Roof top tents

Hi,

just wondering what roof top tents people are using and if there are any you could reccomend?

cheers

i want one too, after looking at alot online they all look the same except for a slimline one i found. Interested to hear some feedback. Towing a camper seems like a pain in the arse when there is only me and my GF.

Hi , I got one from pinnacle wholesale they have a ebay store, used it a couple of times, seems to be quite good and much cheaper than arb and some other ones out there.

The Chinese roof top tents are good, I wouldn't get caught up paying extra for the brand on the cover. They are all from similar factories and made from similar quality materials. We have an Outback Campers roof top tent here in WA, it's made from Aussie canvas and cost us about $2500. It's an excellent unit and the mattress is as good as the one in the bedroom. We spent 3 weeks up the gibb river road last year and had it mounted to our trailer. We purchased a Chinese roof topper for our friends to stay in during the trip. The quality is good considering it cost under $1000 and it came with an enclosed annexe. The mattress was pretty average and our friends were complaining by the end of the trip. However the mattress was only 75mm foam. They have excellent air flow which is good on warmer nights. I would recommend them for the odd overnighter. If your going to be going weeks at a time spend the extra and get an outback roof topper or something similar like a ship shape. Make sure its Aussie canvas though and it will lat forever.

G'day Alan, I've got an Ironman RTT. Very happy although not the quality of a Hannibal (or similar). I chose this one mainly because the access ladder is covered and enclosed with the annex on.

Ive got one called an up top camper (chinese one from ebay ) havnt had a problem with it just completed a 5 week tour around wa outback the unit came with tent awning and bottom skirt for 1300 virtualy the same as an arb tent

Hi Alan,I also got one off ebay, Got the tent and awning and flyscreen for about 1200. Haven't used it yet but plan to on the May day weekend. Being a slightly older and portly gentleman :) I think i may be upgrading the mattress but will wait until we try it.

Bazzad
To thicken our mattress and make it more comfortable we used a double bed size egg shell foam mattress thing they will actually fit inside the original cover with a bit of swearing and effort was comfortable enough for us

Choice choice choice all i can say is choose wisely [are you going to use it regularly, what climate are you using it in, overnighters or 2-3 day stops] for my money buy for quality not price you won't be disappointed just my 2 cents worth.

Yes Dark 1, I do tend to agree with you. It took us a bit to go this way but we figured that with just the two of us nowadays it should be ok. Quality looks good so far but after our trip out west in September this year (a 4 week trip) we will know if it is up to it or not.

i was just wondering, what kind of weights are allowed up there on the roof with a roof tent ?

I believe most patrols are rated at around 220kgs but I know my old gu ( which is timbo's new gu) had around 500kgs on the roof on our central Australia trip couple of years ago. We had the roof top tent, clothes roof box, chainsaw & 3 railway sleepers cut into small portions.

Have an ARB one and love it. Bought it on special with awning and enclosure. Used it on a Vic meetup and would recommend it no problem.

I would check out the Tigerz11 one. All accounts it's the same as the ARB, Ironman tent but much cheaper (than ARB anyway). They were selling it with the enclosed annex too at the foot of the ladder. I'll be getting one of these when I come to buy a rooftop tent. I think the ultimate would be a Hannibal or Howling Moon which are very very high quality but much more expensive....depends on how much you'll be using it I guess and if it's worth the outlay

Cheers,
Rusty

I spent quite a lot of time looking at Rooftop tents as we eventually intend to spend months at a time living in it. With many the ladder is exposed to the elements, making it a pain in wet weather. Of those where the ladder is covered by the tent, many require the ladder to remain in place because it is a support for the tent floor, this reduces the useable space in the the under tent awning. A few do not rely on the ladder for support so the ladder can be moved elsewhere during the day, giving a more useful space. We ended up buying a second hand Shippshape tent for this reason. Having a ladder with broad, flat rungs is much easier on bare feet too.
Minimal packing & unpacking is worth paying a bit extra for imho, many of the cheaper tents use a fly sheet to extend them to cover the (fixed) ladder. I haven't used one but I'd reckon that needing a fly would make packing & unpacking more of a chore. Ok for an occasional weekend, but not every day for weeks or months at a time.

Cuppa

I got one of eBay from "bettadealsonline" with pickup from Dingley Village, VIC for 825$. It looks exactly like a TJM and performs well so far. As Cuppa said there are a few small, but important differences with those tents. Mine has the ladder sheltered by the tent and optional skirt. The missus loves the enclosure as well to take a shower or get dressed. I didn't try that yet but I'm sure I'll be able to cook sheltered by the tent (and skirt) if the weather is bad. My DIY storage system / kitchen won't come out so far as to hit the ladder.
Keep in mind that you will need a ladder extension with some of those tents, especially if you got a lifted truck. That was another 79$ I think. They also did exchange the ladder 2 weeks after purchase when I noticed it had a small dint.
Also as mentioned earlier the mattress is fairly hard and we added a mattress topper. It's fairly hard to close the setup when we keep all the (winter) bedding in there.

Check the one on Ebay from FOXBUGGY its the same as a Magliolina with fibreglass roof and base, buy it now $1900 going for $1500ish on auction

Does anyone have reports of using the tigerz rtt?

Hi,

This is from my daughters experience, they swear by Howling Moon RTT's. Have used it on an extended visit to the Cape from Vic. Also did another trip across the centre to Broome and back to Vic via the Nullabor. Lake Eyre on another trip. Pretty extensive travel and conditions for a family of four. On their Cape trip they had two others with cheap RTT's that came apart while driving (yes they were secured and packed as directed).

Cheers

x2 for the Howling Moon rtt
we bought our Howling Moon almost 10 years ago and it is still going strong even after almost 5 years permently mounted on the 4wd. it is now in need of a new cover because of sun damage. but the tent it self is still perfectly fine.

We got ourselves an UpTop RTT -- Second hand only only used 2 times before we got it $900 of Gumtree.

Cant Fault it. We made the mattress a bit thicker by putting on a wool double bed doona as a mattress cover and have made fitted bedding for it. So now pull up to campsite and about 15 minutes later falling into bed.

The ladder is used to support the fold out section of tent while in it, but it folds up out of the way when not needed so we can access the kitchen and storage in the back of the 'Troll

I love 'em because I'm pretty sure Crocs and other man eating bities in the bush can't climb ladders ( Thats what I'm telling the wife and I'm sticking to it.. :o )

The only down side to it is when there is ice on the roof of the tent when it starts to defrost it drips off the support poles for the tent on to your head.

Thanks. Sounds like the canvas options are the way to go.

Has any one tried one of these?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271016165...84.m1436.l2649

Easy set up but might be a bit small, Maggiolina and Baroud have extra long models but at $4700.00ish they are expensive.