What’s the latest on the best RTT?
- Thread starter aer21
- Start date
DefendersNW
Observer
If you use the tent year round and want one that will outlast the truck - Autohome Maggiolina or Columbus models...
Biased answer but Ive been in and looked hard at most all the tents on the market and 99% of them are a cheaply built copy of the Autohome tents.
Biased answer but Ive been in and looked hard at most all the tents on the market and 99% of them are a cheaply built copy of the Autohome tents.
pcstockton
Member
FSR.
ChasingOurTrunks
Well-known member
There's sort of two questions here:
1) What design of RTT is the "best" in 2025?
2) What company has the best execution of said design in 2025?
The reason I split the questions out is that there has been a lot of innovation in the RTT space over the last decade. It used to be that everyone was more or less selling their own version of the ARB Simpson, in various sizes. But, hardshell tents have really come up - the iKamper design features a totally new way of fitting a king-sized sleeping area into a smaller package, and that type of design has been mimicked by others in spirit, like Alpha, 23 Zero, and others. Some have their own twist on the design, like 23 Zero's Armadillo X series, which seems to finally do away with the springsteel rods that have been an RTT staple for years.
Recognizing the designs have come a long way, the next question is the craftsmanship and the quality of materials. This can be compared from manufacturer to manufacturer but to some degree you get what you pay for.
If you want an exceptional cheap tent, the Smittybilt Overlander tents are very good value for the occasional weekend out, but will not hold up for long term/heavy use.
We are currently using the Go Overland Canada tent which had the best blend of quality, features, and price we could find; here's our review:
forum.expeditionportal.com
1) What design of RTT is the "best" in 2025?
2) What company has the best execution of said design in 2025?
The reason I split the questions out is that there has been a lot of innovation in the RTT space over the last decade. It used to be that everyone was more or less selling their own version of the ARB Simpson, in various sizes. But, hardshell tents have really come up - the iKamper design features a totally new way of fitting a king-sized sleeping area into a smaller package, and that type of design has been mimicked by others in spirit, like Alpha, 23 Zero, and others. Some have their own twist on the design, like 23 Zero's Armadillo X series, which seems to finally do away with the springsteel rods that have been an RTT staple for years.
Recognizing the designs have come a long way, the next question is the craftsmanship and the quality of materials. This can be compared from manufacturer to manufacturer but to some degree you get what you pay for.
If you want an exceptional cheap tent, the Smittybilt Overlander tents are very good value for the occasional weekend out, but will not hold up for long term/heavy use.
We are currently using the Go Overland Canada tent which had the best blend of quality, features, and price we could find; here's our review:
Review: Go Overland Canada Expedition XL Tent
Hi folks, We've recently acquired ourselves a new "Summer Home" in the form of a Go Overland Canada Expedition XL tent. We've only got 6 nights in it so far, but I wanted to share a bit about our really positive experience with this tent. Part 1: (Forum Word Count doesn't like longer threads)...
forum.expeditionportal.com
ITTOG
Well-known member
Good info. I definitely like the iKampers the best.There's sort of two questions here:
1) What design of RTT is the "best" in 2025?
2) What company has the best execution of said design in 2025?
The reason I split the questions out is that there has been a lot of innovation in the RTT space over the last decade. It used to be that everyone was more or less selling their own version of the ARB Simpson, in various sizes. But, hardshell tents have really come up - the iKamper design features a totally new way of fitting a king-sized sleeping area into a smaller package, and that type of design has been mimicked by others in spirit, like Alpha, 23 Zero, and others. Some have their own twist on the design, like 23 Zero's Armadillo X series, which seems to finally do away with the springsteel rods that have been an RTT staple for years.
Recognizing the designs have come a long way, the next question is the craftsmanship and the quality of materials. This can be compared from manufacturer to manufacturer but to some degree you get what you pay for.
If you want an exceptional cheap tent, the Smittybilt Overlander tents are very good value for the occasional weekend out, but will not hold up for long term/heavy use.
We are currently using the Go Overland Canada tent which had the best blend of quality, features, and price we could find; here's our review:
Review: Go Overland Canada Expedition XL Tent
Hi folks, We've recently acquired ourselves a new "Summer Home" in the form of a Go Overland Canada Expedition XL tent. We've only got 6 nights in it so far, but I wanted to share a bit about our really positive experience with this tent. Part 1: (Forum Word Count doesn't like longer threads)...
@aer21 what you drive and your roof load matters, rooftop tents vary widely in weight and size. That tent is 165lbs, if you use a roof rack that will add 90lbs or more. So that get's you to about 250, that is higher than most SUV vehicles safe dynamic load rating. Pickup trucks with bed racks are different.
Lots of people are well over the dynamic load rating for the roof, and are fine under normal conditions.
Jeeps tend to suffer more instability with large loads up top.
Lots of people are well over the dynamic load rating for the roof, and are fine under normal conditions.
Jeeps tend to suffer more instability with large loads up top.