Walkabout 62 2.0

I've camped 287 nights in the last 5 years, and have not missed a single month since 2017 (I keep a log). This in the blazing heat of mid desert summer, and the sub-zero temps (-10 is common) of Colorado at 11.5k feet out elk hunting. Over half of that has been in RTTs. Only cons is naive at best, and disingenuous at worst. And given this oft-repeated hate parade, I'm leaning towards the latter. A hardshell roof tent has offered the most comfortable sleep and best warmth by a country mile, even over my 7.2 R value Nemo air mattress and mountaineering tent or my Eno hammock setup. It's the fastest option by far (15 seconds up; 45 or so down). Even over inflating an air mattress in the back of the Suburban. All the bedding stays inside so it never needs to get laid out, and I gain space in the cab of the truck to boot. I can still carry a kayak and fishing poles on top in the ski rack, my MPG difference is all of 0.3, and no-you don't need to climb down a ladder to pee. That's what a bottle is for. People seem to get really bent out of shape about RTTs and act like they have zero utility or legitimacy. It's wild.

I'll re-iterate what I have before the last 100 times we've had this conversation in the last decade: 12 month a year camper, snow/rain/shine alike from Colorado to Arizona to Washington. 287 nights in the last five years personally, most of which has been in RTTs. iKamper Skycamp, CVT Mt Hood, 23Zero Kabari, Roofnest Falcon XL, 23Zero 62 Walkabout, you name it; I've owned/tested/tried it in every state west of the Dakotas. Anyone who says there aren't pros or it's LARPing or whatever falls into one of these camps in my experience: A. They've never used one personally and are speculating/repeating what someone else said. B. They've used an old school softshell for a few nights and decided they know everything about every design. C. They're jealous or hating on them for whatever reason, and are intentionally exaggerating to try to end the trend. I'm personally all about aluminum wedges/clamshells. you can park them into the wind, mount roof racks for kayak/solar/etc., they setup and teardown faster than any other option besides a basepad cowboy style, they're extremely well insulated, the most comfortable way for me to sleep with the included mattress (I'm 6'2" 225), all your bedding stays inside the tent, you never have to fight water intrusion, you never have to pack up a muddy tent, etc. Here are some cons I often hear that also aren't true/understood correctly. "You have to climb down a ladder to pee." *Use a bottle. Ladies too; my GF uses a She-Wee. Problem solved.* "It's gonna murder your fuel economy." *I lost a whopping 0.3 MPG putting a RTT on my Suburban. Biggest loss was like 1 MPG on my old Jeep.* "If you wanna go somewhere you have to tear it down." *Correct. But if you use a hardshell tent, this is a non-issue. The only time it would be a pain is if you used an old-school softshell design.* "Yeah, but it's too expensive." *It's 2026 and the economy is in the toilet. You can buy a tent that sold for $4K in 2021 for like $2100 now. People will say that's still too much...then go buy a $400 Marmot tent, a $140 Exped air mattress, a $200 Kelty sleeping bag, and a $150 Osprey Atmos backpack. And that's not counting their boots, poles, headlamp, JetBoil, etc. It's not any more prohibitively expensive than MTBing, snowboarding, or through-hiking IMO.* I've built sleeping platforms in my FJC, sleep in the back of my Suburban quite a bit, have a Gazelle T4 for my rock crawler, and a whole rogue's gallery of backpacking tents and three hammocks. I do it all, so you can believe me when I say: **RTTs have extreme merit and are my favorite option that clocks in at a reasonable value.** You wanna talk prohibitively expensive and obtuse? You're thinking of a slide-in or bed camper setup. A 4WC Hawk in a 6.5' truck bed is an RV you can drive through the Rubicon...too bad you're into it for over $20K. But I'll leave that for another day...

I have a 23zero walkabout and am also in the PNW, been in heavy rain storms and no leaks or anything ever. Just gotta make sure the rainfly is tight and do a yearly waterproofing for good measure.

23Zero. 9 days of camping all but one with rain. No leaks. Wind at 40+ in Colorado and it’s a brick shithouse. New model horizon 3 is what we use. https://preview.redd.it/xidqql7uskvf1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc37462df169d504a85ad6a652b37256ebb61d87

We’ve had RTT for about 6 years now. We’re on our third. I love sleeping higher above the ground, and our 2 full grown GSD climb the ladder to sleep with us. (Yeah, it’s more dog than people. 😂) Consider getting a small trailer to put your RTT on. This gives you a base camp and extra storage. It’s perfect for a camp kitchen. Clam shell is definitely easier than other styles. Ours is not and takes about 20 minutes to pack up. Less if we don’t raise the tent platform. Make sure to get a good mattress. Our 23Zero has an amazing mattress, way beyond our first two.

Just got a 23zero. And absolutely love it.