Geobloke
Posting Guru
I absolutely love our RV-4, but as you probably know they are big old beasts to transport around and way over the top for a single person on an overnighter.
As I have a lot of overnighters planned this Winter I have been looking for a smaller camp setup. It has to be;
1) Easy to set up, even in the dark
2) Discrete, no garish colours
3) Good all weather characteristics, especially wind and rain
4) Comfortable
5) Warm
My short list was a cheap second hand roof top tent (RTT), a back packing one man tent, bivvy bag (seriously I considered it) or an Oz inspired swag. The RTT was my preference, but good lord even the 2nd, 3rd and 4th hand ones were going for north of £800. A pity but, hey-ho. Plan B was a one man tent or Bivvy and I was about to click buy on a nice MSR tent when I saw an OzTent RS-1 up for sale. I confess I honestly thought the seller had mis-listed it and it should have been an RV-1. But no... :shock:
I have never seen an RS-1 for sale in the UK, so I went to have a look and well now I am the owner of this super mini-OzTent. Plus a Darche stretcher for it to sit on too. Never had a tent off the ground before and what a luxury it is to :mrgreen:
So the tent itself is everything you'd expect from an OzTent product, just in miniature. It is actually in my opinion the best of the OzTent range. Plus, it is big enough to get two adults inside, it is cosy but it is possible.
First job as far as I am concerned was to get this thing as waterproof as possible, so up with the tent and out with the garden hose and a good soaking to "season" the canvas. Often a forgotten task but it does make a difference to the effectiveness of the tents canvas.
The 1st class setup is to have the tent sat on top of the stretcher, it fits perfectly, with the RS-1 mattress and a sleeping bag. It is incredibly comfortable. Dark, so very dark inside. With the reduced air volume it is also quick to warm up as well.
The 2nd class setup is minus the stretcher. It is only slightly quicker to setup and is much lower profile.
I have now slept out in the tent on three occasions (once bumping in to Dave12345) and it is an incredibly warm and comfortable setup. It is really easy, intuitive to set up even in the pitch dark by head torch. I can highly recommend the RS-1 tent for anyone that enjoys solo camping or overloading.
The only minor downside is that it is a big ol bundle when compared to a back-packing tent. When packed up it is easy to move around. It will fit in the back of a Defender. I transport it across the second row seats when it looks like it is going to rain and on the roof rack when not. The stretcher is dinky, no bigger than a packed up camp chair and just sits in the footwell. I know it will not be to everyones taste or need but if you are in the market then take a look at this brilliant tent.
As we are going into the darker time of the year I have just modified the setup to make things a little easier with a strip of USB powered LEDs. These are water resistant and will fold up with the tent. All that it needs is the power bank to work. Hey presto one up-market comfortable tent for all weathers
As I have a lot of overnighters planned this Winter I have been looking for a smaller camp setup. It has to be;
1) Easy to set up, even in the dark
2) Discrete, no garish colours
3) Good all weather characteristics, especially wind and rain
4) Comfortable
5) Warm
My short list was a cheap second hand roof top tent (RTT), a back packing one man tent, bivvy bag (seriously I considered it) or an Oz inspired swag. The RTT was my preference, but good lord even the 2nd, 3rd and 4th hand ones were going for north of £800. A pity but, hey-ho. Plan B was a one man tent or Bivvy and I was about to click buy on a nice MSR tent when I saw an OzTent RS-1 up for sale. I confess I honestly thought the seller had mis-listed it and it should have been an RV-1. But no... :shock:
I have never seen an RS-1 for sale in the UK, so I went to have a look and well now I am the owner of this super mini-OzTent. Plus a Darche stretcher for it to sit on too. Never had a tent off the ground before and what a luxury it is to :mrgreen:
So the tent itself is everything you'd expect from an OzTent product, just in miniature. It is actually in my opinion the best of the OzTent range. Plus, it is big enough to get two adults inside, it is cosy but it is possible.
First job as far as I am concerned was to get this thing as waterproof as possible, so up with the tent and out with the garden hose and a good soaking to "season" the canvas. Often a forgotten task but it does make a difference to the effectiveness of the tents canvas.
The 1st class setup is to have the tent sat on top of the stretcher, it fits perfectly, with the RS-1 mattress and a sleeping bag. It is incredibly comfortable. Dark, so very dark inside. With the reduced air volume it is also quick to warm up as well.
The 2nd class setup is minus the stretcher. It is only slightly quicker to setup and is much lower profile.
I have now slept out in the tent on three occasions (once bumping in to Dave12345) and it is an incredibly warm and comfortable setup. It is really easy, intuitive to set up even in the pitch dark by head torch. I can highly recommend the RS-1 tent for anyone that enjoys solo camping or overloading.
The only minor downside is that it is a big ol bundle when compared to a back-packing tent. When packed up it is easy to move around. It will fit in the back of a Defender. I transport it across the second row seats when it looks like it is going to rain and on the roof rack when not. The stretcher is dinky, no bigger than a packed up camp chair and just sits in the footwell. I know it will not be to everyones taste or need but if you are in the market then take a look at this brilliant tent.
As we are going into the darker time of the year I have just modified the setup to make things a little easier with a strip of USB powered LEDs. These are water resistant and will fold up with the tent. All that it needs is the power bank to work. Hey presto one up-market comfortable tent for all weathers