Thread: Roof Top Tents. Opinions please.

When I worked as Sales manager for the Baja Racks importer , we were a dealer for Howling Moon.
I was quite impressed with the quality , although I cannot convince SWMBO to change from our Camp'o'matic.

One thing I was impressed with is that a customer rang with a 10 year old one and wanted a new cover, and it was no problem to supply.

I have to say the zip thing is a PITA though .

The awning walls are also great on the howling moon as the walls also seal against the car with zips so the doors can be opened.

I have an HM awning and am quite happy, though I must admit I used it only once on a round OZ trip. They are a PITA to put up with poles going everywhere,. I may get good enough at it eventually I suppose.
Regards Philip A

We looked at the cheap 1.4m RTT on Saturday. Having seen one now and doing some more comparisons at photos online, I'm confident that most of the cheap online ones are exactly the same tents, which is also the same as the ARB an TJM and Chops' UpTop as well. The caveat is that ARB might be up to version 3 of their "simpson" tent, whereas all the cheap ones are the same as ARB simpson 2. If there are any differences between the cheap one and ARB simpson 2, they are very minor. (Keep in mind we haven't owned either yet!)

The 2 models that are available are distinguished by the length of the fly and whether the ladder is on the outside, or underneath the fly. The longer fly with the ladder underneath is the ARB Simpson 2.

With regards to quality, it's obviously hard to describe (and we haven't used one yet), but we have concluded the Howling Moon is definitely better quality. But how much, I'm not sure. If we were doing a trip around Australia, we'd buy the Howling Moon for sure. But currently we're only doing small amounts of camping. Personally I thought the cheap one was perfectly fine. It's $800 with annex compared to $3,300 for the Stargazer with annex equivalent. I don't think the quality is THAT much better. The question is, will the cheap one last or will it encounter issues. Everyday camping I think both are completely fine. The only real test would be a big storm or something extreme and it's impossible to tell from looking at it now whether it will cope with that.

We're going to look at a different seller's RTT tonight, so can confirm if they are really all the same. Pretty sure we'll be buying one tonight...

Looked the same to us. We now own an UpTop RTT with annex.

They're not bad,, as I said, I have'nt had any problems with mine at all.
I have to watch how I do it up at the front, which is a long reach for me, to make sure I dont get the skirt caught in the zipper. I would think that they are all the same though.
A ladder has made life with the RTT a lot easier

Originally Posted by Chops

I have to watch how I do it up at the front, which is a long reach for me, to make sure I dont get the skirt caught in the zipper.

This would be resolved if you wore trousers.

Originally Posted by VladTepes

This would be resolved if you wore trousers.

haha,,, I'll pay that

We just did 4 nights in the tent. We had some pretty strong gusty wind over that time which belted the sides of the tent around. We had a heavy duty tarp up for shelter which tore down one side on the last night, but the RTT held up OK without incident.