Thread: Roof Top Tents. Opinions please.

G'day Nino,
We've had our "Up Top" unit now for a bit over four years. Have travelled part of Tassie with it, have done parts of S.A. been down along the Vic coast, and a bit up past Bacchus Marsh quite a bit.
In Tassie, not long after we purchased it, I got to see it side by side to an ARB unit. Except for the base board,, no difference, other than he paid over twice as much as what we did. He was not amused.

Our unit at the time was $1500 including an awning enclosures for both the awning and the rear of the tent, and an extension section for the ladder.
It was a "cheap" internet option, but one I'm glad I took. Of course, these type of tents are even cheaper now.

One major disappointment for me was everybody spruiked about how quick and easy they are to erect,,,, crap. A two minute job they said,,, crap.
It takes longer than that just to get the cover off, and in order to do the whole erection part, you really need a separate ladder to get to everything. This is so you can reach, and are not standing on seats and leaning on door tops etc. You could climb up on the roof altogether, but I think this is somewhat dangerous.
When all's said and done, a marvellous unit and has served us very well.

I could be very wrong, but I wouldn't think Darche would be making the other two brand tents.

I have a tigerz11 new old stock cost $600, including the awning.

It's cheap, quality is marginal (stitching is giving away in places etc) but it does the job. Despite its shortcomings I would buy it again.

We purchased our rooftop off Sahara Imports in Oakliegh Vic. (Ebay). Three differences between this unit & the ARB unit. 1. End doors wider. 2. Fly slightle different. 3. Road cover is only held on by straps on the ARB & straps & zip on ours. Sorry about $1000.00 difference in favor of the Sahara Imports unit. Just finished 45 days in outback with only 1 problem which was a zip failure. We have had the unit nearly 2 years and the zip failure may have been because of someone being in a foul mood after other issues on previous day

i've got a Howling Moon tent which I've had for over ten years and I had another one on my offroad trailer. I think they're worth what they cost but there may be others just as good.

The "problem" with a number of the rooftop tents is that they are very close to the max all up weight 'recommended' to be carried on the roof of LR vehicles - 75kg?. If you are anticipating travelling long distances on rough roads, then this weight is apparently to be reduced...but by how much I am not sure.

I have two RTTs. One (an Aussie Traveller?) is mounted on a camper trailer and tares at about 65kg. The other is an "Oasis", weighs 17kg and is a bit like a roof top swag. I haven't used it in winter weather but it should be OK. It's one I use occasionally when travelling solo and it fits nicely on the sports bars on the P38. If one wants, it can be quickly removed and erected on the ground where it rests on skids so you are not sleeping on the hard ground as in a tent! (Capri-Tango-Oasis-Oryx) They seem to have escalated in price...I got one on special for about $600 several years ago. The ladder which came with weighed almost as much as the tent so I got hold of a slimline foldable aluminium ladder which is much easier to pack.

I have an ARB and I'm not sure where some people get their information from. I can understand why you asked for comments from the gallery but beware that you don't necessarily get much in the way of facts.

The cover on my ARB RRT both zips on and has straps (Someone said the ARB are only straps - maybe an earlier model?). The straps have all failed, yes all three, and failed twice! The first lot all failed within a couple of weeks of each other. ARB provided free replacements which lasted about the same amount of time and all failed about the same time. They are not up to being outdoors. I have now left them off and the tent seems happy without them. I've looked at my shadow while driving and cannot see the need for the straps with no "billowing" evident. Maybe because I have the RRT to fold out the side, as I normally am towing a trailer when the RRT gets used.

The tent itself is tough and well thought out. I noticed one comment saying they paid $1500 which was half the price of an ARB one. I paid $1830 for my ARB with the awning but I think I had to pay extra for the ladder extension when I realised my Landy was too tall.

I have used my tent 9 times in the last 2 years. It's "reasonably quick" to set up and pack away but yes, getting up on the RRT and leaning over to do the cover zip up is the easiest method. Trying to walk around and do it standing on the rear tyres, seats, etc is a PITA.

Features I like (whether available on other tents or not I don't know):
1) The zip door on the awning room that gives you access to the side windows or the rear door, depending on which way you have the RRT oriented.
2) The bug proof-ness of the whole setup. Everything is screened, zipped and sealed well.
3) The mattress comfort is pretty decent. I suspect this is a point of difference to cheaper RRT's, and a significant point for me.
4) The backup of ARB and the dealer network behind it. Replacing the straps was a simple, no argument affair.
5) Likely higher resale value due to the solid reputation of the quality. If you buy a RRT that costs half an ARB one and are happy to replace it twice as often, what do you do with the one that has the stitching falling apart and is no longer water-proof? You put it on the market and get 25% for it. When you go to sell the ARB one it is almost certainly to buy a camper or van, not another RRT - not because you've learnt to hate the RRT but because you've had it so long you are now old enough to want the simplicity of a permanent roof. And then you still get 50% for it. Winner!

Features I don't like:
1) The straps keep breaking - they go brittle where they pass through the loops in the cover.
2) Eerrr ... ummm ... can;t think of anything else. The pain of the price was brief, the joy of the ownership ongoing.

We have the 1.4 Howling Moon Stargazer and have recently completed a 4 month tour of Australia with it on top of my Defender 90. We camped in the roof tent on all but 2 nights for the whole trip.

We absolutely love it !

We found the annexe too much of a pita to set up for touring, so only used it 3 times at the start of the trip and then didn't bother with it at all.

We didn't have much wet weather (4 days in 4 months!) so mostly had the fly sheet off - so we could 'star gaze'!! If heavy rain you just pop the fly back on and it stays perfectly dry inside.

(In very heavy rain we found that although the main tent canvas is pretty waterproof after a few hours of downpour water started leaking through some of the stitching but with fly sheet on no probs)

(We chose the HM over the Hannibal after viewing them both at a very wet Landy show in the UK and found the Hannibal leaked badly even with the fly sheet on so it was discounted straight away. The ARB was the worst - very very wet inside - the fabric and seems just wicked water straight in!! )

As for bugs - the HM does very well at keeping them out - you just have the same prob as with any tent - they come in with you when you unzip! Can't help that but otherwise the mesh is pretty big proof.

Weight wise not a problem for us as we have the tent mounted on a full expedition roll cage.

All straps and zips in working order and intact after 4 months use, putting up and down most days.

We are now back in the UK waiting for the 90 to be shipped back. Miss it a lot and having to go slum it in our caravan next weekend for a club event :-(

;-)

More details see our blog - Landy Travels | Up on the roof

I bought a Feather Light RTT for about $1400 which included the tent underneath. I also use a small ladder to pack and unpack the tent and it does take about 5 mins to get it all set up. It weighs 42kg according to the packing information. I've used it in windy conditions on the coast with no worries. It hasn't leaked in the rain but i do use the fly sheet that came with it.

The biggest problem with it is condensation under the mattress, it has a metal floor which doesn't help but i have put some insulation between the floor and the mattress to see if that stops the condensation.

The skirt under the tent is a pain to put up and I've only used it a couple of times preferring to use an awning, a lot quicker and easier to set up.

I've used it for about 30 nights so far and zips, cover, rods etc are all working well.