James Baroud vs Maggiolina Autohome rooftop tents
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 00:46
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Jodie R
Hi, can anyone please provide information on either of these rooftop tents ? - i want to travel mostly in the tropics (WA) in my Toyota 4WD Prado on my own for about 6mths, and cant determine which one is most waterproof, breathable, easy to erect, midge-proof?. Also, any suggestions on suitable roof-bars ? Thanks v.much !
Reply By: Member - John (Vic) - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 01:03
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 01:03
I have a Maggiolina Airlander mounted on my trailer.
Excellent device, 60 seconds to erect, 90 seconds to put down.
Best thing I have bought, had it for 3 years now and its done about 50,000 KM over every possible track condition.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Jodie R - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 23:02
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 23:02
Thanks
John,
If I can find someone in
Darwin who has a Maggiolina Extreme, I would take a peek. Thanks for your reply.
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Reply By: mikehzz - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 01:44
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 01:44
The only downside of the Maggiolina style tents is that you have nowhere out of the weather to stand up and get changed. I have the French Oasis light weight roof tent (17kgs) and it is excellent for quick stop overs and one nighters but is not so good for extended stays or really bad weather. It is good to have a sheltered spot to
cook a meal etc and some roof tents don't provide that. Cheers.
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Follow Up By: mikehzz - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 20:24
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 20:24
My full thoughts on the matter :-) The various roof tents are great. The Maggiolina, Oasis and James Barroud are all good in their own way. They are a pain if you are staying for more than a day because you have to put them up and down everyday and you can't take off in the car to get something you forgot without packing it all up again. Getting in and out in wet weather isn't fun either. The same applies to awnings on the car. For this reason I carry a proper tent for those occasions. So the process is, travel to the destination stopping where ever for a night on the way using my Oasis roof tent. No need to find good ground and virtually in bed 5 minutes after stopping. Get to destination, find a nice spot and setup a more permanent solution that leaves the car free for easy exploring without the daily pack up hassle and gives you somewhere to sit or stand in privacy nice and dry out of the weather. That's how I like it, others will differ :-) It pays to think of these things in advance. Packing up and down for 6 or 7 days in a row in pouring rain sorts the sheep from the goats pretty quickly.
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Follow Up By: Jodie R - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 23:18
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 23:18
Thanks Mike,
Having another tent is a great idea. I have a 2 man tent but might upgrade to something I can bend and stretch in ! I appreciate your thread. Thanks for takiing the time to write.
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Reply By: Johnhu - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 10:24
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 10:24
I have a Maggiolina Airlander, and it works great. No issues with water coming in. I did have the flyscreens replaced with midge proof mesh though as the original mesh is too 'open' (fine for flies/mozzies, not midges/sandflies). They velcro in, so it was easy to get a local canvas place to make up some replacements with a finer mesh.
If I was purchasing today, I'd go the James Baround for the following reasons.
- Cheaper for the features provided.
- Have built in elasic to help pull the sides in when packing up. It was sometimes a little awkward to push the sides of the airlander in when packing up (very minor issue though).
- A little bit more interior space (The X-Frame on the Airlander takes up some length and I'm tall.
- A small flap over the doorway to keep things a bit drier when getting in/out.
Both of these tents work great and are excellent rooftop tents though.
PS: Whilst there may not be room to stand up and get dressed in them, I've never found it difficult to get dressed sitting up in the tent.
PPS; Look at getting a bag/cover for the ladder on either version. That way you can slide it into the tent on top of the bedding when packing up. The bag saves getting bedding dirty. It also saves on space in the vehicle.
John
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Johnhu - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 10:25
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 10:25
Forgot to add. I used the Rhino heavy duty bars and had no issues.
John
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Follow Up By: Jodie R - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 23:27
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 23:27
Hi
John,
Thanks for your thread. I will get the heavy duty Rhino bars (x3) and I think a sunseeker awning and mozzie dome goes with this. If I can find someone in
Darwin who is willing to let me see their Maggliona (Extreme) then that would be good, but have seen the James Baroud tent already now and it seems very
well made. The mozzie screens are far from midge proof though, so the velcro idea you suggest is a good one, thanks. I think the James Baroud tent has a ladder bag, but I will make sure. Thanks again, Jodie
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Reply By: stamps - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 19:50
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 19:50
I have the james Baroud very happy with it, very
well finished and totally waterproof.
cheers,
stamps
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Follow Up By: Jodie R - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 22:56
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 22:56
Thanks so much Stamps for your post and photos. Can you please tell me what awning and mozzie net you have, and are they rhino bars on your rig ?
cheers, Jodie
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Follow Up By: Jodie R - Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 23:31
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 at 23:31
Hi Stamps,
Just another thing - what have you been able to put on the roof ? The distributor has told me I can easily put a spare tyre (with rim) on the roof - about 27kg, without any probs - said it makes it easier to pack away the tent ? How do you find putting luggage on the roof and lifting/collapsing the tent (one person) ??
Thanks, Jodie
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Follow Up By: stamps - Thursday, Jun 14, 2012 at 23:02
Thursday, Jun 14, 2012 at 23:02
Hi Jodie,
The awning i have is about 7 yrs old it's a heavy canvas type material the brand is no longer around (might of changed names now), it's 2.5L x 2mtrs wide, the mozzie net is an ARB.
you can put what ever you want on the roof i think the max weight is around 20-25kg's just lay some old carpet down first. as with your tyre i recommend you weigh your tyre first (just put them on some scales), depending on size i can only place the tyre (no rim) on
mine due to the weight, sometimes I put a large tub full of fishing gear and a pair of maxtrax up there. With the extra weight on the tent it is much easy to pull down and close on your own.
it's a great roof top tent.
anything else just yell out and good luck with your purchase which ever way you go.
cheers,
stamps
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Follow Up By: stamps - Thursday, Jun 14, 2012 at 23:12
Thursday, Jun 14, 2012 at 23:12
sorry forgot to add the tent pops up automatically when you unclip it due to the gas struts fitted to each corner there is a lot of info on the james baroud web site.
cheers,
stamps
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Reply By: Member - Tony H (touring oz) - Thursday, Jun 14, 2012 at 00:12
Thursday, Jun 14, 2012 at 00:12
Hi Guys & Gals,
What wrong with a Shipp Shape or similar LOCALLY made product?
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Johnhu - Thursday, Jun 14, 2012 at 10:22
Thursday, Jun 14, 2012 at 10:22
I don't know of any locally made rooftop tents that are of the 'hardshell' variety. ie: Close down to a fully enclosed fibreglass case.
The reason I personally preferred this typre of rooftop tent was;
- The roof/top of the tent is fibreglass. When travelling through thick scrub or overhanging branches there is a lot less likelyhood of branches spearing through your rooftop tent. (I've seen it happen to a friend with the style of rooftop tent protected by a vinyl cover).
- As the roof/top is fibreglass, there is no canvas roof to get wet with condensation overnight, or in light rain. No need to wait for the tent roof to dry out bebore packing up in the morning.
- They're quick to setup/packup. It probably takes under a minute to setup, and less than 3 minutes to packup.
None of the above may be important to many, but they were the reasons that had me using this style of rooftop tent.
John
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