Overland Expo Featured Products

Very kewl!
The Gazelle tents...hmm.!

 

That was my thought exactly!

 

I like that folding firepit too...
just not at that price!

PS: solostove store has 40% off RN, two days left: Bonfire pkg is about the same $$$

https://www.solostove.com/en-us

 

I guess I should have applied for a patent when I added a second door to the Clam Pavilion we bought. I tried to offer the idea to Clam, but got no reply other than it would void my warranty. Apparently Gazelle is actually smart enough to do it.

 

A $1,000 camping toilet??????

 

I remember that and thought of you when I saw the Gazelle. You should have applied for a patent!

 

I also am intrigued by that Gazelle Gazebo - particularly because it has that built in "awning."

Our CI has a roof rack with rails on it - what does the assembled wisdom think about the possibility of forgoing the awning poles on the gazebo and instead tying the awning eyelets to the roof rack rails with para cord?

In my brain that doesn't do spatial reasoning very well, that would essentially extend the awning of the gazebo over the galley area of the CI, offering some rain/sun cover for the galley and leaving the entire gazebo open for seating/pets/etc.

 

The main opening on the Clam Pavilion is set up the same way as the Gazelle, with the main entry wind wall cover serving double duty as an awning if desired. I think you could use it as you describe, and that wold probably put the bumper pretty close to gazebo's screened main opening, but would leave more room inside.
We pull the gazebo opening up to about not quite the middle of the fenders on the CI, and pull the Clam wind wall over the top of the CI, which helps protect the open galley hatch from rain/bug entry. The top of the gazebo screen door opening ends up right behind the galley hatch top opening, so you do lose the depth of the galley from the inside of the gazebo, but you gain a covered galley to work at if bugs or windy/rainy conditions exist. So either way will work. You just need to pick your priorities based on the environmental conditions you find yourself presented with.

 

Ahh, I see what you mean there. I was imagining setting the gazebo more like 4-5 feet behind the 560, and then tying the awning off to the roof rack with a length of paracord. The way I’m picturing it in my head, the terminus of the wind wall/awning is just about in line with the opened galley hatch cover. In this setup, the “front porch” area of the gazebo provides top cover to the galley but not walls/bug protection. My fault for not explaining that very clearly. Again, spatial reasoning skills….that, and math, are the reasons why I ended up in a “words” profession and not a “numbers” profession.

 

Seems like a good idea to me.
I was also EDIT...(wondering if you could)snip
Ah, I see your profile pic; shows it well: the Clam open door end snuggles up around the tail end of the CI, and open the galley inside (just like you can with a New Breeze square tent...).

And the advantage over the Clam by having the D door on the other side means you can duck out opposite the galley.
Clam shoulda listened to ya, Dustin!

+1 on trying variations, yes to dirty6, seems to me you could position the Gazelle or Clam just like a traditional square tent in various places and use the awning as a connector of sorts, like a covered breezeway over galley, or off to a side with awning giving rain cover to CI side door, etc.

 

Now it's more clear to me.
Sure, a length of rope between the roof rack and distal end corners of the wind wall with the edge of the wind wall positioned slightly over the edge of the open hatch should give you a nice covered breezeway between the CI, and Gazelle.

 

Yes, we were very interested getting a NB for that very reason, but the Clam/Gazelle just goes up so much quicker and easier with a similar amount of space, that I decided to figure out how to add that second opening for egress to match the one advantage I felt the NB did have.

 

Thanks Dustin!
Ya I really like how that looks in your profile picture. Do you have more high rez pics to share?

Ya the NB is more work to setup; have not timed it but I'd guess 30 min for one perosn if you guy out all four corners with stakes for wind, and a bit more if you are snuggling it over the CI to find and attach places to tie down.
The NB holds up surprisingly well in my small use under several instances of winds I'd estimate as up to 35-40 gusting on storm front passage in Panhandle, inc left alone a couple days with first tropical depression of the season,
but that was in a park with open area under pines, branches cut back pretty high 20-30' not on a bare plain, And with 8 guy lines staked out on all four corners to the traditional bent frame, awnings tied down to flat sided slanted walls and slanted roof shape.
(So the Gazelle cite of 60mph sounds impressive, like Cosmo's youtubes on the Clam in some weather)

Dustin (or others) How well does the Clam open and fit over the CI?

1. Do you just set up the Clam then snuggle it in over the rear of CI until you get to the tires?
1b. Does the Clam have a zip on floor option?
(The NB does but have not used it yet.)

2. Does the Galley door touch the Clam roof when open? Any wear or tearing of fabric if the winds blow hard? (The NB 12x12 is big enough it does not touch but of course I generally would close galley hatch at night if only to keep the masked bandits and other critters out of the yummies there.)

3. How warm does it get under Clam roof when cooking, tucked in like that?
(One thing I like about the NB is there is a roof peak vent but it still gets pretty sweaty under it when cooking on a warm day, so its a toss up on opening the end doors to let extra breeze in vs keep out the skeeters!)

So I'd like the Gazelle side vents for opening for more breeze when able.

4. Do you have the AC option on the CI?
If so, How warm does the Clam get if you have it snuggled up far enough to capture the condenser heat vent?

(One thing you dont want to do on the NB is run both AC and try cooking too long under the NB all zipped up awnings down, say for heavy rain...unless you are looking for the saw-u-na experience...

5. How well does the rectangular door opening on the Clam match the CI profile? Looks pretty close no adjustment needed?
(The NB ends are zippered center so its not a perfect fit at all, sort off stretches the zippered sides up and around and tugs the bottom up off the ground so I'm gonna copy what a couple others have done and cut/sew a removable insert to fit more snugly-for better bug control, and see if it can retain more heat on cold days use...zipped floor on...testing in cold wx coming so we'll see...)

The Clam reinforced wind walls look pretty easy, and stood up well in Cosmo's winter camp youtube...

So its "to be determined" on the Gazelle how those flat tied down flaps hold up to wind. Think I'll wait for another beta tester to go first...

Very interested!

 

There just went $550 bucks.

The Gazelle tent looks like it checks the boxes. The clam style shelters are great for easy setup but the screens always cut off so much airflow...this looks pretty good, definitely would extend the camping season a few weeks on either end.

Then the coffee press ....yah... it looks like a Kickstarter project we sponsored, and got like 1.5 million more than they asked for and don't you know, they never shipped a product? jerks. The good news is the OVRLNDR mug is available today.

I don't know why it took me so long to get to this...

 

Sweeney you have become the resident tent aficionado, methinks!

Looking forward to your product review.

Here is another CI owner pic of their CI tucked into the back of a CI, on the side vs centered. (Found in old posts, screenshotted saved for my later reference)

I've tried placing the NB tent all the way forward, centered on CI with room to fulky raise galley and cook bug free but just barely- theres room to sit in chairs backed up to the galley, looking out on the rain....
By putting the forward end of tent just beyond the hinge of the doors.

I'm gonna play with the NB and do some sewing myself to make the cutout needed to allow tent screens to hang naturally and ideally zip to the optional NB floor.This would be with front side just beyond galley hinge at aft end of fender, so a side tent would be needed in addition to NB for avoiding shocking the neighbors in my undies...watering the roses.

I got on Amazon and ordered a couple leather/heavy tent material type awls and needles kits with heavy thread and zipper pulls, so hopefully can get to it soon...

vs take it to a sail loft, so I can experiment myself, on what works...and report back here...

Then if I botch it up, justify following your lead on the Gazelle if thats even better.
No rush a good winter-speing project!

Home sewing Pics to follow.

 

This has worked well for us. Love the REI Alcove canopy. I bought 3 with wind walls before they went out of production. The pic is the 550 which we sold. Waiting for our 560 to be built.

 

If you go to this post, about a third of the way down the page, you'll see a few more pics :Lots of opinions on Canopies

1) Yes, I set it up right behind the CI, which takes about 60 seconds or less, then go inside, and pull the whole tent over the back of the CI by the poles on each side of the main opening. Once you have those where you want them, you can square up each of the side panels and then stake them down with either the bottom edge stakes, or if it's expected to be windy, the guy ropes from the center of each panel. Yes the clam has a zip in floor option, but the only people I know who have one, say it isn't worth the effort of putting it in, and only serves to trap water that may get spilled or rain through the open wind wall panels. We use a plastic woven rug for our floor, and any water that gets in goes through to the ground below, and the rug doesn't absorb any, so doesn't get wet and heavy when it's time to break camp. You can drape it over a picnic table if it has some surface water on it, and it will dry out quickly.
2) No the top of the galley hatch does not touch the roof of the Clam, and yes we close our hatch for the same reason as you.
3) Yes, the Clam, like the NB will trap some heat inside, even if the the wind walls are open, and the NB with it's vented top may trap less, but I haven't been in one cooking, so am not sure, and the Gazelle side vents may be beneficial in ridding that. We usually camp in cooler climes, so haven't considered this to be a detriment, in fact when we were in Yellowstone a few years ago, it was cold and rainy most of time we were there, and with our wind walls in place, and out little quartz heater running on the galley counter, we kept pretty cozy with 4 of us inside the Clam.
4) Yes we have the AC option, but honestly, I can count the number of times we've used it on my two hands, and if it's running, we aren't in the Clam, we are in the cabin, but I'm sure like you say, it would make a good sauna.
5) With the open zippered entry screen it fits pretty good, but there will be a gap just above the hatch at the top of the zipper opening in the screen, but we effective close that with the wind wall, with its zipper closed, the flap sits on top of the the open zippered screen. There is usually some space between the outside walls of the CI and the scren as it drapes down the sides, and over the fenders. We have tried several things to keep the screen tight against the walls with mixed success, including fender tables on the inside, and sand bags, but things like to slide off the fenders, so having something like a rubber mat on top of the fender so that what ever you put on the inside of the screen against that mat on the outside is less likely to slide. We also place a a tarp underneath the CI, and pull the back edge up over the tires, and the front edge behind the bumper, and under the floor rug to help keep bugs and critters from entering the Clam from under the CI.
So, as you can tell from the above, there are no perfect solutions to all possible issues, but we have worked out solutions to the more problematic ones for us, and are happy with it for the most part, which I think is all you should expect from any of the choices.

 

Another option that I am fond of using-particularly when the weather is warmer is Kelty tarps - I started with the 12 foot then the 16 foot and lastly the 20 foot. 20 foot is colossal and I do t think I’d recommend it. However the other 2 are great for protection against rain and sun without getting too hot underneath when cooking. For bugs, I’ve found thermacell to work really well.