Roof tents.

simsy56

simsy56

Joined
Nov 6, 2008
Posts
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Location
Ramsey, Isle of Man.
Funster No
4,847
MH
Devon Aztec XL
Exp
14 years with an RV
Having just finished the NC500, we were amazed at how many people were using roof tents.
They do seem a whole lot of hassle to me, At least in a tent you can sleep, lounge, cook and eat, get changed etc;
But a roof tent ? I just don’t get it. What do you think?

Craig
 
Have you seen the tesla 3 one in mmm magazine ? Looks really funky !
 
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Me and my roof tent.
Good luck getting your van there.
 
simsy56 said:
Having just finished the NC500, we were amazed at how many people were using roof tents.
They do seem a whole lot of hassle to me, At least in a tent you can sleep, lounge, cook and eat, get changed etc;
But a roof tent ? I just don’t get it. What do you think?

Craig
Click to expand...
It's the latest must have which is probaby sold on quite quickly.
 
We’ve just been on a site where a land rover defender with one pulled up, a big ladder to get there and I asked them about the toilet during the night. A young couple they said get up but can usually hold it until the morning.
But when you’re young you can adapt to anything, I went with 4 mates in a VW camper to France for 4 weeks in my late teens, what an adventure.
 
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They seem to be everywhere these days, guy around the corner from me has one on his BMW, while another on their mini.

Just couldn’t be bothered myself, too old now.

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Our daughter and her partner have a normal tent plus a tentbox, one is for longer stays and the other is just the odd night away. They also have a golden retriever and as her partner is a joiner he’s made a ramp for it, however I don’t think they’ll be using it for a while as they now have a 4 month old baby 😂
 
simsy56 said:
Having just finished the NC500, we were amazed at how many people were using roof tents.
They do seem a whole lot of hassle to me, At least in a tent you can sleep, lounge, cook and eat, get changed etc;
But a roof tent ? I just don’t get it. What do you think?

Craig
Click to expand...
Yep agree - just seen a couple in La Rochelle and it seemed a fafff
 
Just smiffy said:
Wouldn’t do it with all the midges …..

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You don't need a roof tent to get midged. We got them in our last motorhome. We'd got it tightly closed down, we thought, but they were getting in through air vents and even between the rubber window seals. Determined little blighters. It was awful.

We watched this the other night and we were both itching at the end 😂
 
We had a long stay on a campsite in Suffolk over winter and a chap had one on an Audi estate car , must have been there 3 month’s, he also had a red setter dog with him. I thought sod that.
 
They are “work” but ideal if you are moving on everyday, want a quick easy setup, and you get to keep all the room inside the vehicle. (No tent, bedding, mattress, pillows etc.)
Night time peeing is done into a bottle if required. In very hot conditions you erect it late in the day so it draws nice cool air in and doesn’t build heat. Also when hot you can leave all the doors windows open at night as high so lovely and cool nights sleep. You can level your vehicle which you can’t with a camping place, and you can also camp on concrete, or hard standing where you couldn’t get ground pegs in.

They are far from ideal, and I think many of the new versions, are poor quality, cheap designs and not what I would have. But most people using them are young, out doing something and having fun with good experiences. All at little cost.

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I get them, there's many places that you couldn't just pull up and pitch a tent, but withing a few minutes you'd have your rooftent sorted. A chap in a Tesla pulled up in front of us in a small layby on a tiny road in Norway last week. He asked is he was OK parking in front of us and not blocking our view...so a win from the off for us...a considerate (Norwegian) chap. He pitched the tent and then simply sat in the 'doorway' part, feet dangling, watching the sea and sun. He was in his late 20s so half my age...I'd probably stuggle a little now but take me back 30 yrs and I'd have had one in a heartbeat.
 
At a recent social get together a guy in his 50s said he was getting one to fit on top of his Audi saloon, although he seemed fit and agile he did weigh about 20 stone and was 6ft 2 in tall. Do car roofs or roof bars have any weight limit ?
 
DandJ said:
I get them, there's many places that you couldn't just pull up and pitch a tent, but withing a few minutes you'd have your rooftent sorted. A chap in a Tesla pulled up in front of us in a small layby on a tiny road in Norway last week. He asked is he was OK parking in front of us and not blocking our view...so a win from the off for us...a considerate (Norwegian) chap. He pitched the tent and then simply sat in the 'doorway' part, feet dangling, watching the sea and sun. He was in his late 20s so half my age...I'd probably stuggle a little now but take me back 30 yrs and I'd have had one in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...
We saw many young Norwegians last year using roof tents. A big step up (literally) from "car camping" (sleeping on the folded down seats inside the car) that many more were also doing. Norwegians love being in the outdoors. For youngsters without much money they provide an Ideal, cheap way of driving somewhere beautiful and remote, overnighting with minimal fuss and set-up, before getting up and hiking a trail the following morning.
 
The way cars are built nowadays with ever thinner metals, I do wonder if the roof is actually up to supporting a couple of modern adults long term ?

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Many years ago we had one that was mounted on top of a Discovery.

Set up time if just using the tent and not the canopy around the overhang was less than one minute - Unzip cover, grab ladder that is attached to the tent base (it is part of it the design of it) and use it to cantilever the tent out, extend ladder and that was it in basic mode.

Another couple of minutes if you wanted to put the poles in on the window overhang bits.

Another couple of minutes to peg out the canopy, which would hang from the overhang, if using.

For cooking, set up table under overhang and take out the box from the boot containing all the cooking stuff.


We could've had a porta potti in the canopy under the overhang but never bothered as we mainly stayed at places with facilities - including...... a couple of stops on French aires when we were too tired to drive further (though the loos on some of those are what prompted me to buy a shewee :LOL:).
 
tentbox.com

TentBox - Understanding vehicle roof load limits for roof tents

Understanding vehicle roof load limits is very important when it comes to rooftop tents as it will help you to choose the right TentBox, but also ensure that you understand how safe they are. This article covers dynamic and static roof loads, what they are and how to find them for your vehicle.
tentbox.com tentbox.com

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