Hardshell Rooftop Tent - Opinions, Experiences, Recommendations

[wilburray]

I've had a Turtleback Getaway for several years now that came with an older model softshell 23Zero RTT. I've been wanting to upgrade the tent toan hardshell for several years mostly for the ease of setup/takedown particularly if I'm only in a location for one night. The softshell is just too much of a pain and comes with other issues.

I have been studying the iKamper Skycamp 3.0 pretty hard but have concerns about its ventilation/heat retention in direct sun exposure. It has only 3 relatively small windows and is very dark in color.

My current tent is tan colored and has a huge amount of ventilation/screen coverage ratio.

This is a concern mainly because we take an annual beach camping trip to Ocracoke Island where it can get very hot even in our current tent.

Things that are important to me:
+ Gear that's not made in China;
+ Durability;
+ Customer service/satisfaction;
+ Obviously, ventilation.

What are your experiences and recommendations?

Picture of current setup last weekend at turkey camp.

 

[80t0ylc]

The main advantage to soft side roof top tents is the amount of room compared to a hard shell tent. If your camping party has more than two adults and a small child, you will need other sleeping arrangements. I camped in a CVT hard shell for 10 years. CVT was an excellent source for RTTs. I haven’t kept up with them, so not familiar with current status, but they always had excellent customer service. Hard shells are definitely more durable on the road and when not used. You may have trouble finding a RTT that is not made in China considering current inventories. Ventilation was not an issue in my tent. I had as much or as little as I wanted. I sold the tent roughly about five years ago and have been camping in a square back Off-road trailer since.

 

[peesalot]

Roof Nest has some really nice options. I think alot of people get disappointed becasue the y expect them to be like ground tents and its NOT, it's a PITA when something is left up top or needed from below after in, I like them for when its a shorter term stay and just me, then they are perfect, quick, easy but for a week at camp , meh.

 

[80t0ylc]

Also, considering ventilation one other tip: Choose to have the screen on the outside on the windows and doors. Reason being if you need to open or close the fabric flap, you don't want to have to open the screen to do it. Helps keep bugs or moisture out when adjusting ventilation. And you can roll them up - out of the way for winter camping. I still have seen some tents that have this reversed and I'm thinking that their reason is to protect the screen. Not really necessary IMHO, because the screens are mostly as tough as the tent fabric, sometimes tougher.

 

[coleAK]

I've had a Turtleback Getaway for several years now that came with an older model softshell 23Zero RTT. I've been wanting to upgrade the tent toan hardshell for several years mostly for the ease of setup/takedown particularly if I'm only in a location for one night. The softshell is just too much of a pain and comes with other issues.

I have been studying the iKamper Skycamp 3.0 pretty hard but have concerns about its ventilation/heat retention in direct sun exposure. It has only 3 relatively small windows and is very dark in color.

My current tent is tan colored and has a huge amount of ventilation/screen coverage ratio.

This is a concern mainly because we take an annual beach camping trip to Ocracoke Island where it can get very hot even in our current tent.

Things that are important to me:
+ Gear that's not made in China;
+ Durability;
+ Customer service/satisfaction;
+ Obviously, ventilation.

What are your experiences and recommendations?

Picture of current setup last weekend at turkey camp.

View attachment 3886263

I have an iKamper mini to at I rarely use. When I do it is I mostly in the fall. I’m in Alaska and it is warm, almost oven like. I was in it 3-4 years ago down into the teens F and still slept with my summer bag (a 40F) unzipped, in the 50’s-60’sF I have at least one window open.

It is a well built tent, but heavy and warm.

 

[DrRock]

We have had a James Baroud made in Portugal for 8 years and are very happy with it. It’s the Space model so has a clamshell deployment but with added opening in the small end as it were. My wife and I have done several multi week trips with it and are very happy. The road noise is minimal and the fuel consumption is only slightly different vs no tent. My wife like the added security it offers, plus being in New England it’s really nice to get up and not be greeted by mud and slop when leaving the tent after a rainy night. It has a solar powered exhaust fan which runs all night if needed. Build quality is top notch too. One of us can deploy it in under 1 min and collapsing can be done by 1 in 2-3 min, with two down to 1 min.

 

[Shoredreamer]

I've had a Turtleback Getaway for several years now that came with an older model softshell 23Zero RTT. I've been wanting to upgrade the tent toan hardshell for several years mostly for the ease of setup/takedown particularly if I'm only in a location for one night. The softshell is just too much of a pain and comes with other issues.

I have been studying the iKamper Skycamp 3.0 pretty hard but have concerns about its ventilation/heat retention in direct sun exposure. It has only 3 relatively small windows and is very dark in color.

My current tent is tan colored and has a huge amount of ventilation/screen coverage ratio.

This is a concern mainly because we take an annual beach camping trip to Ocracoke Island where it can get very hot even in our current tent.

Things that are important to me:
+ Gear that's not made in China;
+ Durability;
+ Customer service/satisfaction;
+ Obviously, ventilation.

What are your experiences and recommendations?

Picture of current setup last weekend at turkey camp.

View attachment 3886263

It’s a good time to upgrade to a Skycamp as the 3.0s are on sale right now. I bought mine in 2017 when they launched in the US. My buddy now uses it on his Tacoma and I upgraded a few years back to a 2.0. We’ve got hundreds of nights in ours and have loved it. I think you’ll be plenty happy with one based on your use case. It’s the go to family size hard shell tent.