Welcome to botches off road. Join us as we talk
about everything from gear reviews to trail stories,
tank camping to rock landing and all things to
do with the outdoors. If that intro is different
than the last intro, we're recording this episode
like a month in advance. And I was going to talk
to the guys about changing the intro for season
three. So there's a chance that you're getting
a little throwback intro there. Yes. We'll see.
Yeah. And you know what? Maybe The topic today
will already be figured out by then. Maybe not,
though. So we'll see. Which brings us to the
topic. So as you guys know, I've talked about
it a lot. I really like the idea of a rooftop
tent. Whether financially I'll be able to afford
that and still do the trips I want to do this
year is kind of the issue. So right now I'm looking
for a new tent. that's super fast -ish to put
up, can withstand 50 -degree winds, rain sideways,
and that's comfortable for the family. So today's
episode is gonna be a little bit of a tent search,
and we're gonna talk about that. And we're just...
Yeah, well, and I think we want something taller.
Yeah, you want to be able to stand up. You don't
want to have to have a different space to change.
Yeah, so we already have like a two -person dagger,
which is really great for quick pop -ups. When
we're only doing a night, it's really quick,
dirty. They're super waterproof. But we're looking
for things that is almost as quick, that could
house all three of us comfortably, and is...
I like smaller but looking at pop -ups I don't
want to go with like the course style pop -ups
we've tried those I didn't like them so they
suck and I personally want something better waterproofed
if I could get a full rain fly I want one so
we're gonna do some looking around and of course
everybody knows the big elephant in the room
is a gazelle And gazelles, I've done hours and
hours of research. Alex and I both know people
that have them, and we both know people that
say they're great, and we both know people that
say they fucking suck. And it's just, I think
it comes down to a quality control issue. And,
oh, dude, I think the gazelle's just the easy
answer here. The problem is that, and this is
the problem we're gonna have with a lot of these
style of tents, the gazelle is just a glorified
hunting blind. Um, and they don't, I don't know,
they're, they're not terrible. They're just charged
too much for what it is. Yeah. I mean, in 469,
that was kind of like four to 500 is what I would
be looking at max to spend on a new temp. Um,
I get it. There is some bit of quality that you
do gain from paying a little more, but, um, from
what I've seen, from what I've heard, you don't
get that much extra quality with a gazelle so
the main reasons that I don't want a gazelle
is first of all the door I hate that door I've
tried climbing in and out of those and I'm a
big guy and they're not super easy to just like
climb in and out of and we have tripped over
the bottom doorway a few times so That's like
one of the, it's just a tiny like corner door.
The quality control has been very spotty on them.
All over the place. All over the place. So it's
just, to me, I look at it, yes it's cool, yes
it's what everyone else is doing, but it's too
expensive for what you get. And I can't say that.
Like, I could just go and get an off -brand Gazelle
and get the same thing. And that's, unfortunately,
what's led us down this path to look at things
like the Acacia. So, the Acacia... I do... Go
ahead. I will say, I really like the Gazelle
T4 Plus. That's the one that's got the stringed
-in porch in the front of it. I like that style
of tech, because it gives you both somewhere
that if it is raining, you can sit and play cards.
or somewhere you can go, you know, to bed in.
Yeah, I do like the T4 Plus. I do. Um, I think...
I think the T -Hex hub is a cool thing, a cool
concept, too. And the doors are changed. Isn't
the... The T -Hex is like our Veever, right?
It's like a seven -person, yeah. It's big. So,
unfortunately, that's too big for me. I don't,
I don't eat apples, but. The T -Hex is literally
our Veever tent with a floor. Right. It's, yeah.
Well, actually they're - Well, it's actually
practical, right? And your Veever's like a rectangle,
square. The G6 is identical to our Veever. Yeah.
So, you know, it is very cool looking, I'll give
it that. And they have enhanced - uh, pass through
for air, uh, circulation, ventilation. The doors
are different. If they made that in a smaller
scale, that would basically be what the Acacia
is. And actually the, the T -hex is literally
the, uh, it's literally the same as the Viver
just with a floor put in it. And then like some
minor design changes, but it's the same footprint,
same size, same setup. Is it the same shape?
as far as it being a hexagon? They're all six
-sided. Oh, okay. Yeah, so I mean, and that itself
says, and for listeners here, the T -hex hub
is $870, so it is nowhere near what I wanna spend
for a three -person family. So we are not gonna
do that one. What? There are other options, and
that's where we were kind of going back with
the Acacia 10. The Acacia is very similar. Oh,
gosh. Let me get back up here. Yeah, very similar
to the Gazelle. It is a pop -up style. It's pretty
close to the same shape. It's got different doors.
It still has a... What would you call that? It's
got a bathtub floor, but it is Velcro. But it's
Velcro -ing. So similar in a lot of ways. It's
got way better ventilation. And there's a couple
different options of rainflies for the Acacia.
So I'm looking at it. There's three different
rainflies. Yeah, the issue is that their website's
kind of confusing when it comes to what you actually
get in each one of these. for rain fly. So there's
a standard rain fly that you get, and then a
large rain fly that you could buy for $130, that's
supposed to also be an insulating layer. And
depending on which tent you get, there's a whole
other rain fly that goes a little farther than
the standard. So if you go on Amazon, I'll send
you a link. This one. Comes with the slightly
larger one. This is a space acacia light. Yeah,
that's what I'm not a white one, right? This
one's like white and green. Yep the band so This
comes with like a mid -range rain fly that comes
down about halfway down the tent There's a large
rain fly that also has a like awning on it and
then there's a small rain fly that only covers
the tippy top of the town so There's a lot of
options this uh This acacia light though with
that rain fly that comes about halfway down dude.
That's that's what I for 227 that's bang. That's
where are you finding this for 227? Amazon oh,
I have mine for 469. So yeah, I want your link.
Oh, you're looking at the two to three person,
right? Yes, this this one's two to eight two
to eight Oh, no, this is two to three. You're
right, you're right. Yeah, that one is quite
small. I'm worried on that size. Well, still,
there's a four to six in the same link with the
same rain fly. Yeah, and that one's 469, and
that's the one I've been looking at all day.
The second other issue is the amount of YouTube
videos reviewing this are very, very few. You
have Acacia, and then you have a couple real
small timers. that have looked at it. And there's
really not a huge platform for these. And they're
new. Like, they've been added within the last
couple years, I think. Like last year, I'd say.
Their copyright, I think, is 20 .25 on their
website. Not that that matters, I think. So they're
a new company, but they look really promising.
And they've been one of them that... I've been
kind of looking at. Now, for that price... I
don't know, dude. Here we are. We're 10 minutes
into the video. Problem solved. Get the Acacia.
I love it. Yeah. So, the other option for close
to the same price but more insulation, and I've
also seen one of these in the wild, is the Free
Spirit Recreation Hub 4XL Tent. So these are
a lot closer to an ice shanty style, but they're
also insulated normally. You don't have to buy
this separately. And it would be considered like
a true four season pop -up. Dude, I don't even
see that. Send me a link to that one. Yeah. Let
me copy, paste. There you go. Now this one's
sold out, and one of our buddies who switched
from a forerunner to a jeep, he's mean, and we
don't like him anymore. Who is that? Drew. Oh.
I'm just kidding, Drew's a great guy. Please
don't arrest me. He got one of these, and this
thing is pretty cool, I will say. And it's got
a stove jack for a wood stove? Dude. Yeah, this
is sick. This is sick. It's also $700, so...
I mean, at $700, you're getting close to Temu
Rooftop tents. But not one's big enough for your
family. No. It's just, that's a lot of money.
And, you know, that was something I wanted to
check, too. I thought I saw something with the
Acacia having a... entry for like a AC, but I'm
not seeing it, so maybe that was a different
tent I was looking at, but... No, I'm pretty
sure the Acacia does. It has an inlet for a diesel
heater. Yeah, I think it's a diesel heater or
AC, but it doesn't matter, obviously. You just
use either or. But... Yes, it does. Yep, it does.
Hassle -free smoke jack. Yep. What I like about
the Acacia, and I know you're not... too worried
about this, but for winter camping, it would
make a huge deal. Is that inflatable base? Yeah.
So the inflatable base, they offer with this.
I just watched a guy drive on top of it with
his Jeep and it didn't pop. I saw a guy drive
over it with a fucking excavator and it didn't
pop. Yeah. So that's cool. It also floats in
the water. And I watched two videos of people
camping on the water with these. I'm not interested
in that. They say that you need the inflatable
part for insulation for winter camping. I would
say the only real benefit I see is the fact that
it's a huge boom for winter camping. Yeah, and
honestly, having that floor, not only is it good
for winter camping, I would imagine, but it's
also a barrier. It's comfortable. It's going
to be a lot more comfortable than whatever ground
you're on. Um, I just, I'm not interested in
paying. It's like 400. What is it for the floor?
Is it like $400 for the floor, right? Did you
realize the Acacia is like fully insulated? Yeah.
I didn't realize that. They, they, they say that
canopy, that large one makes it a true double
layer tent or whatever they call it. Yeah, but
it's also got like the the reflective insulation
on the inside just all the time I Didn't see
where that was Yeah, no, it's fully insulated
dude all all the time whenever you put the sides
down oh The doors the whole thing if I Didn't
see that part from what I've seen on the inside
of it. I didn't see that It's got the same type,
like a safety blanket type. Oh gosh. It's the
type of insulation they've got. So I'm not saying
it's going to be like super warm, but it's enough
that it reflects heat back at you. Oh yeah, OK.
Yeah, he did drive over it with a tractor. Cool
beans. Let's skip ahead here, so. You can really
see if you skip to the part where he's got it
floating on water. Yeah, no, I see he doesn't
walk through the inside of it It's got like that
reflective material. Yeah cool That's cool That's
uh, and so this is kind of my option right now
and this is what I'm thinking of but you know
the hub for XL 10 From free spirit is also a
very good -looking 10. It's It is insulated It's
well thought out. There's a nice large door.
When it's summertime, you could take these sides
off of each one of these sides. They Velcro.
You could pull all those off and just have a
screen room. Um, and while we're here, uh, well,
we're talking about tents that you're not getting
that are sick. Uh, the apex, uh, Oh, what's it
called? There's an apex stat and it's a eight
or Eight by eight canopy with tents that can
zipper around the outside so you can build like
Full tent cities basically that are fully waterproofed
That thing's really fucking sick Yeah, I have
one I've wanted those for a long time because
it would be so convenient like let's say we're
winter camping right you Put two of the canopies
together everybody gets their own tat You put
them all around one wood stove in the middle
The whole fucking thing is one. Yeah. Yep. Yeah,
what is it? Apex Camp. It's a... Yeah, they have
a whole cube system with like a pavilion type
thing in the middle. It's cool. I think it would
be a little much for solo, but this would be
a cool idea if you had a family. I don't know
if I'd want my friends that close to me either.
Like, connected, like, five feet away. The way
I look at it is you have, like, two or three
canopies. It'd just be nice for the ability to
run one heat source that could heat all of it.
It's just resource saving, basically. Yeah, so
that is really cool. The Free Spirit is one of
them. What's the other one? Gazelle, we already
talked about that. We're not doing that. And
then... There's another one. It's called like
space cube or some shit like that. I don't remember
It's another style pop -up, but it's like they're
like fourteen hundred dollars. They're fully
insulated And they're very cool They're very
similar to the free spirit ones But I'm not paying
fourteen hundred dollars for a fucking ten either
because that is at that point. We're just at
rooftop tent range so right and This is just
kind of like a preliminary thing There are a
few different other pop -ups. Like there, there
is the inflatable pop -up route. Um, but I'm
looking for like high wind resistance and I'm
honestly, it's like electric cars. Like I'm just
not a believer yet to whether I, you know, like
I haven't ever seen an inflatable before and
I'd love to get my hands on one that says it
can withstand the wind. So, but my fear with
the inflatables are. Let's say you get out to
go camping, right? You bring your tent with you.
But for whatever reason, a mouse decided to get
into it the night before and chewed a tiny little
hole. Your whole trip's ruined. If a mouse chews
through a normal tent, you can still put the
tent up, maybe slap some duct tape on it, you're
good. Yeah. So, one of them that I was looking
at, Hemiplanet, and I just saw one for sale on
Marketplace and I really wanted to get it. I
saw it years ago when I started camping solo
before I met Sienna. And it's a hemi -planet,
and it's got a whole exo -inflatable skeleton
to it. And those ones have, I think, one -way
valves or something. So if there's a hole in
one of them, it doesn't compromise the whole
thing to leak. It just compromises that section,
which obviously is still going to create some
issue, but it doesn't collapse your whole tent.
So it might give you a chance to patch it later.
Um, what I do, what I do like about the inflatables
though, is you get the ability to have like a
cabin style tat that sets up fast, has lots of
space without having all the downsides of a cabin
style tat. Yeah. I mean, I mean, having the sticks
and stuff like that is kind of a pain in the
ass, especially when you're trying to put all
these poles in. Um, so like having an inflatable
one's cool, but One, most of the inflatable ones
are pretty large. Which really isn't that big
of a downside. Yeah, my thing is if they're large,
they catch wind. And that's where I'm... And
then footprint, right? Like footprint's a big
thing. One of them I'm looking at, $319. It's
a nice cabin, like A -frame style. And it's 9
.8 feet long by 6 .4 feet wide. That's not that
big. I think that's a big footprint to me. Like,
there are a lot of spots that I camped on. You
said nine by six? Yeah, it'd be almost 10 foot
because it's 9 .8, so almost 10 foot. Okay, so
it's six and a half feet. To put that in perspective,
our $100 tent that we used for a couple years...
That's double that size. It's 18 feet? Yes. It
is not 18 feet long. The big tat? I don't think
so, buddy. Our big $100 one? Okay, it's 17, but
still, it's 16 .7. Are you sure? Yes. That's
crazy. But I, for, I mean, all disclosure, I
think that's way too big, too, but... Yeah, it's
not, really size isn't that big of a deal if
you're doing solo style trips. Yeah, I mean,
I guess for me... You've had issues like a handful
of times when you were out with MST. I've had
issues quite a bit with finding good spots. At
least where we find camp spots at, like we're
not super picky, but we did find one spot, it
was basically a quarry. And we had one spot for,
or I'm sorry, two spots for an actual tent. One
was really close to the water. The other one
was on a moss patch and under the moss was rocks
in the quarry. Um, the other spot, there was
a lot of unlevel ground, like, and I'm talking
like one to three foot difference. So it was
really hard for us to find a patch that was just
level and big enough for the sixth person. So
we ended up going to the two person just because
we did find one patch that was that. So like,
I think if I make that my only tent that I have,
that's a consideration that I need to think of.
And the reality is, is I will be going on more
trips like this. So it might be something I need
to think of. Will I carry the two person with
me just in case? Probably. I like to have it
and it packs down small enough to that doesn't
really hurt anything And I've had other people
that want to come out and they don't have a tent
like Hassan He said he didn't have the tent in
one time. I'm like cool. I have a spare in my
truck Why I have a spare tent. It's a small tent
like I can it doesn't take up much space more
than like a five pound tuba hamburger That's
a good comparison. They're very close So, I don't
know. It's like Lightfighter one size, but it's
a two person. Yeah. So, I mean, like, no, it's
not a big deal for Footprint, but for me, it's
a consideration. That's just for me. And also,
the one that we had, the Cortan, which is pretty
similar in size, I would say, to yours. Yeah,
your old one. It was just too big. Like, we felt...
I don't know. It's odd to say, but we almost
felt uneasy having all that space. Well, to be
fair, the core set, you had it opened, like,
the full size at first. You really should have
the wall closed in. Yeah. Because that's supposed
to be two tents. Yeah. And I wish I could have.
The kid kept ripping them off, and he ended up
ripping one of the tie -downs on it, just trying
to pull it down. So... Yeah, that tent I'm just
really was not I'm just gonna send this one.
I just found to you. It's uh, I Seen those. Yeah,
those are cool looking, but they look like fucking
sales, dude it's Sales aren't that big of a deal
if you ground guide them properly I mean look
at what the army puts up dude. Those things are
fucking massive. Yeah, and we'll we have those
in like 70 to 100 mile an hour winds without
a problem. But that's because we ground guide
them down. I guess my issue is how much pressure
can you put on inflatable rails, you know, like
down pressure from the guide lines? How much
can you put down without it giving? We've got
Army tents that are inflatable that put up with
crazy amounts of wind. Yeah, but is this up to
that standard? I don't know. I'm just saying
that it is possible. I'm sure. This thing is...
This space capsule thing. It's cool. They don't
even have a brand. It's so ugly. I think it looks
cool. I don't know that it is... I would be worried.
So, like, if you look at the front picture of
it, the doorway, there's this massive overhang
from what I would consider the rain fly, maybe.
And then there's like a... Yeah, to collect water.
Yeah. There's like a four inch gap between the
actual door and all I can see is a fucking puddle
to dip your feet in when you open the door This
thing looks terrible Like I'm sure they're like
if you're gonna make something like this why
wouldn't you make it have an awning that pulls
out that encloses like a Like the octagon style
tents that would go straight down towards the
ground To like push the rain off the sides and
then you would have a festival that it would
be more aerodynamic as well. So to this, this
doesn't make a huge amount of sense to me. But
it's cool. The other one that makes no sense
to me, but I've been seeing all over the place,
are the inflatable rooftop tents. Yeah. It's
literally just an inflatable tent that you set
on your roof and strap to your tires. What's
the point? Yeah, I'm not about that either. I
think that's silly. Like it can't be that much
faster. It really can't than a regular rooftop
tent or at that point just put it on the ground
Which they do it's an option thing. I don't know
and that's people do that There's no point at
that point You lose all the functionality and
reason and not that there's a ton But there is
some functionality and reason to having a rooftop
tent for some people So it does it just doesn't
make sense to me And the only thing that it has
that a normal ground tent doesn't is that you
can easily level it with the vehicle. Right.
Which is, I mean, really doesn't take that much
more for you to just level a regular tent or
rooftop tent either. So I mean, it's really not
that it's just pointless. So yeah. So I mean,
like a case is cool. And so like you might be
asking like There are different style pop -ups.
There are pop -ups with the legs, and that is
kind of something like I don't think I want to
go towards. The core was a similar style to that,
and it was a pain in the ass. I don't like the
ones where you like the core where you got to
flip the leg down and then slide it up. Yeah,
and then toggle it. There's just, look at all
those extra moving parts too. Yeah, like my poo
castle is like that, but it's small and it's
hand, you know, it's taller. Right. And once
you get into something the size of the core,
it was a pain in the ass. Oh, yeah, yeah. It
was really kind of annoying. And having those
legs like, so we actually folded ours up after
a heavy rain or it was a slight rain. and dirt
and grit were already getting in the legs that
were sliding and collapsing into themselves.
You're already having a hard time just putting
them in with all the dirt and grit and mud that
was on the floor that fell all over the tent.
And it was like, there was, I mean, granted for
the gazelle, not much different, but all of those
parts are on the inside of the tent. So they
would collect that theoretically. instead of
flipping and, like, collapsing the way that that
one does, the gazelle just pops out with, like,
a spring. Right. And it folds easier when you're
folding it down. You don't have to, like, play
with the direction of the legs like we did. We
were trying to figure out, okay, how does this
leg supposed to fold? Yeah. Nope, not supposed
to fold that way. I'm pretty sure that's backwards.
So, like, it was just more, like, and, yeah,
I'm sure if we learned it, it would be a lot
easier, but... That right there told us everything.
And then the space, the fact that the kid tried
to rip the partition. And to be fair, that partition
was junk. Yeah, it was. Yeah. I mean, the partition's
only held on by like nine points. There's like
two on each side of the floor, one midsection,
one towards the tops, and then the very top.
And like if... If they had the partition built
in rather than clip in, it would have been so
much better. Or a zip, like a zipper. Yeah. Perfect,
like zip it on, zip it off if you don't want
it. Cool. And then have a zip in door. Not only
that, the partition only had one door opening
and it was right in the middle. And because of
the way that it opened, you couldn't really just
roll it back or anything the way that the tent
was shaped. So there was no... The partition
was... kind of useless. And it wouldn't work
good as like a super well, like insulating factor
either, because where you have them clipped in,
there were gaps, like three inch gaps on every,
like, yeah, it might help some air, but. I would
give that core tent like a solid, uh, one season,
like not even a multi -season. It was a one season
time. It's cool for like camping at state parks
for a weekend. Yep, and perfect. It's perfect
in the summer. Yeah, perfect like no rain fly
Now I would like if I was to score that tent
out of one out of ten I would probably give it
a four or a five and Yeah, because it's big it
does work It is semi waterproof, but it's not
torrential downpour proof We already had that
issue it barely rained and we got water in it
and dude The Veever pop -up gazebo is marked
down to 150 right now. Yeah, that's nice. You
should buy one of those just to make a second
one to connect. So we actually, we did a trip,
we did a trip to my grandpa's ranch back in August,
I want to say. And we actually put, we popped
the canopy up, the gazebo, and then we put the
swag inside it. and then just rolled all the
swag doors open. That way, I could sleep outside
the swag on my cot. Kaylin and Jackson could
sleep in the swag. But if I wanted to stay up
later, she could close the swag up, and they
could be in there without me bothering them.
That worked really, really well. Yeah. Now...
That's not gonna work for like an overland style
trip. I'm not saying it's like an every, but
for a trip where I'm setting up and staying for
four days, it was more than perfect. Right, right.
Yeah, I mean, I think the issue too, yeah, like
I said, is time and effort going into making
the tent. So like when Cian and I were building
that tent out, the core, probably user, first
time I ever put it together, it took... two people
to figure this thing out two or three I think
someone else I think Alex helped us put it back
together um because he put it together originally
and yeah I set it up and tore it down alone and
it wasn't too bad right but and so like for me
not knowing anything I was like dude what the
fuck am I doing like yes I know these legs are
supposed to extend um but then it was like going
to each corner because of how big this thing
was and pulling each corner out and then going
back to each corner pulling it out it's just
like Okay, I could have already been set up here
with my dagger and And yes, you gain the space
but man it was just not It just wasn't what I
wanted it to be and what I thought it would be
I guess Just wasn't it dude Like if you could
find a teepee with a floor, right? like Because
you can get, like, those five -person teepees.
They're one pole. You stake them out and then
put one pole in the middle. When it comes to
ease of setup and quickness of setup for a ground
tent, that's... You know, there's nothing better.
I wouldn't mind that, except for the head space
is very much just, like, in the middle. And then
other... Which is... That's more than fine, because
you put the beds around the outside. Right, right.
And, uh... And then, otherwise, I think, again,
just goes back to footprint. Like, it's a consideration
if it's not the biggest thing, but it's what
shies me away from that. It's smaller than your
six -person. How big's your six -person? Uh,
you know, I'm not sure. Six -person, I'm not
super, like... Six -persons for, like, a three
-day, I'm not super concerned with footprint
as much. It's the overlay and style, um, tricks
that we do where it's like, I want something
that can do both comfortably. You just, you're
not, you're not going to find that. You've got
to, you got to find a way to just, you know,
cause no matter what you do, the Acacia and a
TP are about the same size. TP is easier set
up, but has no floor. Um. Well, and that's why
I'm, that's why I'm searching like this. Like
I know I'm not going to find. the perfect tent,
right? I know there's nothing in between, but
I want to find the best thing that can check
the boxes as much as I can. Like, I want a good
footprint and easy setup, but I want to keep
that footprint pretty minimal but comfortable.
And it's like, it's really hard, and that's why
I've gone back and forth with this, and that's
why, like... I mean, that brings you down to
swag territory, and that's it. Right. So that's
like the foot, the footprint minimal goes down
to like backpack style and swags. Like, yeah,
it's, there's not much I could do there. Sienna
would like to have something that she could stand
up a little bit in. So that brings that, that
changes things obviously. And then if you want
something to stand up in and you want to be able
to overland with it, that brings you down to
teepees. Right. Teepees only in the middle, pop
-ups and. Not even pop -ups. If you're worried
about footprint, pop -ups are quite a bit bigger
than a four -person teepee. Yeah, a four -person
teepee, I would say, is just like a... It's got
the same footprint as what, like, a gazelle would
have. Like, a gazelle's footprint is not that
big either. They're six by eight. Like, they're
not very big. Yeah, but the issue is, is like,
at that point, you have a teepee... the most
headroom that you get is in the center, and then
you have a gazelle -style tent, not, we're just
saying that style tent before anyone's saying
anything. Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. Where you have
that all around. But then the gazelle takes up
significantly more space in the truck. You're
right. The gazelle isn't as good in the wind,
the gazelle isn't as good in the rain. See, and
that's, so I actually had, and I wanted to...
Talk about that too actually because I've had
people that have in the YouTube videos where
they're in snowstorms and they got every corner
of the gazelle every tie and guide out and They're
like, yeah You can't even tell there's a windstorm
other than the sound and then you have other
people that are like they suck and I'm like Okay,
so is this user error? Because I've I've watched
videos of people in snowstorms or gazelles and
they're like again if you if you ground guide
a 10 out properly, it almost doesn't matter what
its shape is. Right. But, and I'm not saying
the Gazelle's bad in the windstorms, but a TP
by design, by shape is better. Yeah, by aerodynamics,
it's gonna be better than a giant wind sail like
that, so. Dude, here's a TP with windows, with
a floor, everything you would want. It's 10 by
10, okay? A touch bigger than a Gazelle, but
not unmanageable. For 200 bucks send link. I
think I'd know which one you're talking about
It's the guy gear Yeah, they guide your 10 bite
yeah, so like now now we look at the outer frame
of this and It's got the one pole in the middle
and it's got a shit ton of guidelines on the
outside But you only generally need the ones
in the, at the top in the middle. The only time
you need the side ones is if it's like a death
storm. So you could easily get, and you might
not even need to guide, guide rope it out. If
it's, you know, if it's a nice July day, all
you gotta do is pop the pole up and put the,
the outside stakes in. Sure. Let's see. Let's
see what kind of bathtub it's got. Doesn't look
like it's got a bathtub, but... It's a floor.
It's not necessarily a bathtub. It's like a one
-inch bathtub. Yeah, I'd like to get like a two
to three inch, but I'm sure there are some teepees
like that. Let's look up some teepee tents here,
guys. Teepee popper. Oh, that's a tee popper.
Nope, never mind. I just want a teepee. I just
want to see what's going on here. And like, a
TP, you don't see a bunch of people use it, but
in your situation, for the amount of space you
have, it's almost perfect. Yeah, I guess. Because
I mean, what the... Let's see... I... Where's
the pack down size, like, shape? They don't really
show it, because all you do is pop the pole down
and then roll it into a tiny little... almost
a stuff sack. Yeah. Yeah, the One Tigris, which
I've heard some pretty decent stuff on One Tigris.
They actually has a vent for a wood stove to
hot tent. Correct. And that's something I've
considered. Oh, this one does not have a floor.
Most of the One Tigris is not going to. We want
a floor. What is this one? Dome camp five to
six season Yeah It's definitely a consideration,
but I think I think I am looking I agree with
you. I'm just saying like The teepee is gonna
be the closest you're gonna get to an everything
But that that guide gear one every picture is
it full of water Oh, we got to go back. I go
down. Go back, yeah. Look at the reviews, dude.
Like, every picture in reviews, it's like, oh,
this is such a nice tent. It's like out in the
dry day. And then you get to anywhere where it's
puddle. Puddle. Ooh. Puddle. Oh, god. Puddle.
Yeah, see? And that's why you look at reviews.
That's why we do this. And like, a lot of people
were doing this episode. And a lot of people
might be like, wow, this did not need to be an
episode. But in a way, it kind of does. You could
hear the. thought process and why I'm talking
to Alex as an opposing force, because I do value
having an opposing force to challenge my ways
of thought, because usually I'll get set into
something or a style, and I don't really want
to get out of that. I'm pretty sure. So it's
good to have someone oppose it. I don't know
what we were even talking about earlier that
I was just like, why don't we do this? And you
were like, oh, yeah. I don't even know that I'm
like opposing you per se, I'm just like trying
to come up with other options that work for you.
Right, challenging, opposing, like just another
voice. I agree. I agree. The Acacia is probably
the best thing you're going to find. Yeah, there's
really not anything else out there around this
price point that gives what the Acacia does that
isn't the Gazelle. Here you go. $29 .99. You
can get a survive tent that you just take a piece
of string and you tie it to two trees and then
drape it over like a tarp. Yeah. Everything you
need. Yep. It's just... So yeah, this is the
issue. This is why we're talking about it, guys.
So, I mean, and going through this, it has kind
of whittled things down and solidified my belief
on it. Now, we could go to Temu. Let's go to
Temu and see for the price point if we could
find something better. So that's always a gamble
obviously, but Let's see. I'm just I'm not I'm
not done with the teepee thing I'm still gonna
see if I can find one that you know, it's actually
good cuz I want a teepee right like for me You
know, I always I always dreamed of being in an
old -style Native American teepee and just travel
nomadically, but... I don't even have it for
a design reason. I like the teepee style because
when it comes to quick setup for a ground tent,
you cannot beat the teepee, period. The swag
gets close, but a teepee, it's one pole and four
sticks, you know? Yeah, you just have your corner
guides and your stake downs and the pole in the
middle. Now in X like a modern TB with extendable
metal pole would be a lot better than carrying
around a fucking 12 foot pole Oh, I'm definitely
only interested in ones that have an adjustable.
Yeah Do you imagine just having to like strap
that to the roof? Be like, oh, okay So and like
there's a there's a lot of inflatable tents here.
Holy shit Yeah, dude on ten. So there are Tps
that have like these these Bug net with bathtub
base inserts you can put in them But they only
fit like one person on any side Find your let's
not your fever campaign hundred and thirty common
a Little bit cheaper there than on Amazon right
now, right? So we got the fever. Look at that.
You got a pop -up so I wish I could show you
guys this but if you guys look up like a pop
-up blind for hunting almost the 100 % like almost
the exact same fucking thing as what a gazelle
is like just like think about it same door style
less windows maybe and it's camo like if anything
camo is probably the better option to have While
you're out camping special just wait just wait
till gazelle comes out with the real tree the
mossy It's literally like it'll be like my rhino
180 where two of the sides are see -through.
Yeah, you get people that are like reviewing
they're like This is like this is a gazelle.
This is a pop -up hunting shack And and the thing
is is the price difference is the other big thing
the for these same style pop -out hunting shacks
you're looking at $70, $80 for the same thing,
and just KMO. There's minor differences. The
hunting blind ones have big doors that let more
air in, and they're slideable, or big windows,
I mean. So it's not quite the same as the tat,
but it's minor fabric changes. That's all they
do. Let's see here. I'm trying to find one that,
I mean, they all seal pretty, pretty well, um,
as far as like the hunting ones go. And I don't
know why. I'm going to go back up here and try
to change. So I have pop -up tent. Let's see.
I'm going to go to four season tent and see what
they do. I actually might've just found a pretty
decent TV. All right. So we got four season tents.
Look at that teepee, $175. It's a big one. Um,
dude, that's the thing is TP's are, I just wish
there was a way to get a TP with a decent floor.
Like, why has that got to be so hard in 2025?
Yeah, it shouldn't be that hard to get a bathtub.
I think the, I think the way around that is the
A -frame style tents. They usually come bathtubed,
but they do have the slower, uh, slower times
to... Whoa, that's, okay, that's weird. Yeah,
they have all sorts of weird design tents here
on Temu. Um, a lot of them are pretty common.
The ones like the hiking tents. Oh, here we go.
This is the, oh, I got to send this to you. So
this is a, uh, hunting, fishing, all weather
tent. Let me just copy this and send it in the
chat. This is the same fucking thing pretty much.
I'm sorry listeners that I'm not gonna put all
these links in the show notes. It's a lot of
work. This is on Temu. It's a heavy -duty all
-weather fishing tent. Extreme cold weather,
negative 22 Fahrenheit to negative 32 Fahrenheit.
No pull set up. It's an Oxford cloth. This is
the same style tent. I can't even look at it
because I don't have Temu installed on anything.
Oh, I just have it on my browser. I tried to
pull it up on the browser, and it wants me to
log in, but I don't... Oh, just click no. It
tried to do that, too. I just said no, and I'm
good. Where's no? I just click... Oh, my God.
Now it needs me to slide to complete the puzzle.
Yeah, I never had all that issues. I just went
in. Here, let me just screenshot it. Oh, I'm
in now. I'm in. I'm in. Did you get to the link?
Dude, this is literally an ice shanny, but it's
a gazelle ice shank. Right, so... So this is
now made for cold weather. So what is that pod?
It's like a space cube. It's a YouTube video
that I was watching earlier. Shift cube. Shift
cube. All right. Tent. Oh, and then the first
suggested item under that for me is a woman's
thong. And she's got a real nice boat tail going
on. oh nice or maybe it's just the shift tent
shift pod that's what it is all right so take
a look at this now I'm gonna send you a link
to this this is what I was talking about before
tell me these two aren't pretty much the same
fucking thing oh that's pretty much the exact
this thing is fucking wild though Yeah, you look
at the ShiftPod Rover. Look at that. They have
a multi -cam edition. LOL. But you look at the
prices on these. The ShiftPod X Rover, which
would be probably the closest thing, almost identical
in design and look to the new Temu version here.
And it's got, like, a metallic reflective look
instead of, like, a blackened... But it looks
like it has the same hexagonal stitching on the
outside. It's got... Dude, this shift pod, though,
is sick. Oh, they're sick. Yeah. They've even
got connectable tunnels. Mm -hmm. Yeah. Oh, God.
All right. Six, $700 for the pod rover. 200 for
the tunnels 200 for the tunnels, but you could
put one diesel heater in there and being main
boom I That's what I'm saying. Like these are
actually like I can't think of a scenario where
we would need this right? Maybe if we're doing
like I Don't know a month -long Trip where we
stay in the same campsite for the whole month
For some reason right? It would be sick have
like three or four tents linked together With
like each of us have our own tent to sleep in
we've got one tent that we can go to for like
cooking and eating and games And we don't even
have to go outside. Yeah, I would I would put
this in like if we did like a week -long trip
and to winter camping territory and And I mean
winter camping like in like, North Dakota or
like somewhere like lots of snow, shit ton of
wind. Yeah, UP. But for like a week as a base
camp. Like this would be a base camp style. So
like for that, it's cool. I like the tunnel connector
idea. You could definitely pipe in a diesel heater
into the middle part of that tunnel connector.
Dude, this thing would be so sick as like a house.
Because think about it. No, no, think about this,
right? So like, you're homeless, right? You scrape
together $700, you buy this little shift pod
thing, you scrape together another $700, so now
you got two of them, and then you scrape together
$200, and now you're... It's like the cheapest
way to build a house, dude. For that price, you
could probably buy a pole behind camper or a
car to camp in. Just just putting this is bigger
than a car so no no listen. I would live in this
I'm sure you would I would live in it a for about
a couple weeks before I'd probably get tired
of living in this Because I'm sure there are
plenty of drawbacks. I Could long term live in
one of these with like a diesel heater in each
room I mean, I lived in a carport. That was that
thick -ass tarp in steel frame and But if I had
a diesel heater, oh my god, I would have been
living in luxury. I would have never left. I
could not live in this with like my wife because
she would bitch the whole time. Oh yeah. But
me personally, I could do it. That would be,
it'd be like luxury. Yeah, my fat ass, the door,
you see the door? Depends on which one you're
looking at. The ShiftPod X Rover. If you just
hover over the picture of it, the door. Yeah,
it's like a corn gazelle store. Yeah, I cannot
I'd have to bend over and like go sideways To
get in that fucking door. I'd catch all the snow
and water on the outside with my ass And then
I'd probably trip over them the little lip on
the bottom like I've done before on a gazelle
I'm just I'm good but this goes goes back to
the point that if The link that I sent you same
fucking thing I don't know. I love the shift
pod. That might be my new favorite ton of it.
You like it because of the tunnel, but I'm sure
we could find some tunnels. I don't even just
like it because of the tunnel. Like, it's just
a... And when I say it's my favorite, I just
mean it looks like a very well -built product
that's pretty well thought out. But I don't like
the fact that you're paying for that. And it
does... I have no use for it, right? Like, it's
really cool. I have no use for it. Hey, they
make an all -weather little outdoor kitty kitty
Like 23 bucks cat house insulated Yeah, I'm looking
at just four season tents in general Just seeing
what's out there because I'd like to see you
get a four season something that if I wanted
if I was like Yo, Gavin, it's January We're going
camping. Like, even if it's just you, I want
you to be able to go, you know? So for my own
selfish needs, I'm trying to find it. You know
what? I think that... I think that four season
tents are somewhat negated by the use of a diesel
heater as well. Like... Yes and no. Four season
tent is gonna... Yeah, but a four season's gonna
be way better even with a diesel heater. Yeah,
and that's what I'm saying. Like, you have the
extra insulation. And you have a couple different
factors, I'm sure, with airflow and build. But
if you were to pipe in a diesel heater into a
three season versus a four season, I feel like
you'd still be warm. I think it's just heat retention
that would be the issue. But most diesel heaters
are like eight kilowatt diesel heaters or five
kilowatt diesel heaters. And if you're only pumping
into that 110, it shouldn't be an issue anyway.
Dude. The Outbreak 1550, the one that I have,
is on sale for $470 right now. Swag? Yeah. Okay.
You gotta get it through 23 .0 though, because
I don't know if they're pulling out of the U
.S. market or what, but it's hard to find them
right now. You know, that's what I should look
at. Oh, gosh. Let's look for swags. There are
like I have not found one you gotta type swag
tent on time. Yeah, that would probably Let's
see, you know Swags for two people. They're not
like the most common thing to begin with Because
it's really kind of a one -person deal, right?
But Once you get into the bigger ones, they are
pretty great. Yeah Let's see. Let's do Let's
do two person canvas two person canvas Sorry
guys, my dad is texting me about our business
and that's why you hear my phone going fucking
crazy Yeah, still not much Look at that heated
winter ice fishing tent. It's got bigger windows
four hundred and forty seven dollars I really
like This style of tattoo It's like your your
kind of your traditional a -frame with a like
Awning that can come off it that you can close
down in heavy rain. Yeah, I do I I don't mind
those and the footprint but again But but again,
that's like pretty much a one -person time. Yeah,
that's that's kind of where that goes I mean,
there's a lot of cool stuff on Temu, the issue,
and I wish we had spare money because I would
love to do an episode of, this is our budget.
Let's find the best tent for our budget on Temu
or something. I mean, like, that would be cool.
Oh, so here's a pop -up. Oh, this does not have
a full rain fly. Oh, man. They really lucked
out with that. If they did a full rain fly with
this tent. This could have been this could have
been good. Let's see So the other brand that
oh My god, what is this? Is this the answer to
all of Gavin's problems? Maybe maybe not Okay,
so this is kind of like the core tent but it's
a little bit smaller and folds up better a little
more thought out How Is it still got those stupid
poles, or is it the pop -out? Like, yes, but
they're different. Are they internal? Hard to
have an internal system, I'm sure. No, they're
internal of the rain fly. Okay, I mean, yeah.
I guess the other one was too, really. Not like
this? See. Not like this. Fast frame. Pop -ups,
thanks. All right. Let's check this out. I like
the full round fly. Dude, I actually really like
this tat. Like again, yes, it is that same kind
of leg, but it looks so much easier to put up
and down. Yeah. It does not look as bad. It doesn't
give the height that I want, but sitting height
isn't bad either. I mean, it's a little, you
could stand up in this. You just have to bend
over. Yeah. I mean, Does it give me height? 30,
almost 31. And I don't think that's a thing for
me anymore. Oh, well. Let's see. Cotts Tent Swags,
let's do... Yeah, Cockadoo is another company.
I know, it's their name. Sorry. They're working
on coming in from Australia into the U .S. and...
The products that they're coming out with, they're
solid fucking products. Yeah, their two -person
swag style is pretty similar. So I have one problem
with the swag, their two -person swag, because
this was the brand I was looking at before 23
.0. Their swag is a three -po or three -hoop
with a center pole. The problem I have with that
is now I have to climb in a smaller doorway.
Yeah. So it's not... You know, the whole point
in going to the 23 -0 was having the nice, big,
open door. Right. Yeah, now I'm just searching
up hub -style pop -ups on Tenno. And because
they're cool. Yeah, but like 90 % of it are Gazelle
remakes or... Yeah. And they're all ice -fishing
tents, which again, tells you, like... Dude,
but that that fast frame from cockatoo that thing
is fucking cool. Yeah, I really would like to
stay away from that But I think that's like a
number two contender Like other than the acacia
The the problem with that one again is you don't
have the standing space, right? It's it's only
it's only about five foot tall. So you'd you'd
have to bend over quite a bit, you know My neck
would be like hurting. Yeah You're not going
to stand up in this thing. Not a big deal, obviously.
But for what it is, this thing is solid, dude.
And it doesn't take up... Where was this when
I bought my swag? Because this is $188. I totally
would have bought this over the swag. Oh, for
the price difference alone. It might have been
worth it more. And now, don't get me wrong. The
swag is a much better tank. It's actual canvas.
It's... Um, like it's just overall. No, this
one's like, uh, standard tent material. It does
make it lighter though. And it might pack smallers,
but it does. It packs way smaller, but you can't
roll your, it doesn't come with bedding and it
doesn't roll it. Yeah. You can't, you can't roll
your bedding in it. Like you do a swag and it
doesn't have a mattress like a swag, which is
where, why I ended up going the swag route was
that I got you know, more for my money. Um, but
I really like, like, if I were looking for a
tent, like that's, that is now high on my list.
That thing is fucking sick. Yeah. There really
isn't much, man. Like if you go outside of like
Coleman's, you go outside of that typical, like
crawling style back in a backpack tent. Yeah.
And then you try to find something that's in
the middle that isn't a giant cabin style tent.
That isn't like one of those cheapo Coleman cabin
style tents. There really isn't much in the middle
and You have like the the gazelle styles and
that's I mean, that's kind of it like and Don't
get me wrong. There's if you're looking for single
-person tents There's thousands. Yes, not right
millions of options It's trying to find a tent
that meets all the criteria for a family of three.
Yeah a family of three um, decently warm, very
waterproof, um, but good ventilation for summer,
because, you know, we're looking for a four -season
too, right? Like, it's not just for one season.
Like, we could find a really good, easy, like,
uh, one -season tent just fine. Yeah, the cot
-style two -person, yeah, I've seen that. This,
this cot could, like, I don't, I usually shy
away from these cot -style tents, because they
don't have very good rainflies. This one's rainfly
goes all the way to the fucking ground. Yeah,
which means that you've now got a vestibule all
the way around like When I when I bought the
swag these guys were they had a couple of swags
on the market But they weren't like out there
yet, right? Yeah Now they're fucking out there.
They've got three or four options this side I
Should have paid more attention to these guys
because now I want one of these fucking contents.
I literally just found the timing gazelle Like
oh my god, literally and it's half the price.
Oh It's literally the team of gazelle. No. Yeah.
No, this is this is identical Like I okay in
all honesty I'd be interested at that for two
six two fifty six. That's a big fucking difference
Like that's my problem with gazelle is price
like once you get down to that price right there
some of that's not a little bit more manageable,
right like Yeah, like that's not ifs like the
like the door and stuff like that doesn't become
such a big problem when you get down into a lower
price again to where you're like, okay, like
it's a and At 250 it'd be even better if it works
with some of gazelles like sold for gazelle options,
right? Because gazelle has a lot of add -ons
for these tents and if you could buy a tent That
you know for half that and then just use gazelle
options it it makes it a lot more intriguing
Yeah, and I guess my other thing is too is like
what is so different for gazelle? That all of
these other like hunting hub style cabins have
like what's at this point like what's the difference
like are you ready? It's a floor window style
yeah, and wind resistance all right because a
hunting tech you know, the windows, they block
some wind, but not all of it. Right. Whereas
with, like, a gazelle, you can block 99 % of
the wind. Yeah, it's just, uh, they have a winter
sauna ice fishing tent. It's the same thing.
This actually looks very close to the Free Spirit
recreation one that we were looking at, the pods.
So, I mean, would I spend $218 on a Temuun versus...
something that like safer like Amazon, probably
honestly. I've seen people have just as good
as luck with Temu items than I have as with bad
luck, right? Well, I mean, shit, look at my Temu
pack, you know, easy pack down chairs. I'm not
saying they're the best chair out there, but
for the space issues I've had this year, they
were great. And then I bought an $80 23 .01 and
it was trash. And I guess this would be another
thing, too, is when you're looking for tents,
I don't think Temu should be ruled out either.
I would say that. And to wrap this episode up
a little bit, out of what we've found and what
we've looked at today, Acacia is still my best
option. And that's probably, if I do get one,
that will be my choice, probably. And just to
addendum what Gavin said, if you're buying a
Temu tent, don't plan on using it anywhere where
it's like life or death. Wow, yeah. And also,
remember, anything you buy on Tmoo, there's probably
no warranty on it. I'm going to champion that
you buy an actual, at least semi -name brand
product, right? Like something maybe off Amazon.
If you're getting a Tmoo one, you just have to
understand, if that thing breaks, there's no
one to support. Yeah, you have no support. And
a lot of the times, I think for a lot of consumers,
And maybe it's getting, like, now that customer
service is getting better with a lot of these
products, this might change, but a lot of consumers
just throw it away. Like, they know that it's
not, like, that even from Amazon and stuff, getting
ahold of some of these companies is, like, not
even worth it. But, like... Yeah, but at $218,
dude, I'd have a hard fucking time throwing it
away. Oh, yeah. I mean, and I'm not suggesting
you do that with a $218, but, like, I watched
a video today. Guy bought a Temu... um, pop -up
style 10 for the back of a Jeep, um, like, uh,
YJ? Oh my God, dude, Cockadood just solved one
of the problems I have with swags. And honestly,
if they had had this when I bought my swag, I
probably would have went with them. So they came
out with an awning that can go between two swags.
So like for us with the kid, right? He could
have his own swag and then the awning connects
to the... the two big swags. So it's like we're
in a semi -similar tent. So he could be in his
own space and give us more room. Right. And that's
the thing, too. Of course, when my kid gets older,
like seven, eight, something like that, starts
getting more independent. I'm going to buy him
just a little tent, see if he wants to be independent.
Yeah. I actually wanted to get Jackson a 23 -0
swag this year. for Christmas, but they pulled
out of Amazon, and that's the only way I could
have bought one. I think he, like, I don't know
how clingy he is to you, but, like, Jasper, there's
no way he's gonna be able to do that and pull
probably, like, five or six, at least. Well,
he's... Jaxxie's about to be five, so... But
my thing is... I'd like to get him one now, and
I want it to be a name brand tent, something
I can trust, because I want him to be able to
use this thing, like, you know, till he's, like,
25. Right. Like, I want this, him to be, like,
you know, in high school, and his buddies are
like, yo, dude, let's go camping. He's like,
bro, I got the best tent. You know what I mean?
Yeah. So there you go, guys. You just watched
us tent hunt and come up with pretty much the
solution. that we had from the gigo. Right, but
we enforced it. So we had a challenging, you
know, an oppositional side to help us try to,
like, talk us through it, which is Alex. It's
always good to do that a little bit. It's always
good to talk to friends and stuff, get some life
experience out of it. That's basically what a
lot of us have done with the Gazelle and why
we haven't... pulled the trigger on those. We
have a lot of life experience with it. We know
the price. And we know a lot of the downfalls.
There's just as many people, though, that say
that the Gazelle is a stellar tent. They'll always
use it. But for every good person, there's a
bad person with it. But that's the thing. The
Gazelle is a great tech. It is. I think if they
handled their quality control and they maybe
made a If they changed the door style a little
bit and made it a little bit wider, a larger
full -bodied rain fly and fix your quality control,
I think right there, it would be perfect. And
then that would be something that I would spend
the money on. Hey, 23 .0 just put three different
single -person swags on Amazon. Look at that,
guys. All right. Well, thanks, guys, for joining
in and listening in on our tent talk. And yeah,
see what I did there? Tent talk? Like Ted Talk?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, see? Yeah. That was non
-scripted. You're welcome. And we will see you
guys later on the next one. Later.