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RV review: 2025 Rockwood Tent 190OTG - better'n a tent

Tony Barthel

Today’s RV review is of the new-for-2025 Rockwood Tent 190 OTG. This is one of the most simple RVs we’ve ever looked at and that’s by choice. The interesting thing, to me, is that it’s from a company that produces everything from this diminutive rig to luxurious fifth wheels and upscale travel trailers.

We gave the Rockwood Tent 190 OTG four out of five stars on our RV Report Card. Check out the RV Report Card on this unit here.

What is the Rockwood Tent 190 OTG

In asking around, it seems that there are enough people who simply want to move up from a tent that Rockwood listened and created their OTG series. Essentially what the company did was create just that - a step above a tent. That that’s what the term “OTG” is - Off The Ground.

And that’s what you have here - essentially a tent on wheels. In fact, that’s quite literally what this is - a tent on wheels.

Starting at the road with the Rockwood Tent 190 OTG

Part of the goal of this trailer is to be very affordable with an estimated MSRP (retail price) of $8995. At that rate you don’t get the typical torsion axle suspension and Goodyear Endurance tires that are common in larger Rockwood products.

Rockwood Tent 190 OTG floor plan

Towing the Rockwood Tent 190 OTG

Add to that the fact that the trailer is likely no taller than the tow vehicle when the top is down and now you have something you can legitimately tow with some small SUVs, compact pickups, Jeeps and even some passenger cars. If you can find a passenger car nowadays. 

I looked at the towing capacity of some smaller vehicles and focused on the Subaru Crosstrek with a four cylinder engine. 

That car claims to be able to tow about 3,500 pounds but we have our own towing guide to help you determine what you can tow. As most people find in the towing guide, it’s the cargo carrying capacity that typically limits a lot of vehicles. 

Essentially it’s important to realize that your tow vehicle carries about 15% of a trailer’s weight. 

A two-place dinette makes into a second bed

So, at 1,299 pounds Rockwood estimates that the empty tongue weight of this trailer is 183 pounds according to the company’s website. That may work well. 

But another thing to be aware of, especially in smaller tow vehicles, is what is called frontal area. Essentially pulling a trailer through the air takes energy. Many vehicles towing recommendation includes cautionary information about how large the frontal area of a trailer can be simply because of the available power to overcome the wind resistance. 

One of the advantages of this style of trailer is that it typically sits below the tow vehicle. That means the efforts of the vehicle designers to create a shape that’ll cut through the wind isn’t lost on this as much as it would be on a taller trailer. 

What’s inside the Rockwood Tent 190 OTG

Basically the interior of this trailer is a bed and a dinette and a cabinet. That’s about it. 

There are other trailers, including other trailers from Rockwood, where you crank up the top and then pull out platforms to create a bed. These go from being very small when folded down to offering pretty good space when fully deployed. 

This is different - there are no extensions. The top cranks up and it simply creates headroom, no other additional interior space. 

The bed here is a proper queen-sized bed that sits east-to-west across the back of the trailer. 

A cabinet with a tabletop and storage for the portable toilet

There’s also a two-person dinette at the front of the trailer that measures 33” X 80” when folded flat, so you could sleep three people in here. In fact all three of those people could be adults. 

There is a counter top in here with an open space and a cabinet beneath it. Rockwood includes a portable toilet here much like the Camco travel toilet that we reviewed. 

The bed in the back does lift up for additional storage. 

What’s almost as important as what’s in the Rockwood Tent 190 OTG is what is not in it. There is no heat nor air conditioning. No plumbing whatsoever so no water and no propane. 

There is a provision for two batteries and that means there is lighting inside along with USB outlets but that’s about it. 

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Who is the Rockwood Tent 190 OTG for?

The idea here is that people who have been tent camping and want to get off the ground might find this to be a great solution. 

Compared to tent camping this trailer takes you up off the ground 😄 and you get a tent that’s easy to set-up with the crank-up mechanism. I would imagine it’s much dryer than most tents as well - we happened to see this on a very rainy day and it was dry inside. Plus there is the interior lighting and the USB charging ports. 

I can see that some folks upgrading from a tent might already have things like portable stoves, lanterns, camp chairs, coolers and all of that. So the fact that they are not included with this makes a lot of sense. 

If you’re just getting started on your camping adventures, we do have a lot of ideas of RV and camping gadgets in our boon docking collection. 

Another nice thing about this is that there’s no winterization, there’s no special tricks to know to operate things. It’s simply a tent on wheels. 

Final thoughts about the Rockwood Tent 190 OTG

I doubt there are people who are downsizing from a fifth wheel into something like this. Instead, this is great for the occasional tent camper who wants to move up. 

I’m usually not a big fan of leaf springs but I also suspect few of these are going to make very long trips, although I could be very, very wrong. Further, since these are so simple the less refined leaf spring suspension might be just fine. 

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