EEZI AWN TENT
Heres some pictures of the eezi awn 1400 series tent. i chose this tent ove the other after much consideration. I wanted a comfortable place to sleep, i figured if i was going to do a roof top tent i might as well have so room up there.
I chose to mount my tent so it opens off to the passenger side as the width of the 80 series roof is about 48in wide this allowed for the most "aerodynamic" placement. Only the 1200 will fit front to back with the same look as the way mine is mounted due to the size being 48x48.
First impressions were this tent is very heavy duty, although the weight is about 120lbs. This thing is built like a rock, the canvas material is very heavy and keep the interior dim to dark in the early morning so waking up is nice. The floor is made of wood that is very nice and well finished. all the zippers are heavy duty and the ends have double sewn stoppers to keep the zipper from going to far (see pic) the folding mattress is well made as well, it has 2 layers of foam (soft on top harder on bottom)
Space
this tent has tons of room im 5'10 and with arms out stretched either above my head or to my sides i just barely touch the edges. My concern was not having enough room but after seeing how large this was i wouldn't think twice about getting the 1200 if a more compact tent is desired.
I looked at all the roof top tents and these were a few things i found i liked about this tent.
the auto home tent with fiberglass shells looks good closed and is by far the fastest to set up and take down however i didn't like the set up look (resembling a brick) and if in rain or snow it seems that the windows cant stay open possibly leading to a stuffy environment and or confined feeling. The nice thing about the eezi awn tent is the windows and doors have awnings over them to allow the windows and doors to be open when raining.
The Hannibal tent resembles the eezi awn with awning however I've been told that due to the materials they use in cold environments its hard to zip up and down which can be a pain.
The tent is very stable and if you park your truck correctly you will be amazed how little movement there is while up there.
The latter is very well made and its telescopic design make it very stable.
Other things i like
interior pockets ( there are 4 and are great for holding shoes and or other things while sleeping)
adjustable mounting ( you can mount this tent to just about any think that's flat as it can adjust to any dimensions)
bug screens ( very heavy duty although not good for noseeums very heavy quality and will not likely be worn or ruined with use.
Elastic ropes built into the sides of the tent with clips. you use these to keep the sides of the tent tight so when you close the tent it helps pull the tent in ( also if in extremely windy weather these can be used to stop flapping. ( see pic)
things i don't like
the tent has little fasteners for holding the window flaps down on the outside as well as for rolling up the screen inside. these consist of a little straps with a plastic rings that you attach another strap with a male end to. These seem like a very cheap design idea and seem to be more of a pain in the butt then a solution to the problem. I will likely attach snap rivets to these to fix the problem.
Closing the tent is not as easy as they say it is After you close it you usually have to go to the other side and tuck the tent in so the cover will fit over the tent. packing up the tent takes longer then setting it up.
The cover, this is where the auto home excels, the cover is a weather proof heavy cover with a built in ratchet strap in the back that pulls the corners and sides down. this often gets dirty and is more time consuming then just cranking down a fiberglass top. I am also concerned of water getting up under the cover and will likely attack a flap underneath to keep it better protected.
The height of the tent, this tent sticks up 11'' off the top of the roof, I would recommend a "air foil" for the front to solve this.
Over all this tent is very nice and i am very happy with my purchase. there is nothing like pulling into the camp site and setting up in 5 min with bed like comfort every time. Im happy to say i wake up every morning feeling like i slept in my own bed not like i spent the night camping. I highly recommend this tent and would highly recommend it to any one else.
Wow a miele stove
