HIRING OF ROOF TOP TENTS

Would help if we knew what state of Australia you are in...

There is a place here in Adelaide that hires them but that won't be a lot of good to you in Sydney or Melbourne!

Cheers
Muddy

Yup- a general location would help!! There's a guy at Appin (NSW) hires all that stuff..

These things can now be bought for as little as $650. Hardly seems worth hiring.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BRAND-NEW-ROOF-TOP-TENT-CAMPER-ROOFTOP-RACK-TRAILER_W0QQitemZ110179357237QQihZ001QQcategoryZ123351QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

No idea how good they are.

I also had a customer in the other day who had bought an Apollo roof top tent which had a hard fibre glass cover/lid. It popped up in about 1 minute, canvas wasn't real thick but given that it had a hard roof I reckon it would work well.

morto1701
Ask yourself why do I want a rooftop tent???

1. To avoid Crocks.
Not necessary if you camp within the "crock wise" rules. These can be seen in Ron & Viv Moon's Cape York adventure guide, your bible for such a trip, a must have, along with Linda Rowe's book "paradise found"

2. Setup time.
A touring tent can be set up in less than 10min. still leaving time to have a beer before bed.

3. Convenience.
Try going out for fire wood with a tent on your roof.

4. Comfort.
Most are narrow and in the humid heat of the cape make some claustrophobic in a cramped bed. Also climbing over each other to get up during the night is not comfortable at all, to say nothing of the drop if you miss that first step.

I did the Cape in May this year and these were the questions I asked myself, I came to the conclusion to go with the touring tent option with NO regrets at all.

I am willing to bet the female of the pack has suggested the roof top for no other reason than the local lizards. Follow the simple rules and it is not an issue at all. Just ask my wife, she was paranoid about them untill she did her homework on crock habits and read the Moon's book.

Be'"crock wise" and have a wonderful trip.
Colin.
See my rig page for some pics of the Cape.

Hi Morto

My son bought a roof top tent from eBay last year. It is roomy and of similar quality to some of the brand names sold in Australia for heaps more dollars. He and his young lady have toured around the Kimberley and found it ideal. Also when they travel long distances (they are based a long way from their families), when tired they can just drive into the bush and home is ready in a few minutes.

When they can be purchased cheaply, why hire? Even if you don't like it and choose a trailer camper for next time, just sell it again and net cost will most likely be a lot less than hiring.

Motherhen

ARB make a good one, and our local ARB dealer in Sydney hires them. Try you local guy.

I just bought one (thanks Motherhen and others for the advice) from ebay for $499 plus $120 freight (Melbourne to NQ!!) and am very happy with it. One of the plusses is good crossventilation and being higher you catch what breeze there is. Very versatile, much more than a camper trailer, unless you stay many nights in one place.Mine lives 1, on the trailer; 2, on the back of ute; 3, on the roof of LC, depending where we're headed and what else there is to tow.

morto1701,
I know now that u live in QLD,but Shippeshape(NSW) do hire out their tents and I can speak from experience that they are of a high quality.Give em a ring because they are really easy to deal with,being a family business.Had mine since 2003,have done the wet in Darwin with no leaks. Been on my truck for 4 years and still doing the business.. hope this helps?