Thread: Vehicle roof tents

Who has experience with roof top tenting? Any special features to look for in a tent? Any brands to consider/avoid?
Thanks.

Piss bottle with appropiate size opening.

Remember not to roll out of the door in the middle of the night for whatever reason. Mate's kid did it not thinking the first time they used the tent. Lucky enough the dumbarse landed on a pile of tarps that still had a lot of air trapped in them - cushioned the fall somewhat. Nice black bruise on the side of the head from the ladder though... You need a good sleeping pad/mattress as the tent floor is solid and not like sleeping on a grassy area.

Other than that, they aren't too bad except they tend to move more than you'd expect for a tent - seeing as they are mounted on suspension and the vehicle reacts every time you move. They can be a bit more expensive to travel with depending on the vehicle you bolt them too as well, a mate has one on basically a single axle garden trailer and it's cheaper to tow that than mount the tent on top of the 4x4 due to the reduction in air resistance. He's got stabiliser jacks on each corner of the trailer which gets around the movement issue as well.

I have looked into this a but and from my research and also some good friends who have one, I am going for a Bush Buck 'Armourdillo'
Pricey, but better to save and buy the best I reckon.

https://bushbuck.co.nz/products/armo...40159636062307

Originally Posted by Shearer

Who has experience with roof top tenting? Any special features to look for in a tent? Any brands to consider/avoid?
Thanks.

Prone to getting stolen, did your mate in Taupo tell you about his?

Originally Posted by 40mm

I have looked into this a but and from my research and also some good friends who have one, I am going for a Bush Buck 'Armourdillo'
Pricey, but better to save and buy the best I reckon.

https://bushbuck.co.nz/products/armo...40159636062307

Really? Heavy, pricey and I hear their hinges rust.
Best on the market by far are Feldon Shelters but north of north island based. KiwiCamping good for support and availability.

Soft top RTT - cheaper, more room and lighter but can get mould if put away wet and can't put anything on top of them. Plus cover will fade and leak over time due to UV
Hard top RTT - more expensive, can be heavier, not a lot of room if you're a tall person. The rear opening ones means head at opening but the apex too small for your feed if you're a back sleeper.

Both suffer in the wind, and if on roof of a lifted 4x4 she's going to rock around. Getting up and down after a bevvy is risky, get a Pee bottle.
Both eat more fuel.

I had a soft top, I wouldn’t get one again. It turned into a parachute on the motorway - take notice next time you see one and when going fast you’ll see it’s blown up - absolutely destroyed my fuel mileage and for the 3 times a year I used it I still didn’t like it - every time you wanna move your car it has get get packed up - super pain in the ass. If you are look at a hard top one - they’re more aerodynamic and easier and faster to pack up and put down. These days I own a couple of tents and pick the most suitable one for the trip - going bush I’ll take a small one - to the beach with the mrs I have a big one we can fully stand up in and have a gazebo too.


But for the solo missions with lots of overnight stops and being able to set up anywhere you can park your car - the hard top ones are definitely the way to go.

Never thought about the fuel economy , I bet ACC have had a few claims with people coming off the ladder getting down for a piss after to many sherbets

I looked at one briefly but figured it solves a problem that w dont have in NZ....My understanding i the advantage over a normal tent is the fact it is up off the ground away from SNakes, spiders and all manner of other things in Aussie that are trying to do you harm..... I am now looking at a caravan style box (not unlike th old pop top caravans, ) that I can drop onto the deck of my trailer.....

And then we looked at one of these which seemed a better fit...https://www.savebarn.co.nz/camping-t...ice&order=DESC

Then we decided that for the amount of times we will likely use it, Motels or Camp ground cabins were a better option.....especially if the other half was expecting to go too...

I am mainly looking at a better alternative to sleeping in the car at road ends etc. I could use a normal tent but would like something that is easy to set up/take down. I was thinking roof tent mainly because it doesn't need extra area to set up (just where you park) and should be comfortable without too much fuss. Open to all alternatives.

I really don't understand the popularity of the rooftop tent in NZ (or maybe people think they just look cool). I notice there are plenty of secondhand RTT's for sale on the market. They increase fuel consumption, affect vehicle handling, if you want to use your vehicle you have to put the tent down to travel somewhere (after setting up camp somewhere), you have to climb up and down a ladder if you want to go for a leak etc. They look like they'd catch the wind set up. Then there's the question of weight capacity on your roof/roof rack and whether this is sufficient for the tent being looked at.

I'd be keen to see a list of benefits.

The heavy beavy drinker will tell you they end up sleeping in the car because getting up n down ladder when half cut for a pee is not a good idea. For ease n simplicity a warehouse done tent big enough to fit camp stretcher is child's play to set up n take down.they were selling old school pup tent some time back,even better with stretcher. Tomorrow night I'm sleeping in wagon on my full sized foam mattress and expect to sleep like a log.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

The heavy beavy drinker will tell you they end up sleeping in the car because getting up n down ladder when half cut for a pee is not a good idea. For ease n simplicity a warehouse done tent big enough to fit camp stretcher is child's play to set up n take down.they were selling old school pup tent some time back,even better with stretcher. Tomorrow night I'm sleeping in wagon on my full sized foam mattress and expect to sleep like a log.

logs dont need to get up for a leak during the night and you sleep like a hedgehog with asthma!!!

Just getting over manflue.been up on the hour every hour for stretch of legs n pee... Was nice to only get up twice last night.

Oldmate with the rooftop offering on the trailer kind of comes to the same point - he has the tent set up on a small box with locking compartments, all of his camping cooking and travel crap goes in the trailer under the tent. Gets to where he's going and it's about 5 mins to set up and 5 mins to pack away - modern form of the pop top tent caravan thingy.

Lower down means no stability issues, minimal wind problems, two steps down to get out (he has a fold up alloy ladder step thing that goes in the trailer) and if he needs to go anywhere he can disconnect and immobilise the trailer by locking it to something so at worst an opportunistic crim can only damage the tent. They would have to cut into the trailer box doors to get in or cut bolts to get the tent off - so no real advantage. Same risk of damage as having the tent on your vehicle at a road end with busting a window etc etc.

Having it on the trailer suits him better than mounting it on the vehicle, less fuel burn towing and at home it's easy enough to slip the box off the trailer with the tent attached and it takes up less room than anything else.

Plus being on a decent trailer means it's less likely to get damaged at road ends etc.