May 22, 2023 With the Tacoma living in Las Vegas now, it's harder to perform various maintenance tasks as they pop up and between trips. As such, with a few general maintenance issues - oil changes, tire rotations, etc. - and a few items in recent Rig Reviews needing attention,…
10 CommentsShop and Gear: Tent
TL;DR - Dropping poles into the RTT pole bag is asking for trouble. Nothing a little sewing can't fix, though. Not much to say here except that through normal use, the pole bag will wear out (or holes will be worn into the bottom of the bag as poles are…
Leave a CommentTL;DR - For the last several trips, I've had to lubricate the zipper on the @Cascadia Vehicle Tents tarp *every* time I close it up. That sucks. I mentioned in a previous rig review that I was having trouble with the zippers. For a trip or two, some lubricant (water)…
Leave a CommentTL;DR - The tent is still great, but I've got some qualms with the tarp/cover - part of it is coming unstitched, and the zipper sucks whenever it gets dusty. I won't go into all the reasons I like my CVT Mt. Shasta tent - there are many. On this…
Leave a CommentTL;DR - After cinching down the cover for the tent a few hundred times, the stitching for one of the buckles on one of the cover straps ripped out. I sewed it back together and everything is good again. I think there was probably some very minor manufacturing defect in…
Leave a CommentBeing a heavy user of my Cascadia Tents (CVT) Mt. Shasta roof top tent (RTT), I get asked - somewhat infrequently - what I think about it after all those nights on the trail. And, I often find myself evaluating it against other RTT offerings that I see on other…
4 CommentsSo after having my Exped MegaMat 10 Duo LXW for a little over a year - during which time I've spent about 90 nights on it - I figured it was time to share my long-term impressions as well as a few things I've learned. "Pro tips" as it were...…
3 CommentsMay 10, 2019. When I originally built my bed rack back in 2016, I was sure that the rack was going to be something that was only installed when we were out on an adventure. The rest of the time, I'd remove it using the pulley system in the garage so…
4 CommentsTo get the tent all squared away, I purchased some Gear Aid (previously McNett) Zip Care Cleaner and Lubricant. It's probably some expensive scam for what it is, but I spread it on the zipper and it was like magic. I'm not sure how often I'll need to reapply it -…
Leave a CommentBobby at CVT @Cascadia Tents was able to get a stargazer-less rain fly to me for the Mt. Shasta tent, and that got installed just during the second Anza-Borrego trip. While it didn't rain in Anza-Borrego at all, we did get one night of rain, and one morning of (light)…
Leave a CommentThe zipper for the rubber cover got dirty (muddy, not dusty) and that made it really hard to get closed. I'm going to clean it well, and then keep an eye on it over time, since I've never had an issue with it before.
Leave a CommentTL;DR - I continue to be really happy with the main tent, for the most part. I am not however, happy with the rain fly on it due to the "stargazer" windows never ever drying off. The @Cascadia Tents Mt. Shasta Pioneer tent has been a game changer when camping.…
Leave a CommentFebruary 13, 2018. Ever since installing the bed rack and CVT the truck has been in "adventure mode." I don't mind that so much when I'm just driving around (though - it'd be nice to not haul around the extra weight all the time), but it does make me nervous…
Leave a CommentFebruary 14, 2017. You may recall that no too long ago I decided to purchase a CVT, and then of course realized that the truck would need a bed rack to attach said CVT. That led to my Millermatic 211 acquisition, and the realization that this bed rack was the…
Leave a CommentOctober 18, 2016. When I purchased the Sportz Truck Tent back in 2012 (see Sportz Truck Tent and Truck Bedzzz), I thought to myself, "Boy, I'm really living large and spending the big bucks now." The tent cost me $189 big ones, and the air mattress was another $90. I…
Leave a CommentJuly 2012. Without a tent, camping in the truck has always been a fair-weather affair. Which in Washington limits options. So I decided to change that. With products that contained the letter Z. You think I'm joking, but I'm not. You'll see. The way I've always seen it, tent camping…
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