My First Night in my TD!

[Flash]

Well, Last weekend I finally got to try out my Little guy.
I had done some things to it and wanted to give it a little shake down.
(Mostly fixed the water leaks around the tail lights)
Anyway, I took off for one night So I thought I would share the pics.
I have some questions down near the bottom for you "Experienced campers"


Money shot...


So it was +85F with humidity, I was fine with the windows and the vent open...
That was until the rain came. The rain through the vent is a great wakeup.
It was a heavy rain, but my question to you guys is, how do you all deal with rain coming in the windows?
any tips or tricks?

Also as a side not, there was not one water leak...Even after driving home through a monsoon.
Checked it in my garage, all was nice and dry.

[Gage]

Here are a couple examples of what some do.

[pete42]

There can only be one first time............

I have used max-air, or camaco vent covers they allow you to open the vent while keeping the rain out.
I don't know how the windows open on lil Guy's if they slide they make a cover for them also campingworld and others carry them.

looks like a nice camper.

pete

[LWW]

I have slept in my weekender in down pours and wind blowing. I have the wiley windows which is just a piece of lexan that is pivoted either open or closed. I can also take the lexan out leaving a completely open window for air flow. Last night I slept in my camper in the back yard and this morning we had a thunder storm with a lot of rain and I just put the one lexan that was up wind and went back to sleep. I find that a lot easier than all those side tents even though I'd like to have some of those tents.Larry

[the other side]

I got caught in a big rain last week. I didn't have my tent up yet. The rain was too much to want to put up the tent in it. I took these Emergency Blankets (that look like aluminum foil, and are sold in a little tiny package in the camping section at Walmart for like $1.00). The rain was like glue to it to hold it on to the teardrops roof (just up to the vent, not over it). I put a chair under the "blanket" to keep the "blanket" off of the window. It worked so well that I have decided to do that everytime I am running the hoses to the AC in the window (for extra security from the rain). I will have to get the roof of the teardrop wet for the "blanket" to stick correctly.

I believe I have the Camco/air vent thing, that are usually used on RV's, over my vent. It is NOT permanently installed. I just plop it over and the cover for the vent makes it stay on the teardrop even in the strong winds.

[Flash]

Great idea about the pop up shelter.....Never thought of that, might also keep the sun off too
if I was in a less than ideal location.

[indycamper]

I use the Easy-Up over my Little Guy - works well! Haven't had to put it up in the rain yet, so not certain what I'd do under that circumstance. Unfortunately, the Little Guy doesn't seem to have the room for a Wiley Window, although I really like that option!

[Jkester]

We had our first outing last week also. I had an old EZ up so I put it over the teardrop. I'm glad I did because it poured within an hour of setting up camp. No rain came in but it was raining so hard that the fan was pulling a mist thru the window. I cut the fan speed down and it seemed to stay dry.


James & Rhonda

[jeff0520]

Haven't finished the Command Post yet, but I can answer that question based on tent camping. I have a 20 foot by 60 foot tarp. I find 2 trees the correct distance apart, and string a ridge line between them and hang the tarp over it. Add a few edge poles and guy lines, and you have a monster canopy. The tents get set up under the canopy. Once the Command Post is finished, I'll just hang the canopy a little higher and park under it.
Here in the deep south you really want cover overhead, both to shelter from the sun, and to cut down on ticks dropping out of the trees on you. Other bennies of the monster canopy are dry storage for firewood, and more space to spread out on rainy days. You don't feel so cooped up when the whole campsite has rain shelter. When I'm expecting lots of rain I've also been known to use a slingshot and a big sinker to loft some fishing line into the trees about 20 feet up. You use the fishing line to pull ropes up. With patience and a little practise you can fly a 12'x12' canopy over the fire pit too. If the canopy is 20 feet in the air the fire doesn't bother it a bit. You can easily have a campfire, even in soaking rain