I think another part of these issues is that GFC labels the three big opening’s as “doors”. I can see why the screens are on the inside of doors and potentially the reason they are not full zip. But again, full zip would be ideal and something I’d pay for.
I’ve experimented with internal pockets on the side walls. They sound great at first, but what happens when you crush your phone and glasses in the extrusion when closing the tent?
So glad I was testing with junk.
Maybe I’m weaker than you but I can’t imagine crushing and destroying anything other than a waterford crystal vase when shutting the tent. I actually left my sunglasses in the tent on accident a few weeks back and they were fine when I opened it up a week later. YMMV
After spending so much time in our camper, nearly a year and a half at this point of full time living, our largest point of improvement to their camper that we would like to see would be the tent itself, specifically the direction the flaps open. I know everyone has their own preferences, and GFC could come up with an infinite number of possibilities for the tent and still not make everyone happy but we really feel there is a very minor change to their tent would offer huge improvements. That being said I have to commend them for the material choice and construction method for the tent, its withheld some gnarly winds that we have experienced in Montana, and in Baja, the tent has held together strong through some wind events that were strong enough to push the top partially closed, as much as more than halfway, it has also proved to be waterproof and has kept us dry in some gnarly weather!
The change that we would love to see seems simple to us, but it is easy for us to say that not having sowing experience, and much less commercial sowing experience.
But anyway. We would love to see the outside fly be able to open from the top down as well. It seems like if an overlapping flap was sown at the top in such a way that would allow the fly to zip closed under it with 2 way zipper would achieve this easily. That overlapping flap would allow the fly to be closed during foul weather so that rain wouldn’t make its way in, potentially velcro could help keep this closed so that if its sideways wind to the tent the rain wouldn’t find its way over, and the overlapping flap wouldn’t make excessive noise in the wind, maybe even at the bottom could help prevent some of the material flapping together so much. Changing the current zipper setup to a 2-way zipper would allow the fly to be opened from the top down, so that you could vent the tent in good weather, helping to avoid condensation since the warm damp air would escape at the top, and also allow you to vent the tent while still maintaining privacy in situations like being in campgrounds or camped with friends. That same 2 way zipper could still be opened from the bottom for folks that are using exterior ladders to enter and exit the tent. It would still also allow the G-zila style tent fly kit to be used so that you could maintain good venting in light rain. I’ve added a quick drawing to this so that maybe it makes more sense than my poor explanation. If ever @GFC wanted to make a mockup tent we would be more than happy to test it and give good feedback, hint hint nudge nudge.
Glad to hear we were in the same boat after hanging out this last weekend. I love EVERYTHING about the GFC except the window design/layout on the tent. It’s the hugest gripe I have and I know for a fact that more people are seeing the pitfalls of the current layout.
If you camp in the elements (like you guys do), you start to see why the current window design just really “doesn’t work”. While I have no where the amount of time in the GFC that you guys do, after 50+ nights, I have wished similar changes were being made. The addition of having zip down windows would also fix the privacy issues but still allow proper airflow as the hot air rises. That hot air rising is only trapped right now which leads to the honey comb roof “sweating”. Sounds like a window fix could really kill 2 birds with 1 stone here…knock off privacy and decreases in condensation!
I truly do hope @GFC takes these requests into consideration because it would drastically improve what is already a great product!
Nicely written up @DirtTrailsWanted ; I second this. I may not have as many nights as you and @GainzGFC but some adjustments like this would totally change the feel of the tent and be a HUGE improvement. The current design works and that’s about it. There’s a lot to be desired.
Many brands have some awesome tent designs and I believe if @GFC could improve in this one spot, it would really keep them ahead of the competition.
With that said… I’d like to also see pockets! Wouldn’t really help with wind any but man I’d love to have a spot to store things inside
Every time I sleep in the tent, I miss my iKamper windows and how they zipped up from the bottom But other than that, I love the camper
I’m with ya on the pockets as well, at least a sleeve that’s able to hold a nalgene would be GREAT! But I’ll settle for the windows to be fixed lol.
Age isn’t always the factor. Mine is brand new, second night in some high winds 20-30 with almost 40 mph gusts and the tent struts will compress 2-4 inches. I am parked into the wind as well.
i’ll have to look into solutions for the struts to keep from compressing.
The tent flaps and is loud but I expected that probably would be the case.
I don’t have most of these problems as i didn’t purchase side doors.
Not sure if I got lucky but my Mar '22 tent was just replaced under warranty (Thx GFC) and it is soooo much better in the wind. Old tent very loud flapping in 30-40 mph, this one (same style, not upgraded design) the doors are much tighter and it is not noisy at all.
I certainly have had condensation issues and they are no fun.
Not sure I would prefer the zippers to zip down on doors as it seems more chance for water ingress during rains. I do not have experience with other RTT’s so maybe issues have been solved.
Very good discussions though.
20-40 mph winds with gusts up to 46 mph for me the other night brand new tent installed 1 day prior and it flapped a lot a lot struts were trying to collapse 2-4 inches or so.
I initially tried out this idea for the maximal longevity of the tent fabric, but I think it may help slightly with wind (~15 mph is the most I’ve been in), sort of like how a loose guitar string can’t vibrate. There is a sweet spot between floppy and too tense, which is adjusted by changing the length of the paracord loop. The tension of the struts is resting on the 90 degree bracket.
And I use that cord to hold the roof with my foot when folding it, letting me use both hands to get a nice fold, like oragami.