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Thread: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    1

    Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    Has anyone used a cartop tent as a platform for outdoor work? I'm looking at a tent from cartopcamper.com. It seems like a relatively stable platform. I like the height and that there are large windows with awnings on all sides. Anyone used one of these? Are they safe, convenient, weather tight, durable etc?


  2. #2
    matthew blais's Avatar
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    Oct 2003
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    Riverside, CA
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    746

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    Looks like a PITA...

    This to sleep in?
    IF you want the best of both worlds:
    http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...rue&hasJS=true

    or for an open bed truck:
    http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...cat602107&rid=

    and
    http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...107&hasJS=true
    "I invent nothing, I rediscover"
    August Rodin

    My Now old Photo Site

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Flagstaff, AZ
    Posts
    14

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    I've been looking at the AutoHome-
    http://www.zifer.com/file_gb/index_gb.html
    I like the hard case, full size mattress and easy set-up and take-down. But quite pricey!
    Dave

  4. #4

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    grand rapids
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    3,851

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    I wouldn't. Get a stepladder. I made an 11ft tripod from schedule 40 aluminum pipe. I bit more versatile.
    autohomeus.com, I'm looking at those too. I've only seen a few on the road and i wouldn't stand on that either.

  5. #5

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    Unless your interested in sleeping in it as well, you can work off a piece of diamond plate mounted to some strong racks. Call a sheet metal shop for prices based on your needed size. A folding ladder will get you up there..

  6. #6
    Jim Ewins
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    388

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    If you wish to photograph from it, How soft are the vehicle's springs?

  7. #7

    Join Date
    May 2006
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    grand rapids
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    3,851

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    The BFT. at full extension.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Joyce, Washington
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    1,437

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    Holy crap Vinny. Big F* Tripod is about right! Now, if you could compose on the stilts the drywallers use, that would be quite something.

  9. #9
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Aug 2006
    Location
    Chillicothe Missouri USA
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    3,065

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    I usually have a plywood platform on the top of the shell on my pickup. It's probably lighter than diamond plate. That's important, so high from the ground. I rolled one pickup with such a platform, which might not have happened with a lower center of gravity. It's easy to add a few custom features to a home-made platform like tie-downs and a safety ridge around the outside. The platform that Ansel Adams used on several vehicles may have been made from diamond plate, though. It gave him a 12 foot high lens position for photos like Mt. Williams, the Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, California. To improve stability, custom cut sticks can be wedged between the frame and the ground. Darius Kinsey http://www.whatcommuseum.org/pages/archives/kinsey.htm used a tall tripod like Vinny's many years ago

  10. #10

    Re: Cartop tent as platform for field work?

    I think Vinny is on the right track. Ansel's cast iron Travelall was sprung like the truck that it was and was probably much more stable than any lightweight "car" based vehicle of today. Just sit in one while there is a wind blowing and watch how it moves. This movement would be magnified if you were up in the air above it. I have an old Hi-Boy tripod that goes up over 8 feet. I set it up NEXT to the truck and than I stand on the tailgate to use it.

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