Five Things To Consider When Shopping For A Rooftop Tent
Five Things To Consider When Shopping For A Rooftop Tent
Rooftop Tents are a popular and convenient way for people to travel around Australia with minimal gear, but they don’t come cheap and you don’t want to get the wrong one for you.
With competitive price and timely delivery, Sunday Campers sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.
If you’re considering purchasing your first Rooftop tent, here are five things you need to consider to make sure your Rooftop Camping experience is enjoyable and stress-free.
The Logistics
Before you go diving headfirst into the world of rooftop tents, the first thing you’ll need to consider is the logistics – Will a rooftop tent actually be suitable for your travels?
Unlike caravans, campervans and even tents, Rooftop Tents (RTT’s) come with some unique features that you’ll have to consider when travelling with them.
Firstly, most rooftop tents are designed to be fairly lightweight and minimal. This means you won’t (typically) be able to store much stuff in your tent, and anything you do want to bring with you will have to fit inside your car with you.
Furthermore, rooftop tents are designed to sit on the roof of a car or the bed of a ute rather than on the ground, meaning you’ll have to be physically able to climb into them each night. While you typically don’t have to climb higher than a metre or two (we’re not climbing into a treehouse), it is important that you consider your ability to climb up and down spaces when shopping for a Rooftop Tent, to make sure that you don’t run into any issues on the road.
Vehicle Roof Weight Capacity
We all know that vehicles have a Towing Weight Capacity, and you have to abide by that when choosing a caravan. But did you know that your Vehicle Roof will also have a weight capacity that you need to consider when buying a RTT?
Some RTT’s are heavier than others (such as our new Penthouse Rooftop Tent), so when you first start shopping around for a tent it’s important to evaluate how much your roof can safely hold, and how you’ll spread the weight of the tent around to ensure you don’t damage your car.
For people with smaller or more compact cars, installing a RTT can be trickier as there’s less overall roof space but for those with 4WD’s or Ute’s, the most popular way to do this is by installing a set of mounting racks to distribute the weight of the RTT evenly, then sliding the tent on and bolting it down.
Rooftop Tents can come in a range of weights and sizes ranging from beginners with our Baby Shack to heavy-duty with our Penthouse, so if you’re considering getting a Rooftop Tent but you’re not sure if your car could hold it or how to install it, speak to our team to find out how we can help.
Preferred Model (Fold vs Pop Up)
When it comes to RTT’s, there are two typical varieties you can choose from – Soft or Hardshell. And no, we don’t mean tacos.
Soft and Hard-Shell Tents can both come with pro’s and con’s, so let’s break down each type below and why you’d choose one over the other.
Soft Shell Rooftop Tent
Similar to a regular tent, Soft Shell Rooftop Tents are made from a soft canvas or polyester material, and essentially look like a miniature version of a normal tent perched on top of your car.
For more information, please visit Fibreglass Roof Top Tents.
These RTT’s are great for people looking for a tent with a larger floor size or looking to get something more affordable, but keep in mind that (just like with normal tents), manual assembly is required, so you’ll need to set up and pack down your Soft Shell Tent each morning and night before you can sleep in it or travel.
Hard Shell RooftopTent
As the name implies, Hard Shell Tents come with the entire rooftop structure encased in a hard plastic, aluminium or fibreglass casing that sits on top of your car.
Here at Bushwakka all of our Rooftop Tents are Hard Shell Tents, and while they’re often pricier than the Soft Shell alternative, they come with several advantages:
- Simple to pack up and down. All Bushwakka RTT’s include a simple self-opening mechanism that means you can undo the latches and the Rooftop Tent will slowly unfold itself.
- Lower profile on the car when packed up to keep your overall rig looking sleek
- Sturdier design and ability to enjoy built-in features such as charging ports and lighting
Everyone will have different opinions on which style of Rooftop Tent is more beneficial for them, but if you’re considering a Hard Shell Tent and want to see one in person, you can make an appointment to come by Bushwakka HQ and check them out.
Weather Factors
Australia can have some pretty rough weather when it wants to, and one of the last things you’ll want when camping is to get woken up at 2AM, drenched by a thunderstorm because your Rooftop Tent started leaking.
While most Rooftop Tents will offer a decent amount of weather-proofing, there are a few things you’ll want to consider when shopping around to make sure your camping trips are as comfortable as possible.
Firstly, you’ll want to ensure your Rooftop Tent has excellent ventilation,
A few things that you’ll typically want your tent to have with it are excellent ventilation, and a large enough window flap to ensure you can get the breeze while you sleep without water coming in.
The Bushwakka Rooftop Tents also come with a couple of extra luxuries to make sure your new outdoor adventure is comfortable, including built-in charging ports and a Rechargeable Roof Mounted Fan to help keep you cool in summer!
Accessories
Let’s be real here, no Rooftop camping experience is complete without all the cool accessories that you can bring along with you.
Because a Rooftop Tent is so compact you don’t have the typical amenities available that you do in a tent or Caravan such as storage, bathroom, shower, kitchen amenities or undercover sitting areas, so you’ll want to grab some cool accessories before heading out on your first trip to make sure your inaugural adventure is a good one.
A couple of accessories that we’d recommend investing in before you head out on your first Rooftop Adventure are an attachable Ensuite, Extreme Awning and comfortable Moon Chair to keep you comfortable during dinners and nights under the stars.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website canvas roof top tent.
Roof top tents - Overland Trail Guides
- Its light weight (76 lbs.) was barely noticeable in terms of on and off-road handling. I use a Rhino Rack Base 2 System to transfer the weight directly to the Jeep’s metal tub instead of the fiberglass top. I built my own crossbars out of Unistrut which mated to the tent perfectly. This saved me $600+ by not needing to buy the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform!
- I got the standard (shorter 82”) version which fit my Jeep 2-door JK with only a slight overhang at the back (not impacting the rear window opening). This provided plenty of room for my 5’9” frame to sleep.
- Every little tent detail is well thought out, especially all the tie-downs for the tent walls and mosquito netting. The only two things I may upgrade is to a bit thicker mattress and to buy a cover (due later this month) for in between trips.
- The overall height of my stock JK with crossbeams and tent is 79.5” (6’ 7.5”) which should not be a problem for almost any public parking garage.
- IMHO, at $1,000 before tax and shipping, this is BY FAR the best designed and built tent for someone who plans to keep it up top year round. More importantly for me, I had not previously bought a RTT because I couldn’t rationalize paying $2K+ just to have a little convenience vs. a ground tent. Let’s face it, for $500+ you can get a pretty good, fast-setup ground tent that is a lot bigger (or for $50 a Big5 cheapie that will do in a pinch).
RTTs are all about efficiency and instant setup. And this one is the perfect balance of quality, design and cost for what I was looking for. Shipping costs $350 or you can pick up for free in the SF Bay Area (Hayward), Los Angeles, Baltimore, or Chicago. Installation is easy enough to accomplish in their parking lot, so plan a trip that includes one of those locations and save $350!
Notes:
- There is an XL 90” long version for $1,200 if you have a longer vehicle.
- The new carbon fiber hard shell version for $2,400 looks awesome but as mentioned, IMHO I have trouble rationalizing that level of cost vs. a ground tent.
- Anyway, InspiredOverland has my full recommendation for the Standard Lightweight Rooftop Tent: Five Stars. www.inspiredoverland.com
- I have no affiliation with them other than liking the product
Hey everyone,
We are considering a roof top tent for our Crosstrek Wilderness and had some questions. They seem to be one of the preferred choices for Overlanders. Here are our questions:
Do they dry quickly if they have to be stowed away wet?
Do they mold or mildew easily? My wife has asthma and is vulnerable to this.
How do they hold up in extreme weather conditions (windy thunderstorms etc.)?
Are they easy to maintain and keep clean?
Pros, Cons, any input is welcome.
Our other option would be a tow behind (https://www.runawaycampers.com/), any input on those are welcome as well! Thank you!
A quality RTT is typically in the range of several thousand dollars. Before you jump on the hype wagon, I would implore you to create a list of pros and cons of a standard tent versus a RTT. RTTs aren't for everyone, and I know quite a few folks who bought into them, only to give them up and resort to sleeping in a standard tent, or inside of their vehicles (typically not an option for families unless you've got something like a Sprinter). Remember, you're no less or nore more of an overlander because you have an RTT
Here's my experience owning both a Tepui and Autohome roof top tent. I'm in a pop top camper these days, but looking at picking up a used Toyota or Lexus. My plan was to sleep inside the vehicle, as I've personally moved on from RTTs (unless it's integrated into the vehicle like Campteq or Ursa Minor where you can climb into the tent from the interior of the vehicle).
Do they dry quickly if they have to be stowed away wet?
They will not dry out when stowed away. You absolutely must find a dry location to dry out your tent as soon as you can. The ability to dry out the tent fabric is totally dependent on the local weather. It's pretty easy for us to pull of in northern California, even during the wet season. I always make a point to dry my tent out if it ever gets wet.
Do they mold or mildew easily?
Like any tent that isn't dried out after being exposed to moisture, mildew is a possibility. I would suspect that higher quality RTTs (think autohome, Alucab, Eezi-Awn) are using marine grade fabrics that hold up better to mildew and mold, but I'd look into this if you're deadset on going the RTT route.
How do they hold up in extreme weather conditions (windy thunderstorms etc.)?
Hard-shell models, especially pop-top style RTTs (see Autohome Maggiolina model) tend to do the best in heavy windy. There's less fabric to flap around, so they're not as noisy. The more fabric that is loose, the more noise your tent is going to make. I endured some pretty heavy winds (probably around 50-60+ MPH gusts) down in the SoCal desert in my old Autohome Columbus RTT, which is a clamshell style tent. It stayed up, but it definitely felt like it was going to collapse multiple times through the night. If you're in 80+ MPH winds, there's only so much abuse even the best RTTs can withstand.
Are they easy to maintain and keep clean?
If you're buying a piece of equipment hat costs $2-5k, then you definitely treat it with care. My Autohome was a lot easier to care for (compared to my Tepui), as it had fewer moving parts, a lot less plastic bits, and was generally pretty easy to set up and tear down. The biggest piece of maintence was caring for the fiberglass shell. I'd treat this 1x per year to keep the fiberglass in good shape. For my soft-fabric tepui, I was concerned the frame and various plastic bits/joints holding it together were going to break at some point down the road. Perhaps that tredidation was unfound, but I always felt the Autohome was a much more durable piece of equipment. It's not uncommon to see folks who've had autohomes on their rigs for 10+ years. I'd be surprised if my Tepui would've lasted 4 years of regular use.
Pros, Cons, any input is welcome.
A lot of this is subjective, but some of the big ones are:
Pros:
- Your tent is always ready to go because it's on your vehicle!
- Kids love them
- Some tents allow you to keep your bedding and pillows in them, a must have for me.
- Setup for some models is relatively fast
Cons
- getting up to pee in the middle of the night SUCKS
- tear down can be a pain on certain models, especially soft fabric models that don't pack into a hardshell (like my old Tepui)
- Expensive for a tent that goes on your roof?!
- For certain models like iKamper and Autohome, you lose storage capacity on your rooft. Other brands like Alucab allow you to carry a load on top of your tent For me, they solve certain problems and create others. They are great when touring and much less desirable when you are camping. This, in my opinion, is the part that is missed by those who buy and later regret. If you are going to be static, ground tents just have so many advantages. If you are on the move all day and just going to sack out at night this is where the RTT can shine.
If, for instance, I am going to go out to the coast and camp even for one night but certainly for two or three, I would rather bring a big ground tent. If there is enough ground, I really like our bell tent. It is quick to set up for its size and super comfortable in ALL weather, from subzero with high wind to hot, still days.
Ground tents are more comfortable, easy to get in and out of, and have more room.
If, on the other hand, you are going to spend your days on the move, seeing things, hiking, and driving, you are then going to need to find a place to spend the night quickly—perhaps in unfamiliar places with limited information, after dark, like you do when touring. This is where an RTT really comes into its own. The ground can be wet, rocky, covered in sagebrush or snow, etcetera, and it does not matter. We often just pull off the trail at night, toss it open, and climb in for the night.
The other big downside, in my opinion, is the weight. There are five of us, so we have literally the biggest RTT I could find, and it really does impact vehicle dynamics at something like 300 lbs with the rack and all. We have modified and beefed up our suspension to handle the tent, but it still detracts from driving fun.
They also suck in the wind, or at least ours does. I assume some of these newer wedge-style RTTs are better, but ours SUCKS in the wind. A stiff breeze is going to make a lot of noise, and anything more is going to keep you up worrying about bad things happening.
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