Roof Top Tent hire

[Fozzie]

Hi all
Things are a little tight after paying for the D4’s mid life crisis
Torque converter
Transmission
Coolant pipe
Timing belts
(Thanks for all your advice on the above)

And we are planning our next trip - to Carnarvon, Cannia etc. wanting to do it cheaply but comfortably..

Not wanting to tow anything we have been looking at the “Roof Top Tent” angle...

Now you can spend a lot of $$ on one of these elevated domiciles ... and we don’t know if we will be happy clambering up and down the ladder ...

So we want to HIRE one to test it out... I have Googled but not a lot comes up renting the tent only

So..
1. Keen to hear peoples views on the rooftop approach
2. Can I get away with std crossbars or do in need Iron Man to be holding it up (Rhino flush mt x-bars max 75kg they say)
3. Does anyone know of a roof top tent RENTAL place here in Brisbane?

Thanks to all in advance

[scarry]

Dont know where they can be hired.
The more $ you spend on one, the better they are, and easier to put up and down.
Dont drink to much before going upstairs.
We find ours great for touring, moving on every day or two.

Two Rhino HD bars on high section of roof of D4 for ours, and a Foxwing awning on as well.
Just over the roof load rating, but no issues.
Tent around 70KG with bedding, awning 20KG.

[cripesamighty]

Pity you are on the other side of the country. You could have borrowed mine.

[Tins]

Depends, really. I had a brilliant RTT on a Patrol when I was 30ish. Loved it. I'm now 67 and wouldn't have one if you gave it to me. Tried one on my D1 and it made me seasick.

[Fozzie]

Thanks lads for the advice
Thanks for the offer to borrow - yeah pity

And Tins - seasick ?
Why was that was it because of movement in the suspension or height?

Cheers
Foz

[Hoges]

There's a French RTT called an "Oasis" made by Trekking Ceinture de voyage, maroquinerie et accessoires photo (http://www.trekking.fr) which is only 17kg. I had the first model "Oasis I" a few years ago...it's been through several updates since. The beauty of it was that while you install it on the roof, you could also quite easily set it up on the ground. It became popular with European "overlanders" heading to northern Africa. It was quite water proof but for really inclement weather, you could set it down and cover it with a tarp rigged on a couple of poles. (These days, a lot of folk seem to set their small tents under "gazebos" or those Coleman "Event 14" domes). I never used it on the roof... took less than 3 minutes set it up on the ground.
I bought it on-line from a camping store in Victoria (since gone out of business). I'm not sure who imports them now.

[PhilipA]

We thought about it, but decided against as

1 If you have a canvas one at least the South African ones(which I used to sell) , you really need to clamber onto the roof to unzip the cover especially if it has dust in the zip.

2 it is a PITA if your bladder calls during the night. OK for blokes with a billy but not so good for the ladies. A friend's wife broke a leg slipping off the ladder. Thus ended the affair with a RTT.

If you get one get one with an annex so that you can stand up to get changed.

AFAIR roof bars are OK although a rack may spread the load more if more than 4 legs. .

Good luck with hiring. I know a couple in Sydney who used to hire camper trailers and the person who owned the hire business had to give up due to damage making it uneconomic. I would imagine that you would have to be careful if on dirt roads and tracks not to damage the cover by hitting trees etc.
Regards PhilipA

[Hoges]

If you're handy with the tools, check out How do you make a rooftop tent? (https://trailandsummit.com/how-do-you-make-a-roof-top-tent/)
Philip is spot on regarding night time excursions for personal needs... If you already own a standard trailer, a marine ply folding platform and a cheap "pop-up tent" mounted thereon is a viable alternative!

[DieselDan]

I've got one of the early Oasis roof tents, same as Hoges. Agree with what he's said, just to add to the disadvantages is that it tends to stick up a long way off the roof, which does look a bit ungainly.
Don't think anyone imports them here now.

If you're still keen to hire before you buy, I've seen some of the campervan hire firms (Jucy or Wicked, maybe?) renting out quite tiny cars with rooftop tents on them as an uber-cheapo campervan. Obviously not quite the same as hiring it to stick on your own car, but would still give you a feel for whether you like them or not.
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