Rooftop tent options

Hi Steve,

We purchased a howling moon tourer rooftop tent a couple of months ago for a trip to Cape York. Fantastic tent that we would rate at about 9/10. Can't say that we've taken it off the roof yet but it seems a compact unit that will be relatively easy to stow away.

Pros
There were four adults in our GQ patrol and space was at a premium
As the tent only takes up half the roof we could still put another spare tyre/chairs and other camping gear on the roof rack.
We had room in the back of the car for all the food/fridge/recovery gear/fishing stuff/spare parts
It literally took five minutes to put up - if that
We had a comfortable mattress to sleep on with a ready made bed
When we got home we were able to clean the tent and it looks brand new
People could see our car in the convoy as the tent sat above the dust
Quality of the canvass was excellent
We could hang our towels out at night on the ladder for them to dry - the morning dew didn't get on them
Inside remained relatively free of dust (bearing in mind that we were travelling in convoy)
We travelled much faster than the rest of the convoy who were towing camper trailers
The people at open sky have been very pleasant to deal with
We were off the ground - hence no issues with dingos/crocs
Hubby is tall - very tall and he didn't have to squash into the length of the tent

Cons
One of the tabs that help to collapse the tent broke on the second night. This wasn't really too much of an issue and we have arranged to have the tent repaired but just need to get it back to Sydney (and we live near Canberra)
The cover wasn't waterproofed very well and we found this out on our last day. Fortunately our bedding remained dry. Again this will be fixed when we return the tent for warranty repairs
Condensation inside the tent was an issue on the first couple of nights but we worked out that if we allowed the air to circulate through the tent it was OK
Increased the fuel consumption
Had to make my own fitted sheet as the mattress is longer in length than a QS sheet
If the car's a rockin - don't start knockin...

Hope this is helpful

Watch that first step when SWMBO gets out for 3am wee, its a loo lou...
or if you have had a couple of drinkies yourself.

KO2002:

Thanks for the detailed reply. Most appreciated.

Truckster:

Thanks also - always good for a chuckle!

Steve

Steve, We have a shippshape roof topper and we are very pleased with it. It is very easy to erect and put down again, dust proof, excellent ventilation on all 4 sides and simple to remove from the roof racks.
It does take up the full length of the roof but at nearly 2100mm long there is plenty of room. (I'm 185cm tall) Shippshape have a web site that you can visit and they hire and sell 2nd hand units. They are based in Sydney.
Friends have a Dingo Dozer on their Disco and they are happy with it. MySWMBO finds it claustrophobic and is more difficult to use as it requires two people to erect and dismantle.
I'm on to my second beer before they start their first.

Aussie Traveller make on as well

www.aussietraveller.com.au