Hatch tent camping!

SETI20 · Postby **SETI20** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:26 pm

One of the reasons the wife and I got the pathy, is to do a bit more camping. I used to be an avid camper and before I moved to Canada I used to take a trip to France or Spain at least once a year.

We have a very nice tent. Problem is, that I had a motorcycle accident some years ago, and I broke my back in 3 places. Diving into a tent repeatedly kills me. SO! The search went on for something that I could stand up straight in, and a bit more room for the dogs would be welcome too. Especially when they're wet

I found that Nissan themselves had the ideal solution.

All packed up and ready to go.

My trusty driving companion.

Alright, so how does this work?

This is when we found out that it's just a smidgen larger than it looks in the picture. Online it said 8x8, but the footprint is more like 10x10 with an 8x5 add-on.

I'm happy with it, though!

Hooking it up

Et voila!

Tons of room inside!

Overall we're very happy with it. Although we did find a leak during a heavy rain and thunderstorm. I'll likely exchange this one.
For my next trip I am grabbing an exhaust hose so I can run AC or heat without killing myself.

While at the beach I grabbed my proper camera and snapped a few decent shots. Enjoy!

DiBo · Postby **DiBo** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:00 am

very nice, tent looks good! id like to know how well the heat from the truck fills the tent, nice to have power in the tent too, music and lights. storage up off the floor for a cooler and what not.

SETI20 · Postby **SETI20** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 12:27 pm

We're planning one or two more trips this year and I want to run heat in October. If I don't gas myself I'll let you know how that went.

I'm not sure if I'd call this an all season tent, though. It will keep the elements out, but there are too many vented pockets to seal it up for a blustery late-fall trip.

Having access to the car is sweet. I'm not quite sure how much drain the radio puts on the car, but I have an electric cooler that I've run for several hours without issue. I made a little hook for a rechargeable lantern that I hooked in to the power port in the back. That works a treat!

NVSteve · Postby **NVSteve** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:50 am

I've always been curious as to how large these are or aren't, along with how they really look attached to the Pathfinder. Seems like every single time I visit the local Nissan parts department, they have a couple of these sittting on the ground with a clearance price of ~$90.00. Thanks for posting.

SETI20 · Postby **SETI20** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:07 am

They have an older version without the little side room and an 8x8 footprint, too. I'm willing to bet those are the $90 ones. This one was considerably more.

leadpig · Postby **leadpig** » Fri Aug 07, 2015 2:05 pm

SETI20 wrote: but I have an electric cooler that I've run for several hours without issue. I made a little hook for a rechargeable lantern that I hooked in to the power port in the back. That works a treat!

I'd be careful about the cooler. It will work for a while but will cook your battery over time - the continuous slow draw degrades the plates in your standard issue battery meant for starting. To operate something over a decent period that will pull juice slowly you really need a deep cycle. I don't have pics of my own setup, but I splurged a couple of years ago for one of the 50 qt ARB coolers that will hold household freezer temps

http://store.arbusa.com/ARB-Fridge-Free ... P3626.aspx

I use it plugged in to the back 12v port while driving or short stops, but after my first battery failed I read a bit more so now I also carry this for overnight

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042Q ... ge_o09_s00

sitting inside one of these

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PT ... ge_o08_s00

The battery box sits behind the cooler, which can still sit longways up against the right side of the rear. For an overnight, I simply unplug from the rear port and stick it in the 12v socket on the battery box. On the odd occasion I want to keep stuff very cold (like bringing meat halfway across the country from the inlaws farm) then it works well enough for a couple of hotel overnight stays and keep things frozen solid. Using the cooler as a fridge, I recently spent 3 days camping and it held 35F in weather in the 70s/50s and without being plugged into pathy power at all. I'd need a bigger battery or means of recharging to go much longer though.

leadpig · Postby **leadpig** » Fri Aug 07, 2015 2:07 pm

Tent looks cool though, I've always wondered what they were like.

SETI20 · Postby **SETI20** » Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:14 am

That is good info. I had been reading up for a 2nd battery setup just for this purpose. Thanks!

Thupertrooper · Postby **Thupertrooper** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 2:32 pm

Nice pathy never seen those tents on a R51

Touchdown · Postby **Touchdown** » Mon May 23, 2016 1:52 pm

Props on that tent!
If looks good and probably pretty functional!

scortpower · Postby **scortpower** » Tue May 24, 2016 7:22 am

That's great! I also have the same tent, well similar as mine doesn't have the extra awning bit but I managed to win mine on ebay and over here there wasn't much options unless I imported one.
Here's mine on the recent trip to the lake district.

I have a double blow up bed for the rear of the pathfinder and I have made a bed for my 3 year old in the front across the seats.

Touchdown · Postby **Touchdown** » Wed May 25, 2016 5:47 am

Also very cool!
I hope you get out and use it a lot!!

08SEPATHV8 · Postby **08SEPATHV8** » Fri May 05, 2017 7:00 am

I wish I could see the original pictures! They dont seem to be available anymore. Would love to see what your tent looks like, SETI20.

SETI20 · Postby **SETI20** » Fri May 12, 2017 11:51 am

Damn, Dropbox now prohibits external linking. That's probably an issue for a lot of my pictures now. Will report back and fix the original post when I have a fix.

Praetorian · Postby **Praetorian** » Sun Jun 18, 2017 8:57 am

Yeah that would be great if you can fix the pictures.

Hatch tent camping!

Hatch tent camping!

Re: Hatch tent camping!

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