Cartop Tents

[Degenerate Gardner 4104]

These are popular here in the NW. Seems like a lot of downside (cost, detrimental to fuel efficiency, injury potential for sleepwalkers and night time pissers) for a little upside in added convenience. Anyone with product experience able to opine on these?

Edited August 5, 2020 by Degenerate Gardner

[Chewbacca 7793]

I'm disappointed that @Wulaw Horn did not post this thread, looking for a new home for the sex tent.  Kids in the pickup bed, mom and dad up top.  If the truck is rocking, don't come knocking...

[Chewbacca 7793]

And to somewhat address the question, they are very popular here (CO) as well.  Expensive as hell and primarily used by overlanders/boondock campers.  No reason to have one if you're in a campground.  I've heard they can be quite nice, though.  And quick to setup/takedown.

[davidg 4040]

I'm not really a fan I guess but @NotActuallyALonghorn posted in the backpacking/camping thread on installing one on his van for taking a big trip.  He still might be out on the road.

 

 

 

 

[utee94 15878]

They seem kind of gimmicky to me, if I were overlanding I can think of better uses for the rooftop/rack of my vehicle.

 I have a friend who bought one for boondocking out in Big Bend.  He liked it, his wife absolutely hated it, and he was selling it a couple of months later.

 

That said, I love gadgets in general and they do look cool.  The innovation and tech behind some of them is pretty interesting.

Edited August 5, 2020 by utee94

[conVINCEd 21474]

47 minutes ago, Degenerate Gardner said:

These are popular here in the NW. Seems like a lot of downside (cost, detrimental to fuel efficiency, injury potential for sleepwalkers and night time pissers) with a little upside in added convenience. Anyone with product experience able to opine on these?

They’re big in Africa, but I believe that is to keep the critters from eating/trampling you.

[Chewbacca 7793]

5 minutes ago, utee94 said:

They seem kind of gimmicky to me, if I were overlanding I can think of better uses for the rooftop/rack of my vehicle.

 I have a friend who bought one for boondocking out in Big Bend.  He liked it, his wife absolutely hated it, and he was selling it a couple of months later.

 

That said, I love gadgets in general and they do look cool.  The innovation and tech behind some of them is pretty interesting.

If I was into overlanding, I'd much rather build a trailer than do a RTT.

[utee94 15878]

24 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

If I was into overlanding, I'd much rather build a trailer than do a RTT.

Sure.  Or, maybe one of these:

 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11822]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

I'm disappointed that @Wulaw Horn did not post this thread, looking for a new home for the sex tent.  Kids in the pickup bed, mom and dad up top.  If the truck is rocking, don't come knocking...

I’m pretty sure putting something on top of his vehicle that adds height is pretty low on the priority list now.

[washparkhorn 9939]

I don't see any upside, but I went ultralight a long time ago so I could get deeper into wilderness. 

If I was car camping, I would rather be on the ground with a gigantic heavy tent. Coming down from the top of a roof to piss is not ideal to me.

Your mileage may vary. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4980]

So we've been on the road for four weeks today and will be heading back to Texas tomorrow. I guess you've seen my rig up thread, but we also had a full size bed (convertible to couches) in the back. I was kind of skeptical of the whole rooftop tent thing at first, but my wife liked those instagram posts, so that's what we ended up with. FYI, we also have an almost four year old and one who just turned 10 months old at the end of last week.

That said, a rooftop tent is a pretty great thing to have if you need it. If you don't need it it can be a pretty cool thing to have.

As for the advantages, you can set it up anywhere you have a reasonably level spot to park. You don't need a nice groomed space free of rocks or roots. You just park and set it up. And even sometimes when you may not be able to find a level spot for your tent, chances are that you can find a spot at least as level for a rooftop tent.

You can set it up in less than fifteen minutes. So, yeah, you can probably set up your regular tent in fifteen minutes as well. But it packs up as easily as it folds out. There is no rolling and letting the air escape to make sure it fits in its little sausage casing. And if you are just looking to sleep you can do a bare bones set up in like five minutes. 

You are also up high. Critters probably aren't going to mess with you up there.

Probably one of the most overlooked advantages of a rooftop tent is that you can leave all your blankets and/or sleeping bags up there. It has a built in memory(ish) foam mattress. You don't have to mess with air mattresses or sleeping pads or any of that. Of course, it they are up there and you need them for a backpacking trip it is a little harder to get to, but good planning can help there.

So, those are the big advantages of a rooftop tent, but there are obviously plenty of disadvantages as well. The biggest (and this is probably the deal killer for most folks) is that it is attached to your vehicle. That trail head five miles away? Gotta pack up the tent. The good news is that it is easy enough to pack up and that becomes pretty routine. 

The other big one is probably going to be cost. You're probably looking at a cool grand or more. A decent car camping tent costs a fraction of that. But the materials are going to be worlds apart. It's kind of like comparing a four wheeler to a humvee. The rooftop tent is going to be much sturdier in every way and will also have much better resale value.

If you are the type of person to travel around and look for dispersed camping on public land without really planning ahead, then a rooftop tent probably makes sense. If you are just going to state parks and such and not really exploring anything, then it's not really worth it.

[elfenix 34385]

On 8/5/2020 at 4:50 PM, Chewbacca said:

If I was into overlanding, I'd much rather build a trailer than do a RTT.

i dunno shit about this topic but these belgians who overlanded africa posted maybe the best thing i've ever read on the internet (and of course they went to the congo):

 

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/democratic-republic-of-congo-lubumbashi-to-kinshasa.50799/

[washparkhorn 9939]

4 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

That said, a rooftop tent is a pretty great thing to have if you need it. If you don't need it it can be a pretty cool thing to have.

Nice explanation of the pros and cons. Thanks. 

 

4 hours ago, elfenix said:

these belgians who overlanded africa posted maybe the best thing i've ever read on the internet (and of course they went to the congo):

That is a great read. Those old Landcruisers are champs in the back country. 

[Your Mom 4868]

If I get one it will be a small 2-person pop-up only.  No folded out platforms.  Just a clamshell tp open and shut and be done with it.  30 second set-up and take-down.  One big pro is that you can leave the bedding set up in it.  Crawl out of bed, pull the lid shut and drive off.  I just bought an old Land Cruiser and the cargo area will be set up for sleeping in.  3rd row seats removed, 2nd row folded down to join a drawer system in the cargo area and create enough room for a double mattress.  Magnetic mosquito nets over the windows, windows down,  and a portable fan hung by the window to draw in fresh air.  2 people can sleep there cozily, or 1 more comfortably.  Looking into a small 2-person rooftop tent for the kids.  

I've got my eye on this one.  I've been watching this guy go through the process of designing and testing this one for the last 18 months and getting set up to manufacture them in batches for retail.  It's minimal, lightweight, low profile, and is just the kind of simple device I like.

https://terrapod.com/

 

[dmtx 159]

the bro in law and his wife have the ikamper. they live in colorado, big time ultra trail runners, and they love it. its mounted on top of the camper shell of their dodge 3500.

 

https://www.ikamper.com/pages/skycamp

[horn4life 3813]

I always thought the rooftop tents would be the best to take down to the land Cut on PINS.  If for no other reason to give you a little height on the mosquitos.

 

[Brisketexan 105569]

On 8/7/2020 at 11:01 PM, elfenix said:

i dunno shit about this topic but these belgians who overlanded africa posted maybe the best thing i've ever read on the internet (and of course they went to the congo):

 

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/democratic-republic-of-congo-lubumbashi-to-kinshasa.50799/

Yeah, for real.... I read the whole damned thing.  It was amazing.