Hard shells can be a great option if you travel solo or with a +one. But if you need to sleep more than 2 its tough. Not sure why your ARB was taking so long to set up. My Tepui Autana (very similar design) goes up in less than 5 min.
Help choosing RTT
- Thread starter baldilocks
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
My wife and I are currently living out of an ARB Simpson 3, it has been almost a month.
Setup and take down aren't a huge issue, especially with a person on each side. The huge issue, that I don't think any RTT can deal with well is wind. The ARB tent seems to have done an especially poor job of preparing for wind as the zipper ends are not rubberized and there are so many of them it sounds like your are sleeping inside a wind chime. The other issue is the fly, very few attachments and it is at almost the perfect angle to catch the wind. In any wind the fly will make noise. In 3 weeks we have slept in a ground tent 5 times, 2 of these times were in the middle of the night when the wind picked up out of nowhere. We have always tried to pick sheltered spots to camp. We now sleep in the ground tent if there is any wind at all. Basically the RTT has turned into a overweight glorified mattress holder, with specific mention of how heavy they are, and sitting on the roof... add in some off camber 4x4 and you can really feel it.
The only real benefits I see in the RTT is the fact that you are off the ground so if the ground is wet it is better (unless its windy) and in places with predators you do FEEL safer on the roof.
Seems to me that making a fold out platform and using a good ground tent on the roof would give one all the benefits of an RTT without spending all the money and dealing with all the weight or condensation.
We have been using a Marmot Limlight 3 for our ground tent. It is warmer because we are on the ground + it has good ventilation so we don't wake up with condensation in the tent on cold nights like we do with the Simpson 3. We NEED to bring a towel into the RTT to soak up all the condensation in the mornings (this is with the side windows open). The only way we have avoided condensation with the RTT is to open the big door where our heads are, which at that point is basically like sleeping outside of a tent and doesn't work if it's raining.
Setup and take down aren't a huge issue, especially with a person on each side. The huge issue, that I don't think any RTT can deal with well is wind. The ARB tent seems to have done an especially poor job of preparing for wind as the zipper ends are not rubberized and there are so many of them it sounds like your are sleeping inside a wind chime. The other issue is the fly, very few attachments and it is at almost the perfect angle to catch the wind. In any wind the fly will make noise. In 3 weeks we have slept in a ground tent 5 times, 2 of these times were in the middle of the night when the wind picked up out of nowhere. We have always tried to pick sheltered spots to camp. We now sleep in the ground tent if there is any wind at all. Basically the RTT has turned into a overweight glorified mattress holder, with specific mention of how heavy they are, and sitting on the roof... add in some off camber 4x4 and you can really feel it.
The only real benefits I see in the RTT is the fact that you are off the ground so if the ground is wet it is better (unless its windy) and in places with predators you do FEEL safer on the roof.
Seems to me that making a fold out platform and using a good ground tent on the roof would give one all the benefits of an RTT without spending all the money and dealing with all the weight or condensation.
We have been using a Marmot Limlight 3 for our ground tent. It is warmer because we are on the ground + it has good ventilation so we don't wake up with condensation in the tent on cold nights like we do with the Simpson 3. We NEED to bring a towel into the RTT to soak up all the condensation in the mornings (this is with the side windows open). The only way we have avoided condensation with the RTT is to open the big door where our heads are, which at that point is basically like sleeping outside of a tent and doesn't work if it's raining.
Last edited:
^^That's too bad. I have a Maggiolina Extreme and it's no issue, wind or not. I just close the upwind
window and it's not even noticeable. Maybe worth a look at a change. I've never had condensation.
window and it's not even noticeable. Maybe worth a look at a change. I've never had condensation.
Yep, the hard shells do better in the wind. But, then you're talking about 2 adults max & maybe a toddler. On the Baja ROF run last year in Dec & Jan this year we had wind almost constantly. The other RTTs that were along. besides my CVT hard shell were mounted on expo trailers and were the fold out version. The annexes were a challenge to setup and needed gooood sand stakes to remain being setup. I actually kinda like camping in the wind with mine. I've been in it with winds gusting over 50 mph & in those conditions it rocked my 80 series slightly, but 35 mph and below it's very stable and just get some fabric noise, which for me - lulls me to sleep. I try to point the nose of my rig into the prevailing wind which allows my fiberglass top to catch most of the force. But, what's most important of course, is it being level. 
Ditto, never had any condensation in my Maggiolina AirLander, and not a problem in the light winds I have had it in.
With two adults i have never had any condensation with my Columbus Variant on temps ranging from 10°F to 100°F+ .
Now that there is three of us Im looking at a soft shell design , and the JB Horizon Vision seems to fit the bill for its weight, ease of set up, and wind resistance....
Now that there is three of us Im looking at a soft shell design , and the JB Horizon Vision seems to fit the bill for its weight, ease of set up, and wind resistance....
Hi, We are based down in Santa Barbara county. Owned and run by my wife and I. And we presently offer the heaviest canvas of any North American Company. If you want heavier canvas you've gotta get an EZawn. Our website is hitents.com. And we are running a black friday sale of 10% off site wide through sunday at midnight. Enter Turkey10 at checkout to get the discount. And we always offer free shipping with purchase of an RTT in the lower 48.
Graham
Well since this seems like a thread that people will read when looking for info on RTT's I figured I'd post a link here for anyone who is in Canada, or Anyone in the US who want to take advantage of the "horrible" exchange rate and pick up a Canadian vendors tent cheap. We have had the Wild Coast Tents "Sandpiper" model for almost a year now and love it. Yes, it's probably made in China, yes, it's probably the same as all the other tents that are made in China, but I have yet to find any quality issues with it. Not saying it's equal to all the best ones out there, but it's a great tent and we love it.
When we were looking for a RTT I couldn't find much info on the Wild coast tents, or any reviews online - so I offered to make one for them. (I have no affiliation with them, and I purchased the tent, I was not given it!). Take it for what it's worth, just another video of another RTT.
Anyway, here are a few pics, and the video review I did;
When we were looking for a RTT I couldn't find much info on the Wild coast tents, or any reviews online - so I offered to make one for them. (I have no affiliation with them, and I purchased the tent, I was not given it!). Take it for what it's worth, just another video of another RTT.
Anyway, here are a few pics, and the video review I did;
The 23Zero tent is an outstanding product. I've personally owned CVT, Tepui and 23Zero. They are all 3 good tents and good companies. In my opinion the 23Zero stands out for several reasons. All pivot points and attachment points of the tent are metal. There are no plastic parts to get brittle over time. The "snow pole" is an awesome feature. It works wonders in the rain as well. When the other tents overhangs are full of water from the rain the 23Zero doesn't hold any water. If you've ever camped in your RTT in the rain you know what I'm talking about. Then there is the 3" high density foam mattress when other companies are using 2-2.5". This is the most comfortable RTT mattress on the market. All the tents come standard with skylights and the annex room and use only no-see-um mesh for the windows. The fit and finish on the 23Zero is a cut above. There are lots of options out there, and this one deserves a look. If you have questions please contact me.
Roof Top Tents
Roof Top Tents
Last edited:
Great thread.
I've personally gone from a ground tent to an Eezi-Awn Globetrotter on my M101CDN. Looking at downsizing and selling the trailer/tent combo and looking at RTT's. The one HUGE thing I love about the Globetrotter tent is the ability to climb out of the tent and directly into the vestibule w/o leaving the tent. That's completely doable with the ARB Simpson III and all of the similar knockoff's but as users have noted, the set up/tear down takes more time and I'm no spring chicken any longer climbing all over the truck taking down a soft side RTT! Maggiolina now has a completely enclosed changing room that they didn't have when I went with the Globetrotter. Pros and cons to every style.
Desert camping encounters a lot of very high winds (enough to blow down a Springbar one evening!) so that's a huge consideration. Must mount to an INTI roof rack and I still want the ability to exit the tent sleeping area into an enclosed shelter. I like the durability in high winds of the hard shells over the soft tops and set up time. Even the Globetrotter with it's very heavy EeziAwn canvas flaps in the high winds a lot. I've found very, very little on the Maggiolina changing room. Quick emails with Autohome got me some info on it, but no real world feedback on any of the several boards I'm on. The changing room has pole supports so sounds like it would be similar to setting up a ground tent that then hooks onto the roof of the Maggie.
James Baroud doesn't have an exterior room option so that one is out of the running on the hard shells.
On the Maggie's the mattress size on the crank ups is only 72" and on the air strut 78". They don't make an XXL in the small model, which is all I need as a single. The Globetrotter is 78". Feedback from a friend with a 5+ year old Maggie Airlander with the gas struts is that those struts do age and need a little assistance going up now, but outside of the mattress cut outs for the struts the mattress is 78". I'm only 5' 10", but having only 2" extra seems kind of short! He also was of the opinion that the crank up style would probably be a little more sturdy in high winds due to the criss-cross structure support at each end as opposed to the struts at each corner of the Airlander.
Ah, decisions, decisions, decisions...
I've personally gone from a ground tent to an Eezi-Awn Globetrotter on my M101CDN. Looking at downsizing and selling the trailer/tent combo and looking at RTT's. The one HUGE thing I love about the Globetrotter tent is the ability to climb out of the tent and directly into the vestibule w/o leaving the tent. That's completely doable with the ARB Simpson III and all of the similar knockoff's but as users have noted, the set up/tear down takes more time and I'm no spring chicken any longer climbing all over the truck taking down a soft side RTT! Maggiolina now has a completely enclosed changing room that they didn't have when I went with the Globetrotter. Pros and cons to every style.
Desert camping encounters a lot of very high winds (enough to blow down a Springbar one evening!) so that's a huge consideration. Must mount to an INTI roof rack and I still want the ability to exit the tent sleeping area into an enclosed shelter. I like the durability in high winds of the hard shells over the soft tops and set up time. Even the Globetrotter with it's very heavy EeziAwn canvas flaps in the high winds a lot. I've found very, very little on the Maggiolina changing room. Quick emails with Autohome got me some info on it, but no real world feedback on any of the several boards I'm on. The changing room has pole supports so sounds like it would be similar to setting up a ground tent that then hooks onto the roof of the Maggie.
James Baroud doesn't have an exterior room option so that one is out of the running on the hard shells.
On the Maggie's the mattress size on the crank ups is only 72" and on the air strut 78". They don't make an XXL in the small model, which is all I need as a single. The Globetrotter is 78". Feedback from a friend with a 5+ year old Maggie Airlander with the gas struts is that those struts do age and need a little assistance going up now, but outside of the mattress cut outs for the struts the mattress is 78". I'm only 5' 10", but having only 2" extra seems kind of short! He also was of the opinion that the crank up style would probably be a little more sturdy in high winds due to the criss-cross structure support at each end as opposed to the struts at each corner of the Airlander.
Ah, decisions, decisions, decisions...
We camped in ARB for a year and you do get condensation when its cold with two adults. Didn't find any cure ... may consider some sort of fna system in the future.
Can give you indications of what "wears" over time on the tent if interested