Glamping with R1T + roof top tent + ???

[Blueassassin]

I love camping and off-roading and am super exited about the adventures ahead. My wife is not a fan and so with this R1T and the roof top tent I'm hoping to wean her more into camping. I know I will be buying a nice fridge freezer for the frunk anyone have any experience with this or suggest a model? I have been looking at the standing shower tents hot water shower systems and you use the tent as a bathroom as well. What other things do you guys think I should be looking into?

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[BigE]

I love camping and off-roading and am super exited about the adventures ahead. My wife is not a fan and so with this R1T and the roof top tent I'm hoping to wean her more into camping. I know I will be buying a nice fridge freezer for the frunk anyone have any experience with this or suggest a model? I have been looking at the standing shower tents hot water shower systems and you use the tent as a bathroom as well. What other things do you guys think I should be looking into?

We'll be pulling our small camper with the R1T, but also travel with a Dometic cooler for drinks, etc while on the road. My concern and I've asked Rivian in the past, yes you could power it in the bed, gear tunnel, or frunk, but there is no way to vent the heat it will give off from the frunk and gear tunnel. Well, maybe the gear tunnel as we now know there is a small pass-through so maybe you could keep it cool with the cabin A/C?

 

[Blueassassin]

We'll be pulling our small camper with the R1T, but also travel with a Dometic cooler for drinks, etc while on the road. My concern and I've asked Rivian in the past, yes you could power it in the bed, gear tunnel, or frunk, but there is no way to vent the heat it will give off from the frunk and gear tunnel. Well, maybe the gear tunnel as we now know there is a small pass-through so maybe you could keep it cool with the cabin A/C?

oh hadn't thought of that how much heat does it put out?

 

[BigE]

oh hadn't thought of that how much heat does it put out?

I've never measured it, but it's a decent amount. My concern would be in hot weather. I'm in NC and summers are really hot, winter or cooler weather you may be fine. So I'm thinking I would have to put the Dometic in the bed would be fine because at least it will have room to breathe. I think the frunk in the summer would get very hot depending on the length of your trip. I did ask Rivian maybe 2 years ago to put some kind of ventilation in the frunk but was probably too late into the design.

 

[DynoSaur]

oh hadn't thought of that how much heat does it put out?

I have a Dometic CFX3 - I run it in the back of my RRS on hunts and on beach trips. It runs the whole way down and all day in the back - off a Jackery 500 plugged into the DC outlet.

( as a side note, my experience has been 24-36 hour run time on the Jackery alone running one side freezer and one side fridge ). Pending how often I open it up.

I haven't noticed any significant heat output on the drives, but then again I am running AC in the entire cabin.

The few times it's been sitting running inside while we rest stop or pop into a restaurant for a bite - I haven't noticed any more of a "hotspot" where the fridge is vs the rest of the cabin.

I am fully planning on putting it up in the frunk on trips. Even if it vents a little heat, I don't think it's going to be enough to warrant concern for fire/damage.

Most of the time on drives, I hear the compressor running maybe 25% of the time. Just get in the habit of cooling it down ahead of time and load it up - everything inside already cold will help it maintain it's temp without needing to run the compressor often.

Anecdotal, but it's a data point for you.

-Keith

 

[Lil'O Annie]

Has anyone tried this style of cot tent??
Are they any good, or kind of floppy and junky?

 

[Blueassassin]

Has anyone tried this style of cot tent??
Are they any good, or kind of floppy and junky?

I'm betting the roof top tents are going to be much better and easier to put up.

 

[Lil'O Annie]

I'm betting the roof top tents are going to be much better and easier to put up.

Probably, but for us, we get up before sunrise and drive out to photograph wildlife. Taking a roof-top tent down in the dark to be able to use the truck is not for us. We'd rather be able to leave camp setup. We also go out at sunset, so would prefer to return to camp all setup and not have to mess with putting up a tent.

 

[MReda]

The issue with heat from the fridge is that in a small, enclosed area, it will basically be heating itself from the outside while it attempts to keep the inside cool. Best case, this is really inefficient, worst case, it will cause the compressor to run to the point of failure. Reality is probably inefficient and premature failure. It will fit in the frunk, but I'd be concerned about this. A fridge most likely won't fit in the gear tunnel (I'm sure someone can find a compact one that will fit, but something you'd want to use for camping for a weekend or more will probably be too big).

I think the bed is the safe bet, both for space and ventilation. You've got about 17" from the floor of the bed to the bottom of the tonneau cover, which means you'll have to choose your model carefully if you want to be able to close the cover. No R1T on hand to measure, but this dimension came from Rivian.

A big consideration is where you'll be camping, and what you'll be doing while camping. Dispersed camping vs campsite, hang out all day vs want to drive away from the campsite every day, etc. A rooftop tent may be easier to deploy when you arrive at camp, but if you want to drive every day, you'll be packing it up a lot more than a ground tent. But if you are dispersed camping, a rooftop tent eliminates the need to find a site with a flat spot for a tent.

A privacy tent of some sort (like what you listed) for a "private" bathroom (as opposed to pit toilet) is a huge convenience. Having a place to take a hot shower is a major plus as well. A good sleeping bag, a comfortable mattress, there are a lot of places to increase comfort, but we're all sensitive to different things.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I have a dometic CFX3 95DZ I'm planning on trying to put in the frunk. It's probably not going to be hot out here by the time I get the truck though.

I will say that even if the cabin of the car is 100+ degrees it's still able to keep everything cool. It uses a lot of power in that situation though.

 

[skyote]

I love my ARB Elements fridge/freezer. It's big & a single compartment (only 1 temp at a time, so fridge/freezer is either/or), but actually very efficient.

I also pre-cool at home, but I love not needing ice!

 

[jplblue]

Probably, but for us, we get up before sunrise and drive out to photograph wildlife. Taking a roof-top tent down in the dark to be able to use the truck is not for us. We'd rather be able to leave camp setup. We also go out at sunset, so would prefer to return to camp all setup and not have to mess with putting up a tent.

I would suggest an instant tent like a Gazelle + a cot inside with a comfortable mattress like Exped Megamat instead of a cot style tent. I've never heard anyone rave about cot style tents.

 

[DucRider]

I'll throw out a recent test my wife and I did of a RTT. This is part of the long range planning of what it will look like as we transition from motorcycle camping.

We found a company that rents Roof Top Tents. They have exactly one brand and model to choose from (Roofnest Sparrow), but we were primarily interested in a Hard Shell version and this checked a lot of the boxes.

We planned a trip to the Olympic Peninsula/National Park, and reserved a series of campsites for one night at a time. This is the way we tend to do our two wheeled journeys and fits with the idea of easy setup/teardown. We haven't done dispersed camping, but that would become more of a possibility with something like a Rivian than the Ducati and Yamaha street bikes we have (we can do a little gravel/dirt, but it is something we avoid when possible).

We did also have to rent an ICE vehicle to hold the tent. Our Evs had two issues - range/charging and the inability to mount the tent to begin with. Renting a vehicle with a roof rack isn't straightforward, and the current shortage only added to the challenge. I found that Subaru has a program ("Just Drive") geared to get people into their vehicles. Initially booked an Outback, but then found that Subaru specifically stated not to mount a RTT (they started this with the 2020? model year). Changed to a Forester and bought a cheap (<$50) set of Amazon Basics crossbars that would mount to the factory rails rated to carry a tent.

Note: driving the Subaru for a week completely reinforced why we no longer own an ICE car. I'm sure it is a fine vehicle, but the smoothness and linear power of EVs have spoiled us (motorcycles are different story).

• We were looking to test the concept of a RTT and weren't overly worried about the particular model, but there were a few things that struck us about the Sparrow.
• Too small. They claim a 48" width, but that is without accounting for a few inches on all four corners for the lifting struts (the do make an XL version that is wider).
• Mattress. For us the factory memory foam mattress was too thin. We didn't even try it for one night. This is a common complaint and we brought our self inflating mattress and used it the whole trip.
• Window design. Although there were windows on all sides, only the front one could be left partially open for ventilation. The others could all be used for doors and were either completely closed, completely rolled open, or propped open as an awning:
  
  
  
  We wanted more options (if we owned one would probable devise a shorter set of "sticks" to hold the awning(s) partially open?

Some thoughts about RTT is general:

• Relatively easy to level the vehicle/tent (I brought a few 2x6 scraps). The auto leveling on the Rivian would make it a complete non-issue.
• Always sleep on a flat surface - no bowl or hump shaped tent pad, rocks, roots, etc.
• Liked the hard shell design that had room to keep our pillows/bedding in the tent when closed as it made setup/teardown easier. We did need to partially deflate our cushier than OEM mattress which added a little time/hassle.
• The ladder when getting up to pee in the night was overall a "no big deal". Keep some easy to slip on shoes handy and not significantly different than a ground tent.
• For us, the time savings of packing a hard shell vs a soft tent (Like the Rivian/Yakima option) turned out to be a non-issue. Packing up the tent faster just meant more time waiting on my wife (her morning speed is what it is and not something i have control over). I know some women must be quite speedy in the morning - but my wife is not one of them.

The overall conclusion of the trip is a primarily positive view of RTTs - but choosing the right one will be critical. It was great to be able to rent one and try it for ourselves. Some of what people liked/disliked matched our experience but some was different. I wish there were more options to rent, but at a minimum it will require some hands on touch and feel. We were able to visit iKamper when were in the Seattle are for a wedding just before our trip with the Roofnest. We will 100% need to see in person any model we look to purchase (not unlike the Rivian) - that may mean Overland Expos or ??.

 

[jplblue]

For glamping with a RTT, I would highly suggest some sort of large bug/sun shelter.

First, it gives you an area to chill in the shade and away from insects.

But especially helpful with RTTs, you can leave the shelter up as "base camp." Opening/closing a RTT doesn't take long, so the biggest issue with breaking down camp is all the other crap you have to throw in the car. With a shelter, you can just leave all the crap under the canopy, close up your RTT, and go on your day trip.

Here are some pics of our setup.

 

[FPHater]

We will 100% need to see in person any model we look to purchase (not unlike the Rivian) - that may mean Overland Expos or ??.

Speaking of Overland Expos...
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/rivian-at-the-overland-expo-2021.1872/

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