Roof top tents questions

[Jetboy]

I'm all about being in the woods, neat gadgets, and wasting money on toys but a tent is like $60 from Walmart.

$1,800 buys a lot of nights in hotel rooms...

What is the appeal of these things? And I am asking genuinely, not sarcastically...

Walmart tents last about 3 uses. Cheap everything from fabric to zippers to poles. Good quality tents will last 20 years. They're going to run you about $300-500. If you use them a lot, easily worth it. A RTT starts around $750 - so maybe $3-500 more than a good quality dome tent, and adds the convenience of a better mattress, leave your bedding in place, get off the ground where it may be muddy, rocky, snowy, etc. and very fast setup. If you have it on something like a jeep where you may end up with water over the floor, it keeps it up and dry. The downside is you have to take it with you when you go out for the day, it's heavy and it's on top so it's not ideal for offroad use other than keeping out of deep water crossings.

It also sure beats the hell out of waking up on the ground in this(of course that's staged or a really dumb camper location, but you get the idea):

 

[tutawted]

I put a memory foam 3 incher on top of the mattress, so id probably say a combination of the comfort level and the quality of tent. I got the summit series from CVT and i can charge things, has a nice dome light, and has withstood insane winds at 12,500 feet when everyone around me complained about their ground tents wanting to blow away. Im sure their ground tents weren't in the price range of the summit series, but i slept well and very warm for a 40 degree night that night and i know we were the only ones to say so. feeling like your in a tree fort has its benefits. I love being on a different level than everyone around me. [MENTION=145278]Cr4zy4runner[/MENTION]

So what is it about tenting on top of a car, vs tenting on the ground that's so different?

It is just quality of the tent and setup time? Better accommodation since it has a mattress?

My biggest gripe with ground tents is setup and takedown, but I also haven't invested in a really high quality tent either. I did see some really nice ground tents like the Oztent which setup fast, but that's some serious coin as well, plus its very bulky... after I started looking at those, I figure RTT would be a smarter choice.

I really like the idea, but I have my concerns for the way I would use it.

 

[tutawted]

There's reasoning behind "tutaw" ;-)

.....you are one TAMF

 

[Miguelon]

I like your trailer setup. Their website does not seem to be working. How much is that rig if you don't mind me asking?

They went out of busineds. I bought this last one at the firesale price of $2k including the tent.
If you like the setup, chack out Morris Mule. It was always suggested that the one I have wss a dirct copy and thus why they closed

 

[Miguelon]

I'm all about being in the woods, neat gadgets, and wasting money on toys but a tent is like $60 from Walmart.

$1,800 buys a lot of nights in hotel rooms...

What is the appeal of these things? And I am asking genuinely, not sarcastically...

We have camped in many places where small predarors are a potential threat. Its nice to be up off the ground

 

[Jhalko]

So what is it about tenting on top of a car, vs tenting on the ground that's so different?

It is just quality of the tent and setup time? Better accommodation since it has a mattress?

My biggest gripe with ground tents is setup and takedown, but I also haven't invested in a really high quality tent either. I did see some really nice ground tents like the Oztent which setup fast, but that's some serious coin as well, plus its very bulky... after I started looking at those, I figure RTT would be a smarter choice.

I really like the idea, but I have my concerns for the way I would use it.

I have been curious about rtt as well, i live in NM and we have crazy wind storms anytime i go camping. How do the tents hold up in wind?

I'm all about being in the woods, neat gadgets, and wasting money on toys but a tent is like $60 from Walmart.

$1,800 buys a lot of nights in hotel rooms...

What is the appeal of these things? And I am asking genuinely, not sarcastically...

I was actually on the fence about an RTT for awhile, in the end my wife pushed to get one. We took a three week trip his summer and moved every day we camped (we did stay at a hotel for a few nights in the middle). We hit 5 Nat'l parks, several state parks, a few theme parks and covered 2000 miles with our 5 & 7yr old kids. It is more comfortable than a ground tent but to me the absolute biggest advantage of an RTT is the efficiency of travel it allows.

We covered so much more ground than we would have without it. I could roll into a campsite at dark and be setup and getting the kids to climb up for bed in 10 minutes flat (my wife started timing me). We didn't have to worry about sleeping pads or air mattresses, the sleeping bags stay in the RTT so you literally open it and go to bed if you want. Yes you can do the same with a ground tent but for me it would have taken so long I know we would not have seen as much, we were trying to maximize our time during the day seeing and doing things!

We did multiple easy and moderate 4wd trails, and yes it is noticeable up there but I was never worried. Now that I have it I love it more than I ever thought I would!

And to the comment about cost compared to a hotel, pretty sure I've already broken even after that one trip compared to what hotels would have cost us!

 

[Spaulding Metals]

We have an autohome airtop and love it. Easy to set up and the thing i most like about the autohome is the hard shell protecting the tent. We have ours on top of a teardrop trailer basically doubling the sleeping capacity.

 

[ToyoDriver]

I was actually on the fence about an RTT for awhile, in the end my wife pushed to get one. We took a three week trip his summer and moved every day we camped (we did stay at a hotel for a few nights in the middle). We hit 5 Nat'l parks, several state parks, a few theme parks and covered 2000 miles with our 5 & 7yr old kids. It is more comfortable than a ground tent but to me the absolute biggest advantage of an RTT is the efficiency of travel it allows.

Yes you can do the same with a ground tent but for me it would have taken so long I know we would not have seen as much, we were trying to maximize our time during the day seeing and doing things!


And to the comment about cost compared to a hotel, pretty sure I've already broken even after that one trip compared to what hotels would have cost us!

Your wife and my wife need to have a talk. Because I think she'd really be on board with that.

 

[travelintony]

They went out of busineds. I bought this last one at the firesale price of $2k including the tent.

If you like the setup, chack out Morris Mule. It was always suggested that the one I have wss a dirct copy and thus why they closed

Thanks for the info. I'll check them out for sure!


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