 | Home > Camping, Caravanning and Holidays > OzTent RS-1 - First Experience and Thoughts |
 
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410  
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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... 
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 
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.  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge 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 
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1st Oct 2022 5:31pm |
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
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Someone on another forum wanted for info so thought I would add it here as well.
This is the version 2 of the RS-1 and comes with a massive bag, 2x awning poles, a bag of HD pegs, guy ropes, the tent and a 40mm mattress. Hat for scale. I know that one of the complaints about this tent is that the bag is so big and folks buy an aftermarket bag and roll up the mattress to make it more compact. Such as the Kelmatt bag or Drifta bags and even I believe the RV-1 bag is smaller. It's a basic coverall bag with so much wasted space. But it does the job. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Small collie also for scale  The tent is less than half the weight of the stretcher and can easily be lifted in one hand.
Although I have not used the feature yet, one of the best bits about this tent is the awning is attached (unlike the RV series) and doubles was a reflective fly sheet. The poles are tall enough to use the awning with the stretcher as well. Click image to enlarge
These are random images off the internet. Given the right conditions this tent will also fit easily underneath the extended awning that is fitted to Miffy as well which might make things more comfortable, possibly. But at the end of the day you are shifting which kit gets wet... Plus awnings and Welsh windy weather do not often go very well together |
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3rd Oct 2022 9:51am |
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
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Hi Mac. Yes the 30 second claim is a little optimistic in reality. However, the above setup does only take 3-ish minutes to put up the stretcher, tent, mattress and sleeping bag. So, much much quicker than the RV-3/4/5 with side panels etc etc. The added advantage is that you really do not need pegs with just the stretcher and tent. Body weight is more than enough once inside. I do love our RV4 though, it is a fabulous base tent 
I can see you have been through the same thought process that I have. I so very nearly bought that MSR tent. The only reason I didn't (apart from the sudden appearance of the RS-1) was the thought that even in the worst weather if I stick the tent on the lea side of the Land Rover pegs probably still are not needed and I can dive inside and wait out the deluge. But, time will tell just how this Oz tent survives in the wild Welsh weather which has claimed many a tent over the years  |
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3rd Oct 2022 12:20pm |
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| kmac Member Since: 07 Oct 2009 Location: Middlesex Posts: 1309 
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3rd Oct 2022 12:50pm |
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
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Well today is the sunny day I have been looking for to top-up the water-proofing on a number of bits of gear before the worst of the Winter gets going. I am a life-long Nikwax fan, it is great stuff, but I found myself buying a different product by One Chem. Give almost anything a go once. So since I was asked about how long does it take to erect the stretcher, tent and get the mattress inside I thought this is also an opportunity to do the setup test and give the RS-1 a top-up (not that I am concerned at all) before our next outing this weekend. Time will tell on the One Chem proofing, but here is the setup test...
Click image to enlarge Starting with the tent and stretcher on the floor in their bags - 2 minutes 20 seconds - Stretcher, tent and mattress erected. No rushing, just an easy setup Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Then to set out the awning to the front with guy ropes - 1 minute 20 seconds. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge One of the added features of the awning is that it is reversible; forwards = awning and backwards = reflective sun fly sheet. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Finally the re-proofing. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge |
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13th Oct 2022 1:21pm |
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
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Just to round the last post off. The pack down including the awning and guys took 4 minutes and 34 seconds. I honestly cannot see why anyone would want or need to do it faster than that.
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13th Oct 2022 4:38pm |
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| LandymanStefan Member Since: 30 Aug 2017 Location: Surrey Posts: 881  
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This thing looks great!
I bought an outhaus double swag this year moving away from a conventional tent and i loved it this summer. This little oztent with the stretcher looks even better though. Which nikwax product did you use? |
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13th Oct 2022 9:28pm |
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
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Ordinarily I would of used the Tent and Solar proof that Nikwax sell, but in a moment of "I wonder what this is like" I bought a 2.5L bottle of One Chem Tent and Gear proofer
https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Chem-Waterpro...B0999N7G7Q It came with an excellent trigger spray, went on well and efficiently. The proof (or should that be proofing) of course will be in the pudding... Nikwax: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikwax-Solar-Proo...amp;sr=1-4 |
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14th Oct 2022 7:39am |
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