Roof top tents yay or nay?

They love RTT's?

 

they use big tents

 

Awesome camp spot, can't beat that view!

 

hardshells are fast.

ones with zipper covers, not so much.

 

1) Definitely agree that they are pricey.

2) They are heavy, but I built a pulley system which is affixed to the ceiling in my garage that let's one person load the tent onto the truck, and remove it from the truck.

3) Egh, debatable I think, depending on how you go about setting up camp. I always open the tent first, before anything else comes out or off of the truck. This helps setup time. I can always set up my RTT faster than my buddy sets up his two man ground tent. Put away time is always faster as well, as I close the tent with all my sleep stuff in it.

4) See #2 above. The ceiling of my garage was unused space. Now it serves a small purpose.

I don't drive around with my RTT attached all the time. Just when it is time to take a trip.

Thankfully I live in dry AZ, so mold is not an issue.

I can pack two comforters, 4 pillows, and sheets in my larger CVT tent without issue. This was exciting for me. I enjoy sleeping comfortably, and the RTT is second only to the bed in my bedroom.

Definitely not for everyone, but I'm just a guy who has ~100 friends on Insta that I am attempting to stunt for, so screw my stupid opinion.

 

You understand the difference between an opinion and describing personal experience, right?

 

instagram thots amirite?

 

I googled ‘ass hat’.
Not pretty.

 

Hey, if anyone is in this thread looking for a big bag of confirmation-bias to justify their present, past, or future RTT purchase, I’m happy to sell that by the pound.

What is the truth, is these fuggin RTTs are arriving from China by the boatload, and ending up in landfills by the truckload. It’s a solution to a problem that only ever existed in people’s imagination.

I’m happy to be wrong, but I’m not, unfortunately. At very least, RTTs are a poor investment that you will have difficulty offloading as more and more people abandon the idea.

 

me too 96cardsboards profile came up

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burn_centers_in_the_United_States

 

They aren't all $1k or more, you can get a 2 man RTT for under a grand, I got my Tuff Stuff 2 man tent for $800. I've seen some for even less, the Smittybilt goes on sale frequently for closer to $600 sometimes. But yeah they are considerably more expensive than your average ground tent.

My 2 man tent is about 125lbs if I remember right, I was able to get it on my bed rack by myself but it wasn't exactly easy, and I have a low profile bed rack which helped. But I leave mine on 24/7 so it was just a one time ordeal.

I love my RTT but I think a lot of people get them for the look and to be a part of the 'club' or whatever, when in reality they only end up using it once or twice a year. In which case yeah, not worth it. You have to run heavier springs in the rear to account for the added weight, especially when you consider how much more weight is involved with overnight camping trips (and the fact that the rear end is going to be holding you and whoever else is sleeping in there). So that's another expense to consider.

I've had mine for almost 1 year now exactly and have probably slept in it ~15 times, which I consider to be worth the expense but just barely. I'd like to make a point to use it even more this year.

 

I looked into go fast campers but you cant store stuff like the alucab rtt and camp king rtt.

 

So you think that people are buying these "expensive" RTTs and then they're just throwing them away when they don't live up to expectations? Landfills?

 

Cross thread zingers. We all need to get back to work...(ok best post of the day).

 

Hardshells are practically instant*

RTTs are really fast

I mean if you want to get fancy and setup the windows and stuff it'll be a little longer. But if you just want to open it and sleep its literally 1min (I've timed it), by yourself maybe 2min.

Me and my girl get out of the truck I'm on the driver's side she's on the passenger, she slides the zipper for the cover over to me which takes like 15 seconds, I grab the ladder and fold it open (another 15 seconds), then maybe 15-30 more seconds to adjust the pivot and make sure it went all the way in.

Only thing that takes time is if you want to setup the window rods (8 of them total) that would take like 4-5 minutes, plus maybe opening up the sky view roof for star gazing (another minute) and if you want to get REAL crazy I'll setup the annex room which is another 2 minutes. But I rarely use any of those.

So quick deployment with two people 1min
quick deployment one person 2min
full deployment with annex, sky roof and all windows setup: 8-10 minutes

 

If I'm backpacking, I use a hammock. If I'm car camping, I just set up a tent. I do like being to drive to a trail head or to get food or whatever. Tents aren't expensive.

 

I'm getting my RTT. Fuck you if you dont like it.