Touring tents

Hi Colin

We have an Oztent RV3, and it is a breeze to set up. For just a quick overnight stop, we can have it off the roofrack, put it up and be in bed in under 10 minutes. Adding awnings etc takes a bit longer of course, but the tent itself only takes 30 sec.
The only drawback with this tent is the size - it is 2m long when packed up, so we carry it on the roofrack.
Hope your trip is a good one.

Cheers
John

I'd have to suggest a rooftop tent.

1) Stop car

2) unzip cover

3) Pull ladder down

4) Go to sleep.

Pretty simple :)

My recommendation is a locally made canvas centre pole tent. Locally made is good for a)local industry and b)after sales service. I use a Southern Cross but there are a number of others. The centre pole tent needs only the perimeter pegs hammered in and the centre pole pushed up. Total time about a minute. It also does not require a roof rack as the previous two do - I like to keep everything inside the vehicle when I go off road. Roof racks cause much grief when the going gets tough. They also cost you money in extra fuel at highway speed, and heighten your centre of gravity which can be dangerous, not to mention the dust which gets into the roof top tent if you're travelling with a group in any place but leader! My observations of the Oztent are that they are rarely seen in true off road destinations and also although a 30second set up is claimed that doesn't include all the guys and pegs. 30 seconds gets the tent out of the bag and erected but not secured. Anyhow the best advice is to go and have a look for yourself. I certainly did and found the canvas centrepole tent to be suited to 4wd work. I also have a Coleman hike tent which is great for walking trips and a 12X9 cabin tent for longer stays.

Look no further

someones gotta say it SWAG as a single bloke with no kids it doesnt come any easier and if the weather threatans I have a tarp with the poles rolled up along the roof rack less set up = more beer drinking. Work and play means I have used it about 80 nights in the last year and love it

I have to agree with SWAG. We { wife and I } have a swag each. easy to set up in any light. quick to set up and take down and if we decide to extend the stay in any one place we through up a tarp easy.

C'mon Truckster, set camp with out fire wood... G'day Collin, make sure it is water proof, has plenty of ventilation, prehaps an awning for shade and enough room room to sit in ( on chairs) if the flies or mozzies are too bad, you know, when you've had dinner or you're still trying to eat it. Other than that ,it is like you said, whack in the pole and a couple of pegs if she is windy. But hey, I still love my roof top camper. There's plenty of options but I reckon they all need seam sealer!

Tanami Tourers on eBay

These come up pretty often, and the going rate seems to be $230 - $260. I got one for $235 about 2 months ago to use as a second/weekend, single stop tent (I also have an Oztent). Might be handy if you have the patience to wait for one at the price you want to pay. Be prepared to spend a bit of time waterproofing it. The link that Truckster has provided earlier in this thread will give you a bit more insight into these tents.

If you decide to get a Tanami Tourer, put some Nylock nuts on the arms, as the others seem to "disappear".

Jack

I always use a tent and always take my offroad trailer, just empty the trailer of the plastic boxes and go and get the fire wood after i set up camp. Usually there is no firewood in a 500metre radius of most established campgrounds. I was at Hill End a few months ago, came back with an enormous cache of firewood in about an hour and the look on the other campers faces!!!! I felt sorry for some who didnt have the means to go out and collect so i shared it around. So a tent and a trailer suits me for that reason alone. Michael

Thanks to all replies. No one has given a sound reason NOT to go for a Touring Tent for travelling. Some of you gave me food for thought, based on your own preferences and I will now go through the replies and mack my decision with your replies in mind. Thank you all. Happy Trails.

Hi Colin

I have just purchased a Freedom family tourer. These are not a cheap tent but are as good as anything on the market quality wise. The thing I really like is the spring loaded centre pole. It holds the sides up nice and straight and they don't sag in windy conditions due to the spring in the pole absorbing the stress of the tent moving in the wind. Also the corner pegs can pull from this movement if the centre pole is rigid especially in sand country.

Two adults would be fine in the smaller tourer version.

Cheers

Mark

Took the Wife to look at tents and she saw a cabin tent in Ray's that suits her as she didn't want any poles in the way and wanted good headroom. It looks like a knockoff of another brand they sell but Ray's version is cheaper (especially on Sale) and has a better awning as it has sides unlike the other brand. I wanted something that was relatively quick and easy to put up while she looked after the little one. Quality didn't seem too bad and it has a 10 year warranty so for the money versus the amount of use it will get it seems reasonable and is on the short list.

http://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/html/Products/19462.html

Hi Colin,

We have used the touring tent (southern cross 10x10) quite a bit and find it very good. Went with a group to Fraser and we had ours set up and were busy setting up the communal tarp while the others were still setting up their domes. We have also just bought one of the Microfast tents made by the oxtent people and will be trying that out on an upcoming trip. It looks pretty good and the practices of putting it up and down really do seem to be as quick as they say. We will be using the southern cross for us and the microfast for the kids.

One thing you can do with the touring tents is to get the kit that takes the centre pole out. We don't bother with it most of the time but it gives you the whole area and only adds a couple of minutes to the set up.

Tim.