Thread: Christening the new Rooftop Tent

For those thinking of buying a rooftop tent and looking at the Hannibal Safari gear……..I thought I’d write my honest opinion on what is a significant purchase.

I ordered the gear a little over three weeks ago and was given a 3-4 week timeframe as the guys up at Hannibal Safari are flat out. Gear had to be sent down to Mulgo in Mortdale, Sydney and the both Peter from Hannibal and Daniel at Mulgo worked their arses off and pulled out all the stops to make it happen....so first things first, a MASSIVE thank you to the guys and their teams for getting it across the line in time for my weekend away.

Gear purchased
Hannibal Safari Roof rack (2.8m with rail), 1.4m rooftop tent with side walls and LED light, 2.8m awning with single side wall and integrated LED lights.

Location for maiden voyage
Barrington Tops. A little bit windy but no gusts of more than 15 knots where we were. Proper rain during the 3am thunderstorm. Temperatures around 14 to 15 at night.

Roofrack
Massive. I love everything about it. It's quiet thanks to fore and aft bars, there's heaps of space up there even with the tent on and it looks brilliant too.

Awning
Found some level ground and got the awning out. So easy and quick - and MUCH bigger in the flesh than I thought. LED lights are superb. Only issue was some pooling of water on top after all the rain but I think I can solve that by ensuring I do up all the velcro securing straps nice and tight and not being so lazy!

Rooftop tent
I went for the 1.4m wide, positioned so it folds out the back...and due to the awning it sticks out to the right hand side a tiny bit but it's almost unnoticeable. This is to give enough room to get the zips undone on the side which has the awning.
Ridiculously easy to lever over even with the spare wheel preventing a fully vertical point of leverage.
Once open it’s a case of putting together the extended fly frame and anti-pooling hoop – these are so simple and take no time at all.

• Is it roomy? Yes it is. Two people can easily sit upright and get changed without elbowing each other in the ribs or face, while enjoying superior views of one’s friends, camping in the filth below.
• Is it comfortable? Hell yes. I slept like a baby and that wasn't just the beer and the lamb shanks. The mattress is comfier than my swag by a factor of ten…and for the taller campers, there’s a lot of legroom too. Pockets everywhere also mean you don’t roll over onto your torch/ penknife/ book/ water bottle etc. in the middle of the night.
• Is it waterproof? Yes. Even with a brand new one, prior to the seams being soaked and dried out, not a drop came though after a sustained 2 hour rainstorm.
• Is it drafty? No, as long as you do up all the Velcro around the hinge you’ll be snug. The doors and windows all do up with very tough canvas and good zips, so you can open them and have as much breeze as you like, if you want it…and peer down on one’s friends, camping in the aforementioned filth.
• Is it practical? In short, yes. With a couple of practice goes, set-up can be superbly fast. If you didn’t want to bother with the extended fly bracket and you just wanted a quick nap, you could go from stopped to snoring in 3 or 4 minutes. De-camping is also very easy – simply a reverse of the set up, making sure the materia’s all folded in and the ladder stowed nicely.
• Are the side walls worth it? In my opinion, yes. They’re SO easy to set-up and hook on and they provide shade, privacy, a windbreak and a hiding place from the relentless ear/ nose/ eye tickling from the flies of the outback. Easy to flake and put away too.
• Does it affect the performance of the vehicle? Yes. Yes it does. On the climbs and into a headwind I noticed it a great deal and once or twice I had to stop as the temperature went too high – but this was also a result of me having too much dirt in my radiator gills and having a LOT of weight in the back as well as on top.
• Is it expensive? Hell yes. But it’s the best, according to some friends in the 4x4 industry (not for Hannibal!).

In short, I love this setup…I was like the bloke in the Colourbond ad all evening, looking longingly at it......but there are some things I’d suggest to make life a bit easier:

1.) Ensure you have a 12v socket in the cargo bay for the awning and rooftop tent LEDs
2.) Attach some cord or cable ties to the zips to give you better purchase when undoing and especially when doing up. Defenders are tall cars and stretching when you're a shortarse like me is hard. An esky one can stand on is priceless.
3.) Use a piece of velcro or a small bungee cord to hold the two arms of the awning together when you’re packing it away and getting it out….so if you’re on a slope, they don’t swing out and bang your bonce!
4.) If you don't have the walls, take your shoes up there with you and keep them where they're easy to put on in the morning in case the ground is wet!
5.) Make sure you use the correct length rods for the rain flaps on the side windows and the entry/ exit - they're different and you could end up with a weird angle on the rain flap (see photo!). I really should learn to read instructions!




N.B. The walls look long because Hannibal cut them for me based on an estimate when I have a 2" lift done.

I seriously can't wait for my next trip.

Bobby

We just got back from a 4 day weekend in the Snowy Mountains NSW with a 1.4 Hannibal Tent and full length hanninbal roof rack, (same weekend) on my D2 and all I can say is ...........Quality is everything !! these tents and racks are so well built!
We had 3 good days up there and last night (Sunday Night) we had over 100km winds and rain and beleve it or not had a snug water tight sleep! the wind chill factor was bloodyt freezing ! but the tent was warm and water tight !!!