Cybertent tips and tricks

[hemiarch]

Wow, I hadn't heard of t-mats, but this is kind of amazing. And I was literally just chatting with chatgpt about ways to organize my camping gear lol. If you have a sec, a few questions -

1. In another thread I read they're about 1cm high - and it sounds like the husky boxes won't fit under the tent with them - does that match your experience?

2. With the full bed t-mat, and the tent fully deployed, will the mat slide out between the tent legs? Or are the legs not wide enough to let it slip between?

3. When you have a bunch of heavy-ish stuff on the mat, can you really just slide it out like a drawer? Or is there too much friction to make it easy to slide? (again thinking of the full mat, but any experience would be great)

4. Is the top slippery? Like, if you put a plastic box on top, is it going to slide around, or is it similar to the truck bed surface, or...? I get you can use the t-mat blocks to hold stuff in place, just wondering about the general slipperiness without them.

A dude after my own heart. Thinking about organizing camping gear is actually my dad hobby/superpower.
1. The husky boxes are hair tall with the clear lid on. They fit but are awkward to get in and out and you’ll eventually break the awesome clear top you bought them for. Rux bags work better.
https://rux.life/?gad_source=1&gad_...iqv_hxs5aRfmJ8tmYo6CWNA1Mt7RHWV4aAg6bEALw_wcB
They are crazy expensive but you really only need one two or three depending on what you want to put under the tent. A box with a side opening drawer like Milwaukee packout facing the tailgate would also be good. Or any mix of the two. Just another access option. That said, I have given up on using boxes under there because I have better uses for that space. I pack a bluetti apex 300 and 6 allpowers 600w solar panels as well as one of my two rinse kit pro’s which is 3.5 extra gallons of water, a Milwaukee m18 tire inflator, an axe and a shovel down there. Basically the things I unpack last when I camp. The apex 300 runs my subtrunk freezer. I use it as a freezer because that too doesn’t require frequent access. I use the cabin fridge as a “fridge” and can monitor the freezer by Bluetooth.
Will get to the rest of the questions in short order, just a little tied up.

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[hemiarch]

Ok…so the purpose of the apex 300 is that with those solar panels I can charge at 5 miles an hour about 10hrs a day. I live in Arizona so your “mileage” may vary. If I use the bed plugs with reckless abandon for air conditioning cooking and heating water at night I’m still net positive about 40 miles a day.
2. yes and no. It will slide out because you can make the tailgate end as narrow as you want. The bed is sort of wider around the subtrunk lid than in the back. But there isn’t a point. In a regular bed slide it’s very stiff and can extend beyond the tailgate a lot but that’s not what the tmat is good at. The legs are not very far back from the tailgate and so that would o ly gain you a few inches of excursion. Not enough to be worth the hassle.
Also remember the process of folding the tent. Lifting up the front third of the tent is very easy if you need access under it or to allow the tmat to clear.
3 yes. On a bare bed it slides astonishingly well.
4. The top is less grippy than a bare bed but that’s completely negated by the ability to use little things James into the x’s. Not just t-mat but aftermarket Etsy ones that are way smaller and more efficient.

 

[gregr]

Ok…so the purpose of the apex 300 is that with those solar panels I can charge at 5 miles an hour about 10hrs a day. I live in Arizona so your “mileage” may vary. If I use the bed plugs with reckless abandon for air conditioning cooking and heating water at night I’m still net positive about 40 miles a day.
2. yes and no. It will slide out because you can make the tailgate end as narrow as you want. The bed is sort of wider around the subtrunk lid than in the back. But there isn’t a point. In a regular bed slide it’s very stiff and can extend beyond the tailgate a lot but that’s not what the tmat is good at. The legs are not very far back from the tailgate and so that would o ly gain you a few inches of excursion. Not enough to be worth the hassle.
Also remember the process of folding the tent. Lifting up the front third of the tent is very easy if you need access under it or to allow the tmat to clear.
3 yes. On a bare bed it slides astonishingly well.
4. The top is less grippy than a bare bed but that’s completely negated by the ability to use little things James into the x’s. Not just t-mat but aftermarket Etsy ones that are way smaller and more efficient.

This is super helpful - thanks!!

 

[Jedi2155]

Have you heard of a good battery pump to inflate the tent? I have a HOTO pump but I wants to switch to the low volume high pressure pump instead of high volume and takes forever.

BTW this SUP pump been on my shopping cart for a while, but haven't bit on it yet. My main goal is space saving since I didn't realize I'd overload my truck so quickly but happens if you have a giant astronomy setup.

 

[hemiarch]

I like the shark stuff. I have the orca but the shark 3 is pretty sweet too.

 

[hemiarch]

Have any of you found a good ladder solution or pull handle for the cybertent? It’s pretty hard for my kids to get in it largely because there is nothing to hold onto and the exposed piece of tailgate is pretty small. I do have a short two step ladder that works great when the tent is closed. Looking for something that makes in and out of the tent easier.

 

[mcgalloway]

I want to place some bed netting under my cybertent to compartmentalize my bed and prevent stuff from sliding around. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[gregr]

Have any of you found a good ladder solution or pull handle for the cybertent? It’s pretty hard for my kids to get in it largely because there is nothing to hold onto and the exposed piece of tailgate is pretty small. I do have a short two step ladder that works great when the tent is closed. Looking for something that makes in and out of the tent easier.

I just use something like this -

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Project-Source-Compact-2-Step/5000211399

So two steps up, step on the edge of the tailgate, then into the tent.

Definitely not fancy!

 

[hemiarch]

I just use something like this -

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Project-Source-Compact-2-Step/5000211399

So two steps up, step on the edge of the tailgate, then into the tent.

Definitely not fancy!

I do the same but my young kids struggle a little bit so I was looking for something higher that leans or attaches somehow. The other part of it that’s hard for them is that there is really nothing to grab onto and pull yourself into the tent with.
I have two of those Tesla tailgate ramps sitting in the garage somewhere from my foundation series credit purchase. Maybe I should see if I can use one of them. If memory serves they are sort of ladder like.

 

[hemiarch]

Here is an option I found. Not sure how I’d attach it. Wouldn’t necessarily want to put a bracket on the front edge. Might interfere with closing no?
https://ok4wd.com/alu-cab-telescopi...ZrEFW_AsK_1idckJrJ05FKSBcXp7YTfYaAnbGEALw_wcB

 

[Jedi2155]

I just use something like this -

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Project-Source-Compact-2-Step/5000211399

So two steps up, step on the edge of the tailgate, then into the tent.

Definitely not fancy!

I currently have a 3 step stool that I borrowed from a friend where the tallest step is about 26-28 inches which I found is perfect for the truck. What i don't like is the handle gets in the way of the truck. I'd prefer to find a stool whose handle doesn't block the tailgate so I can still put things in there, so something like this:

2 step is about 18", while this height is about 26" from the ground
https://www.amazon.com/HillhutApex-Aluminum-Foldable-Lightweight-Non-Slip/dp/B0FYN5SKQR

Might even go to a 4 step ladder at 37" from the ground, but you probably won't see this in a US store due to fall concerns without a handle at that height.
https://www.amazon.com/WOA-Lightweight-Anti-Slip-Stepladder-Household/dp/B0CHHYFS4C/
or
https://www.amazon.com/KOLL-LINK-Folding-Anti-Slip-Portable/dp/B0D7J33W16

Picture of the current 3 step stool, with CT in tent mode on a flat surface (lip stops at 34" or so). Usually on uneven terrain the suspension goes significantly higher so the 4 step is almost certainly better. The bed lip in entry height is roughly 28".

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