IP 99000 waterproof solar plugs with plug on other side for solar charging without leaks or drilling. (OK, they don’t have to be IP 99000, but I’m too lazy to look up the real numbers). But make it easy to plugh in whatever solar is picked, and then inside plug to finish the deal for those of us to careful (OK, lazy) to drill holes in our rigs.
Handle on the upper back rail to grab easier for closing the tent.
Roof liner for when it is cold, to help keep condensation down. Or maybe even just make it with some Bed Rug type material on the ceiling of the tent. Would keep both light and condensation down. Although I hardly ever get any condensation, unless it is really cold and I’m totally zipped up.
Lock/latch covers stock, because the tailgate ones rusted up and wouldn’t open last year over the winter.
For me, I like single-walled and simple. But maybe have a double-wall tent for skiers etc who camp a lot in the winter.
Yea this would allow you to open the window and allow airflow when that light drizzle is happening. When/if it’s raining, I have found that most of the time you can’t have any of the windows open or else you’re going to get wet.
I would think that a two way window on either side would work quite effectively at providing privacy. With 1/2 of the canvas rolling up from the bottom you could enjoy ventilation and water rejection when up and great ventilation at night rolled down. The top portion would zip from the top down and have an expandable canvas inside that could be popped open to work as a vent that also offers protection from side gusting wind pushing rain inside the tent. When the two are zipped up completely it would offer superior protection from the elements without adding a lot of bulk or weight. The two things I am happy that the GFC doesn’t have. I owned a Tepui ruggedized Kukenam and that thing alone weighed more than my entire camper does.
Best of both worlds if someone were to take the time to design it properly.
Let me start off by saying: I agree that condensation is an issue (heated blankets aside) and it stems from the fact that there is no ventilation at the top
But I am curious about how everyone envisions fixing the issue. I see a bunch of people talking about switching the tent doors from opening at the bottom to opening at the top. I do agree that this allows for the top of the door/window to be opened slightly without opening the whole thing, allowing some ventialtion. But this creates an issue for entry and exit. If the whole door and window open from the top, this means that the entire door needs to open for you to climb in from the outside. If it happens to be raining, then you have to climb over the door flap which could potentially let in a bunch of rain. The current tent setup allows for you to unzip the door a little bit and climb in underneath the flap.
Maybe this is what everyone is talking about: but it seems to me that the window mesh needs to be on the outside of the tent and the wall on the inside. The inside wall could then be unzipped from the top creating a window and allowing ventilation. But the whole tent door would still be opened from the bottom.
Hopefully that makes sense. And again, maybe that is what everyone has been talking about. I just find it hard to visually all of these different descriptions.
Here is a visual that I made in paint. As everyone is familiar with, the green corresponds to the mesh material in the front of the tent. The orange corresponds to the heated blanked flaps. Similar to the front, the red would be replaced entirely with a mesh material but it could still be zipped open to create a door. And the blue would become the tent material. This would allow for the blue to be zipped down from the top, but the entire red door could still be entered from the bottom.
I’d love to see GFC start selling 3rd party items directly on their website, as well as at their installation locations. It took me quite a while to find many different components made by others for their campers. I’m sure I would have purchased a few items if they’d had them in stock when I picked up my GFC. I know many of these are small-batch items created at the time of order, but I’m also sure these smart people could find a way to help build the culture and ecosphere surrounding the GFC community.
I def think this is one of the better approaches or using the 2 way zippers. I would still like to see something about the bottom being open and being able to close that up.
All I know is that I miss my CVT Mt Hood window lay out and the cone vents up at the top. I know some folks say the vents at the top didn’t work but I can say for certain that the condensation in the CVT Mt Hood was SIGNIFICANTLY less. Between being able to crack the top of the windows AND having the cone vents to allow my hot a$$ breath out, it just worked.
So my old CVT MT Hood was basically an “inverse U” window. Sure you have seen the lay out online. Yes, it did/could make it more difficult to get in and out for those using the ladder. There have been ex-employee tents that have flipped the GFC windows and it looks awesome. It fixes so many of the issues IMO but again not everyone will be happy with the layout either way.
@GainzGFC Then maybe have that as an option. Inverse or regular and state pros and cons of both. I know it’s a little more work but in the end is it really?
Once they have a template down, I don’t see it being that much more work tbh. Maybe with time they could also see “85% of our customer base is selecting the new window layout” and they would just make the switch. Honestly, I would have waited longer even if needed for a different window layout.
I think if they offered both they would ultimately go away from even offering the option that we have because I don’t think that anyone would be selecting it.
The first round of SuperLites had a rear window that unzipped almost all the way around except for a small area in the bottom right corner. As a past SuperLite owner, this design was awesome for ventilation and privacy. GFC then switched designs to a rear window that has the same zip styles as the Platform Camper. So GFC has definitely experimented with different flap styles in the past.
Pretty much awesome. Why they switched is beyond me but there had to be a reasoning. It just seems so much more versatile and useful to have the windows like that.
Really appreciate Coastal’s note re: flaps. Invisible to us, very often companies have explored many different ideas internally and across products. Often our suggestions are not new for them - they just weren’t chosen, for internal reasons. Sometimes the right choice for a company doesn’t always line up with the right choice for an end-user. I try to keep this in mind when offering feedback. (and I think folks here are doing a great job)
Re: having different configurations as options. For a small company, an option can have big implications: two tents means two sets of patterns, potentially two supplies of zippers, parts, etc, two sets of procedures, two quality control plans, if it’s highly automated it potentially means two different automation setups… choices may seem easy but they have costs that aren’t visible from the end user’s perspective.
Just offering a little context for folks who haven’t worked in manufacturing or design, and if you already knew this, cheers.
Finally, back on topic, I am surprised no one has mentioned the wellnuts. I want the cool metal mount points that are on the topper in my platform camper. My two cents.
I think the biggest missed opportunity is the utter lack of t-slot on the interior of the camper. The outside is literally covered in it, but there’s barely any inside in comparison. I have an XL on a 6.5’ bed, and the mere two well nuts on each long frame member is frankly sad. Put some t-slot on there, and give us more reasons to buy GFC t-nuts and mounting accessories.
