When did $2000 tents become a thing?

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by MuseChaser

Serious question... how do you deal with those things, or do you just "tough it out?"

Well, first, I rarely camped in the summer, it was usually either early spring or late fall. If the car was too "stuffy" I would run the A/C or heat for a bit. I also always made sure I had a near full tank when we got to the campsite. Mind you, this didn't happen often. A couple of times when it was just an overnight though we would just sleep in our Astro, which had a 4x8 flat area with the seats out.

[chaoskaze]

Ppl think it's cool & easy to setup





Just the fact if you need to go somewhere, u have to pack up & unpack everytime u move is a nono. It's only good for "TINY" parks.



*unless you are one of those who can hike/bike 30 miles+ a day then kudos to u

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

Ppl think it's cool & easy to setup





Just the fact if you need to go somewhere, u have to pack up & unpack everytime u move is a nono. It's only good for "TINY" parks.



*unless you are one of those who can hike/bike 30 miles+ a day then kudos to u

this is really no different than any motorized rv. my one set of grandparents, he hates towing trailers, so they've always had a class b van-rv/campervan/conversion-van, whatever you want to call it...

i'd have to ask him, as i know he has a log book of the miles, but i believe over the course of 40 years, they've racked up somewhere near a million miles overall, travelled everywhere in the US, and driven to alaska at least twice... all with the 'problems' that you say exist for car-top tents.

he's got more than a few stories though of them setting up at a site for a week, leaving to run to the store for an hour and finding someone else taking over the site and trashing their lawn chairs/ table cloth 'because you left'.. they always left a sign in the middle of the spot that said "this spot is occupied", half the people would back over it to get their rig into the spot, one guy tried claiming damage from it...

*oh, and just to rub it in, this same grandfather is turning 90 this year, and is still riding his bike 5-15 miles every day depending on how bored he gets at home (at least that's what he tells us, we're all suspicious that he's biking closer to 30 miles, but he won't admit it)

[chaoskaze]

Originally Posted by soundman98

this is really no different than any motorized rv. my one set of grandparents, he hates towing trailers, so they've always had a class b van-rv/campervan/conversion-van, whatever you want to call it...

i'd have to ask him, as i know he has a log book of the miles, but i believe over the course of 40 years, they've racked up somewhere near a million miles overall, travelled everywhere in the US, and driven to alaska at least twice... all with the 'problems' that you say exist for car-top tents.

he's got more than a few stories though of them setting up at a site for a week, leaving to run to the store for an hour and finding someone else taking over the site and trashing their lawn chairs/ table cloth 'because you left'.. they always left a sign in the middle of the spot that said "this spot is occupied", half the people would back over it to get their rig into the spot, one guy tried claiming damage from it...

*oh, and just to rub it in, this same grandfather is turning 90 this year, and is still riding his bike 5-15 miles every day depending on how bored he gets at home (at least that's what he tells us, we're all suspicious that he's biking closer to 30 miles, but he won't admit it)

I think you miss the most important part in my message, these tent on the car requires to be setup like a tent, Unlike RV. You can drive ur RV to the destination & be done with it. You gonna have lots fun getting to ur destination in total darkness & try to set these up .



RV is a RV, you can tow a car/motorbike with a RV & is comfortable like a house. A car with a tent is a car with tent, unless you are driving 2 cars or have another trailer behind you & you still need to set up the tent.

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by soundman98

...

he's got more than a few stories though of them setting up at a site for a week, leaving to run to the store for an hour and finding someone else taking over the site and trashing their lawn chairs/ table cloth 'because you left'.. they always left a sign in the middle of the spot that said "this spot is occupied", half the people would back over it to get their rig into the spot, one guy tried claiming damage from it...
..

Yeah, when camping in state parks with designated sites, private campgrounds, etc., that can be a real problem, and a real drag, once again showing the bad side of humanity. Sigh. Sorry to hear about your grandparents' experiences.

Our solution, rather than rely on people's ability (and willingness) to read a sign or respect two camp chairs and a table cloth left as an indication of occupation, is to take along a $30 piece of garbage little dome tent and set it up in the middle of the site in a highly visible area when we use our rooftop tent in a public/private campground like that.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

I think you miss the most important part in my message, these tent on the car requires to be setup like a tent, Unlike RV. You can drive ur RV to the destination & be done with it. You gonna have lots fun getting to ur destination in total darkness & try to set these up .



RV is a RV, you can tow a car/motorbike with a RV & is comfortable like a house. A car with a tent is a car with tent, unless you are driving 2 cars or have another trailer behind you & you still need to set up the tent.

Huh ?

It takes my RV friends comparable time to setup as I do with a tent. They have to back into the campsite, which can be a a PITA(we usually only camp at primitive sites), then they have to level the thing, un stow everything that was put away for travel. Dig everything out of the tiny outdoor accessible cubby’s. It is far from pull up and park.

[MuseChaser]

It all depends on what you like to do. For us, the whole point of "camping" is get away from the trappings of "civilized" living and get back to a more primitive, simpler life (with admittedly a LOT of upgrades over pure survivalist "take a knife into the woods and try not to die" type of endeavors) with some of the rigors and extra work that entails. For others, "camping" is just a means of enjoying other locations with minimal disruptions to creature comforts and an easing of workload over day-to-day living.

Trying to say that RVing, or tenting, or even knife-in-the-wilderness experiences are inherently better than one another is futile. They are different, and different folks like different things and have different goals. That's all.

[soundman98]

^yep. i like my a/c, and the point for me is to get away from reality a bit-- and just like anything else, we all do it similarly, but in different ways.

i can't stand tenting, mostly because my mom traumatized me as a kid with the words "DON'T TOUCH THE SIDES!". and also, i only remember it raining when setting up and packing up. as a kid, until we got a pop-up, we might've only had 1 or 2 times out of 50 trips that it didn't downpour in the middle of everything being open... but i'm more open to it now than i used to be, mostly because all tents are much better engineered than the one's my parents first had that would take 4 people and an hour to setup...

as my buddies shirt says "one day camping is better than any day at work!"

up until covid at least, everyone that camps generally has much of the same mindset, so it's very easy to stop and chat with anyone from all sorts of backgrounds. hear some really interesting life stories just asking the guy pulling up next to you what he's about...


tenting used to take a lot longer to setup about 10-ish years ago. but lately, all the companies generally have their act together, and even a standard 8 person tent could be ready to go within 20 minutes. my parents hybrid trailer takes about 10 minutes for the raw setup-- backing in, dropping the bunks, connecting the water/electric. but then there's generally another 45 minutes of all the 'stuff'. unpacking the trailer, getting sleeping bags on the bunks, moving stuff around, setting the canopies up, etc. biggest difference is the a/c and heat, and being up off the ground.

the only real difference between a trailer and a roof-top tent other than amenities is going to be where you can take it-- most trailers aren't rated for offroad duty..


btw, i highly recommend Expedition Overland on amazon, if you've got the account and the time. muse, there's a lot of bugs, but it's easier if you're not living it!

https://smile.amazon.com/The-Beginni...t-video&sr=1-1

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

I think you miss the most important part in my message, these tent on the car requires to be setup like a tent, Unlike RV. You can drive ur RV to the destination & be done with it. You gonna have lots fun getting to ur destination in total darkness & try to set these up .



RV is a RV, you can tow a car/motorbike with a RV & is comfortable like a house. A car with a tent is a car with tent, unless you are driving 2 cars or have another trailer behind you & you still need to set up the tent.

and you missed the part where i said the entire reason that he has that type of RV is so he never has to deal with a trailer.

i would also argue very much that his rv, being the standard width of a full-size van, is not comfortable like a house.

[NoHaveMSG]

A lot of times I get either too lazy or too drunk and end up sleeping in my hammock the first night anyway.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG

A lot of times I get either too lazy or too drunk and end up sleeping in my hammock the first night anyway.

oh, in the middle of fall, there's nothing better than stoking up the fire and falling asleep by it. until it inevitably goes out at 3 in the morning and it's 35 degrees out.