The GFC is a good, light, basic wedge camper. For me the best part is how basic they are. A person can build them out if they want more features, but for me they are fine for "car camping" mode. Unless you are living in one full time the convenience of quick set up and take down is the main point. Also very light and cool aircraft style construction. Anything beats ground camping dealing with the creepy-crawlies, especially the "wiggle sticks."
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Agreed! It all comes down to how you prefer to camp and you can make this setup into whatever you want which is great. Thanks for watching!
@WisdomInTheWoods5 ай бұрын
For $7600 you shouldn’t have to!
@TrashPandaGarage6 ай бұрын
Good review! The fabric sag was not something I expected, but the potential cause that you described makes sense. I've seen a couple of videos lately describing how there are other market competitors (Packout, Super Pacific, etc.) that have more features, but in those videos the weight differences aren't typically mentioned. GFC seems to be committed to strength vs weight, and it feels like they still have that part of the market pretty well cornered, even as their competition grows. Even a base model Packout is about 75-80 pounds heavier than a base GFC in midsize models. Extra features = extra weight in almost all circumstances. I"ve got a GFC install date at the HQ in July. Looking forward to your year 3 review :)
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
You’re spot on regarding weight! GFC is for sure battle tested in terms of strength and they r definitely the lightest of their competitors, congrats on your scheduled install date! We still enjoy this setup so I’m stoked for you! Thanks for watching! 🤙🏽
@JSEvolved6 ай бұрын
I got super close on pulling the trigger on a GFC but I am glad I decided on a different option. A few more weeks and I get to pick up my Lone Peak Camper. I think they have done a great job at fixing a lot of the issues mentioned in your video.
@sskirv50716 ай бұрын
Super jealous you’re getting your Lone Peak in a few weeks. I won’t get mine until June, according to their spreadsheet. I’m very excited for you🎉
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Nice!! Congrats on the Lone Peak! I’ve looked at the camper on their website, looks to be a great option, thanks for watching cheers!
@jeb00206 ай бұрын
I have a Super Pacific (2 years) and almost went with GFC. The main reason I didn’t is the water intrusion (I live in the PNW). The best design of the Super Pacific is the three vents. Never had any issues with condensation. I also like that when my wife and I are camping no need to move anything to go pee at night. I also love that the doors when open there’s access to the full truck bed, no bars in the way. When you get the handle on the extrusion I made a webbing handle to pull the top down. Never liked the idea of pulling on the fabric. Also, the struts for the doors are pretty cheap on Amazon and easily replaced. I camped next to a guy with a GFC and he came over to inspect the Super Pacific and his opinion was the Super Pacific was worth the extra money. Cheers
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Thank you! Good to know about the struts 👌🏽 and Thanks for the feedback, I’ve heard a lot of good things about the super pacific (not sure if they make one for the Frontier?) but they do appear to be well worth the money, thanks for watching cheers!
@Master-Blaster-4x42 ай бұрын
the weight of the super pacific was like 70-100lbs more than the GFC when i checked and the new version 2 PRO model that came out 2 weeks ago solves all the main issues i have seen show up in reviews, and the water intrusion issue was solved last year, im also in PNW and i was leaning s.pacific but the weight is something i have to consider for the performance of my JT; thanks for sharing im just sharing info back at ya, if you want to meet up to camp let me know i will be putting together a lot of local camping routes including doing the entire wa BDR from south to north in august
@petergiers85156 ай бұрын
I also have a GFC on a frontier, eleven months. I think your evaluation was pretty darn good. Other than some condensation issues, I have had no problems. Some after-market products are sure worth the money, lock covers, and mounting hooks. I also purchased the Turbo Cubby that works perfectly for me.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Nice! Love hearing from other Frontier owners especially with a GFC setup as well! Thats good to hear about the Turbo Cubby, I havent heard too much about that accessory so glad to hear it works well. Lock covers are for sure on my list! Thanks for watching Peter!
@silvermonk133 ай бұрын
The reasons you mentioned are why I'm leaning towards a Topo Topper camper. Not only are they cheaper but they have proper ventilation set up and the bug screens on the windows are on the proper side, plus you can get a clear layer so they are a window even if it is raining outside. The fading of the black on the aluminum is probably because of the sun we get in Vegas. It's brutal on everything.
@Kadenventures3 ай бұрын
Yeah for sure! I think Softroading the West with his Frontier, hes got the topo on it and it looks great! I may end up getting a giant truck cover for the GFC to help it withstand the sun someday lol! Thanks for watching!
@dominica27653 ай бұрын
I’m probably gonna get the same one topo mesa Way cheaper and I think it’s better and it doesn’t leak. That’s the main thing I don’t like my bed full of water.
@paullindsley67546 ай бұрын
Thanks for the update.... keep working the adventures.
Thanks for the feedback guys!! I dont think I'll need new hydraulics for the roof, i'm hoping the tent sag just doesnt get worse lol I'll check out the Hest pad and will most likely get some lock covers eventually lol its on the long list of things I need to buy for the truck lol One of which is new tires and wheels at the top of this list :) Thanks!!
@OutOfOfficeCamping5 ай бұрын
@Kadenventures 😊 As for tires, check out the all new Falcon Wildpeak AT4. I have the AT3W. I love them! P.S. Thankfully, my list is just about finished. 😂
@stevey76486 ай бұрын
Great update. I’m just starting my adventures with my GFC (also on a Nissan but a Titan). I appreciate you calling out things to look out for to help with longevity. I’m glad to hear you’re going to hang on to it and make it most of it.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Thanks! Glad the video was helpful! Love hearing from other Nissan owners with the GFC!
@conniewaite13712 ай бұрын
If they made the hinged end a little deeper,you could have more headroom and room for bedding as well.
@KadenventuresАй бұрын
Agreed, we've since upgraded to the 1inc foam mattress by Overland Softgoods and its a lot harder to close now which is a bummer...
@FreedomToRoam865 ай бұрын
Good review - very thorough. One other pro though: because GFC’s are selling so well there are lots of accessories for them. Especially the new cabinets, which are tres bon! I think the GFC is really targeted at minimalists. If you like that, it’s a great platform. I like that there is no pouches to try and remember where I put stuff, for example. And it leaves it wide open to mod the way I want, or not. For me, when I crawl up in my bed at night with the doors out on their poles, it is just a pure, uncluttered me and the night. Which brings up the new tent design - I wouldn’t be able to see out the side windows! For me, that would kill the deal, compared to others. But again, it’s all about what a person needs, and the more options in the market, the better the fit can be.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Agreed! Its definitely targeted to minimalists so you can make it what you want it. Thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching! Cheers!
@jeraldheinrich35896 ай бұрын
The moisture issue is something to address, I wipe down the inside with towels that I carry, and when I get home I pop up the tent and dry it out. I purchased a Badger Bed to put over the mattress, which I also use when I visit at friends and family. Purchased lock covers and they work good, a bit expensive, but now you can get them directly from GFC and they are reasonable.
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Never heard of the badger bed, I’ll check that out! Good to know about the lock covers, I’ll check that out, cheers!
@HN-oq3gf6 ай бұрын
great honest review. thank you
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Hope it was helpful, thanks for watching!
@vegasjay36246 ай бұрын
Good honest review. Honestly as much as you use it, and the environment you are in looks like its holding up pretty good!
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
No doubt! Its been holding up well so with the price I paid i have no regrets. Thanks for watching Jay!
@nietzschewept6 ай бұрын
Most of what you mentioned are known, and have been known forever. If you had a smitty, then the windows, bug screens and condensation shouldn’t be new. I had 2 Smittys and have a GFC now. I will admit the new bed is way better. But everything else is also a problem with almost all rooftop tents, like smitty. I did winds over 80 mph in CO with smitty, and I feel the GFC would suffer the same flapping wind issue. The Shitco awnings help as did his solar cable bracket. I camp in CO for weeks at a time and then weekend camping in NC, so wind, rain, heat and single digits are all things I deal with. I get the frustration at what isn’t included, but SP and Harker are both 5-6 k more and for a midsize, like yours and my gladiator, the FFC is the best bang for buck.
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Yea for sure I’ve definitely heard these complaints elsewhere, good to know about the bed being way better (I hope so for this price 😂) thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching! Cheers 🤙🏽
@mcr99315 ай бұрын
Thanks for the 2-year review. I’m waiting for my GFC so I will be happy to mention you for the referral when I get the install. Maybe I’ll see you camping in Arizona / Vegas area sometime.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Thats awesome and congrats on the scheduled install! Appreciate the referral as well, If you ever see us out on the trail dont hesitate to say hello! Cheers and thanks for watching!
@kennb.33896 ай бұрын
Excellent Review. Fair and to the point ! Thanks !
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
@dominica27653 ай бұрын
Great video thank you hope you’re well. Topo mesa it’s probably the one I’m gonna go with. I have a GFC on my truck right now, but it’s not a pop-up.Topo There’s only 6950 and it doesn’t leak. They have a better tent system and it weighs about the same.
@Kadenventures2 ай бұрын
Good to know! Thanks for sharing, if you do end up getting it let me know how you like it! Thanks for watching 🤙🏽
@wra3official6 ай бұрын
My biggest issue is keeping water out during the PNW winter, and I don't really camp in the winter, partly because it would be impossible to get dry, not having a garage. Water still gets in. I've added rubber weatherstripping and need to do it again. I really wish better waterproofing was something which was already built in and I would not have to jerry rig myself. I just popped the tent a few days ago after being out of town for a few weeks and it was DAMP. Now I am waiting until later this week when we are supposed to have some dry days to hopefully get it fully dry, but that doesn't take care of the mold which has built up.
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Damn that’s a bummer! You’d have to have a pretty tall garage to fully open this up too, if I had this camper when we were living in Alaska I’d be screwed and in your same boat with constantly damp tent material. Have u thought of opening the tent with a giant tarp draped over it with a fan running inside? May look a bit ghetto to your neighbors but may help with drying things out lol
@battleborngrafix46406 ай бұрын
I got some extra spring rods from a CVT RTT. I'm in Henderson, if you want to try them out for your windows, let me know, I can get them to you.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Thank you! I'm hoping the spring rods don't fail on me but if they do I'll let you know, thank you Appreciate it!
@rolandbergin80136 ай бұрын
GFC makes latch covers now for 15 dollars. Shipping times can be long but the price and the covers are a solid choice.
@FreedomToRoam865 ай бұрын
those latch covers are awesome. My first winter with uncovered rear latches, they corroded over. This winter with latch covers, they look and work like brand new.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Good to know thank you!!
@RonnyLee3RD6 ай бұрын
I HIGHLY recommend the mattress pad/foam from overland soft goods.
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Nice! Good to know thank you!
@irishnomad99936 ай бұрын
Had My GFC for 16months now. Only complaint is wish they had a better seal going around the truck bed. I got a diesel heater to get rid of the condensation but if your in baja no problem
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
No doubt! Before I do any build in the truck bed I need to properly seal the bed. Thanks for watching!
@cillaloves2fish6886 ай бұрын
Thx Kaden! Good review!
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
You bet, thank you!
@Master-Blaster-4x42 ай бұрын
the new version 2 PRO seems to solve a lot of the cons….did you see the video on the new pro model?
@Kadenventures2 ай бұрын
Yes! I was actually going to post a video on it but I ended up making a community post with my thoughts. link here if your interested 🤙🏽kzbin.infoUgkxV5U_eDKzIK9BKtpfV_zuaA6Bd1HnInCG?si=uFXhQVi-SC8ocuU2
@jackaz78875 ай бұрын
I just sold my GFC that was on my Tacoma for about a year. I’ll probably never buy it or anything like it again. I loved it for about 3 months and came the issues. Water leaked in all 4 corners. GFC “had a fix” for it but that didn’t fix it at all. The tent material deteriorated like yours after a short amount of time. The window panels are flimsy and didn’t hold up very good in strong wind. After about 4 months, the window struts failed and wouldn’t hold the windows up all the way. The GFC is not water tight or dust tight at all. Water and dust came in at the window panel edges. When it rain or after a run in the desert, i don’t even wanna get into the camper. This is a big one for me, the weight. They advertised it’s 275lbs. No it’s not. It’s 320 lbs. Plus all the mods and gears , you’ll get very heavy very quickly. It felt like driving a boat on a highway with the camper on. My mpg decreased by 4mpg. GFC accessories are outrageously expensive. Wether GFC or 3rd party’s accessories, they’re wayyyy more expensive than they should be. For example, $20 for 4 t-nuts. That’s crazy. Even though i used it a lot. We camped in it every weekend for a whole year. We been to multiple states with it. I still found more reasons to not like it than to like it.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Yeah unfortunately I've heard of all those issues esp with rain and dust. The way my rig drives doesnt feel bad luckily. Did you end up buying a different camper??
@jackaz78875 ай бұрын
@@KadenventuresI’m doing a ground tent for now. I’ve been driving my truck without a camper and oh man, how i missed it that way lol
@Nolgore6 ай бұрын
Interesting about the sag - mine has always been that way from the start. I think their in-house sewing just isn't that amazing. They've never included a vent at the top and zippers were never that well thought out.
@thehayman73526 ай бұрын
Same, I think I just never noticed. I think that area just has an excess of material
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
No doubt about that, I think these days I’ve been noticing it more but it’s prob regular wear and tear. Thanks for watching!
@QTheLights8086 ай бұрын
Thanks for the review Kaden. I was checkout the super pacific campers wondering if they made your radar also?
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching! I’m not sure what yoir referring by for radar?
@thehayman73526 ай бұрын
Maybe the camera isn’t picking up the paint well, but the aluminum may just be really stained. In which case, you’ll need to clean it in a specific way. The tent fabric is by far my least favorite part of this tent
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Yea that’s exactly what it looks like the aluminum looks stained, you can only see it up close though
@thehayman73526 ай бұрын
@@Kadenventures maybe you’ve looked into it, but there’s a lot of documentation on cleaning up the staining may be worth a try
@stephaniesimpson35896 ай бұрын
Well for a budget setup you really can't be mad at it. You get what you pay for.
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Agreed! Im not complaining for the price I paid just giving out the facts 🤙🏽 thanks for watching
@CraigG215 ай бұрын
Good info 👊. Definitely NOT for me. I like the Harker Outdoors EDC.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching! I saw the Harker camper in person a few years back and I really like how they took advantage of the entire truck bed space with how the tent fans out from the camper
@MrTyroneweaver29 күн бұрын
Suppose you wanted to put this wedge tent on a tow behind cargo van Can you still have an interior entry say a 2x2 hole
@Kadenventures28 күн бұрын
GFC does make a wedge tent version of the GFC (without the camper and passthrough ability). I think that would work on a tow behind cargo van, 2x2 hole may be a bit small though for entry but you could make it work
@arthurwei1753Ай бұрын
Do the compression latches on the back panel open from the inside? How do you lock up at night from inside?
@KadenventuresАй бұрын
There is a way to lock yourself into the GFC at night, the latches have to be closed from the outside and then from the inside there is a latch you can push up and down to lock the panel, this is only for the back window though (window above the tailgate). The side panels would need to be locked with a key to lock them up. Thanks for watching Arthur!
@WisdomInTheWoods5 ай бұрын
Makes me happy I didn’t go with gfc thanks!
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching! I just wanted to put the information out there so everyone can make their own decisions for what would work best for them, did you end up going with something else??
@daneboro68476 ай бұрын
Do they make a hard sided pop up tent?
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
Yes! i've been seeing these more and more, like Redtail overland, sparks overland or Antishanty are a few companies i've seen. These hard sided rooftop tents arent cheap though lol
@marshallhoverson33773 ай бұрын
There has to be a better option. I think I’ll skip the GFC! Too many issues!
@Kadenventures3 ай бұрын
Lots of options out there these days! For the price I think the GFC is still the cheapest but for a couple more grand there are campers that definitely solve a lot of the pain points (ex. Packout campers, Super Pacific, Lone peak, etc)
@1030barcaАй бұрын
@@Kadenventureshave you looked into the Harker EXO? I’m between a used GFC and a Harker for my 6ft taco.
@just4ivaylo925 ай бұрын
These things are $9-10,000 at this point. The issues you've seen with the tent specifically would be absolutely unacceptable to me, especially when my $200 4-season has NONE of those issues in the PNW.
@Kadenventures5 ай бұрын
It all comes down to how you like to camp and what's worth it to you, we camp so much that a ground tent doesnt make sense to us. This RRT and camper combo was well worth the price to us. What kind of 4 season tent do you use? i've been looking for an extra tent for guests lol Thanks for watching!
@bear80466 ай бұрын
I had a GFC for a year and couldn't sell it fast enough. LOVED the metal framing. HATED the tent. Seriously, it's just a very crappy tent design in every way. And an uttet pain in the butt to address. I couldn't be bothered to figure out how to stop it from leaking after the 4th or 5th fix from GFC (including a new freaking tent!). I do understand why people love them, but man oh man is it not for me. Enjoy all your vids in it still, of course.
@Kadenventures6 ай бұрын
Thanks for the feedback! And glad you still Enjoy the videos with it lol appreciate it, thanks for watching! 🤙🏽
@ellerybice37872 ай бұрын
Thanks for the tips on other manufactures. 🫡 Though I do wonder why you leave your little cottage in town, your outdoor camping experiences seem to stress you to the point of wetting the bed, and then you blame the wet mattress on a leaking camper component. 🤷🏼♂️
@Kadenventures2 ай бұрын
Not sure how you think my camp adventures stress me out? But Thanks for watching🤘🏽