compactcamping
Explorer
The newer Tepui ladders address this with large rubber bumpers on the bottom rung. I will check if retrofit bumpers for older ladders are available.
Tepui Tent RTT
- Thread starter INSAYN
- Start date
Eric S.
Adventurer
After much research we purchased one of the new Tepui Kukenam XL Ruggedized tents. We have only took it out for a 4 day trip so far on it's maiden voyage but figured I would post up what we thought so far. I'm being kind of picky about the tent but for the price of these things I think I have the right.
Overall the construction seems to be good. The stitching looks to be well done but to be honest I don't know a lot about sewing. They were straight and the fabric looked to be where it was suppose to be : )
Above the..backdoor?.... There is a splotch of black die or something that has stained the orange fabric right though it. Not sure what caused it but looks to be caused in the manufacturing process somehow. Not a big deal but laying in bed I'm looking right at it and it kind of erks me.
One reasons of purchasing a rood top tent was the ability to keep the bedding in place to fee up valuable storage space in the Jeep and to save time when packing and unpacking traveling. I specifically asked Tepui about this when ordering and was told it would fit. Guess I should have been more specific about size of the bedding because ours would fit but the cover was a tight squeeze to get on. My wife and I and our 9 year old daughter were to be sleeping in the tent so we had the equivalent of three 3 season sleeping bags folded flat as we could to one side.
With the cover closed up, the zipper seemed to be working too hard to last long. I also broke one of the Velcro side strap that hold the tent together before the cover goes on. It`s a flat woven nylon strap that has a plastic cover and a screw though the strap to attach it to the tent. I pulled on it (within reason) and the strap pulled off of the screw. I`m going to be contacting Tepui very shortly and see if I can warranty a replacement and and purchase 4 more. I think adding two per side will help to hold the tent out of the why while trying to do up the covers zipper.
Side Strap
Broken strap
I`m going to be adding more if the straps to hold all this in place. I don`t want to be catching the zipper on the tent.
The cover did fit with some fighting of the zipper but it was stretched tight over the ladders bracket. Even being the thicker than normal fabric this point would not last long. Instead of a flat top cover an actual pocket sewn into the cover to fit around the ladder would have allowed enough space for everything to fit properly.
Sorry didn't take a good photo of the bracket and cover.
The solution was to remove the ladder and brackets. Lost some storage space but with a quick connect that I will make for the ladder it should work out alright. The wife thinks it looks better flat anyway.
Now we were ready to go. The trip out was about 5 hours with about 40 or 50 kilometers of gravel road.
We open the tent cover to find two of the plastic protection covers for the frames hardware has fallen off and one of the lock nuts that affixes the center frame hop to the bracket was fallen off. My wife was VERY concerned abut this but luckily one of the covers and the essential lock nut were still inside the tent. Turns out the bolt is slightly too short to engage with the nylon locking portion of the nut. This is another fix before the next trip. At a minimum copious amounts of lock-tight. Think I might pick up some actual acorn nuts and machine the bolts so they bottom out in the nuts and the proper spot. This way I can also do away with the plastic covers that are suppose to be in place to protect the fabric.
Back together.
After re-affixing the ladder and hoop the tent is up
The three of us were quite comfortable in the tent. The corner of the ladder rungs in the morning are rather hard on the feet. Putting shoes on at the top would be advisable. Otherwise it`s a controlled fall, ouch, ouch, ouch ,ouch
There was not much rain except for one 15-20min downpour that the tent endured well. Fall camping will put the wind and rain durability to the test shortly.
Condensation seemed to be okay the roof on the inside has a but of buildup at the hoops but considering it was totally closed up except of the built in vents it did okay. When closing it up after three nights in the tent there was the unavoidable condensation on the floor of the tent amazing the about. Folding the tent over I`m sure the foam would have gotten wet from the built up condensation dripping onto it. Not sure if there is a solution for that or not. The anti-condensation mat would at least allow for some air to move and I would hope it would dry a bit before the next stop of traveling. Time will tell.
Overall the construction seems to be good. The stitching looks to be well done but to be honest I don't know a lot about sewing. They were straight and the fabric looked to be where it was suppose to be : )
Above the..backdoor?.... There is a splotch of black die or something that has stained the orange fabric right though it. Not sure what caused it but looks to be caused in the manufacturing process somehow. Not a big deal but laying in bed I'm looking right at it and it kind of erks me.
One reasons of purchasing a rood top tent was the ability to keep the bedding in place to fee up valuable storage space in the Jeep and to save time when packing and unpacking traveling. I specifically asked Tepui about this when ordering and was told it would fit. Guess I should have been more specific about size of the bedding because ours would fit but the cover was a tight squeeze to get on. My wife and I and our 9 year old daughter were to be sleeping in the tent so we had the equivalent of three 3 season sleeping bags folded flat as we could to one side.
With the cover closed up, the zipper seemed to be working too hard to last long. I also broke one of the Velcro side strap that hold the tent together before the cover goes on. It`s a flat woven nylon strap that has a plastic cover and a screw though the strap to attach it to the tent. I pulled on it (within reason) and the strap pulled off of the screw. I`m going to be contacting Tepui very shortly and see if I can warranty a replacement and and purchase 4 more. I think adding two per side will help to hold the tent out of the why while trying to do up the covers zipper.
Side Strap
Broken strap
I`m going to be adding more if the straps to hold all this in place. I don`t want to be catching the zipper on the tent.
The cover did fit with some fighting of the zipper but it was stretched tight over the ladders bracket. Even being the thicker than normal fabric this point would not last long. Instead of a flat top cover an actual pocket sewn into the cover to fit around the ladder would have allowed enough space for everything to fit properly.
Sorry didn't take a good photo of the bracket and cover.
The solution was to remove the ladder and brackets. Lost some storage space but with a quick connect that I will make for the ladder it should work out alright. The wife thinks it looks better flat anyway.
Now we were ready to go. The trip out was about 5 hours with about 40 or 50 kilometers of gravel road.
We open the tent cover to find two of the plastic protection covers for the frames hardware has fallen off and one of the lock nuts that affixes the center frame hop to the bracket was fallen off. My wife was VERY concerned abut this but luckily one of the covers and the essential lock nut were still inside the tent. Turns out the bolt is slightly too short to engage with the nylon locking portion of the nut. This is another fix before the next trip. At a minimum copious amounts of lock-tight. Think I might pick up some actual acorn nuts and machine the bolts so they bottom out in the nuts and the proper spot. This way I can also do away with the plastic covers that are suppose to be in place to protect the fabric.
Back together.
After re-affixing the ladder and hoop the tent is up
The three of us were quite comfortable in the tent. The corner of the ladder rungs in the morning are rather hard on the feet. Putting shoes on at the top would be advisable. Otherwise it`s a controlled fall, ouch, ouch, ouch ,ouch
There was not much rain except for one 15-20min downpour that the tent endured well. Fall camping will put the wind and rain durability to the test shortly.
Condensation seemed to be okay the roof on the inside has a but of buildup at the hoops but considering it was totally closed up except of the built in vents it did okay. When closing it up after three nights in the tent there was the unavoidable condensation on the floor of the tent amazing the about. Folding the tent over I`m sure the foam would have gotten wet from the built up condensation dripping onto it. Not sure if there is a solution for that or not. The anti-condensation mat would at least allow for some air to move and I would hope it would dry a bit before the next stop of traveling. Time will tell.
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Ryan Matthes
Adventurer and Explorer
nice write-up - thank you. I am looking at the same tent for my wife and youngster. How was the space for the three of you?
Eric S.
Adventurer
We found the space to be adequate for the three of us. We do like our space when sleeping and everyone slept well.
It is a little tight adding the back packs for clothing as well but it did work out fine. We will likely have to come up with another clothing system when the daughter gets taller since she had a pack at her head and feet. Maybe leaving a majority of it in the ruck and just moving the essentials into the tent on a smaller pack.
It is a little tight adding the back packs for clothing as well but it did work out fine. We will likely have to come up with another clothing system when the daughter gets taller since she had a pack at her head and feet. Maybe leaving a majority of it in the ruck and just moving the essentials into the tent on a smaller pack.
Eric S.
Adventurer
I e-mailed Evan at Tepui to let them know about the issues I've had. He was grateful that I brought the issues to their attention and said that he would "forward this on to our operations manager and have him bring it up as QC item right away."
The strap will be covered under warranty. I inquired about purchasing 4 more straps to add to help hold the tent out of the zipper when doing up the cover. Tepui is going to send me them at no charge. Nice to deal with company at still understands customer service and stands behind their product. I'll post photo's of my upgrade when the straps are delivered. No idea weather They will add them to future tents.
Just for your information, I had a better look at the strap and realized the issue.
Strap in question but there are others on the tent built the same.
This is the upper mount that the strap pulled out of.
The lower mount that is still holding. notice a difference?
The strap on the lower mount has it's end folded over and stitched. The plastic mount is the installed over it with the center screw passing though the strap.
This seems much stronger that how the top strap was mounted. The top strap was cut and heat seals so not to fray. Then the plastic mount went over it with just the center screw passing though the strap to hold it on place. Not ideal strength wise.
While I'm posting might was well show off my quick release ladder mount that I made.
1 3/8" shorter. You can't use it to leaver over the tent mounting it that low but since mine is on a trailer no problem there. If in the future I find it to be a problem I'll make a new bracket on the ladder side.
Two brackets mount to tent with the original M6 bolts. The ladder uses the 5/16 quick release pin.
Ladder is nice and quick to remove now. Another benefit, I can use it around camp if needed
The strap will be covered under warranty. I inquired about purchasing 4 more straps to add to help hold the tent out of the zipper when doing up the cover. Tepui is going to send me them at no charge.
Nice to deal with company at still understands customer service and stands behind their product. I'll post photo's of my upgrade when the straps are delivered. No idea weather They will add them to future tents. Just for your information, I had a better look at the strap and realized the issue.
Strap in question but there are others on the tent built the same.
This is the upper mount that the strap pulled out of.
The lower mount that is still holding. notice a difference?
The strap on the lower mount has it's end folded over and stitched. The plastic mount is the installed over it with the center screw passing though the strap.
This seems much stronger that how the top strap was mounted. The top strap was cut and heat seals so not to fray. Then the plastic mount went over it with just the center screw passing though the strap to hold it on place. Not ideal strength wise.
While I'm posting might was well show off my quick release ladder mount that I made.
1 3/8" shorter. You can't use it to leaver over the tent mounting it that low but since mine is on a trailer no problem there. If in the future I find it to be a problem I'll make a new bracket on the ladder side.
Two brackets mount to tent with the original M6 bolts. The ladder uses the 5/16 quick release pin.
Ladder is nice and quick to remove now. Another benefit, I can use it around camp if needed
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Wicked 2007
Observer
Where did you pickup the quick release? Part number and it link? Thanks
bmart
Observer
FWIW, I bought a Tepui Kukenam XL Ruggedized last month to go on my expedition trailer. At the time of purchase, the website advertised this tent as having the same dimensions as the Gran Sabana (72" x 48"). When it arrived, it was quickly apparent that the tent was 76" long, not 72". Not a big deal for most, but my tent was going in between two cargo rails that are 76" apart - so it didn't fit. Evan was called up and immediately took to my side, offering to pay for a $500 solution that would have raised the tent above the cargo bars. Although I greatly appreciated his offer, I humbly refused for reasons related to other portions of the trailer build. In the end, Evan is going as far as having his manufacturer produce a one-off 72" long version of the tent specifically for my trailer build.
Although this experience set my trailer build back, I've been floored with Evan's commitment to his customers and have been completely satisfied with how he handled the situation. It is so rare to find companies who truly stand behind their customers like Evan does. I only bring this up so that those researching an RTT take into consideration the tremendous value of customer service that Evan is providing. You're not just getting an RTT, you're getting the CEO personally standing behind his product and willing to back it up with action.
Although this experience set my trailer build back, I've been floored with Evan's commitment to his customers and have been completely satisfied with how he handled the situation. It is so rare to find companies who truly stand behind their customers like Evan does. I only bring this up so that those researching an RTT take into consideration the tremendous value of customer service that Evan is providing. You're not just getting an RTT, you're getting the CEO personally standing behind his product and willing to back it up with action.
bmart
Observer
Bummer, I was curious as well. They look very "OEM." You should consider making some spares to sell.
Eric S.
Adventurer
Thinking about chopping a few more out if there's interest. I would like to test it out a bit more first though. Stay tuned
WOW. Nice!
WOW. Nice!
Wicked 2007
Observer
Eric S.
Adventurer
I made 6 sets of the quick release ladder mounts. If anyone is interested PM me for price.
I had to take a file and slot the mounting holes a bit on mine.. These sets I moved the slots for the ladder a little more off center should alleviate the issue but it still might require a bit of "finessing" of the tents mounting holes.
Another note. I checked how they work if you want to leave the ladder attached or use the ladder to help open the tent. Since these mounts are shorter than the factory's I thought that the ladder would sit at an upward angle. It actually isn't as bad as I imagined. The rubber bump stops are only about 1/2" off of the tent. If you open the ladder slightly it sits on the tent. Extending the ladder there is enough play in the ladder to allow it to work as usual for tent opening.
A couple pics of the ladder closed:
I doubt I'll be making more.
I had to take a file and slot the mounting holes a bit on mine.. These sets I moved the slots for the ladder a little more off center should alleviate the issue but it still might require a bit of "finessing" of the tents mounting holes.
Another note. I checked how they work if you want to leave the ladder attached or use the ladder to help open the tent. Since these mounts are shorter than the factory's I thought that the ladder would sit at an upward angle. It actually isn't as bad as I imagined. The rubber bump stops are only about 1/2" off of the tent. If you open the ladder slightly it sits on the tent. Extending the ladder there is enough play in the ladder to allow it to work as usual for tent opening.
A couple pics of the ladder closed:
I doubt I'll be making more.
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