OZTENT RV5 - Full Setup (2 Oztents)

[MickFodor]

G'day all,

Haven't showed my head in here for a while. Got a wife and 2 boys (3 and 1) keeping me pretty busy but I'm trying to get my young family into camping because its something I really used to love. Blew the dust off some old camping gear that I have and found that my trusty old poly dome tent was falling apart. Remembering the pain of spending 45 minutes to an hour setting it up and sweating like a bastard when the sun hit it convinced me to throw a few bucks at a better setup.

Ended up shopping around and googling a heap of different setups and decided on the oztent. I like canvas (my swag was awesome), I wanted a quick setup, and i wanted room to move under cover preferable away from the mozzies. I looked at the Oztents, Jet Tents, Turbo Tents and Southern Cross Canvas Tents which were the top 4 in my opinion. Each of these had a great setup and a good reputation but I really liked the setup of the Oztent. Connecting 2 RV5 tents will give me an undercover area joining the 2 tents of about 4m X 2.6m and enough head room for me at just over 6' which can be fully enclosed with 4 screen doors for air when needed.

The Oztent setup really won me over because while the kids are little I can keep them close enough (under the same roof) and as they get bigger I can we can split the tents off and when more suited. I also liked the idea of the flexibility of not having one gigantic tent so that I just take one tent if I don't need all the space. Obviously these things aren't cheap and while i dont mind throwing a few bucks at good gear that will last, I don't want to ripped off either. In searching for all of this, I found that my local fishing/camping shop (Amazons in Wetherill Park) is the head office of Oztent. I shopped there, BCF and a few others to see what kind of deal i could get and found that Amazons actually had the highest prices of the bunch and BCF was a lot more flexible with their pricing and nearly got me. I went away to think about it all last week and then this week i got an e-mail from them about the 25% off. Did the math and realised that it would be cheaper again. Decided to ring Amazons because I've emptied my pockets there on fishing gear more times than I've told the wife and tell them the story and ask them to sharpen the pencil and give me a good deal. They were more than happy to, I picked up all the gear last night and I am still scratching my head about it all.

Amazon Original Price

2 X RV5 tent @ $1249.00 $2498.00
2 X RV5 fly @ $160.00 $ 320.00
2 X RV5 Peaked side panels @ $329.00 $ 658.00
2 X RV5 Mesh Floor @ $130.00 $ 260.00
1 X RV5 Awning Connector @ $ 70.00 $ 70.00
Total $3806.00

BCF Deal (25% off)
2 X RV5 tent @ $936.75 $1873.50
2 X RV5 fly (not considered) @ $119.25 $ 238.50
2 X RV5 Peaked side panels @ $246.75 $ 493.50
2 X RV5 Mesh Floor @ $ 74.25 $ 74.25
1 X RV5 Awning Connector @ $ 67.50 $ 67.50
Total $2821.50

Amazon Revised deal after using the 25% off deal to bargain with them.

Total: $2500.00

I seriously saved $1306.00 by shopping around...

Has anyone got a setup like this already? If so, how's it working out?

Did I get a top deal or are they usually keen to drop this much on the price?

It really goes to show the sort of mark up they have on these things.

I'm pretty excited to set them up in the back yard and see how it all goes together.. I am tipping that the 30 second tents with all of this on them will become the 30 minute tents but I reckon it will be a mean setup. I now need to look into a set of roof racks for the JK, although they will travel in the trailer the first few times no doubt as try to ease the family into it i will be traveling heavy.

[MattG]

Looks good mate, and I'd say that's a cracking deal! I saw the exact same setup at Imbil when camping recently and it looked pretty good. The Oztent has a great rep and should last for years.

I'm using two 3x3m gazebo's, an inner tent kit, and walls which works pretty well. Not sure how it will go in heavy wind, but I've got proper springed guy ropes to hold it all down (hopefully). Gives me the required headroom (+2m) and can set it all up by myself easily.

Good luck! I just got back into camping as well, and it was bloody hard work with our 2yr old boy, but we're going back for more...

[chris0375]

Good work getting the price down. Must be a decent mark up on them. Good information for anyone else considering buying them. Good canvas stuff is expensive but usually lasts ages. Family has 2 southern cross tents, same deal, awesome quality but expensive.

[bruggz351]

Top work Mick.
A little leg work payed dividends, eh. You've done your home work mate. Looks like a nice setup that will grow with your family. Well thought out..

cheers

[MickFodor]

Just to confirm. I wasn't far off the mark about the 30 minute setup. Putting down the mesh floors, lining up the tents to meet up in the middle, attaching the peaked sides and awning connector and roping it all down was probably 30-45 minutes and a 6 pack worth of work alone.

That was expected and this time is from a "First attempt" and done alone. It would be quicker next time because I know how it all works now but realistically, I will only be setting up this way while the kids are little. When they are a little older we will split them off and have an easier setup.

Quality of the gear, in comparison to my old stuff and other that I've seen seems to be top notch, the zippers and the stitching is all neat and strong. Everything goes together like it should and apart from being a little awkward setting up the peaked panels it is an easy one man job.

Keen as to get out and test it in a place that is not the back yard. My 3 year old loves it too, trying to keep him from undoing all the zippers before I get them done up it tricky but he's having fun too.

Cheers all.

[bruggz351]

My 3 year old loves it too, trying to keep him from undoing all the zippers before I get them done up it tricky but he's having fun too.

Cheers all.

This is what it's all about, my friend.

And that little man will remember these trips, and tell his kids how damn cool it was.

Our kids still love camping, fishing, 4wding/jeeping. Started 'em young, in a 3 room dome tent, now they're 14 and 16, the boy's in a swag and our girl wants one too, now.... .
Keep it fun. They can't get enough. Get 'em involved, tapping in pegs and holding ropes for ya. When they've had enough, get them a drink and let mum take them for a while... you'll get more done then anyways...

cheers

[Hounds]

That is good going. I got my RV5 set up from eBay. Looks like every now and then Oztent sells their show stock. So I picked up an rv5 for $830 delivered with nothing wrong with it. Got a tag a long for $420, a front panel for $120 and a fly for about $80. Had to buy the peaked side panels new. If you have time to wait for the stuff to pop up top savings can be had.

In all its great kit, love it. And after putting up with a dome tent in high wind on Fraser I will never looked back from the RV.

Now have 2 mates with RV's, one with a jet tent and one with a Black wolf. All solid kit.