Roof top tents, why?

Just wondering what people think the benefits of roof top tents are? Seems like they are expensive, would kill your gas mileage, would get moldy and/or deteriorate quickly if left on the truck. If you took them off every time to avoid mold and sun deterioration it seems like a huge pain in the arse. The only benefit I can think of is if you are trying to avoid lions, elephants,snakes etc. or you want a killer view from your tent.

Just seems way easier and cheaper to set up a ground tent or, better yet, sleep in a hammock.

 

If you're camping regularly, I get it. It's super fast to set up and take down. It's also the trend right now, and it's expensive. I just do a ground tent. But I see the appeal.

 

Some people don’t like sleeping in the mud.

 

I've done numerous side-by-side setups, and a ground tent is faster and easier to set up and tear down. Plus, you don't have to play "musical trucks" to find the best level ground to park and setup the RTT.

 

Easier and cheaper is never as much fun!

In all honesty, different strokes for different folks. I live near the coast and It is substantially easier to have a tent setup off the sand than deal with cleaning it afterwards especially when you go fishing/off roading every weekend. Not to mention you'll have a nice buffer if you accidentally park too close to the water during low tide

 

Because Instagram.

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Pitching a ground tent in Death Valley is a PITA. We ended up sleeping in the short bed and it was less than ideal the night it rained. There was some creative spooning involved and we didn't get much sleep.

 

A regular fiberglass shell with platform also gets you off the ground and has benefits over a RTT. It's even easier to set up and more discreet (I've slept downtown in it after having a few too many and nobody was the wiser).

People I know that have used them a lot actually have complained about the mold and the setup being slightly a pain. For these reasons I went with a shell with Ikea mattress and it's very comfy. I think the prevalence of DCSB Tacos (5ft beds) is the reason more people don't do this.

 

Not much safer than ground tent.

Snakes find their way into deerstands all the time.

Not long ago a family had their RTT opened up like a sardine can by a bear.
They were inside the tent at the time.

Wish I could find the article.
Yakima RTT on back of F150.

 

RTT was a game changer for us.

The fact that we no longer have to pack a mattress, tent or sleeping bags (all of that remains in the tent) made it easier to pack and less space consuming.

The mattress (we use the one that came with the tent + a 2 inch memory foam) is MUCH more comfortable than our air up mattress. Better on our backs and also my wife loves it because she's about 100 lbs and I am 220... so on air up matress, she was always sleeping on a bubble... and every time I moved, she felt like she was going to catapult out of the tent.

Our RTT is much smaller inside than our ground tent was, making it easier for our body heat to keep it warm. The tent walls are also much thicker and stronger. The Annex, we have, still allows us to have a sheltered area we can stand up and change etc. We've camped in 22° with snow and freezing rain and were still warm in our tent.

People complain about mold issues... that just not maintaining your tent. We wipe the condensation down from the inside walls and ceilings with an absorbant chamois before we fold it up. We also keep water absorbant charcoal filled socks in the tent at all times... and we keep damp rid in the tent while we are camping. When we return home, we open the tent and allow it to dry out properly. We don't have mold issues.

 

"Broverlanding"

 

For those gnar shots on the gram.

 

So you don't get eaten by a bear.

 

I’ve found it easier to find level ground. A ground tent you have to choose wisely and many spots you have to skip over. With my RTT I just stack some firewood and drive on top, making any where (even a side hill) a level camping spot

 

And don't forget about all the videos you'll post on your Youtube channel! #liveyourbestlife

 

Just dry it out before you fold it up (or open it on a warm day after your trip) and mold wont be an issue.

 

Because i̶n̶s̶t̶a̶g̶r̶a̶m̶ snow

 

Because people really like to buy dumb 4door trucks, which means they have tiny truck beds that are too small to sleep in.

That, and driving around town with a big rectangular block of crap on your roof is overlander street cred.

 

overland trailer + RTT = comfy camping!

 

Dumb people, like me, buy 4 door trucks because they have a reason they want a 4 door truck (there are a lot of them).

Here's one...


And some of us actually carry gear in our trucks to be prepared for what we may enconter on the trail.


I prefer to have all of my gear stowed and not have to unload all the tools, spare parts, and recovery equipment, to sleep in the bed of my truck, when there is a better, nicer, and more convenient alternative.

It's stupid people like me, that pull people like you out of the ditch, or help you when you're broke down...

And it's stupid people like me that are out there from early spring, through the season, clearing trails... so people like you can drive through, thinking you're awesome because you have navagation, ATRAC, or what ever other new fangled thinga ma widget and an extra cab long bed you can sleep in... because you're smarter than everyone else.