tents

Hi Barry P, i do not have one of the tents that you have mentioned but, I do have a Hannibal RTT. I think you may find that the rtt's that are made of ripstop material can become very cold at night and do not breathe as well and a canvas rtt. Our Hannibal rtt has stood up in heavy rain, wind and very icy mornings. The only down side to a rtt like Hannibal is the fact that they are much heavier 54kg for a double, and the cost is much more. It is all horse for courses, and depends on your budget. I have a friend with an ARB rtt and he loves it. Once again it is of the ripstop type material and is made in China under licence to Arb, as I would assume the others are. Hannibal are made in Sth Africa with Australian canvas and assembled here in Queensland Aust.

The material the floor is made from makes a difference too.

Mine is pretty close to what Kings sell (Austrack RTT ), the floor is 2 thin ally skins with either some extrusion or core material packed in between. The better quality ones are marine plywood. The ally composite are light, but do get dented when crawling around in the tent and don't provide the insulation that the ply would.

I also get a bit of condensation under the mattress, but I don't know if that also afflicts the higher end RTT's.

Hot/Cold weather, I've had no problem from -5 at Barrington Tops to 30+ in Bamaga.

When it was cold I threw a doona over the 3 of us in sleeping bags and no one complained of the cold. The mattress provided sufficient insulation that I didn't notice the cold seeping in from underneath.
When its hot you just prop open up all the side windows/vents and because you're off the ground it will catch any breeze that is going.

Canvas weight will affect the longevity of the whole lot. Mine started letting the water soak through after it was about 2 years old and we were in 3 days of constant rain, but drying it out and it was good again. I re-waterproofed it anyway. As for insulation, it provides bugger-all in cold weather and you're only up there after sun down when it's hot.

If I was going on the Grand Tour, then I'd pay the extra for a really good RTT, but for a weekend here or there and an extended trip every couple of years, then the cheapies and a bit of extra maintenance works for me.

I had the Kings rooftop for 2 years. Stood up to some very heavy tropical downpours (50-75mm in a couple of hours) on the tablelands. No leaks whatsoever. Many people complaine of condensation under the mattress in their rooftop tents. I bought 2 sheets of the fake grass from bunnings and put that under the mattress. No worries. It never leaked, the stitching didnt break, floor remained in tact and for the price I,m glad I didnt waste my money on an overpriced Arb. Probably slept in it for 50 nights all up. Sold it when I sold my camper trailer. I added a Megamat from Snowys...Made for a really good night sleep. Standard mattress might be alright for someone who weighs 50kg but with 94kgs of pure muscle and a bit of a dicky back, I do need a reasonable amount of cushioning. If you only use it for around 20-40 nights a year I,d go for a Kings. Three or four months a year might make an expensive one a better proposition.. You can buy 3 kings for the price of the darche ...decisions, decisions..good luck

Might look at Gordigear too. If nothing else than the website video of what to look for. We passed our GG on the our grandchildren and they are happy with it too. Helmut is very good to work with, opened on his off day for us. We bought a mattress from him to replace the one that came in the new trailer, excellent sleeping.

Hi Barry, I had a Darche Panorama 2 RTT and have been away with or camped near many with other brands. The Darche is pretty good quality. The only thing which went wrong on it was one of the elastic cords (used to draw in the sides when folding up) came free. An easy fix. I have looked at some of the more expensive RTT's and didn't come away convinced of the worth of the extra dollars.

I was with a group where two had the Kings RTT. One was very happy with it, but felt he had to be careful with the packing up and unzipping. He had some stitching come undone around the doorway and on the cover (again, easy fix, but it didn't make him comfortable about the longevity). The other couple were most unimpressed with their Kings RTT and wanted to make sure everyone knew it!They had quite a few things go wrong. I've seen and spoken to others with them and the reaction is mixed, some happy, some not. Overall, the view I got was most felt they were fine for intermittent use and having care taken. I guess you could say if you spend more you are less likely to have problems, but it certainly does not guarantee that.

Regardless, Fold-out RTT's are not a two-minute fold-out/fold-down job they are promoted to be. I found I was fine with that when staying a few days in one place (though faffing about on the roof on a hot day can be tiresome) but also found it to be quite a drag when on a trip with daily pack-ups. Make sure you try before you buy.

Cheers,
Mark

Incidentally, I loved the open view roof on the Darche. Great airflow.

I had a Howling Moon ,which I used on The Simpson and Canning in August and Sept the biggest problem was condensation seeming it was hot during the day and cold at night which you had to dry out before leaving.There are a few tricks to setting them up,have it open over the side which means you can leave the cover hanging down also try to leave all the bedding in it when you pack it up.I had a step ladder and stick to fold it up,take your clothes with you ,went you go to bed that way you are only up and down the steps ounce.I agree you cannot put them up in 2 minutes.

Hi Barry. Darche is definitely the more durable, Personally I don't thing there is a big difference in comfort. You can buy ~2 Kings for every one Darche so personally I would just go with the Kings and if it eventually falls apart just get another one.