One Flew Over The Rooftop Tent

[AnyMal]

RTTs are not ridiculous. They are a specialty tool that can be completely unnecessary in some situations, and absolutely indispensable in others. Everything depends on your specific camping style, location, time of year, wants/needs. There are a LOT of factors at play, and most people refuse to see the other side of the coin when making pro/anti RTT statements.

If you are setting up camp for numerous days, then a quality ground tent, cot, etc. is hard to beat. If you are on the move every day, a RTT can be an amazing investment.

Here are a few of the spots we camped with the AluCab we had. No way in hell could you setup a tent in either spot, or anywhere close:

Even a "mildly" rocky spot like this can be a huge pain with a ground tent. And when you do set it up, you'll run a serious risk of damaging the tent's floor:

Then consider camping in the autumn, in the PNW. You've got a million pine needles (if not mud/snow) on the ground, it's wet to begin with, and rains on/off the entire weekend (every weekend). You'll spend hours cleaning off the gunk after your trip. But with a RTT? It's up in the air, so it dries quick. Find a dry spell of a few hours, shake it off, fold it up and you're done.

Then again, there are scenarios when having a quality, ground-tent has its upsides, too. Staying here a few days, having walk-in shelter was a big plus, despite needing to wash the tent/floor afterwards:

Providing a comfortable, shaded area for your dog (and other humans) has its upsides, too:

In other places, a ground tent is simply sublime:

In an ideal world, I'd have about a half-dozen different camping setups, to have the option of picking the best tool for the job at hand.

Thank you, my immediate idea for this was rocks, animals, and my wife - bugs.

Thanks for making a case!! I love a good argument and want to hear merits on both sides.

Budget also isnt a huge concern.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Thank you, my immediate idea for this was rocks, animals, and my wife - bugs.

Thanks for making a case!! I love a good argument and want to hear merits on both sides.

Budget also isnt a huge concern.

If you'll be going out camping frequently, consider buying a small, capable and well-designed trailer, and mounting the tent to that. Having everything packed and ready to go at a moment notice, and not having to unpack things immediately after a trip, can save hours on each side of the weekend. As with the RTT, I'd suggest renting and trying before buying.

Another big upside is you can leave the trailer in camp while you drive away for the day, and the tent is lower to the ground, which will make setting it up and packing it away much easier than doing the same thing on your roof.

(My money would go to the CVT trailer. Saw one in person and it was phenomenal - much, MUCH better than the similar FSR trailer I had.)

 

[AnyMal]

Leveling isn't an issue but it's a worthwhile step. AHC won't level as it's lift is relative to the vehicle. I use it to bring the car down as low as possible to shorten the reach and ladder height. Most of my friends use RV leveling legos or good ol rocks. Could use a curved wheel chock leveler. I have independent airbags on the rear axle to level. That allows me to setup car just nose high, then use the rear airbags to dial in front to back, and side to side leveling.

Adding Airbags to AHC

Picture is probably too subtle to show but it's part of the why - adding airbags creates the ability to level the vehicle side to side and front to back for backcountry car camping. In the pic, I have the right side jacked up 2" with about 25 PSI in the right rear bag. Secondly, while AHC has...

forum.ih8mud.com

This should explain in more detail

Swingaway Hitch Carrier v2

Second go at this, to build a swing away hitch carrier for overland camping. This time higher, tighter, and more tailored fit. Primary objective is to carry water and small loose items. What others may use drawers to carry. I can't commit to drawers as I use my 3rd row and need the utility...

forum.ih8mud.com

Hmm, i mean with a laptop and techstream i could bang out an independent corner level in 2 minutes. Kind of interesting subject youve got me on…

 

[TeCKis300]

Really good points being made all around.

Given his wife's priorities of rocks, animals, and bugs - What I've done before is a small tent or canopy, not to sleep in, but to offload gear to make room in the car to sleep in. Or get a roof top box or rear carrier to leave more room in the car to sleep in. Or any variety of combinations.

I'm sometimes motivated to do fun activities because of an infatuation with a toy. So I get that maybe having a cool RTT may push you guys out there. Just as possible, it may not, and the first time hoisting and installing the large contraption on the roof is enough to call it quits.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Offloading gear and sleeping in the LX would be my #1 choice.

If I didn't have a dog, that's exactly what I would be doing myself. Roof top box for camping gear, possibly a hitch box for even more storage, and sleep in the car. Safe, comfortable, dry, nothing to clean or damage, very comfortable, and probably one of the cheapest options, too.

 

[DenverLX]

I just posted this reply in another thread but thought I would share it here too.

The only way to comfortably sleep in the back of the truck is with a platform, preferably drawers. I have drawers and I have slept in the back of the truck many times, but it is not a great solution. It hard to get in and out, the lights come on when you open a door and disturb others, you have to unload your gear to set up the bed then load it back in the morning and ventilation isn't great. I almost always try to just sleep outside under the stars, either on the ground (with a pad) or on a cot. But when weather comes in I will go sleep in the truck. When I camp, its purely bc Im doing something the next morning that requires me to be at that location. For me its mostly rafting or climbing, ext, so I regularly roll up late and don't care about setting up a camp. Im just there to sleep and get on the river in the morning. So my preference is, Under the stars > In a tent > in the truck (as a last resort).

I described my distain for RTT's earlier in the thread but if you want more comfort than what I listed above maybe look at a trailer. Trailers are awesome and I would defiantly own one but I am always towing my raft trailer instead.

 

[grinchy]

Fun history: my parents had a roof top tent on our tiny Japanese car the summer of 1978. It slept two adults and one kid. They were touring style, driving as fast as possible on vacations from one relative to another, usually California to Nebraska. Set up at 11pm in the dark, driving again at 7a the next morning. They loved it for that, and used it for a couple summers.
Then the cheap fiberglass pole self supporting backpacking tents came out, and they moved to that. Better gas mileage was the decider.
They would pull up in full dark to a city park, walk around to make sure they didn’t set up on top of a sprinkler (life lesson there), and sleep for five hours. Pack up and be gone before daylight. People make YouTube’s about urban camping now, It is not new people!
Back on topic, I like the ‘instant’ ground tents for a touring option; almost every dispersed site I see has a tent spot, because that’s what people have. But I’ve got kids, so space and a ground level hq is valuable.
Admittedly for touring where you’re on a three week driving tour I think a roof top tent fits that style perfect.

 

[doublehundy]

I'm in the pro-RTT camp (ha!). I debated hard-shell vs soft-shell for a while last year....weighing cost/size/weight. Went with a soft-shell by Area BFE (not huge in the marketing department) because it was low profile (for a soft shell) and light weight - plus it was a 3 person. I loved it, my kids loved it, overall fun to sleep on the roof of your rig. If I only needed a 2 person, I'd have gone with the the GFC superlite, handsdown (like @TeCKis300).