Influencer II
- 4,645
- First Name
- Drew
- Last Name
- Sherwood
- Member #
-
6240
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KV50
- Service Branch
- Kern Valley SAR
This is my review on my experience with the Overland Pros Mojave Explorer 1400 RTT.
To start I want to say I am no expert but I think of myself as a well-informed consumer. I have owned my Overland Pros Mojave Explorer tent for about two months and I have spent 14 nights in it. These nights have had extremely varied conditions and temperatures. This tent and I have been through light snow with 15 degree temps too high gusty winds with 100+ degree temps. I slept like a baby every night and can happily say this is the perfect setup for both environments and anything in between. I am extremely happy with my purchase. I was introduced to this tent by the company owner himself here on Overland Bound. He reached out to me with his option when I was researching a number of far more expensive options. I made the decision to purchase after I reviewed his specification list and saw that it matched up tit for tat with every single option on the higher cost tents I was considering. As you probably know most RTTs all come from the same manufacturer and because of that they all come with very similar features with maybe one or two variation in each resellers spec. With this Overland Pros tent it seemed to me all of the right boxes had been checked during specification and that every decision had been made with the goal of making the tent an overall better piece of equipment. Someone who understands and knows our challenges in the field had gone through and selected each option as if he was building it for his own personal rig. It seem that no expense had been spared yet the tent cost was still nearly $800 less than other RTTs of similar spec and design. Let’s look at a few of those options and why I believe those specs were selected.
PROS-
280gsm poly cotton rip stop canvas: The main tent material is extremely important. You need to pick a blend or you will unhappy one way or another. Poly/Nylon will get you great waterproofing but terrible insulation. Cotton will get you great insulation but poor waterproofing and resistance to tearing. This PolyCotton Blend has been excellent for me. It sheds water well and was shockingly warm in the cold weather but cool in the heat thanks to excellent venting options. I have not yet had an uncomfortable night in this tent.
Double floor thickness: I climb all over this thing when packing it up each morning. Knowing that the base is stronger allows me to stand and hop around without worrying about cracking the base. It just feels sturdy as a tool like this should. The peace of mind that the base is thicker is great for me when standing on the folded tent already on the roof to get a good photo angle.
Thicker foam mattress pad: This one is easy. I slept like a baby on this mattress. An inch of thickness appears to be added in comparison to other tents.
All internal seams have heat tape: This is a really hard one to find. Think of this as an insurance plan against tears and leaks on seam lines. Heat tape is something I do to my own tents regardless of manufacturer and it was nice to find one that was already done.
All genuine YKK Zippers: You will spend more time then you can imagine working with these regardless of what tent you pick. These are a god send when tired and setting up camp or packing up before coffee in the morning. They are solid and just slide like they are greased.
Oversized external cover: Sounds like a silly afterthought until you leave three sleeping bags, flashlights, lanterns, clothes, and your toiletry bag inside the tent when folded. This thing can grow quickly and having the cove be slightly oversized doesn’t look the best but the function is amazing! I can still easily throw on the cover no matter how much junk I leave inside the tent.
Sky View roof windows: Even with the rain fly on this tent has plastic viewing ports so that even in the rain you can look up at the night sky.
Year Warranty: Most tents carry zero warranty at all. I use my gear like crazy and have not had any problems. That being said it is nice to know I am covered in case I have an issue.
Customer Service: The owner and I have been in text contact since my purchase and he was a huge help both during installation and whenever I had questions. Nick often replied to my messages as late as 9pm to respond to questions I had asked in a pinch. He has called and checked back in with me to make sure I got it setup properly. He also went above and beyond to make sure my tent pickup went smoothly. He allowed a weekend pickup from his own home despite the main shop being closed. This was a hardship on him personally but it made my life much easier. I can’t say that any other company’s wouldn’t do the same but I feel Overland Pros took the extra care of me as a customer. My customer service experience was nothing short of fantastic thanks to Nicks efforts.
All of the above said there is always room for improvement. Nothing is perfect and these are some issues that exist across all RTT’s on the market but became apparent only after using my tent. Some of these are changes I will be making myself in the near future for my own continued use.
CONS-
Guidelines are OD Green: This could be a problem that only I experience but I cannot even count the number of times myself or another fellow camper has tripped over or walked into the tent guidelines. I will be replacing these with reflective line ASAP to prevent this in the future. Bleary eyed me wandering back from the bathroom hates walking into these lines.
Instructions are not detailed enough: I like to think I am a smart guy. The included instructions left a lot of room for interpretation and as a result my first install and setup took a very long time. I must have installed the tent three times before finally getting it right.
Tent is heavy: All those upgraded parts come at a price. One cannot expect to double the support frame, mattress and base thickness without added weight. I have not weighed my tent but I consider this thing really heavy. Two strong people are absolutely needed to get it on and off of the roof and I feel the websites listed 124lbs seems like a low estimate for how hard it is to move around.
Overall I am EXTREMELY happy with the tent as a product and happy with Overland Pros as a re-seller. It has already served me well and I imagine it will continue to be a key item in my overland setup for years to come. The spec and price point for this RTT just can’t be beat. I am a very happy customer of Overland Pros and I will likely soon purchase awnings and other products from them as well.
If you have any direct questions about the product or would like to discuss any part of this review please message me or reply to the thread here so other can track the conversation.
