I was debating both the sentry and BAK for a while. The thing that steered me to the BAK: it is more established. More reviews. Stuff like that. But this thread has me second guessing the entire category. I just don’t know what to make of the Truxedo Velcro. Will it help with water? Do I want to deal with Velcro. Does Velcro wear out?
One consideration. I just read the Truxedo manual. In the very beginning it says don’t try and operate in prolonged cold. So there you go: neither manufacturer says to use it in the cold. They state to move it into the sun first to warm up. And ice and snow is also in the manual as not allowed. I just don’t see how one product would be better than the other in the cold. Except the Velcro they are the same thing. So the Velcro may reduce the chance of tearing if ice glued the sides down. There are only so many ways to mix strips of aluminum and vinyl.
Can anyone invent a remote controlled bed heater
Absolutely great points, good debate we have going.
Security: I initially vastly preferred the Bak Revolver as the mechanical rail latch provides a lot more security... unless of course bad guys figure out a little hook to slip in and grab that cable, then the top is popped either way. Are either Revolver or Sentry cable pulls blocked from the rear horizontal direction? I’ll ask that in the other thread too. Hook and loop is not as secure on the sides, but the midpoint latch makes up for this security concern to some extent. No matter what tonneaus won’t prevent all theft, it’s just a matter of degrees and of delay for the thief. Revolver wins here.
Cold: All bets are off if the cover is iced up regardless of design... simply gotta de-ice for normal operation. Regarding just dry cold temperatures though I
speculate the thicker vinyl of the Bak might be less flexible in the cold than the woven canvas of the Sentry CT. The Sentry non-CT uses textured vinyl like the Revolver, so no apparent cold advantage there. I have no empirical data on any of these specific units other than the few comments from our good members and the referenced youtube video... but plenty of general familiarity with the material classes points me to a Sentry CT win here.
Install and design: I also preferred the Revolver’s ability to use existing rail systems... I understand (with a bit of lubrication, aluminum on aluminum) it slides into the bed rails. No additional clamps hanging down... I like that. On the other hand if you need every inch of bed space sometimes like when loading a bike or something, the Sentry pops off with two slider brackets; the Revolver does not have a quick way to remove it. I’m calling this a tie, your application should guide your decision here.
Ultimately I think I’m going canvas. I’m a fan of how that material is performing in other vehicle applications, I expect it will be both great looking and performing as a tonneau. Secure enough for me with the midpoint latch, and I’ll get over the clamps that I can’t see anyways.
