Rooftop tents... what do you think??

[Bongani]

IMHO the way to go is the EeziAwn RTT. I have been touring using the Hannibal Zulu for a while but decided to replace it with the 1.4m EeziAwn.

The Hannibal Zulu is very small inside and the one solid wall hampers airflow considerably. It is also rather heavy at over 61kg. When windy the side flaps tend to beat in the wind and climbing out of a wet tent one is sure to get yourslef wet.

On the other hand the EeziAwn 1.4m tent ways 51kg. The tent is considerably bigger than the Hannibal, and with 4 windows one can experience great airflow.
It has a very comfortable mattress and it is possible to remove it and use an inflatable which will easily take 10-15kg of the mass off the roof.

The only draw back of the EeziAwn is that it takes about 7min to pack away compared to the 4min of the Hannibal Zulu.

These tent prices varies greatly ZA. The Hannibal is R9000 and the EeziAwn is R6500.


Here is photo of me in a 2 countries in 3 days trip. Slept 5-6 hours in 3 days. Did 2000km and 2 countries, with most of the event been night based GPS navigation. Notice the spacers under the tires to get the tent level.

 

[Bongani]

Here is my touring the ZA WestCoast with the Hannibal.

BTW. We sleep three in there. The misses, myself and my 3 year old boy.

 

[kcsmithson]

a 38 gallon water tank, dual marine deep draw batteries, on board charger, electric pump, tool box and power outlets. I have a 1000W inverter.

Can you show us some detailed pics? I am in the process of redoing my trailer and need some ideas.

Chad

 

[Mike S]

I am posting a pic of the frame in construction. The watertank is BEHIND the axle, and straddles that rear cross bar. The tank is about 7" deep and is made of 3/8" welded poly. It has an 1/8" thick skid plate protecting it, and is vented above the frame rail on four sides. I used a marine potable water pump abut 1.5 GPM and 3/8" silicon tubing to plumb out the side of the Delta tongue box, which houses the batteries, pump, charger, etc.

PM me if you would like details.

Mike

The frame

Under construction

The Delta tongue box

 

[zander]

how good are these things in the rain?

I have camped in mild rain in mine with no problems, they are designed to shed water outside the glass shell. For super heavy rain or cold conditiones they make a velcro on outter nylon shell that you can keep intstalled. I have one and have not used it yet.

 

[OZCAL]

Would use one, even if only for the platform (photography etc). Like the idea of staying dry and bug free when sleeping outside.

David

 

[OZCAL]

Never used one, might if they weren't so expensive.

One thing that I think would be neat, that may very well be in existance already, is the option for sunroof access, i.e. a door in the floor. This would allow you to pass things up and down to the cab of the car as well as ingress and egress w/o being exposed to the elements during times of rain or snow(or when that bear is circling the truck ). This obviously would require a hatch in the roof rack and bottom of the tent, but I think might be an option worth persuing.

Ary

Access to the cab's AC/heat would be nice, with the right sealed "tunnel" from the sunroof to the tent. I can think of several potential safety issues, but still possible.

 

[Fly Rod]

The idea of a tent on top has always baffled me. Why put more weight up there? Yet I really like the looks of the tent on trailer posted above. This would be the ultimate elk camp rig for me. I have an old pop up trailer but it is aging rapidly. I need to look into fabricating a good off road trailer with a tent.

Besides, how in the heck would my dogs get up there?

Fly Rod

 

[dclee]

The idea of a tent on top has always baffled me. Why put more weight up there? Yet I really like the looks of the tent on trailer posted above. This

Some people don't like towing a trailer or have no need for one. Personal preference I guess. For myself, I would rather have the tent up there (it's only 100 pounds) than having a trailer hanging off my butt on a tight trail like the Rubicon.

As to the virtues of the tent itself over its regular ground-based brethren, I think that's been covered already.

My $0.02,

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Do any of you guys have height issues being over 7' tall with tree limbs and branches?

 

[esh]

Yes, but the heavy-duty vinyl has survived even the fire-hardened curled down stubby pointed branches hanging tightly throughout the McGrew trail in southern Oregon.

I always remove the rack/tent/awning as a unit if I'm not using the truck for overnight or longer camp trips. No use beating it up further and exposing it to the elements. Just rigged up a simple pulley system onto a little hand winch from harbor freight.

I have more trouble with the 7' parking garages.

 

[82-40]

All of the reasoning why they are so expensive are good ones such as materials used, craftsmanship, ease of set up, comfort, convenience and durability and this equates to some thing called luxury and this equals $$. Sure you will find a higher standard of luxury in a motor home then you will find in a roof top tent just like you will find a higher level in the roof top tent compared to a back packing tent. Back packing tents are not cheep when you look at how little you get from one and the most important thing that is lacking from it is the weight that is purposely kept off from it. What makes a high priced back packing tent? Every thing that was stated above “LUXARY” the more you want to carry that tent instead of another on your back for miles on end the more you will pay for it. The same is true for the roof top tent, the more luxury that you ask for the more $$ that they will ask for. But the one thing that will bring up the price that I did not see mentioned from the others is the supply & demand theory. There is a good supply of these things but the demand sucks! As soon as they can sale 3 or 4 units to every 1 that is sold now the price will drop. Sorry for the lecture in marketing. I think I have found some very good alternatives to the pricy tents but you will lose some of there features but you will still have a higher standard of comfort then a tent on the ground will give you. If any one is interested I will look for the URL’s of the poor mans version.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Can you describe the difference in the
Adventure, Airland and Extreme? I kinda think I might understand some of the differences like the color of the shell and fabric?
I'm interested in one someday to be moved from the tow rig to the FJ45 etc.. Much easier than a slide in camper and not as bulky to store..
Where can one find prices? And Is Urban LandCruisers a vendor of them?
That's enough for now..

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Ok noticed the differences listed in the Mudrak new tent thread..
Best of luck on the website.. Looks very interesting would love to see more pictures etc esp of the mounting systems available.
And can the accessories be purchased with the same canvas color if you buy one of the other tents?
I noticed blue, grey and tan now..

 

[CanadianLandcruiser]

Never used one, might if they weren't so expensive.

Ary

Here is one that is not too expensive. The Skydome.

It's on sale now for $595.

 

[hoser]

Does anybody have experience with "3 Dog Camper" Roof Top Tents. They are made in Australia. Not too much information on the web about this company.

http://www.3dogcamping.com/rooftop.html

 

[DaktariEd]

Well...

I am a complete newbie here. This is my very first post. But I purchased an Airland last year from Lofty Shelters and coundn't be happier with it. It's streamlined, weighs 130 lbs or so, opens in seconds, closes in a couple of minutes, and has been water tight in several thunderstorms and rain showers.

Here's photo of it on my Sequoia. I'm in the process of having a custom rack made for my FJ-40 so it will be able to see even more remote country.

Ed

 

[Exiled]

I came across this picture in my archives and thought you'd enjoy it.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Question for owners of roof top tent:
Are there any issues with putting down/away your tents wet?

 

[sandcruiser]

nah.... it just gets musty if you don't open it back up within a couple of days to dry out.

Oh, also sometimes the edges of the sheets/blankets will get damp, but most of the water stays outside, at least on the maggiolina tent.