a trailer as well, but I don't want to deal with it on switchbacks in Colorado.
 

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My preference is RTT. I had a '19 JLUR but didn't want to raise center of gravity, and sold it and bought a diesel gladiator. It's great since I can run a bed rack instead and keep the tent just ever so slightly below the cab. It doesn't impact my mpg (and well, diesel), and doesn't impact the driving characteristics of the vehicle. Technically the COG is higher, but I don't notice it on the JT.

I have a 392 on order (not a huge fan of wheeling the Gladiator). Likely won't camp in that unless we're on some type of trail like the Rubicon in which case, it's a nice ground tent for me. Otherwise, I'll take the Gladiator.

Ursa would be cool but was never an option for me if I wanted to ever fit into parking garages, or my own garage, ever again. I don't mind parking the Gladiator outside from time to time. If I'm really using this thing for several day long adventures frequently, I'll move to an Alu Cab canopy camper. I get the advantage of a trailer as well, but I don't want to deal with it on switchbacks in Colorado.
Yeah I like the bed idea just tired of seeing bed/RTT kits on every damn taco driving around here in SoCal haha.

Tried tents obviously. Deep sleep for jeep car camping and rack/RTT. By far my tailer is the favorite so far, but I’m still learning how to reverse and I can see many situations it might be a pain in the ass.
 

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I'll sleep on the ground no problem, Kodiak canvas tent.
It's big inside, really nice canvas.
This is not your backpack tent though, it's freaking heavy, about 70lbs.
but setup is really easy.

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RTT for "camping trips" where I want to actually sleep and not have back pain. Ground tent for hardcore wheeling trips where I don't want the added weight up top. I have one of those gantry cranes from HF to lift and store a RTT + rack when I won't be using it. You can have more than 1 kind of camping setup..
Jeep Wrangler JL Your take on the RTT vs. Ground tent debate 20210723_131821
Exactly, you can have more than one camping setup. I use the RTT for camping with family and friends and a ground tent when wheeling, climbing, backpacking, bikepacking or any other activity where I consider a ground tent to be the better choice. Respect the outdoors. Leave no trace.
Been struggling with deciding what route to go for awhile. Needed to hear this from both of you... Thank you.
 
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xaugievike

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Can we expand this conversation a bit? And thank you to those that have responded thus far.

As I continue rolling this around, and as I look at various RTT's....a lot of them look, frankly, to be the same. Just rebranded.

Does anyone have any insights here? are there major differences in manufacturers or are we just seeing different wrappers on the same packages?
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