Roof Top Tent (RTT) Questions

Hello everyone!

I'm thinking of getting a roof top tent, and I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on the different types of RTTs that are out there?

I have been doing my research and I see that there are soft tents, hard ABS/Fiberglass style tents, and I have also seen aluminum tents. Does anyone have any pros or cons of these different types of tents?

Thank you so much for your time and your help!

 

i have a standard basic roof top tent from TuffStuff, the ranger tent with annex room.

I like it, but from what i've seen, most people end up dropping the basic style RTT's to either go back to a simpler bed tent/regular tent/camper shell setup, or they upgrade to one of the slim hardshell RTT's for even easier setup, and less drag while driving.

Aluminum tents would just be more expense for weight savings and structural strength I believe, unless you mean one of those wedge campers with the pop up tent section, in which case that's basically a whole shell + RTT wrapped in one.

 

This usually boils down to price point, space required and personal preference. I went price point and hard shell because I cant stand the blocky nature of soft tents when closed up and its only myself and the gf in it. I went with a small name brand ABS Hard Shell a little over a year ago.. that company has folded since then and now I'm left without any warranty or customer service for issues down the line. I am starting to see some small hairline cracks in some sections of the ABS shell that I own. While I cannot say that's bound to happen to all small pop up brands, learn from my mistake and buy from one that you know is going to stick around.. If I wasn't worried about price at the time of purchase I would have gone fiberglass or aluminum hard-shell. Best bet is to keep an eye out locally, tons of people buy them and don't use them enough to justify it and let them go gently used for much less than retail.

 

price & weight

You can get pretty good quality standard tents like Smittybilt and Yakima for less then $1k, they are light, will last a while and work well in most weather conditions, but the material is thin so a heater buddy may be needed on chilly nights that maybe the better brands wouldnt need with the heavier material. The whole structure is definitely cheaper than most as well

Great quality standard RTTs like CVT or Gold Dog are still at reasonable prices and they only weigh about 150lbs, have heavier material that will keep you warmer at night and have less chance for leaks and tears. They only take about 1.5 minutes to setup and close down, and having the annex is awesome for storage and having a place to change clothes privately. Also the mattress in the Gold Dog specifically is 100000x better than 90% of all the other tents hard or soft shell.

Hard shell tents are faster to set up usually and you can utilize the hard shell side as a wind blocker. Most clam-shell style hardtops dont have an annex option, but the fold out style tents do and often times the annex is larger than the annex on a standard RTT. The weight of the hardshells is noticeably heavier compared to standard RTTs, often reaching over 200lbs especially the aluminum tops, and most retail over $2500

 

Thank you so much for your time and your help! I really appreciate it.

I have been looking at the soft sided Tuff Stuff Overland RTTs too. I really like what I see and I'm glad to hear that you like yours too.

The hard shell RTTs seam to be an upgrade from the soft sided ones. I completely agree with you on that point too.

Thank you for your opinion on aluminum tents too. They seam to me like the option if you want to mount kyacks or paddle boards to your program.

 

I have the Roam Vagabond 2 person tent and like it a lot. It is very similar to the Tepui, but the Tepui doesn't have any clear panels in the rain fly. The Roam also comes with a cargo net and 2 boot bags and is about the same price as the Tepui.

I'd avoid the Smittybuilt though. It's a good tent, from my understanding, but it is cheaper than the rest for a reason. The materials don't last as well as others.

 

CONDENSATION!!!! insulate your flooring!

 

Thank you so much for your opinions. I really appreciate it.

I agree with you completely that it usually boils down to price, space required, and personal preference.

I am so sorry to hear that the company you went with is not in business anymore. Could you maybe go to a surf-board repair business to get the shell repaired?

I like your idea of taking advantage of someone else's gently used tent for much less than retail. I would totally be up for that!

Thank you so much for your time

 

I have the Tepui Autana IV, it's one of the largest tents Tepui makes. I'm happy with it, you can sleep 5-6 people in it including the Annex.

 

I got some type of resin from an uncle that does a lot of machining for work (makes those big signs for in front of businesses/gunsmith/general redneck) that I'm going to try and use on the cracks and see if that stops them from spreading any further.. if not I have a buddy that is one hell of a welder I might just take the tent to him and say weld me up something in aluminum that is similar in dimensions and hope I can just reuse the guts to make a tent. Any time! Good luck in your search.

 

Thank you for your opinions! You have such great incite in all of this stuff.

I would love a hard shell RTT, but I think the soft sided ones are more in my budget. Fingers crossed that Santa is listening. Maybe he will bring me something unexpected under the tree this year

I have not heard of Gold Dog before. I will check them out. Thank you for the tip!

I think I will get an annex room too for some of my travels. I will probably not use it in all occasions but it seams so nice to have.

I have heard that weight can be an issue with the hard shells. Good point! The aluminum tops would be even more weight then that. So I have some more considering to do regarding those too.

 

I have one of Roam's cases and I love it! I have been looking into those Vagabonds too. So glad to hear that you like your RTT.

Thank you for your opinion on SB too. I have heard that about them before as well.

 

What a beautiful tent you have!

6 people? That is amazing! Party tent

Do you use your annex all of the time or just in some occurrences?

 

Good for you!

Good luck with your repairs and have fun with that RTT

Thank you again so much!

 

It's great when you're camping long term, but when you go wheeling and you're always moving it's a pain to remove and install.

 

Not a problem! I'd also avoid CVT. They're pretty expensive for not much better, if at all.

 

Great update.

Thank you for your time.

 

Thank you for that. I have not heard good things about CVT either.

I really appreciate your time and your help!

 

Have you weighed the difference of units that can be mounted under the roofline of the truck (only over bed) vs the cab over types ? The cab over style are the kind that open in like 15 seconds, but I also had concern about wind resistance and the climb up and down the ladder at night

 

Thank you so much for your time.

I have been looking at all different types of RTTs, that is why I was wondering if anyone has any pros or cons of all of these different types of tents.

When you say cab over types, are you referring to the hard shell type RTTs? I know that these types are typically mounted on a truck bed rack.

Also, if you are talking about the hard shell type RTTs, in my research I have seen that most companies don't recommend those types of tents to be placed on the roof of a truck due to support and length. I have been told that they can certainly be mounted on a roof; however, the weight of the tent/people inside typically exceed the amount of capacity that the roof racks can support (180 lb. tent, plus 2 people, will likely exceed 500 lbs.) which can affect the roof. I know that SUV's are different, as the roof line is longer and typically supports more weight.