Caseyontheroad
Minnesota
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Joined: 06/14/2005
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Quote:Casey - does the side tent work with your Roadtrek?
Kathy - to be absolutely honest with you, I've never stayed in one place long enough with my Roadtrek to make it worthwhile to put the tent up. My RT does have a gutter, though, and there's plenty of "give" in how you can adjust the shroud, so I'm sure it would work just fine. To get a better idea of how the side tents fit on the side of the van, take a look at the pics at Bus Depot I think there is also a picture of their suction cups on that page. I'm not sure if your RT has a gutter or not?
My tent is an old, heavy canvas one. I can put it up by myself but it's awkward and slow. I think the newer, lighter tents would be much easier for one person to handle. Side tents are really nice to have if you're spending several nights in one spot. 
2007 Roadtrek 170 Popular
1988 VW Westy
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Me&Ma
NW Wisconsin
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Joined: 10/09/2006
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Rodger, I probably am misunderstanding what you are trying to accomplish, but wouldn't your AC exhaust be inside of the tent if you use the rear attachment shown on the Napier tent  ?
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bananadanna
Cambridge, MA
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Joined: 11/30/2005
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I think I might be king of expandable B space. We have a 3x5 rear porch/shower room, a 4x10 side awning that mates to a 10x10 FirstUp shelter, a second 10x10 FirstUp that mates to the other or as an extension of the rear porch, and a 9x10 cabin wall tent. That's about 345 extra sq ft if you don't count the 5x5 TeePee outhouse/shower tent.
What we carry and what we actually use might depend on the kind of trip. Mostly it depends on how long it takes to deploy an item. We always have a FirstUp and the rear porch with us.
We're mostly B vagabonds---long weekends when I'm paddling, lots of short stays when we're traveling. The weeklong stays are rarer and we might bring the tent for that. If we travel with guests we would also use the tent. It's mildly heatable with a Coleman BlackCat catalytic heater. I'll bring both quickshelters when I lead a weekend river trip that requires 2 picnic tables to feed the group.
The FirstUp quickshelter can be set up in around 5 minutes. Floorless is good since we slide a picnic table under it if available. Think kitchen and a place for happy hour with the guests or neighbors.
The PahaQue 9x10 cabin wall tent takes two or three times as long to set up. Think bedroom. It is nearly as airy as a screenhouse but the huge doors and windows can be buttoned up against the rain or cold. We spent a week in Big Bend in TX at the Cottonwood no-gen-use campground. Perfect for mid day lounging in the midday high 90's and a nice bedroom for the 50's at night. But too much trouble for most weekends.
The East Coast where I am is pretty wet and where there are trout there are bugs. It is for this reason that we got interested in bugproofing the camping. I hated to keep opening and closing doors and zipping and unzipping tents. I designed and my wife sewed some "bugsocks" to ventilate the van and allow opendoor access to the quickshelter.
If there are no bugs or critters we don't bother with the screens walls that attach to the quickshelter. Sometimes a sunshade is all you need. Sometimes the site requires a setup that is not adjacent to the side doors. We add the side awning (about 5 more minutes work) for rain or bugs. The extra four feet added to the quickshelter makes an easier fit of a 8' picnic table.
The rear porch/shower room started as an enclosure for a bed that could slide out the back doors. I built some 45 degree legs that attached to the bumper. But I could not make it fold away easily inside and it added setup time while mostly uncovering the wheelwell space. I did look at bedslides for pickup trucks that allowed as much as a 6' slideout tray. could not afford the 7-8" raised floor when closed. Sportsmobile installed one for omeone's custom Sprinter. I'm too tall.
Maybe the easiest rear extension like the toybox ramp tents would be to attach chain or cable inside the top of the rear doors and lower a "drawbridge" from the floor or from a bench/bed height of 18" or so. It would be easy to turn a rearmost seat into an out-the-doors bed this way. But you'd still have to tent-seal it.
For the rear porch I simply pull out some emt tubing attached to my roof rack and slip a tent over that. Since my doors are independent of it we can close them for privacy, security or warmth. Much better than version 1.0 that used the doors.
Both porches need skirts. Hard to imagine a universal van tent for that. But it is very easy to use strong magnets to seal to a curved side. Mine are oversized with handles. The rare earth ones can be very strong and you might want to pouch them in nylon for paint protection and purchase. A rain gutter is not essential but mine are kept usable to drain away precipitation from open doors.
Mostly we do as little as possible. Any more work and I'd have to consider a trailer.
Dan
02 Freightliner Sprinter 2500 long tall home brew conversion
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My Roadtrek
Tucson, AZ.
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Joined: 03/20/2002
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Me&Ma wrote:Rodger, I probably am misunderstanding what you are trying to accomplish, but wouldn't your AC exhaust be inside of the tent if you use the rear attachment shown on the Napier tent ?
I'm looking for a separate living space, that can be somewhat attached to the rear of the Rt. I would like to bring a friend along, and they would like their own sleeping area, but at the same time feel part of the Roadtrek. Since I wont be using it I don't care about it being accessible from the side.
I don't think the Napier tent would block the AC, at least not the way it fits onto a Min Van. The boot on the Napier tent is removable, so it can also be used, if necessary as a stand alone tent.
My other considerations are being able to drive away with minimal effort, and to be able to erect it at RV parks. I think the rear tent may be less of a problem for RV parks to accept.
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Lynne Jayzee
North Carolina
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Joined: 04/01/2003
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Rodger:
I think this is a great idea. I might prefer the tent on the side, just because it would mean easier access in and out of the van. I can understand your mildly odd requirement, though.
Hopefully Napier will get back to you with the information you requested.
- LJZ
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My Roadtrek
Tucson, AZ.
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Reply from Napier.
"What is the back end circumference. Our tent will not fit anything that would exceed 24 ft circumference."
I will post mine as soon as I measure it. Anyone else want to measure their rears, and post it here.
It would be nice to get a measurement for all the different vans.
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Davydd
Minnesota
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Joined: 11/27/2005
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I'm guessing your circumference will exceed 24 ft based on close to 7 ft wide x 2 plus at least 6 ft high x 2 = 26 ft.
If you have to climb over a bed to enter the tent and prefer to go around to the outside to enter then it would seem a freestanding would be just as good an option.
The problem with side tents is often the ground is not level with the road bed. That will be the case with many sites for instance at Scenic View Campground, the site of the B5 rally.
Davydd
2011 Great West Van Legend Sprinter B Camper Van
Davydd is the Welsh spelling for David with an English twist using a v instead of an f.
See Our 2011 Great West Van Sprinter Legend and my pork tenderloin sandwiches
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My Roadtrek
Tucson, AZ.
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Davydd, are you measuring the side opening? The tent I'm looking at is a rear tent. I think the rear of my Chevy is under 24' in circumference.
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Davydd
Minnesota
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I was just estimating the back opening. From looking at the picture it is not the opening of the doors but the outside dimensions of the van you have to enclose and that was what I was basing my estimates on and I am not sure how you would work around the air conditioning vent. Have you measured yet? I know a Sprinter is way too big.
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seraphim
Ohio
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Joined: 02/03/2008
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interesting thread. Has anyone considered using a standard tent or screen room, and manufacturing a hallway that velcroes to the tent and uses magnets against the van? The van could drive away and leave the tent.
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