Roof Top Tent ----Pros and Cons

Kanga,
Look at the Aussie Traveller. We had one and were very happy with it. Well made, plenty of space, good ventilation and strong ladder. Do not underestimate the need for the covered part, one stop in bad weather will convince you.
I have watched people using a suitcase type RTT in the rain. Not pretty.
Cheers

Howdy

On rooftop tents, I bought an Ezi-Awn, good quality roof-top tent to use with “The Landy” when I first rebuilt it in 2006.

Mrs Landy was never a great fan, preferring to use our Southern Cross centre poll tent, and of course we have the Tvan these days which has made the roof-top tent a bit redundant.

TomO and I have used it a few times over the years, but in the end we just take a tent these days if the Tvan isn’t in tow.

The concept of a roof-top tent is fine, but largely depends on the use. If you are on the move daily and travelling the CSR or Anne Beadell for example then a rooftop tent has a lot of merit on that type of trip...

But once you start stopping a few days here and there they are far less convenient, and as you highlighted, usually no shade, and in many cases, no standing room unless you add an annex.

And once you start adding an annex, why not just put a tent up? Mind you, they are elevated from the ground, so there is an advantage in some instances.

I have tried to sell the Ezi-Awn over the last couple of years, but it still occupies a space in “The Shed” and who knows, it might get another run on the 79 Series!

You don’t intend travelling with the Tvan?

Good luck, Baz

Hi Kanga,
Before buying 'The Truck' we travelled in an Aussie Traveller roof top tent for our adventures for about eight years. We would sometimes be away for 3, 4 or 5 months.
We had the delux version - the cover was uses for an awning over the back of the landcruiser. It had an excellent, bug proof 'room' with floor and large screened windows and door. The directions said to remove the floor before folding but we had a technique for packing up with it still attached which we would be happy to explain to you. The folding ladder was excellent with good flat treads (others you will find are round tube type steps which are very hard of the bare feet).
It is essential to have a room to retreat into - bugs, wind, rain, cold - even at night we had a little room to sit in to watch a DVD or do photos/blogs etc.
Go for the Aussie Traveller,
Rob

Hi A & G what happened to the new Defender? Thought that was th evehicle you intended to use next year for the big trip?

Two of the guys on our last desert trip I did had roof top tents. One had the James Baroud and the other your typical canvas type roof top tent. Think I sent you some photos that actually showed these 2 vehicles?

Advantages of the JB was that it was up in a flash and down the same way and condensation was never an issue. This guy was always the last to start to set up camp and yet he was sitting around the fire b4 anybody else. Also the struts on the JB are strong enough to allow for a tyre carcass to be strapped to it. Less chances of roof leaks and potentially more stable in a strong wind or storm.

Disadvantage - no shade and bloody expensive for a glorified box.

Typical RTT - more room, relatively quick to set up, and shade as a given and side awnings can be added easily. Plenty of ventilation.

Downside is they require a bigger campsite, condensate like any other fabric tent so breaking camp can be as slow as just tenting. The seams can leak and in a strong wind you'd cop a battering. And as said if your in a spot for a couple of days or more and still want to sight see or whatever they take longer to pack up and then set up.

Have fun with the research and you know who'll win in the end don't you.

Cheers


Dunc.

We have the Hannibal Tourer.

And apart from having to take the tent with you if you want to go exploring it's great. Lots of coverage, strong and weather proof and with the annex you have a totally private room out the back. We have it set up on the 100 series so that it extends over the rear of the car. The annex has an opening that matches the rear door and with the tailgate down we have a neat kitchen area as well. A couple of the grand kids sleep on stretchers with my wife and my self an may another two kids up top.

Been in the snow, deserts, storms and strong winds. All good and secure. The skirt keeps the running water out and the floor dry. Except for those who forget to wipe their feet or take their boots off. Plenty of ventilation. Ours gives us a 1.6 by 2400 bed. I think that is a smidgin bigger than a double bed.


When not in use we store it up out of the way under the verandah, suspended on two 2 metre lengths of 4x2 that are hung on chains from hooks screwed into the underneath of the verandah.

It is removed and installed in about 15 minutes each time. A one man job.

To mount in on the car; Reverse under the verandah, undo the chains one at a tiome allowing the tent to lower to the roof rack. Remove the wood supports and do up the bolts.
To remove it; Reverse back under the verandah, undo the bolts. The insert the two wooden supports and lift it up, one corner at a time and hook the four chains to the hooks screwed to the underneath of the verandah. Drive away and leave it there.

Wouldn't swap.

Phil

Kanga,
A couple of other thoughts. When you look a different brands make sure that their is enough room to be able to leave you bedding etc in the tent when you close it up. The Aussie T is fine with plenty of room so the cover is not taught and hard to close.

If the canvas is wet when you have to pack up just spread a plastic paint sheet over the bed before closing it up. Stop the bedding getting damp. Make sure you let it dry at the first opportunity otherwise you will get mould etc very quickly when it gets warm and sweaty.

We had our Aussie T mounted to the side so we had easy access to the rear of the 100 series plus access to the rear side door with the tent down. I have seen them mounted like Phil's with the tent to the rear. Each to their own.

I have a compressor and tank mounted in the engine bay and an outlet on the rear Kaymar bar. I have a springy air hose under the drivers seat and if the vehicle is dusty the first thing I do is to connect it up and blow off all the dust from around the doors and roof. When we had the RTT on I would give it a squirt too. Only took a couple of minutes and you then stayed clean(er).

I would also suggest one of those simple fold up steps to give you an extra foot of height which makes putting the RTT up/down much easier. My vehicle has a small lift which made it just at the limit of my reach.

We sold the RTT because we found climbing up and down the ladder getting harder. Sorry to see it go in some ways as it was good for taking the 100 when we did not want to tow. We have a 1995 troopy setup for remote travel but it is not as nice to drive long distances as the 100.

cheers

Kanga,
Looking at the Hannibal I think I would choose this one if I was buying again.
Reason: All of our cooking gear was in the rear of the Landcruiser and the Hannibal's downstairs room would have incorporated this area. With the Aussie Traveller, we may have had a bigger room on the side but we were still out the back cooking.
Also the Aussie Traveller takes up your whole roof area whereas the Hannibal leaves room on the roof racks for something else.
Go the Hannibal,
Rob

Kanga

Gordigear roof top tents might be worth a look

Gordigear roof top tents

Rob

As you can see by our photo, we have a RTT! Easy set up if you are not too old or find it difficult to jump up on the wheels to set up windows and zip and un-zip the cover. We did have a problem a few years back where we had high winds one night in a camp area near Thredbo. We have a RTT that has the overhanging section to zip to a lower tent set up, we had that section tethered to the ground and it tore a stitched seam in a lower area, about 300 mm long. If we had been parked at 90 deg from where we were like our neighbours next door, we may have avoided the tear and inconvenience! Sometimes we stay somewhere for a few days and it is really all too hard to pack it all up and come back the same day and set up again. That probably comes down to age, so if you are happy to pack it up and unpack again, you should be OK. If we stay in on spot a few days, we run the engine for 20-30 minutes every afternoon to charge the battery for our thirsty fridge and use our on board shower from the hot water generated from the engine. We generally tend to walk more places which is good and see lot more than you would driving around aimlessly. Generally the RTT concept is good but even better if you are moving to a new destination every day. Regards Michael.

Kanga, if you do decide that a RTT is for you, maybe look at a set of these or something similar. Unfortunate name, but they work well. The sticker peels off very easily.....................