Oztent Tents Review and Overview: Do they Really Take 30-seconds to set up?
If you’ve followed my reviews, you might be wondering two things:
- Where the hell is the 4Runner?
- You’ve reviewed rooftop tents, so why a ground tent?
First, I decided to sell “Black Betty”, my 2011 5th gen 4Runner (you can see my recent posts here), and make the switch to something a bit more vintage and unique; a 1989 right-hand drive Land Cruiser HJ61. Don’t stress… a 4Runner is in my future but I think I’m going to hold out for the highly coveted 6th gen that as of today, nobody knows anything about!
Secondly, I’ve tested and reviewed a handful of rooftop tents in the past. While rooftop tents have many pros, they have their cons too (weight/aerodynamics, install/removal/storage, setup/breakdown, cost, etc.). The Land Cruiser I have sports the arched safari roof, so roof racks are limited. To boot, I tend to enjoy night rides on the trails. Once you’ve set up your rooftop tent, the last thing you want to do is break it all down just to go for a lumen-infused joy ride.
So, I’ve decided that it’s time to kick it old school and go back to a ground tent. As a kid, my parents had a really, really, really beat-up pop-up camper that had muted yellow velvet interior, a musty smell and I’m pretty sure an animal lived inside when we weren’t using it. As such, whenever we went out for camping trips, I opted to sleep in our 8′ x 8′ ground tent. Our tent didn’t have built-in awnings, a rainfly or waterproof material on the bottom to keep moisture and rainwater out. None of that mattered to me; I just wanted to be out in the wild and away from that haunted pop-up camper!
Thankfully, ground tents have come a long way.
Options, features, and set-up time are some of the major improvements I found in my research. At the end of the day, I decided interior space and quick setup were my main priorities. All of my research led me to an Australian-based company called Oztent.
Who is Oztent?
Photo courtesy of @XOverland
Oztent is an Australian business which grew from the dream of one man into an outdoor company that now provides adventurers around the globe with products to help them get out and have awesome experiences.
Never comfortable with convention, we pioneered the first 30-second tent, making sure it could withstand the harshest environmental conditions by choosing quality materials and enforcing a strict design and manufacturing process, together with rigorous testing – there’s nothing quite like the Australian outback to put a product through its paces.
I don’t know about you, but that kind of said it all for me! And, after selling lots of product in the U.S., they opened a location a few years back in Salt Lake City, UT. But, a 30-second tent… is that even possible for the size I was looking for? Hang tight and we’ll get to that shortly.
Oztent RV-3
Oztent has a variety of different tents and products ranging from the occasional camper to the most hardcore of overlanders. I was looking for something that could comfortably fit a queen-sized air mattress, has a front awning (or one that offered an awning as an add-on), and one that was fairly easy to set up and break down; the last thing I wanted was a tent that took a lot of effort and time to set up. So, I opted for Oztent’s RV-3.
Find it online:
- Oztent 30-Second Ground Tent (RV-3): Check Price
Key Features
- 30-second setup
- 100% waterproof
- High-quality construction
- Patented design
- Sleeps 3 –Â 4
Specifications
- Packed Size: 80″(L) × 11″(W) × 8″(H)
- Setup Size: 94″ (W) × 78″ (D) × 74″ (H) + Awning Size: 94″ (L) x 79″ (W)
- Weight: 47lb
Let’s Address the 30-Second Setup Claim…
To me, product claims like “Never leaks!”, “Will never rust!”, or “30-second set-up!” always seems like a lure-them-in gimmick filled with asterisks and footnotes and rarely live up to the claim.
Not here. In fact, I’d argue that your first setup of any Oztent with this 30-second claim will take ~30-seconds and from there on, less than 30-seconds.
When our RV-3 first arrived, we put it to the test right away and yes, it took about 30-seconds. Once we got to camp, I’d say after it was unzipped and removed from the storage bag, it took us about 20-seconds to set up. So, I’d agree with this product claim and confirm it’s far from a gimmick.
Don’t believe us? Check out this video by Oztent.
Features Deep-Dive
We tested the RV-3 in Vermont’s beautiful Green Mountains and were overall pretty damn impressed.
Oztent includes more than enough bottom pegs/stakes that help anchor the tent into the ground. The tent has a variety of stake locations and trust me, you don’t need to use them all unless you’re using your tent in the windiest of conditions.
Built in to our RV-3 (and many other models) are “guy ropes”, which are essentially tie-down ropes that are pre-rolled up and stowed in side pockets all around the tent. Lots of tents on the market come with tie-down ropes, but having these built-in so they a.) don’t get tangled with other ropes and b.) essentially can’t go missing between trips made set-up, break-down, and storage much easier.
As I had mentioned earlier, an awning was a priority for me since we don’t have a roof rack and nowhere to bolt a separate awning onto. The RV-3 comes with a built-in awning, the necessary poles and tie-downs, and the option of adding front and sidewalls. We ran into a bit of rain and surprisingly, it was quite buggy for Vermont. The awnings worked great in the rain and after 13 mosquito bites, we zipped on the front wall and enjoyed a few canned margaritas.
Final Thoughts
Worth the price? Yes.
Worthy of the trails? Yes.
Easy setup? Yep. Again, 20-30 seconds at best.
Good for multiple campers? Yep – but buy one that fits your guest list needs.
If you’re researching ground tents and feel like you’re backed into the Gazelle-corner, you should seriously consider Oztent! Between the quality of the materials, the ease of setup, how truly waterproof everything is, the ample mesh windows/doors and everything being built into the tent, we’re sold.
Had an rv 2 for years great tents
As an Aussie I have the RV3 works as advertised. Takes longer to get out of the back than to put up 😆 Built for OZ conditions, ours definitely hasn’t leaked. With its squarish design gives plenty of room inside.
Wow, I just saw the size folded up! And I thought the Gazelle tents were large. Maybe that video was of the RV5. Do you have any pictures of the RV3 packed up?
It is just on 2 metres long and due to the internal poles, can’t be shortened. I was out in 80 kph wind gusts and saw one of these stand up to it, while I took the poles out of my dome tent and used the guy ropes to stop it from blowing away!
Hey there, @NomFJ. Yep, the tent packed and stowed is a bit long. However, that’s what contributes to the ease of setup since the pre-folded poles and material are essentially ready to go. I don’t have a picture of the tent packed up readily available, but I’d honestly say it’s the equivalent of a body bag. It’s big, not going to lie, but I’ll trade some storage space getting to camp for an easy set-up once we get there any day of the week. I’ve had some really nice and large ground tents in the past that were much, much smaller stored up. Those tents generally take 20 minutes to set up and god forbid a pole breaks. I’ll try and take additional pictures of the actual poles, but they’re made from a thick, lightweight aluminum and they’re not going to bend or break. So again, bad ass ground tent that’s a bit on the larger side stored away but worth it.