Roof Top Tents - A fad?

That sucks, but glad to hear that you liked it! I'm excited to put it to use and stop sleeping in the bed of my truck.

 

They're freaking awesome. Haven't left me stuck yet! I did manage to tear a hole in a sidewall in some sharp rock though only two months after buying them discounttiredirect.com is where I buy mine from.

 

So did anyone pick up what the genius in the ford threw out of his trunk?

 

Payote

 

I through up in my mouth a little after seeing my mistake, having been threw many grammar and spelling clauses in my time.

 

RTTs have been pretty popular in Australia for several years. Seems like they just started to catch on elsewhere fairly recently. I like 'em!

 

fad? no - my grandfather built one himself from plywood & canvas in the 50's & toured the west with it...my dad did the same in the early 70's...
just spent 10 straight nights in my new tepui with my son on it's maiden voyage...my thoughts:

- very comfortable
- we could set it up in the dark in 4.5 minutes & pack it up in about 1 minute longer (yes - we timed it!)
- no sleeping bags to stuff or thermarests to roll up in the am
- ya gotta level the truck pretty well or you're sliding into each other in the night
- it's a bit heavy, but not all that much trouble for my son & i...we've taken it off & put it on (along with the bedrack too) several times. we use a furniture dolly to move it around on edge easily
- i have the rci bedrack which is 12" above the bedrail...you can still see out the rear view mirror fine - just not as far back...not an issue for me & still plenty of height underneath in the bed for gear, or sleeping...but if your bedrack is lower than the cab roof, you can't open the forward facing tent window (unless there is a bending of the spring rod trick which i am researching)...

we love using the rtt - no misgivings yet

 

ha ha
my grandmother had that car in front - renault "dauphine" - bad ass ride

 

I through up in you're mouth two

 

Any of you guys ever use a pop up canopy as an alternative to a RTT? I only get to camp once a year or so. I’m thinking about just putting this over the bed and it’ll give me about 3-4’ of room past the bed. This with an inflatable mattress seems like it might work.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071...+up+canopy&dpPl=1&dpID=51wu1LrT+JL&ref=plSrch

 

At that point I'd check out these truck tents

https://us.napieroutdoors.com/store/catalogue/details/1/1/product_id:39/

 

Planning on camping in mosquito/black fly country?

 

Ever been to South Carolina....?

 

Not for any length of stay. I do know someone who has @tacobell007 . Does that count?

 

Could be a fad. Depends on who you're trying to generalize. Tacoma owners? Off roaders? Actual overlanders?

I think for some populations that have impulses to buy things and stay current, this will be short lived.

For people who camp, hunt, and travel off road in areas that are well suited for rtt I believe these are just another tool in the bag.

I personally bought one because I wanted to be off the ground and like the creature comforts. I've camped all my life in tents. I still use a GT all the time too. Depends on location.

Price wise, they're expensive for a new one.
It's also about as much as my snowboarding set up and gets used way more with less inherited fees for trips.

To me it's more of an alternative to a bed camper or a pop up than a ground tent. I think it's fad factor / usefulness is very dependent from one type of user to another.

Btw I do really love our tepui in the rain. We've done about 6 trips this year alone where it was pouring from start to finish and we went out with no hesitation at all. Can't say I was the same way with our GT

 

RTT's are pretty awesome! The ease of set up and break down, the comfort...so comfortable. You can store all you sleeping stuff in it and it'll be 100% dust free!

For me....I don't use a roof top tent and most likely will never buy one. I sleep under my camper shell on a sleeping platform. It sucks compared to a roof top tent. But for me I use a tent for sleeping only. Or I put out my awning, throw down a ground cloth, put my sleeping pad on top and sleep in the open under the awning if there are less mosquitos.

I tend to get into camp after dark and leave early the next day. I frequently sleep in my truck on my way to mountain biking and backpacking trail heads. These spots are often brewery parking lots. Good luck setting up a roof top tent there. Especially in an urban area. I just don't spend much time sleeping while I'm camping to justify one.

Also, the roof on my camper shell is 6'10". I don't want 80-100 pounds on top of it making it close to 8 feet tall. I'm not all that interested in getting a new shell that's shorter or a bed rack. I like having all my shit in a semi secure enclosure.

Otherwise I'd get in on a heart beat.

I am considering building something like the image below. I'd have a pop top like a vanagon Westfalia and no window.
. I'd definately spend more time hanging out at camp. When I start getting older camping will become more and more liesurly.

 

You should check out this build then. It's right up your alley.

 

Sweet build and nice Subie..that's a good combo! I always say the best mod you can do to your truck is get a daiily driver. Mines a 2009 Suzuki V strom 650...46mpg and I do 75+mph pretty much everywhere.

One thing...the rest of my comment is about how I'll never buy a RTT, lol.

I do like how you have a roof top tent on a camper shell. Pretty sweet. I'm going a differant direction.