Modern Roof Top Tent Design

[RichardAllen]

Good morning from the Cotswolds in England. I am building a pair of Land Rover Defender 300TDi's which will be used for a round the world 1 year expedition in a few year's time. The 90 will be for two adults and a near-identical 110 will be for myself, wife and two young daughters (8 and 6).

The only problem for which I have no good solution is the family tent. We want to have a tent with 2 separate sleeping compartments which will be pitched mostly on the ground, but can be pitched on a roof-rack. I am also very keen to keep roof weight to a minimum (so far my vehicle requires no fuel, water, or spare wheels etc on the roof).

Standard roof-top-tents that I see in UK are all the same basic fold out design (except for the Maggiolina pop-up types). They are small, very heavy and cannot be used on the ground. Rooftop tent designs seem to have stayed in the dark ages compared to ground tent designs, which have aluminium/fibreglass/carbon curved poles, geodesic and tunnel configurations, lightweight materials etc etc (my 6 berth family ground tent which could sleep 12 at a pinch, weighs less than half a Hannibal type roof tent which might just sleep 3).

One or two people are using the Quechua type 2 second tents on a boarded roof-rack, but seem to be for weekend camping use rather than a whole year.

I am happy to build custom fold-out roofracks in aluminium, with expanded metal decking to which a tent could be fixed, but so far I have found no tent designed for ground use which could reasonably be fitted to a Defender roof rack - usually the tent area is a bit big, but then you need fixings for guy-ropes and it all gets very complex.

So I am looking to the US to see if anyone is doing something clever to design a modern rooftop tent. The land that can come up with something as fantastic as southern fried chicken and as awful as grits, as appalling as your airport security and as wonderful as anyone you ask for help anywhere, must be able to show us a thing or two.

All help gratefully received
Regards
Richard

 

[ColinTheCop]

Hello from the Scottish Highlands,

What about the flippacs (well documented on this site)...?

Or something like this...?

http://www.grtraveltops.com/index.html

 

[UK4X4]

dormobile- keep it british !


actually I like the german lift up roof's which are just an addition between the original top and the existing structure, there's a bunch of threads here with suppliers

The issue is with light weight materials dust and vibration, a modern
material would disolve in weeks if used as a RTT, ie a fold out.

Packed tight in a bag its fine, but for daily use for long term, you are looking at a very much shortened lifespan.

RTT's give you a 3 minute setup with no issues with mud rocks thorns, bushes
insects, snow, animals, mud etc etc etc.

and makes for a great viewing platform.

there are a few rectangular floor plan self supporting tents around, I also looked at the quechas, but long term you'b be replacing the 1/2 way round.

The only 1 I found that I thought would make a good solid RTT was one from the North face.

about the same size as my existing RTT, rectangular base, self supporting,
even the porch could probably be utilised above the ladder up with a few added supports.

http://www.altrec.com/the-north-face/mountain-25-tent

 

[The Swiss]

Richard,

A couple years back when they just came out I was thinking about using the tent-cots http://www.kamprite.com/pages/products on the roof rack of my Jeep. At that time, there was just the original, single version of the tent-cot and I decided to go with a Magiolina Adventure. Since then, Kamprite came out with a double version and made other improvements. I since have seen pics of a guy using two doubles across the roof rack, creating sleeping accommodations for 2 adults and 2 kids. He made a sort of locking device for two middle or main legs of the tent cot on the rack and two extensions/outriggers for the outward camp-rite legs. Folded up, the tent-cots easily can be packed on the roof rack, and they are significantly lighter than traditional RTT and obviously are designed to use on the ground as you want to. However, they still are not the space age carbon fiber tents you are looking for ...

Maybe this gives some food for thoughts

BTW, welcome to the portal and keep us posted with pics and reports on your build and trip :drool:

 

[durango_60]

You obviously didn't put enough butter and salt on your grits.

I'm looking forward to this discussion, I'd love to see a tent as versatile as you describe.

 

[go4aryd]

http://bimo.com/bimo_original/tips/tip1.htm

I don't like them, but it is more modern in materials. BTW, most RTT can be used on the ground if you really wanted to dismount them. I wouldn't want to.

 

[CarlsbadRover]

OZ Tent?

This isn't an American product but it is from Australia: Have you looked at an OZ tent http://au.oztent.com/products/default.asp?CategoryID=1

- the RV2 might be a little tight for your needs, the RV3 should hold 2 adults and 2 children easily but presents more of a challenge to mount on the roof due to its larger size...but with you fold out roof rack idea you could make enough space. IMHO the fast assembly is appealing as are many of the accessories of the OZ system.

You would also need a ladder stashed away somewhere. I really like the wind cheetah roof rack and it's under rack ladder mounting: http://www.dolium.com.au/view?command=cman_view_webpage&action=view&webpage_id=61&pkey=dolium

Please do share what options you are considering and what you end up doing.

Cheers!

 

[78Bronco]

Check out Eureka! Lifetime warranty on my Outside Inn.

 

[TexGX]

How about the Oasis ll. You could purchace two and still be less then 100lbs. They are light enough to easily take on and off the truck. You and the wife could sleep on the ground in one and the kids on the roof. Here is the link:

http://www.racktents.com/OasisII.html

Here is another tread with pics:

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30326

TexGX

 

[Mike S]

On a one year, 'round the World expedition I would consider ease of deployment, weather and insect resistance, and DURABILITY. Cots and lightweight folding solutions, ground tents pitched on the roof, etc. are going to cause grief, IMO.

 

[Snagger]

You'll just squeeze a Quecha 2-man 2 Seconds tent onto a full-length 110 rack if it doesn't have side rails, but they're not so strong that I'd risk sleeping at that height without the rails anyway, even with the tent secured to the rack. But even if you did sleep in it, that leaves you short of two berths on the 110 and two on the 90.

You could modify the rack to have extensions to support the tents on a 90 degree axis, which would allow a 3-man 2 Seconds on the 90 and two 2-man tents on the 110 (or 1 x 2-man and 1 x 3-man).

For a ground tent, I'd recommend Quecha's Base 2 Seconds, which is a 4-man tent with two sleeping compartments separated by a square room tall enough to stand in, use as a storage room, changing room or use a small table with four chairs. It goes up complete in about a minute and down into its bag in under three, and is light and small enough to be carried in conjunction with the very small and portable 2-Seconds so that you have complete flexibility. That's what I now do.

 

[RichardAllen]

Some very interesting stuff there, with the tent-cot in particular, and certainly there is a greater range easily available in the USA than we have in UK. However, I think "close but no cigar" sums it up.

I am starting to think about having to design my own. Hmmm a lot of work there. Or maybe I can modify and existing tent and just build the aluminium rack. Better start looking for a TIG welder on eBay.

Regards

Richard

PS I tried grits with salt, butter, cheese, but they all felt like I was eating road chippings. However, eating at Mrs Wilks Restaurant in Savannah Georgia was simply marvellous.