Roof top tent advantages?

Other than providing the required Overlanding (tm) cred, what are the advantages of rooftop tents vs regular tents? I can see some negatives, but other than being above any hungry mammals/reptiles, I don't see the point. Change my mind...

 

I’ve heard they are insulated? Nothing a decent sleeping bag couldn’t handle though!

 

You pretty much summed it up. If you can’t camp in your 4Runner due to carrying gear then it’s a good option, otherwise such as myself I like to set up camp inside of the 4runner.

 

More Cons than Pros in my opinion.

-Very expensive, especially hardshell.
-Only so many options for families.
-No room to store bedding in a lot of them.
-Takes up a lot of roof rack real estate.
-May exceed off-road load rating of rack.
-Extra weight and drag equates to decreased mpg and strain on motor.
-Need a place to store it when not in use (if not leaving it on your rack).
-May not fit in most garages or parking structures (if leaving it on your rack).
-Requires two people to lift on and off the rack.
-Have to put tent away when leaving campsite for any reason.
-Have to climb down ladder to take a leak/dump at night.
-Soft shells suck in windy conditions.

Almost went with a RTT myself, but after a lot of deliberation, my wife and I couldn’t find much to complain about sleeping in a ground tent.

 

I found mine pretty nice this summer on an 18,000 mile double loop around the country. We could roll into any NF/BLM/State land and find something level enough to camp in. I didn't matter how rocky or bushy places were. I would have to say 90% of the places we stayed at would have been a pain for a regular tent. And we had some pretty bad ass places! The mattress is comfortable and having normal bedding is nice too. I do like my sleeping bag for backpacking, but not for a couple months. It was nice to be off the ground and have the windows for good ventilation. It also provided an overhang for sun and rain protection when needed. I think this road trip would have been miserable in a normal tent given the terrain and varied weather we hit. Since we were on the road so long, there was enough stuff inside to not leave any room for sleeping. It is extra weight, but honestly wasn't a big issue and lost a mpg or so with it up on the roof. Set up in about 5 min and take down is about 10 min. Once you get the system down its pretty easy. I hear the hard shells are even faster! Windy nights were annoying, but what tent isn't. I just left ear plugs up in the tent. Overall it has been good and I don't regret buying it. I think I slept in it 75 nights or so in 2020. I think general camping out West my Tepui has been good, but for more desert camping, the hardshells that open on a short side hinge would be best. In wet climates, I would see it being annoying though. Luckily we didn't hit a ton or rain/snow, but when we did it wasn't a huge deal.

 

Wants and/or needs is the point. Thankfully, we're fortunate enough to be able to make those choices

 

Agreed, Jer. I have no issue with people spending money on what they want, I'm just trying to understand the value of a RTT.

 

Nice summarization, Heavy!

 

What I love about mine:
-Sleeping on a mattress instead of the ground (the ground is fine when backpacking, but if given a choice, I like comfort)
-Keeps dirt/bugs/critters out
-Waking up to a view
-Quick, simple set up

What I don't love:
-Walking down a ladder to take a pee
-Breaking it down if I want to go explore
-Can't take my kayaks with us (bikes go on a hitch mount and those are non-negotiable - they go everywhere)

After a couple of seasons, I've really enjoyed the RTT and most likely will never go back to a tent. The best part of all is waking up with a view - may sound cheesy but that's what I like.

 

I was chatting with some Overlanders in Africa on Facebook. They seemed to be under the impression that they were safe up there in their Roof Top Tents from the wildlife. I posted these pics for their viewing enjoyment.





Co-worker of mine in Africa, British guy, hated snakes. He thought 2nd floor housing would keep them away from him.
Because I'm such a nice guy, I had to show the pic of snakes on the T-Mobile cell phone tower.

 

Thankfully I don’t plan to boat my truck or runner with the RTT, to Africa.

I’ve used ground tents for 20 plus years, the last 10 we have used cots, wife has had couple back surgeries. Last June we drove the family (2 Adults, 2 teenagers, and 125 plus pound big dog), while pulling a pop up. No way would the ground tents worked for this adventure, as we stayed on BLM lands mostly. So for the wife and I to do more of this adventure we ordered a RTT this winter.
Thinking, we can stop anywhere and climb up for a nap. Camp set up should be minutes, not hour. We also go to music festivals (pre COVID) and sometimes you have your vehicle space with just enough for a ground tent. Now we will have extra space if needed. We also like to camp in the North Maine Woods, and again you can camp any where basically, so now we don’t have to find a nice dry place to set up our sleeping spot.

was it expensive, YEP. But, motels and hotels will run you 100 bucks a night easy, so if I get 30 nights of sleep, I figure it’s payed for itself. Oh and I still have our awesome ground setup, so we can always use that instead.

 

Which RTT are you getting?

I'll probably break down and get one. Been attending all these Overland get togethers and I really stick out, not having one.

That being said, I'm digging this sleeping platform / drawer system posted on the other board:

https://www.airdowngearup.com/collections/5th-gen-4runner

 

Went with Desert Armor Tank. On the Tacoma forum, there is a member that is close with the DA folks. We went with the tank, like the ability to carry stuff on top of it.
https://desertarmorshop.com/product/tank-roof-top-tent/

 

He also helped me get some extra money off the previous sale price.

 

Looks good! I like fast setup and "tactical" colors.

 

Thanks for the links. Interesting design and especially like the fact they're open to potential users suggestions, comments, wants and needs.

Video - current 12" drawer system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nX4QqBlVQk&t=3s

 

The pricing is a little odd. Pretty big jump when adding that sleeping board. Maybe we can push them into a group buy.

 

I considered a RTT, but I don't like having to climb up and down a ladder. I'm too old and beat up to enjoy that. Plus, I was very leery of putting that much weight high on a vehicle with lift.... Physics.

So, I went with a much more expensive option. A offroad teardrop.

 

I'm just now trying to navigate through their options. A bit confusing to me. But hey, I'm easily confused.

 

After watching 2 videos of Ronny Dahl I gave up looking at rooftop tents.
Will look for elevate ground tent.

(Here's the newest one of his)
https://youtu.be/pa0R1BGj83M

 

Just be careful with those trailers offroad.

Recent flop from one of my facebook overland groups:

 

We thought about it too, so we only got a decent roofrack. Clothing, some gear, non food stuff - passenger/driver seat, food - hard coolers on the roof rack with straps, sleeping in the back on a decent mattress.
No need for a tent at all. We can literally wake up and leave within 5 min, if needed.

 

They have a weird a la carte pricing scheme. I have to measure my air compressor base and see if it will fit their current drawers or the proposed lower platform drawers. That video actually answered my question about noises. I had a Smittybuild vault briefly in the back of my 4Runner. What POS. The drawer made file cabinet rolling sounds and the turnbuckles I used squeaked like crazy.

The other problem with that full width sleeping panel is it prevents the mounting of a fridge when not in the fully extended position.

 

I

Seeing that road, I guessing it was a matter of driving too fast with fat fully inflated tires.

 

Watched it last night. All I can say is keeping an open mind as it relates to anything being considered for rooftop mounting is imperative to sound decision making. Also, something recently dawned on me(I'm slow, so many have probably already thought of this) but I'm thinking when it comes to bolt down roof racks and dynamic ratings - manufacturers may be more concerned about center of gravity weight limits, than they are about roof load limits, or rack load limits. Whatcha think?

 

Another flop jump to 10m30s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfRHLSKkc4g

Trailers are nice, I just don't want one for doing the offroading I do.

 

As they say....that's a biggie for me too.

 

After pulling the pop up cross country, at this point, there is no way I’d do trailer. We were frequently looking for a place to park it when we were exploring an area. Not to mention the fuel economy hit. And then when moving, it slowed us down speed wise, and the added headaches of it’s maintenance. We went through 3 tires in just over two weeks, costing us a couple of days when added up. One was so screwed up, we had to get towed. The last one required multiple hours back tracking to buy another spare.
It really boils down to what you plan to do, each sleeping method has its place.

 

I've seen the video. His tires look fully inflated and he was clearly moving too quickly because the trailer was bouncing around. I can just imagine how fast he pulled that trailer when on a freeway.

But, returning to RTTs, carrying that kind of weight shifts the center of gravity upwards, which is not conducive to the offroading I do.