Great review. We had a $3,800 canvas Eezi Awn roof top tent for one of our camping rigs. We switched to the 10X10 Kodiak canvas for a few reasons. The biggest one is that you only sleep in a roof top tent. In the Kodiak you can cook, eat, lounge, and sleep. It's very useful. My only annoyance is all of the staking required because of the tension of the tent. My solution - long (like 8" or 10"), hex-head lag screws with washers on them from any home improvement store and a cordless impact gun with socket. No hammering, I let the impact gun do all of the work to drive the screws into the ground and back out again. Depending on where you buy, you can get the fitted ground tarp for free as a part of the purchase. It's not needed, but why not? Also, the front vestibule is pretty sweet too.
Lag bolts are the go to for events like burning man for securing tents like this. I think the only down side is having to own a impact driver drill and carry around those bolts on top of an already pretty heavy tent. I'm just a wimp to be honest.
Thanks for the quick, no nonsense setup review. So many others are too long. I just sold my Marmot dome tent and replaced with a backpacking tent for kayak trips and my new Kodiak for car camping. Will be setting up and seasoning the tent later today. First trip next weekend!
Our pleasure! We try to keep our reviews and how to's around 5 minutes. I feel like I lose interest pretty quick myself if the review is too long. I hope your trip is full warm days and dry nights.
Awesome review and setup! This looks great but I have a major concern. How can you set it up in rocky terrain where it is almost impossible to drive stakes into the ground? 🤘👍😎 ~Maverick
So when I find areas that have super hard ground, I’ve found using rebar as a great option for staking. Get them to cut it at Home Depot into 18” or 24” lengths. Bring a hammer and you’re all set. Also I know rebar is not the lightest but it’s a great option if your not carrying the tent far.
Own it for 3 years. Family of four and this thing will probably be passed down to my Grand kids and I'm 35. Some people cheap out and buy Walmart crap but probably spent more in their life time having that Great paddle of water every morning. Get this and never look back..
Dude your tent is filthy because you walk all over it with boots on during setup! That irked me a bit because you want to take care of this expensive high quality tent. I have 5 trips in mine thus far and glad I made the investment. When you wake up, the sunlight bleeds heavy through the roof giving natural lighting. That's where the dirt comes in; you wake up looking at unnecessary footprints.
GREAT VIDEO.....THANKS 4 SHARING.
Great review. We had a $3,800 canvas Eezi Awn roof top tent for one of our camping rigs. We switched to the 10X10 Kodiak canvas for a few reasons. The biggest one is that you only sleep in a roof top tent. In the Kodiak you can cook, eat, lounge, and sleep. It's very useful. My only annoyance is all of the staking required because of the tension of the tent. My solution - long (like 8" or 10"), hex-head lag screws with washers on them from any home improvement store and a cordless impact gun with socket. No hammering, I let the impact gun do all of the work to drive the screws into the ground and back out again. Depending on where you buy, you can get the fitted ground tarp for free as a part of the purchase. It's not needed, but why not? Also, the front vestibule is pretty sweet too.
Lag bolts are the go to for events like burning man for securing tents like this. I think the only down side is having to own a impact driver drill and carry around those bolts on top of an already pretty heavy tent. I'm just a wimp to be honest.
Thanks for the quick, no nonsense setup review. So many others are too long. I just sold my Marmot dome tent and replaced with a backpacking tent for kayak trips and my new Kodiak for car camping. Will be setting up and seasoning the tent later today. First trip next weekend!
Our pleasure! We try to keep our reviews and how to's around 5 minutes. I feel like I lose interest pretty quick myself if the review is too long. I hope your trip is full warm days and dry nights.
If you reverse roll the awning opposite of the way you did it it will let water roll of instead of it pooling where you rolled it up.
Thank you for that tip!
I’ve had my vx 10x10 for 3 years and the stakes are kinda of a pain. The lag bolts is a great idea! Thanks
Game changer!
Awesome review and setup! This looks great but I have a major concern. How can you set it up in rocky terrain where it is almost impossible to drive stakes into the ground? 🤘👍😎 ~Maverick
So when I find areas that have super hard ground, I’ve found using rebar as a great option for staking. Get them to cut it at Home Depot into 18” or 24” lengths. Bring a hammer and you’re all set. Also I know rebar is not the lightest but it’s a great option if your not carrying the tent far.
Great video...
Thanks!
Own it for 3 years. Family of four and this thing will probably be passed down to my Grand kids and I'm 35.
Some people cheap out and buy Walmart crap but probably spent more in their life time having that Great paddle of water every morning.
Get this and never look back..
Totally agree!
OMG don't walk on the roof and sides of tve tent with ditty boots! Also, if yiu iown the door before raising the roof, its a lot easier.
Dude your tent is filthy because you walk all over it with boots on during setup! That irked me a bit because you want to take care of this expensive high quality tent. I have 5 trips in mine thus far and glad I made the investment. When you wake up, the sunlight bleeds heavy through the roof giving natural lighting. That's where the dirt comes in; you wake up looking at unnecessary footprints.
You’re so right, dude. My girlfriend was pissed. This was her tent!
If I had a nickel for every time I used a rock...... well, I could buy a mallet.
Best way to put it!
Iam sorry but..that tent is much to dirty should not have been put away like that