R-Dome vote

Originally posted by geewizard I'm thinking of buying a R-Dome. Can I have a show of hands from R-Dome owners who think it was a good purchase?

Originally posted by BVK I hope I'm not muddying the water too much with my non-vote. Our R-Dome was included with the purchase of our R-Pod, and we haven't used it at all. We certainly anticipated using it for our 2 medium-sized dogs, but alas we have yet to even pull it out of the storage bag. I suppose that, had we paid extra for it, we might be more conscious about utilizing it. We've only been camping 5 times, so this comment isn't exactly coming from the most seasoned of R-Podders! With the fall coming, I am curious as to whether or not anyone has success with using it as a mud-room. Weatherproofing the fabric and maintaining it seems like it could be a deal-breaker.

Our r-dome came included with our 2011 model 177.  The first year I never used it; hey that is why we got a travel trailer, no messin' around with a tent.  However, the second year we saw one attached to a similar 177 like ours and I thought, hmm, this is a pretty neat setup so when we got home we put it up, took about 20 minutes the first time and fell in love with it.  Now, over 7 years later we have used it a lot, and usually put it up if we are staying put for 2 days or more as I can put it up by myself in 15 minutes, not a big deal.  This thing has been in snow, hail, wind storms that were over 50 mph, and that was the only time we had a small bit of damage as we had a tear about 3 inches long along the keder railing.  My DW fixed it in a jiffy and it held up very well.  I guess the only thing I don't like about it is the color, maize and blue!  Being a green and white Spartan, I had to swallow my pride and look beyond the colors and look at the functionality of the dome.  Furpod has listed a few of the reasons dome owner like it, so I won't repeat what has already been stated.  For us it is a  +++++++++++++++++++ addition to our 177.

Forgot to mention, the one thing that was chintzy and was replaced were the stakes that had the strength of colby cheese when pounded into the ground and they easily pulled out even with moderate winds.  Replaced with a beefier and longer stake.