The SEMA Show is now over. I left about 1pm on Friday because the halls were quickly becoming jammed with non-industry people. Not that I have anything against those people, but the crowds were so thick that you couldn't really talk business anymore. At 1pm, the line for these people to get in (at $100 each I believe) was about a half mile long, just at the West Hall. There were lines over at the other halls too.
I picked up the small sample compressor from the compressor company and they also gave me a larger second one. I'll be experimenting with both of them for my airbag suspension project.
Yesterday the Quadratec JTe pickup went to Moab to do some offroading and photography. I was invited to go along with my LJ and join the fun on the trails and the photography but I decided just to head for home. It didi sound like fun to join them but I've got too many projects going on and I need to get home. I left SEMA with 3 new projects for MORryde, one from the compressor company, plus projects already on my list - the headlight project from Auxbeam, a small project for Overland Outfitters and a few of my own. Lots to get done.
A company I work with occasionally is thinking of getting into the roof top tent business and they asked me for some information on the market, the types of tents out there and for some ideas on an RTT design that might set them apart from the crowd. I took these photos at the show to share with them.
A new trend in RTTs is the what I'd call the combination hard shell. The hard shell hinges up and the tent comes out the side.
Another growing trend is the vertical lift RTT. Smittybilt was showing this one.
This vertical lift from James Barroud has a matching awning.
A close-up of the tent-entry from under the awning.
Speaking of awnings, Rightline Gear was showing what I'd call a parasol awning. It attaches to a roof rack with velcro straps and looks like it breaks down very small.
There were a few Gladiator bed replacements at the show, this one from RocTank has a tilt-up RTT on top:
Another Gladiator sleeping solution, this one from Pittman Outdoors:
Also from Pittman is this tilt-up:
I only saw one tilt-up that had awnings over the side windows for rain protection. There were a lot of tilt-ups at the show and almost all of them were like the one above - I guess you'd have to zip the side windows closed in the rain. Seems like a big drawback - all windows should have rain protection.
A double tilt-up from Tuff Stuff Overland. Nice idea but very little rain protection on the windows.
The benefit of the double-tip is the space inside - on a single tilt the hinge side is unusable, can't even put your feet all the way to the end.
By far the most common type at the show, and there were a lot of them, were the single tilt-up style. But most of them would be no good to me, at 6'6", I wouldn't fit in them. They're also fairly narrow, almost none of them are as wide as a queen bed, for example. The single tip-up is a nice idea but almost every example I saw at the show would be too small for me.
Another trend is what I'd all a "traditional" RTT, like mine below, but in a much smaller size. There were a number of those at the show too but I didn't take any photos of them. Designed for smaller vehicles maybe, they don't look like they'd be comfortable for two normal sized Americans.
This is my RTT, shown on a camping trip in Death Valley. It's an older design but what I like about it is the size - the sleeping area is about 7' long (I'm 6'6) and almost as wide as a queen bed, so it has more space inside than any of the ones above.
The only thing that's a bit of a pain with mine is the travel cover, it takes a bit of work to put it back on.
But for now I'm not trading mine on one of the newer trending models above, I like all the space I've got inside.
Next up: The only thing at the show that came close to matching the number of Broncos there were the overlanding/camping trailers. I'll go through those photos and post them next.
I'm writing this from my room at the Glenwood Hot Springs Resort. We're taking the "northern" route home through Utah/Colorado/Nebraska/etc. and Glenwood Springs is a good first day's drive from Las Vegas. Got here late afternoon and enjoyed the hot springs in the evening, after breakfast will spend some more time in the hot pool and then head east.