roof top tents! post 'em up!

[roastbeef]

i know its becoming the standard for vehicle camping/overlanding, and i'm thinking about buying one.

which ones are known as being the best as far as quality and durability, and ease of use? put up pics! a quick review is much appreicated.

[Max Volume]

I keep seeing these things more and more. Whats the big deal about not camping on the ground??? All that weight, cost, raised COG, just doesnt seem like it would be worth it vs a ground tent.

Are roof tents, like, the new craze ala black rims??

[blackrider]

i saw one this weekend,cool idea for places that have real nasty things crawling around,but the fact that one would have to break camp every morning doesn't appeal to me.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Max Volume

I keep seeing these things more and more. Whats the big deal about not camping on the ground??? All that weight, cost, raised COG, just doesnt seem like it would be worth it vs a ground tent.

Are roof tents, like, the new craze ala black rims??

-they take about one minute to setup
-they are off the ground
-they have padding built in
-they are stable in the wind


after tenting it for a few years, the idea of a fold out tent with padding in it that isn't going to be blown over in the wind (desert is often windy at night) just seems like a huge conveinience.

[Max Volume]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

-they take about one minute to setup
-they are off the ground
-they have padding built in
-they are stable in the wind

So are motels nancy.

[roastbeef]

i don't care if i'm by myself... i sleep in a tent cot. google tent cot by camprite and you will see what i mean.

i have one and its badass, but when you bring a female type with you, its better to make it easier on her.

[jimmyrig]

Those things are PIMP.... They even have a double

[Muddy Oval]

autohome maggiolina extreme on my rig. Insulated, waterproof, windproof.
Their customer service sucks the most ass of any company I've dealt with, but the tents are nice. If I ever buy another one, I'll just buy direct instead of from the US distributor- who if I forgot to mention... sucks ass.

[roastbeef]

that looks badass. got any pics of the inside? weight? how much padding inside?

most importantly, how wide is that thing?

[Muddy Oval]

It's 51" wide- just barely fit inside the Garvin rack, which I extended so the whole tent has rack around it to protect it. I don't have pics of the inside of mine, but there are some at the autohome web site. http://www.autohomeus.com/rooftop/maggiolinaExtreme.php

It's upholstered inside, but most people say it looks a bit like a coffin in there. It has a light, etc that I plug in through a long wire with cig lighter plug on it. It's comfy, that's for sure.

[roastbeef]

holy fuckin shit $2700!!!!!

[roscoFJ73]

This is mine.Cheap chinese knock off of the real thing
It was about $1000USD I think

Its supposed to be a 2 person but it's really a single.
Two 11 year olds would be ok

A video of one the same as mine YouTube - APOLLO FIBERGLASS CAR ROOF TOP RACK CAMPING TENT BOX

The 2 reasons I like it
1 Its super quick to set up and pack up.About 2mins each way.
2 Its slippery in the wind and does not increase the fuel consumption



I have a telescopic ladder which packs away into a small size and is much more sturdy that the type of ladder usually supplied with RTTs

[Muddy Oval]

That's cool- it looks a lot like the Columbus. As far as I know, those aren't being imported to the US.

[Hltoppr]

I've spent a lot of nights in RTTs, almost every one made. I currently own a Maggniolina hard shell and an OZTent RV-5 for family trips.

I believe the Eezi Awn tents to be the best value for what you get. I like the straight door zippers, rather than curved on the Hannibal tents, the ladder design, and the heavy weight rain fly. The curved zippers are problematic at lower temps, when the canvas is taught. I'd pick up an 1800 for family use, maybe a 1600 for two folks.

ARB tents...not really impressing me. Too many Chinese made fittings which IMO, are prone to breakage.

Maggniolina tents are very nice, but not as roomy as the EAs, and, as you've found...are pricey. Don't get me wrong, I like mine, but the value is with the EA.

Wil at Sierra Expeditions sells EA....

http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/ind...duct_list&c=21



-H-

[blackrider]

sorry about my reply guys ,i was thinking from a rockcrawling point of veiw.
those would kick ass in Baja.....

[SOCALXJ]

We run a Mombasa brand RTT. It's the same as Campinglab and a few others made in the same facility in China. Same place the ARB Simpson II tent was made, same basic tent. We bought ours through car-top-tent.com and Mel is a great guy with really bitchen customer service.

The setup is really easy. Just yank the cover and pull open the tent. Takes 3-4 minutes. Putting it back is no big deal, but putting the cover on is a PITA on higher vehicles. You have to stand around it and put it over and then strap it down. Takes some patience and takes about 10 mins. On the trailer its' a breeze because it's at a lower level.

Other than that we dig ours. The matress is comfy and we've been in some bad weather and it's held up fine. Keeps us damn warm too with our Boston Terrier inside. Been going strong for 2 years now.

Here's a few pics of ours..

Closed on the Cruiser..


Deployed on the Cruiser..




with Changing Room..

Deployed on the Adventure Trailer..


With Changing Room..

[InstaGator]

How long does it take to set that RTT up and more importantly, how long to break it down so you can mosey on down the trail?

[Jeffb_79]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i don't care if i'm by myself... i sleep in a tent cot. google tent cot by camprite and you will see what i mean.

i have one and its badass, but when you bring a female type with you, its better to make it easier on her.

I've got the double and love it! Takes all of 3 minutes to set up. The only thing I don't like about it is the size. Driving a TJ, I usually have to just throw it in the back and have it sticking out over the spare tire. I need to get a roof rack so I can just throw it up there.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Jeffb_79

I've got the double and love it! Takes all of 3 minutes to set up. The only thing I don't like about it is the size. Driving a TJ, I usually have to just throw it in the back and have it sticking out over the spare tire. I need to get a roof rack so I can just throw it up there.

its badass! nice and sturdy in the wind... you just have to remember to bring ear plugs. if you had ear plugs in that thing during a windstorm, you wouldn't even know it was windy outside.
only thing that sucks is the condensation on the roof you get from a cold night. you have to get out very carefully unless you want a shower. haha!

[Halibrand]

I usually have to wipe my tent cot ceiling down twice during the night to keep from getting a sprinkling. Thats the double-edged sword of a watertight tent- doesn't get in, doesn't go out.

Do RTT's have similar issues?

[The Adam Blaster]

Originally Posted by Halibrand

I usually have to wipe my tent cot ceiling down twice during the night to keep from getting a sprinkling. Thats the double-edged sword of a watertight tent- doesn't get in, doesn't go out.

Do RTT's have similar issues?

From what I've heard from others that have the higher quality (more $$$) tents like the Eezi-Awns, the fabric is higher quality and breathes. With that breathability, you get much less moisture inside, almost none actually.
Typically the Chinese manufactured tents are not made of such high quality materials, and you can get a shower inside, as others have mentioned in this thread.

[kodiak1232003]

I've spent weeks on end in the windy, stormy weather of glacier national park in a Autohome maggiolina.

= Very durable, and stable, the vehicle springs rock you to sleep,
= the fabric is at once- waterproof and breathable.
=cranking tent up and down takes about a minute, to being snuggly inside, ready to snooze
= Ladder supplied seems wobbily, but I'm 270lbs, so others seem not to have an issue.
= Nighttime trips to the Loo are a bit involved(climbing down ladder) but many bring a "nighttime", dedicated nalgene bottle up in the tent and put it
in the corner, tightly sealed when not "in use".
= Allows you to have a real pillow, mattress an blankets. very warm.

[madmonk]

Heres a few pics of my brothers cruiser on our recent trip to mex, guatamala, belize. It sparked a lot of interest at the military , police check points, and border crossings. No problem with any of them though. We camped 7 nights out of the 2wks we were gone. It very comfortable and roomy enough for 2 6ft+ men. We had setup & pack up it down to a science, about 10 min to set up and 15min to pack it back up. It rained REALLY hard one night and we only had a few drops inside the tent, impressive. The only problem I had was the middle of the night pee after a few to many cervasa's
Douglas De Silva Belize British army camp


Laguna Bacalar Mex

[madmonk]

Rio On Pools Douglas De Silva Belize


Nautla Mex

Heres a link to the rest of the pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/wesmonk...7617240777802/

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by kodiak1232003

I've spent weeks on end in the windy, stormy weather of glacier national park in a Autohome maggiolina.

= Very durable, and stable, the vehicle springs rock you to sleep,
= the fabric is at once- waterproof and breathable.
=cranking tent up and down takes about a minute, to being snuggly inside, ready to snooze
= Ladder supplied seems wobbily, but I'm 270lbs, so others seem not to have an issue.
= Nighttime trips to the Loo are a bit involved(climbing down ladder) but many bring a "nighttime", dedicated nalgene bottle up in the tent and put it
in the corner, tightly sealed when not "in use".
= Allows you to have a real pillow, mattress an blankets. very warm.

this is a great review, thanks a bunch.