why are roof top tents so expensive??? any home made ideas??

[bunduguy]

I respectfully disagree. I purchased a Technitop tent several years ago because it was commonly reviewed and regarded as the very best RTT here and in other forums/publications. While it was a nice tent, I found the quality of stitching, the plastic components on the frame and the installation of essential hardware weren't that great. When I see that sort of delta between reviews and the actual product, it's hard not to conclude that there's a lot of actual and potential customers out there a little bit blindly enamored with a "lifestyle".

Agreed. And understood. Perhaps I was a little general when I said "South African". Perhaps I should have said, "Howling Moon" I jest of course. Once in a while I have been disappointed with a tent that has come out of the Howling Moon factory. I immediately get on the phone with the CEO, he gets the shift leader off the floor, right there and then, and it gets sorted. This is one of the things that makes the company special, and more to the point, the tents expensive. What I was alluding to was a general standard, but there are undoubtedly going to be exceptions to the general rule. Likewise, I think ARB makes a pretty good tent, and it comes from China. Are you now, for arguments sake, ruling out every South African tent because of the one you got? I am by no means expressing that SA tents are the be-all an end-all. Many people have no need for them, nor can justify the price, for the real- or perceived quality. I am also not saying that there is some mythical magical quality to tents from SA that few are privileged to enjoy. As for Technitop, I think you will recognize that they are nowhere in the US right now, for various reasons. I have been to the Technitop factory, (actually the African Outback factory since it is now owned by African Outback), and I'll keep my opinions to myself. But it should be noted that they are not considered by South Africans to be the best.
i am genuinely interested though; what "lifestyle" are you meaning, when you refer to "blindly enamored with a "lifestyle". Do you mean the RTT lifestyle? The expo/overland/car camping lifestyle?
As to the OP's original point. A $500 Everest-style tent has very little in common with a RTT, and some RTT's are more expensive than others. I think you can get a RTT for around the $800 mark, that will probably serve quite well. But if you do come up with a plan for a dome tent on a platform, please do show us. I've certainly tried to wrap my head around it a few times.

 

[Deleted member 48574]

Expensive is a relative thing.

Most tent trailers and pop-up campers (that you will see many fine men and women discussing on these very boards) start at $8,000 and go up from there, from a NA perspective. And then you are limited by your vehicle capabilities, potential tight turns on the trail, and durability of your subplatform (axels, frames, etc).

To me, RTTs are the absolute best value in Recreational Vehicles (Let's face it, most of us don't "live" in our rigs ergo they are for 'recreation') that is available today.

Regards
Craig

 

[washington taco]

Buy a tent used. I purchased a China made one for 600.00. I cant see spending the money for a African made one unless I was driving the Pan Am highway. 75% of the people on this web site dont need the high end tents.

 

[Ozarker]

Waht would be the difficulty in building a platform and putting a dome tent or mountain tent on it? Your platform needs to fold and be supported folded out. Insert small tubes into the platform and have the outside poles insert into the platform, insead of stakes, use fastners or D rings attached to the platform and to the steaking points. Depending on how you fold it up seems you could use a quality adhesive and glue the tent floor to the platform, full coverage or along the edges (not along the fold as you may wear it through). I'm sure it's not rocket science.

Initially, I had a truck tent that was a dome for truckbeds. I was going to mount it in my trailer with sides and cut the sides out for access to boxes from the inside. I decided I wanted something more sturdy with more insulation and sold the tent instead of cutting it up. BTW, cutting any tent material you need to hem the edges.

In my area I don't beleive there are any camping suppliers that stock RTTs to see. Folks here go to TTs or ground tents. I'm in a pretty popular recreation area and I've never seen an RTT except going down the interstate.

The cost of building one cheap would depend on your imagination and scrounging skills and who you know with a commercial sewing machine. Fabricating a "camping system" isn't going to be a big deal for me, I'm retired! LOL When I was in business there would be no way for me to do something like this (my off time was more valuable to me) and I'd pay others to do alot of things for me. And, I always lean to the best quality I can find in most everything, it usually pays off in the long run. But now, with little to do, another hobby is in order.

I'm sure a retailer won't be retiring from the sale of any RTT system, if there isn't at least a 30-40% margin they are spinning thier wheels being in the business, IMO. Some may be spinning thier wheels with an $800 unit. Perhaps with internet sales and drop shipping, never touching the unit, less of a margin could be worthwhile.

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: I'm afraid that "expensive" is based on your wants/income/individual skills and ego !

Why buy a $35K jeep and takeit off-road, for failures/scratchs/dents/breakage-----because you want to, not needto, but want to--

The world is full of individuals and thats just reality-

I think TEPUI RTTs are proving to be a decent purchase in the RTT world-

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[sixbennetts]

Buy one of these double tent-cots from Cabela's and u-bolt it to your roof rack. A cheap Yankee told ya that.

 

[General Automag]

Hello sorry if this annoying but I want to set up a roof top tent but the price is ruff for me. I can buy a 4 season tent that has been used in everest for $500.00 but a simple roof top tent is over $2000. what gives? I know you get what you pay for but to me this seems really expensive. I would like a RTT because we had an issue with a bear on our last trip and want to get up high to give us extra time and space if another encounter were to happen. Any ideas that others have tried??? thanks

IronMan4x4 has their roof top tent, which includes an annex room, currently priced at $1,195. http://www.ironman4x4.com/html/rooftop_tent.html Their awnings average $250 depending on the size. Comparing roof top tents to regular tents is an "apples to oranges" comparison. Both are fruit and can be tasty, but they are different.

Our IronMan4x4 roof top tent will sleep three comfortably. We bought a queen-sized foam mattress pad to supplement the 4" foam pad that comes with the tent. There's a lot more poles, material, and stitching in a roof top tent when compared with a "ground" tent.

Prices will vary on roof top tent setups just as they do on regular tents. I see 4-person dome tents for $49, and you can pay well over $2,000 if you start looking at a true four-season tent for four or more people. A nice four-season 3 or 4-person tent from MSR, Kelty, TNF, Marmot, etc. can cost up to $1K or more. Most of the tents, roof top tents included, are manufactured elsewhere and have to be shipped here. Because of the size and weight of a roof top tent, you may have to pay more freight to get one to your door.

I too wish there was a good quality roof top tent option for $500. Perhaps in a few years if the election goes our way, our currency will be strong again which will make most of our imports cheaper. Good luck in your search, and let us know what you decide.

 

[SoCalMonty]

I too wish there was a good quality roof top tent option for $500.

For $500, you could easily fashion a solid, no frills DIY solution. Probably closer to $200 really. I haven't personally been in a situation yet where I couldn't sleep in a tent or in my rig, so I haven't had a reason to build a roof top tent yet (not to mention, my roof is typically used for cargo)...but the basic elements seem very simple to put together utilizing a couple trips to a hardware store and maybe an old traditional tent for the material.

For $750 and up, you are paying a hefty fee for some nice...but possibly, not necessary...features.

 

[Doug2000]

A few guys in our club bought this one, Chinese made, but higher quality materials more reasonable price.

Out of Canada.

http://rooftoptent.m.webs.com/site/.../site/mobile?url=http://rooftoptent.webs.com/




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[gm13]

Depending on what type of area one travels through a RTT could be ideal. I like the flexibility of a standard tent. the Marmot Limelight 2 has a footprint that enabled it to fit on my rack giving me the option of of an elevated set up where terrain/critter issues warrants or lake/stream (insert natural feature here) side. The base of the tent poles insert into holes drilled partway into the mdo then anchored with reuseable zip ties. Ladder is an extend and climb that I had.


The platform is 1/2 MDO and cut into (6) 9"x96" strips, when laid out the ends slide into a U channel that keeps them aligned then the whole is strapped down and cinched up to the rack, works great. When taken down and stacked it has a low profile to reduce drag for the pavement part of the trip.

 

[Fireman78]

No matter what, nothing is a sweet as setting your tent up in ten seconds flat. I'll take my RTT thank you very much. I will be upgrading my 1000 dollar Mombassa (on the cheaper side of materials) for a high end model hopefully around the time of OvEx 2013. There IS a definate diffrence in the quality no doubt. Screens, zippers, canvas, covers, everything. I have a buddy who is currently mounting a backpacking tent on a small trailer and he is very jelous of how awesome my set up is. He said he wants to buy mine so I think I have that covered. I think one of the main reasons also why these tents are spendy is there aren't a lot of them. These things aren't mass produced like tents you see set up in REI and Big 5. Roof Top Tents are AWESOME, and they are worth every penny!!!!!! This is just like a fridge, winch, bumper, recovery gear, etc.

 

[Dennx]

All of these tents CVT, Tepui, Ironman, Camping Labs, etc. are all Chinese made. Right now there is a local dealer to me that is selling them for as little as $650 for the same tent as the more popular brands like CVT.

More info: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/group-buys/268319-affordable-rtts-group-buy.html

 

[rwright07]

CVT is Chinese made? I'm in the market for a RTT for my trip this summer.
Now I am double thinking a CVT rainier.
I need something that will hold up for a long time. I want to use the same setup in a couple years to run the pan American hwy.
Ideas?
Sorry to hijack, but I do think some comparison, and discussion of materials/features would be beneficial to the thread.

Well, looks like I just missed a group buy on CVT... At the GB price I would have pulled out the plastic right now.