As you guys know I sold the trailer a few weeks ago, so that means I need to come up with a new camping set up. I’ve decided to make the 4Runner more “Overland” friendly, but it still needs to be able to carry the family and be capable on harder trails. Pretty much I want the comforts of the trailer but on a smaller and lighter scale.
The first order of business was to free up some cargo room, I hardly ever have four people in the 4Runner so it only made sense to convert it into a three seat configuration. I still have room for the family and the dog, and it’s easy to reinstall the seat cushion if I need the fourth seat.
The last thing you want in an accident or roll over is a big heavy tool bag hitting you in the head, so I installed a seat belt to keep it in place. This makes it secure, yet easy to access and I can tuck the belt under the cushion if someone sits there.
This freed up enough room that I actually thought about sleeping in the 4Runner, but after getting some padding and my sleeping bag in place it was just too tight. It would be fine in an emergency but it’s not a pleasant or comfortable sleeping arrangement (imagine sleeping in a coffin).
So I needed some kind of a tent, I looked at many options including the Oz tent, a James Baroud Hardside RTT ($$$), and multiple other soft side roof top tents. I’m not thrilled about having the extra weight of the tent up on the roof, but I really loved the comfort of the tent on the trailer and when I weighed all the pro’s and con’s the RTT was the best option for me. Not to mention my daughter loved the tent on the trailer and when I sold the trailer I told her I would get a tent for the 4Runner.
I had a Tepui Kukenam on the trailer for years, and I was happy with the size and quality of the tent. It was on the small side when it came to the whole family, but I don’t see my wife going out more than once a year (if that), and I couldn’t justify the extra price and weight of a larger tent. I originally was looking at the Ruggedized version of the Kukenam, but the weight difference (180lbs vs 130lbs according to their website) changed my mind. I ultimately decided on the Sky version, it has sky lights in the roof which my daughter will love for looking at the stars and moon. Because of the sky lights the rain fly is removable; this is a huge benefit, in windy conditions the rain fly will buffet and hit the tent, this makes for a very long and noisy night. As long as there is no rain forecasted I can remove the rain fly and not deal with the noise.
So here it is, the new tent! Those of you that followed the trailer build, or saw it in person, know that I have a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to these tents, I’ll get into that in the near future!
ound:
