Has anyone thought of doing a modification with a better zipper to reduce claustrophobia? For example, tents often have zippers that are more circular so you can leave the top 25% or so open to vent warm air and so that you can get a view of the beautiful place you’re camping at (unless it’s a rest area, ha ha). See the picture. I know it would require a customization and basically replacing the existing hang-down fabric with zippers on both sides only. It should have 2 layers, just like a tent or GoFast with bug screen and solid fabric. In the attached it shows both tents closed; the orange line in each suggests where
you could open the fabric to (or farther). But then you could sit up inside, enjoy the stars and go back to sleep again. In chilly weather you could leave the top 10% open for venting warm air out of the GoFast without using the existing side zips that only go bottom-up, and not circular.
This is what a lot of people are hoping to see from GFC soon but there is not much you can do aside from a completely custom job
Join the long list of others who had/have requested this for years. One the biggest downfalls of the tent and the major reason I sold. I had higher hopes for a tent made in Montana to withstand our elements better.
@GainzGFC Wow, thanks for posting reference to that thread.
I can see that dozens of users (campers) thought the same thing about the tent design/zippers.
As a former mountaineer I’ve slept in many tents in extreme weather and fair weather alike and the V2 tent zipper design pretty much sucks in all respects.
With that said, can I fix it? I’ll take a look at the nylon on each of the 3 flaps. Might be able to simply leave the existing 3 flaps in closed position (ignore them, i.e.) and cut a smaller hole in the main fabric, adding a circular zipper to each one…
Yup. It got hidden awhile back but has some good info and comments on it.
GFCs newest fix or version of the tent fixes some but brings up other issues. Idk how you would fix the old version without some extreme modifications.
Yes, extreme modification will be needed to add the zippers. Will be especially difficult to cut hole for zippers and then really hard to sew in a new zipper without removing the whole flap from camper. If entire flap could be removed it could be placed on a commercial sewing machine plus cuts could be made with a heated gun of some kind?
You could pull the entire tent sides out and do it that way.
If you end up going this route, I’d recommend adding a zipper to the bottom of the flaps as well.
Couldn’t you just do a small cutout and sew in a zipper? Personally I love the tent as it is, if I want to star gaze I just fully open the tent door and sleep like that, but it sounds like you want to have a peek hatch to easily open and close, which would be a hassle to peek out then close again without getting up.
@yodabest Yes, I think that a small cut out with a new zipper would work. May be tricky to work without removing flap but yes - that should work.
If it was me I’d get some practice fabric and experiment on it until I was sure about cutting up the tent, good luck!
Just remember once you cut, warranty goes out the window for the tent.
Hello, I’m not currently a GFC owner but I’ve done a lot of research, a lot of Sierra backpacking and quite a bit of coastal over landing with my current setup. I’ve been caught in many rain storms, heavy fog and typical morning squalls and through all of that I’ve learned that having windows and or doors that can be open and protected during bad weather is essential. You could be in there for hours. Condensation builds up, boredom etc.
Ive seen a lot debate to remove the storm flaps and provide windows/doors that open from the top down. How would you then protect the windows or doors in bad weather? Do you really want to be stuck in the tent during bad weather with all of the windows closed? Sounds kinda miserable. Maybe I’ve misunderstood the window storm flap debate.
@socalcamper Glad you’re getting use out of the GoFast. I see what you’re saying, with regard to having some kind of flap to catch the rain. Also, it would be tedious to spend time locked in the tent in bad weather.
I believe that if I were in a rainy climate I’d get extension rods or sticks to extend the flaps out from the camper at an angle. This would permit the flaps to repel rain water with gravity.
Honestly, in the Rockies it seems to almost never rain during the season I use the camper, so I don’t think about rain much. As far as being stuck inside the camper we’re always hiking, biking, fishing or something during the day - regardless of the weather. However, this is even more of an argument for my original post because with the zipper mod I’m thinking of the camper would be more open to the outside & not dark and stuffy.