Is the roof tent trend over?

[tractor_to_trail]

The RTT has a lot of advantages for me for quick trips especially solo hunting and fishing trips. Like many have mentioned it's nice being off the ground. Above a truck bed you still have lots of room for storage and space to carry all that stuff...that you only use a 1/3 of?. I've had a few and my last CVT was my favorite with the awning room, it provided extra space for family trips. I will miss the quick set up the wedge provided but I'm enjoying the new set up as well. The CVT has to go if anyone is looking hit me up. I don't think the RTT will be going away the price point is good for people just getting into overloading or truck camping. They also offer a quick easy get away that doesn't overload your daily driver.

 

[JackW]

Check out the Terrapod roof tents - very low profile and lightweight. I had a Maggiolina for about ten years but it stood about 14" high and weighed around 130 lbs - it was a great hardshell tent. But an industrial designer friend of mine (ex-Boeing engineer) decided to take his knowledge of composites and aircraft manufacturing to design and build a better roof tent. As a former Lockheed engineer I saw the genius of his design right away and pestered him to build a narrower version for even lighter weight and to free up some space on my roof rack for other stuff. He resisted until another potential customer asked for the same thing he relented and built us a couple. It weighs 85 lbs and stands about six inches tall. The composite panels are an inch thick and have a r-value so it stays comfortable in cool weather. It's a really nice tent built right here in Georgia. His tents have withstood very intense storms and he has a video where he performs a drop test with a big pine limb onto the tent from a pretty good height.

 

[echo7tango]

With a diesel Grand Cherokee I was considering towing a trailer, but the RTT makes a lot of sense. I’m not ready to buy yet but I am looking and am considering one. If many are selling theirs then that’s good for me and other buyers.

Not an expert, but the concept makes a lot of sense. And I live in San Francisco and plan road trips to Prudhoe Bay, and to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and to Central America. I don’t want to haul a trailer when the diesel gets good gas mileage and with its large tank has a long range. An RTT should not have a large impact on fuel economy, right? Maybe 2-3 MPG loss?

 

[J!m]

Check out the Terrapod roof tents - very low profile and lightweight. I had a Maggiolina for about ten years but it stood about 14" high and weighed around 130 lbs - it was a great hardshell tent. But an industrial designer friend of mine (ex-Boeing engineer) decided to take his knowledge of composites and aircraft manufacturing to design and build a better roof tent. As a former Lockheed engineer I saw the genius of his design right away and pestered him to build a narrower version for even lighter weight and to free up some space on my roof rack for other stuff. He resisted until another potential customer asked for the same thing he relented and built us a couple. It weighs 85 lbs and stands about six inches tall. The composite panels are an inch thick and have a r-value so it stays comfortable in cool weather. It's a really nice tent built right here in Georgia. His tents have withstood very intense storms and he has a video where he performs a drop test with a big pine limb onto the tent from a pretty good height.


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That right there is what I was talking about earlier. Apply some 21-st century technology to the problem!

Lower profile and lower weight = no disadvantage to a RTT. I like it!

 

[JackW]

That right there is what I was talking about earlier. Apply some 21-st century technology to the problem!

Lower profile and lower weight = no disadvantage to a RTT. I like it!

Chad - the designer/builder is also about 6' 7" tall so he made it long enough for oversized humans. He had custom aluminum extrusions made to his design for the perimeter frame of the tent.
When he showed me the cad design of the tent I was sold - even though I had a really good existing tent in my Maggiolina that I had spent many comfortable (and dry) nights in - even at mud fests like the 2108 Overland Expo East.
Since he had used the principle of modular design for his Terrapod it wasn't terribly hard for him to make a narrower version for Solo travelers (there is no way my 5'2" wife is ever going to climb a ladder into a roof tent so I didn't need a two person model.)
The 33" wide Terrapod Solo leaves me a full two foot wide section of my roof rack available for "other stuff" - which in a short wheelbase Defender with limited interior space can come in real handy.





The Maggiolina used up most of the roof rack but I had it mounted a bit farther forward so I could carry a 5 gallon jerry can of diesel behind it.

 

[Lemsteraak]

You guys bring up a good point. I see a lot of folks getting the wrong tents. Bigger isn't better as you describe.

The Maggiolina you show is a good example, a specialty "Maggiolina" about 4 inches shorter than standard for cold weather. The rack on top is designed to put all your wet gear and stuff you don't want in the tent. You can put gear bags, or a friend in central America told me a place for the monkeys to sleep. Great tent, but you have to sleep diagonally if you are much over six foot tall. The small space, low roof, insulation makes it about 15 degrees warmer inside with two people all buttoned up.

Years ago these tents used to all be made by special order. Because of such a long supply chain, almost all now are made in advance and warehoused on location. This is OK but the problem is when you get "sales" involved and the difference in price between a small tent that weights 90 pounds and a large that is over 165 pounds isn't mentioned in the upsale. Very few vehicles are designed for 165+ on top and it really drags down performance.

The generic tents coming out of China, can be OK but they are built to a price point rather than a service level. They also tend to be sold by retailers that aren't as experienced. I see a lot of vehicles in our neighborhood with these big folding tents on their racks full time. I would have steered them to another tent as they really aren't designed for that.

 

[CMARJEEP]

I’m on my third RTT. The last couple years I went back to a ground tent with a Oztent when I was with the family and a swag when I was solo. Both were good and it is nice not having to climb in and out but for my style camping I keep coming back to a RTT. We do a lot of quick overnight trips so it’s nice to have our sleeping bags and pillows all packed up in the tent and have camp setup in a minute.

Started with a Tuff Stuff two person RTT when they first came out. It worked but the soft shell tents have a lot of downsides. Especially in wind. Plus I don’t think their setup and takedown times are much better than a good ground tent.
Second

Second tent was an Autohome Maggiolina Extreme. These tents are amazing. Super well made and easy setup and take down. Only bad thing was when taking down there is a lot of going around and tucking in the material. But in bad weather they shine. Even in very high winds they are almost silent because there is no loose fabric. Also this model had a roof rack so I could have a kayak or gear on top of the tent. But now we have a kid so it had to go.

We just picked up an iKamper SkyCamp 3. So far I’m impressed. Easiest setup and takedown of the three tents. You get the size benefit of a soft shell but the ease of setup and takedown of a hard shell. Also I like that they are made in house in Korea. Not a copycat Chinese made tent.

 

[JackW]

I didn't know IKamper tents were made in Korea - I have a couple of pieces of camping furniture made by Kovea that I bought at one of the Overland Expos after talking to the manufacturers rep for a while. Apparently the camping market in Korea is huge - and the quality is top notch.

I agree with your assessment of the Maggiolina, great tent and the walk around to tuck it in was the only real downside.

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

Check out the Terrapod roof tents - very low profile and lightweight. I had a Maggiolina for about ten years but it stood about 14" high and weighed around 130 lbs - it was a great hardshell tent. But an industrial designer friend of mine (ex-Boeing engineer) decided to take his knowledge of composites and aircraft manufacturing to design and build a better roof tent. As a former Lockheed engineer I saw the genius of his design right away and pestered him to build a narrower version for even lighter weight and to free up some space on my roof rack for other stuff. He resisted until another potential customer asked for the same thing he relented and built us a couple. It weighs 85 lbs and stands about six inches tall. The composite panels are an inch thick and have a r-value so it stays comfortable in cool weather. It's a really nice tent built right here in Georgia. His tents have withstood very intense storms and he has a video where he performs a drop test with a big pine limb onto the tent from a pretty good height.


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Jack I am with you brother!!

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

RTT are not over for me. Just the beginning. #TerrapodrulesUtah

 

[texasnielsen]

Don’t know if I’d call something that’s been around for 100+ years just a fad . View attachment 770635View attachment 770636View attachment 770637My thoughts as.well.

 

[MiamiC70]

You should look at the bush company tent then, it's about as high quality as you are going to find!

I thought, from my research, that most of these truck bed campers drop in? You don't have to convert your truck to a flatbed. They also make different sizes for different truck platforms.

I see a lot of these campers on Tacomas all the way up to full sized F-350 power strokes. Also, saying you have to buy a $60K-$90K truck to get started I think is also a little skewed. For a RTT you have to have a truck to mount it on? So are you using the same logic..... you need to spend $20K-$70K to purchase a truck, then $250 in load bars and then another $5K for the tent? Just saying.

But you end up with a truck you can no longer do “truck” stuff with and you the cost of the truck bed camper.

 

[concretejungle]

But you end up with a truck you can no longer do “truck” stuff with and you the cost of the truck bed camper.

hmmm, not an expert here but I am pretty sure the truck bed campers can easily come out of the truck bed. I know the more fancy ones have lift struts in 4 corners and you can crank them up and drive out. I'll have to look closer at the alucab one and GFC ones.

 

[MiamiC70]

hmmm, not an expert here but I am pretty sure the truck bed campers can easily come out of the truck bed. I know the more fancy ones have lift struts in 4 corners and you can crank them up and drive out. I'll have to look closer at the alucab one and GFC ones.

Right, leave ip you fancy tiny home unattende. What could possibly go wrong? ?

 

[XJLI]

Check out the Terrapod roof tents - very low profile and lightweight. I had a Maggiolina for about ten years but it stood about 14" high and weighed around 130 lbs - it was a great hardshell tent. But an industrial designer friend of mine (ex-Boeing engineer) decided to take his knowledge of composites and aircraft manufacturing to design and build a better roof tent. As a former Lockheed engineer I saw the genius of his design right away and pestered him to build a narrower version for even lighter weight and to free up some space on my roof rack for other stuff. He resisted until another potential customer asked for the same thing he relented and built us a couple. It weighs 85 lbs and stands about six inches tall. The composite panels are an inch thick and have a r-value so it stays comfortable in cool weather. It's a really nice tent built right here in Georgia. His tents have withstood very intense storms and he has a video where he performs a drop test with a big pine limb onto the tent from a pretty good height.

I wish they made an even bigger one