Tesla Camping MKCamp Tent Honest Review - The good the bad and the 'what were they thinking?'

[@Suki_the_half_blue]

This was the best review of the mk tent and I thoroughly enjoyed your editing. Thank you for this and looking forward to more videos!

[@richnjen9]

Thanks for the positivity, I didn't enjoy the editing 😂 felt like a right wooden idiot in most of it, but wanted to get a balanced review out there. Can't believe more than 2000 people have watched it, I thought it might be 20, the internet is a big palce!

[@WillHart]

We just used ours for the first time last weekend, and it was wonderful! I didn't know what the little black patch was for until we were getting ready to sleep and realized that we couldn't turn off the boot light. That attention to detail made me a huge fan!

[@richnjen9]

We must think alike, had exactly the same experience with the black patch!

[@kevinchun8740]

You can also trigger the latch by using string or something small, just need to remember to press the button to open it agan

[@Brent1701-E]

Thanks for pointing out all the issues.

[@richnjen9]

Glad I could help 😁

[@MKcamp_official]

Your video is great and we are very touched that you shared it with such heart!

[@richnjen9]

Thanks, really think you should consider adding a zip on the car fly sheet to close the tent when the car isn't there, would easily fix the one big flaw in the tent.

[@MKcamp_official]

@@richnjen9 Yes we have an adapted door curtain but the box is too big to fit, all sold as separate, can you come to contact me I can not find your order

[@m1LoXD]

Ours came with a “replacement wall” to have that part completely closed when not attaching tent to the car. You should contact mkcamp to get this.

[@richnjen9]

Thanks for this. I have spoken to them, but as I got it from an Australian reseller (much cheaper) they couldn't supply it to me. Happy with the solution we came up with though, used it a few times now, haven't had any issues.

[@thesolofather]

Thanks for pointing out the problems with the tent sealing when you had to pull away the vehicle. May influence my decision.

[@richnjen9]

Glad I could help

[@MsAjax409]

We recently bought the tent and also received a zippered panel to install over the car opening to fully enclose the tent.

[@richnjen9]

@@MsAjax409 hey, that's excellent, a great improvement. How does it work, like a flap that zips over the hole?

[@MsAjax409]

@@richnjen9 I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like what you do is unzip the car connection piece and zip in the blank panel.

[@johnmccoll1611]

Thanks for the great video Richard. Have just purchased tent and mattress and will break out tent to add the protective tabs on the awning and some velcro TOCWA has many benefits from fellow members

[@richnjen9]

Ah cool! Glad I could help, when adding the tabs, just note that the top and middle ones need to be slightly different lengths for the most snug fit.

[@johnmccoll1611]

@@richnjen9 Noted that in the video, so I will trial at home first for positioning. I have some tarpaulin securing pegs ((not spike type) which can be fitted to the edges via a carabiner I will try these first to do actual line up between the securing tabs on the tent proper.

[@richnjen9]

@@johnmccoll1611 good idea on the tarp clips, those may be a good work around for people that aren't able to do the sewing of the tabs, the bottom ones take the majority of the load and are already there, the middle ones are just anti-flap. As I guess you're in Perth as you mentioned TOCWA happy to show you our tent if that helps, PM me on the TOCWA forum if you want to have a look.

[@johnmccoll1611]

@@richnjen9 Thanks I saw MKtent reply. I did see another one of their video displaying the dip version.I will try my idea first as I am not that fussed spending more $$ on that extra now if the work around is ok

[@TricopterSail]

Great review, thank you. I would be interested in a follow up video about what gear you are using with the tent.

[@richnjen9]

Thanks, would be a very short video, we have a small portable fridge and a table. Not much else really 😃

[@lynseycurry8466]

Hello, thank you for the video. I was wondering if the tent folded up can fit into the fruck to give extra space in the back for traveling with gear?

[@richnjen9]

Very late reply, but yes, when correctly folded it fits in the frunk, but it's a tight fit.

[@maxflight777]

Super video, thanks for posting 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 I only have a LR with the ghastly plastic wheel trims… Your MYP in red is completely compelling!

[@richnjen9]

Glad you liked it, still find it weird so many people have watched it 😄

[@6JWB9]

I'm curious, how does this tent manage to prevent bugs and mosquitoes from entering when there's some wind causing gaps?

[@richnjen9]

It seals really well around the boot opening, so nothing gets in. The opening is specifically made for the model y, it has elastic and Velcro to keep it quite snug to the car.

[@mybrokenbeans]

So, there's no way to shut off the lights on the vehicle?

[@richnjen9]

All of the internal lights can turn off apart from the one in the trunk, if the trunk is open. So you can either cover it with the provided patch, or click the mechanism so the car thinks it's shut.

[@ConservatEV]

Simple question: How well does the vehicle charge while being used in camp mode at the same time all night? Driving the car all day is a thing, would it be able to recharge all the way (like from 20%) overnight (8-hours) on a 30 amp plug while also in camp mode?

[@richnjen9]

Camp mode uses about 0.7kw in very cold/hot weather when the AC is running full so you need to deduct that from the charge rate thats going into the car. On a 15a 240v socket you get 3.6kw so worst case 2.9kw is going into the battery, overnight for 10 hours that'll give 29kwh or 50% battery. 30a 240v would easily hit 100% in 8 hours. 30a at 110v would add about 50% in 10 hours. On our first night we arrived at 7pm in the dark on 3%, plugged into 15a 240v and started setup, ran the AC all night (wasn't very cold or very hot), and had 70% by the time we had finished breakfast at 10am.

[@longviewbarbershop]

Great video! The fixes you made make so much sense. Does the tent stay consistently warm/cold with the Tesla interior when using camp mode? Sorry if I missed that part.

[@richnjen9]

Yes it does, generally a bit less cool/heated then the car, but definately a marked temperature difference to the outside.

[@lseungmook]

Is this the cotton version or the oxford fabric version? I wonder what model have a bottom on the porch side.

[@richnjen9]

This is the cotton fabric version, the other fabric is black. They do a double room version with the extra floored room at the end. My one is just the single room version.

[@MyEVRide-ye6kx]

Great video, but would you be able to seal it around a Model 3? I realize getting in and out would be different but do you think it would still seal because it looks like it would?

[@richnjen9]

I would doubt it, it expects the top of the boot opening to be close to head height, so doubt that bit of tent would reach down to a model 3. I'm guessing it would kind of work, but wouldn't make a water/wind proof seal. Never tried it though, so not sure either way.

[@DatNguyen-sh8fv]

Anyone tried turn the EV's AC on during summer camping with the SUV Tent?

[@richnjen9]

That's how we normally use it, live in Australia, generally pretty hot here, works as well as it does for heating.

[@jacques80]

Great video, thank you. Why do you sleep with the booth open? You will spend much less energy, the AC can run on a much lower(more silent) mode and the sound isolation of the car will give you a better night of sleep without waking up to birds or other people on a campsite.

[@richnjen9]

My daughter slept in the tent part, keeping it open let's the AC keep the whole tent warm too 🙂 If it was just the two of us or we didn't have an AC socket charging the car, we probably would have shut it.

[@HasanNiz]

Great video! Subscribed! Where did you get the mattress from?

[@richnjen9]

The mattress is from MKCamp same as the tent. The US MKCamp site is mkcamp.store/ The Australian website I got mine from is au-tesla.myshopify.com

[@maxflight777]

Richard .. may I please ask ? When I go to their (MK) website, they have two models ! An “Oxford” and a “camping Cotten cloth “ one . Which did you buy ? warmest regards

[@richnjen9]

Cotton cloth, much heavier weight beige fabric, impregnated with DuPont magic stuff that makes it very waterproof. The Oxford is the lighter weight black fabric, more like traditional tent flysheet fabric. I think we made the right choice, like the light colour of the fabric and it has a good high quality feel, but personal preference plays a big part I think

[@suegavan412]

Hi Richard, thank you for this very informative review! It has been a while since you posted it and I’m wondering if you have experienced any high winds or wind gusts while camping in the tent and how the tent responded to that? We have a Tesliod tent and it has been completely destroyed in gusty winds at Tidal River, Wilson’s Promontory in Victoria😢!

[@richnjen9]

Yes we have, recently down in Albany in Western Australia at a very windy site. Tent itself was rock solid and stable. It was so windy the flappy awning bit that goes over the car roof pulled screw in pegs right out of the ground and then flapped around, so we rolled it up. No problems rolling it up, but I suspect if it was very windy AND torrentially raining at the same time this may have been an issue as I presume that bit exists to deal with heavy rain.

[@suegavan412]

@@richnjen9 Thanks for your response. We will make sure to check the weather for torrential downpours and strong winds at the same time and change our plans! 😁It is good and reassuring to hear that the tent is solid and reliable in strong winds!

[@nfr3416]

how did you pump up the tent, manually? Is there a 12v pump available?

[@richnjen9]

It comes with a great quality manual pump, you really don't need an electric pump, it takes about 1min to pump up the tent. You also need to kind of half pump it and then give it wiggle to open it up a bit, then the last 2 or 3 pumps, to make the 'poles' solid.

[@rav8149]

Interesting that you have black seats with white seat covers. Blended pretty neatly.❤

[@richnjen9]

They are just the standard white seats for the MY, no covers on them.

[@dstephan34]

I'm having a hard time deciding between this and the Tentsla tent.

[@richnjen9]

Just had a look, they definately had one of the MKCamp tents when they made Tentsla, many features are identical, 1:1 copy. Apparently the gap issue with the MK is now fixed, comes with a flap now that zips in when you leave.

[@darkestraven]

Look at my post, I've used both and tentsla is so much better.

[@alexculver3578]

Any chance you can give me the website to buy this?

[@richnjen9]

The US website is mkcamp.store/ If you happen to be in Australia then this one is in Sydney, it's where I got mine. au-tesla.myshopify.com

[@maxflight777]

5:45 Thanks for pointing that out … 👍🏼

[@richnjen9]

No problem 😃

[@mcbain3188]

Has anyone tried to use this tent with a model 3?

[@richnjen9]

I haven't tried it, but I don't think it would work that well, the opening is pretty short at the top, for a tall car, don't think it would reach down to a 3.

[@charlesjohns6909]

Has anyone had trouble getting their products from this company? I ordered a tent over a month ago and cannot get a status update on shipment. This is looking more and more like a scam.

[@richnjen9]

Where did you order it from? The MKCamp site? Not heard any others having issues, not to say there aren't any, but haven't heard any.

[@charlesjohns6909]

@@richnjen9 Yes, ordered from the MKCamp site. Just heard from them (finally), and they say it's on the way. Hopefully, just a communications problem.

[@maxflight777]

Can you actually buy one in Europe ? Seems to be US only ! …maybe my mistake? (I appreciate you are in WA.. I’m asking in case any EU viewers are aware 😂)

[@richnjen9]

The US site was the only one it could initially find, and it's $$$ but I got mine from a small seller that gets them direct from china into Australia. Not sure if there is anywhere in Europe that does the same, too quite a lot of searching to find the one I used.

[@DuPont_hardware_tool]

pretty mkcamp tent

[@richnjen9]

Thanks, water runs off it like a duck

[@jeffneilson510]

No internal divide/ screen is a deal breaker

[@richnjen9]

Do you mean between the car and the tent? If so, I don't think any offer this, is you really want the seperation, I'd just shut the boot.

[@jeffneilson510]

@@richnjen9 no I’ve seen a screen door separate it. It’s great because you still get the heat/ AC but no insects. The others just don’t seal the best so mosquitoes will find away in.

[@richnjen9]

@@jeffneilson510 never had any insect issues with the sealing to be honest, it's pretty good and we have camped in mosquito areas. I'm guessing you're talking about sleeping in the tent not the car then, if so it a screen would be a pretty fool proof solution to that.

[@jeffneilson510]

@@richnjen9 yes sleep in tent so whole family can go. But still get the benefits from a Tesla AC etc.

[@AM-fu5ew]

Tour voice is too low.

[@richnjen9]

Thanks for the feedback, my first ever video, will try to be a bit louder if I ever do another one 👍

[@TessaHill22]

Great video! Regarding the height of the open boot, this video may be helpful about adjusting that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5e4lGScr5mWsJI

[@richnjen9]

Thanks, issue with the trunk height is that it is hard up against the tent roof, rather than being the trunk stopping itself. But thanks for the tip

[@darkestraven]

Tentsla tent is mikes better. I used both and mk camp was awful compared to Tentsla.

[@richnjen9]

What are the major differences? They seem similar from the videos I've seen, but I've not seen a Tentsla in real life.

[@Mustaqim_pigeon]

@darkestraven I’m curious to the differences!

[@johnmccoll1611]

Awful…… interesting,what’s the shortfalls of the MK ?

[@darkestraven]

@@johnmccoll1611 the materials are completely different. MK camp uses canvas heavy material and their plastic fiber weave that surrounds the air baffles are thin. I used the MK twice before I had a baffle failure. Even if this was just one of factory defect and was still working the weight and waterproofness and breathability of the material reminds are not on par with tentsla. It's like going camping in the 80 LA vs what material we have today. The design itself is also not refined. You can't open the model Y door all the way up which leads to some minor head injuries, they fixed this flaw in the tentsla. The awning placement is also not good pass through instead of L shape like the tentsla. Makes for difficult orientation to create a feeling privacy with the tent and car, useful of your in a crowded camp site. For reference I used the MK 2 times and returned it, I've used the tentsla 3x now and find it superior. The only thing that was better on the MK was it was larger living space but with tentsla you lose the space to get a wind breaker on the main door with outdoor covered area for putting boots and other wet dirty equipment you don't want inside. Like a regular tent with a rain fly having that extra storage space. There are some other little things like the tentsla has pockets and the design of the sealing around the top trunk is better. Pole don't have the Bungie rope which I prefer because it is less likely to have a failure and you can modify your site to have larger poles sacrificing other awning height Tentsla awning over the car is much bigger. They also have an extra window so you can get better airflow. Tentsla came with the flap to convert to a stand alone tent my MK did not. Hope this helps.

[@johnmccoll1611]

@@darkestraven Thanks very much for your time I have used the MK for about 4 trips and can tick your boxes for the comments. I will watch the material cover of the inflatable tubes… so far so good My MK was supplied with the alternate standalone section for the car end.To be honest, I have driven away and just modified the flap end to close up rather than fit the standalone end.This makes for a quicker reattach. The other deltas for the Tentsla do look better though. For me though the MK does the job enough to not convert. Happy camping

[@leighleatdotcom]

Hi, great video.. many thanks. I am looking to buy shortly. Can you tell me did you get delivered to UK and what country was it shipped from? I am trying to calculate the cost tax,duties etc to Ireland. I am looking to buy the tent, as per your very informative video, and the mattress.

[@richnjen9]

I got mine in Australia! The US MKCamp website ships internationally, not sure if they do Ireland though? mkcamp.store/ The AU website I got mine from seems to be a much smaller operation, they may be more amenable to long distance shipping? au-tesla.myshopify.com

[@leighleatdotcom]

Many thanks ..