What justifies the expense for a rooftop tent?

[MidOH]

You answered your own question:
1. When you're traveling to a different campsite every day.

and I'll add:
2. When there isn't any suitable place for a ground tent.
3. When looking overlandy is more important than actually overlanding.
4. Any west coast or Utah camp ground.
5. When you need a low drag, high speed, option instead of a slide in camper. (fullsize trucks)
6. When your overlanding club can't tell the difference between dry hard ground and a bottomless mud pit.
7. Beaver floods.

I recommend the Bundutec's.


When it's bad:
1. When you can't park in the cool camp spots. (easy fix, carry a backpacking ground tent as well, they're cheap)
2. When you need AC and a shower. (midwest and north east)
3. When branches shred it's baggy. (get a hard case version)
4. When you're already over your GVWR.
5. When girls in bikinis want to use it as an elevated dancing platform.
6. When you're poor.
7. When canadians aren't scared of ladders.
8. When a sudden drop in nighttime air temperature makes you need to pee.
9. When I coat the steps of your ladder with butter.

 

[Smileyshaun]

FYI and something a lot of people don’t realize is RTT is not a new concept .

 

[Cpol]

Not sleeping on the floor

 

[MOAK]

You just can’t compare a 300 dollar tent, pad included to a RTT. Now, if you want to compare a quality tent, like an OZtent ground tent then compare away. We have both and in order to get a comparable RTT you gotta spend 2500 and up. I must define my idea of quality- something, anything, that will stand the test of time that any of my grandchildren or anyone else’s grandchildren may one day enjoy using. As far as overland camping gear a tent must be able to withstand 40-50 mph winds, driving rain, dust storms, sand storms, freezing cold, and / or snow. The tent is our second home. It must be easy to pack up & easy to deploy. After a lifetime of sleeping on the ground or on cots in a tent, or having to pass by absolutely gorgeous campsites because staking out a tent proved impossible, we treated ourselves to the luxury of a RTT. It’s warmer, it can be deployed wherever you park, it withstands all of the aforementioned weather elements with ease, and last but not least, it is mounted up on our expedition trailer. If not for the trailer, we’d still be on the ground. We can set up camp, go exploring and quite honestly, 165 lbs up top would be way too heavy.

 

[Dusther210]

Pulling into camp late at night, open up the tent with my pillows, sleeping bag and fur blanket already inside and racking out under the stars

Being comfortable every single time (am I the only one that hates air mattresses?)

Waking up in the morning with this view and I’m sure there are better but I couldn’t get this with my ground tent

The extra space saved inside the truck and being able to see out the back of it

I found that space under the tent to be pretty handy.

Having done both, it was totally worth the 800$ delivered price

 

[grubworm]

Pulling into camp late at night, open up the tent with my pillows, sleeping bag and fur blanket already inside and racking out under the stars

Being comfortable every single time (am I the only one that hates air mattresses?)

Waking up in the morning with this view and I’m sure there are better but I couldn’t get this with my ground tent

The extra space saved inside the truck and being able to see out the back of it

I found that space under the tent to be pretty handy.

Having done both, it was totally worth the 800$ delivered price

damn! you made me feel every word of that post!

 

[ThundahBeagle]

damn! you made me feel every word of that post!

$800 delivered price?!?!

 

[Dusther210]

damn! you made me feel every word of that post!

$800 delivered price?!?!

Yep lol

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Yep lol

Might make it worth putting on a trailer like @MOAK.

I like the idea of no snakes, rodents, or general ground critters to contend with. Quick setup is nice (our Field & Stream 6 person sets up quick, too though, as does my 3 person dome), dry, not on cold ground and so on. I think about it from time to time but so far we've just slept in the 6.5 foot, covered bed of my truck. I suppose if I had a Jeep it would be more pressing

 

[Dusther210]

Yep lol

Might make it worth putting on a trailer like @MOAK.

I like the idea of no snakes, rodents, or general ground critters to contend with. Quick setup is nice (our Field & Stream 6 person sets up quick, too though, as does my 3 person dome), dry, not on cold ground and so on. I think about it from time to time but so far we've just slept in the 6.5 foot, covered bed of my truck. I suppose if I had a Jeep it would be more pressing

Check out Overland Vehicle Systems. Their cheapest tent was like $1000, they do a lot of sales and have discount codes as well as coupons.

 

[dchurch]

This is a popular question, posted in different ways. I am really impressed with the variety of candid answers here.

The biggest question in my mind is how do you want to camp or more importantly how do you honestly expect to camp, while keeping within your budget and time?

If you are unsure, I suggest buying a decent ground tent and minimal gear, and maybe a popup shelter to go with it. Buy basic quality items that you can expect to last a lifetime, no matter how you camp.

I don't know if a RTT is worth the cost to you but I can't see it being a practical piece of gear if it only gets used a few weeks each summer. But then I have friends with second homes that collect dust; and we own sail boat:/

Anyway, we spent more than 40 years backpacking, cycle camping, off-road, and in campgrounds across the US. Baja, Canada, Jamaica... All we ever used were tents or tarps. They all worked just fine for us including 18+ years with two daughters. I wouldn't trade those times for anything.

When my wife and I retired we became even more avid. We found ourselves on month-long trips and in extreme year round weather. We decided it was time to improve our shelter. Like you, we restled with "what should we get?"

We spent well over a year looking at options and visiting dealers, customizers, and manufacturers; while we continued to tent camp. We also learned alot by making a point to talk to owners (or spying on them during actual use):) Sorry but spying is really entertaining and enlightening.

Money was honestly not an issue but finding what would work best for us wasn't easy. We were honestly not put off by the price of RTTs, it was the design/materials that didn't work for us. From MY personal perspective and based on MY own expectations they are a poor value at half the price.

As always, it's a good question that definitely deserves some thought before you buy. It might help to pull out a sheet of scratch paper and start brainstorming. That's where we started! Lol

Best of luck with your search and happy trails.

 

[dchurch]

well, i guess logically, NONE of this makes sense when you consider that most of us live in perfectly good houses and we chose to spend any amount of money to leave said house and go live like wild wolves for a while....

Lol, good one. Except whenever we return home from from a trip home dosent make sense. ;p

 

[Dusther210]

This is a popular question, posted in different ways. I am really impressed with the variety of candid answers here.

The biggest question in my mind is how do you want to camp or more importantly how do you honestly expect to camp, while keeping within your budget and time?

If you are unsure, I suggest buying a decent ground tent and minimal gear, and maybe a popup shelter to go with it. Buy basic quality items that you can expect to last a lifetime, no matter how you camp.

I don't know if a RTT is worth the cost to you but I can't see it being a practical piece of gear if it only gets used a few weeks each summer. But then I have friends with second homes that collect dust; and we own sail boat:/

Anyway, we spent more than 40 years backpacking, cycle camping, off-road, and in campgrounds across the US. Baja, Canada, Jamaica... All we ever used were tents or tarps. They all worked just fine for us including 18+ years with two daughters. I wouldn't trade those times for anything.

When my wife and I retired we became even more avid. We found ourselves on month-long trips and in extreme year round weather. We decided it was time to improve our shelter. Like you, we restled with "what should we get?"

We spent well over a year looking at options and visiting dealers, customizers, and manufacturers; while we continued to tent camp. We also learned alot by making a point to talk to owners (or spying on them during actual use):) Sorry but spying is really entertaining and enlightening.

Money was honestly not an issue but finding what would work best for us wasn't easy. We were honestly not put off by the price of RTTs, it was the design/materials that didn't work for us. From MY personal perspective and based on MY own expectations they are a poor value at half the price.

As always, it's a good question that definitely deserves some thought before you buy. It might help to pull out a sheet of scratch paper and start brainstorming. That's where we started! Lol

Best of luck with your search and happy trails.

Sounds like you might be interested in one of these:

Trim Levels

www.redtailoverland.com

 

[dchurch]

Thanks for the headz-up. That looks pretty cool for the right situation, but we found our perfect match.

 

[Smileyshaun]

I prefer to sleep on the ground with nothing but pine needles and a live raccoon as my pillow and I don’t worry about the rain because my skin is waterproof like a duck

 

[Arailt]

Sounds like you might be interested in one of these:

Trim Levels

www.redtailoverland.com

I almost spit out my coffee when I saw the prices. They've got to be kidding.

 

[bryceCtravels]

I almost spit out my coffee when I saw the prices. They've got to be kidding.

Sorry, you must've missed the part where it has "overland" in the name.

 

[Kevin108]

Let’s be honest; Roof Top Tent- Yay or Nay? is a pretty good read.

As mentioned before: I have slept on the bench seat in my truck, slept in nothing but a sleeping bag on a tent floor, slept in a sleeping bag on a yoga pad, on a big fluffy comforter, on a cheap air mattress, on some high-dollar sleeping pads, and on a folding cot.

For the last 6 years, I've been sleeping in a RTT. This is by far the best setup for me and what I do with my rigs.


Although, for the briefest of stays or when I just don't feel like setting up the whole tent? I'll grab the passenger seat with a pillow and a sleeping bag. I have a Covercraft screen for the front, plus DIY privacy panels made from Reflectix.




So, how do you justify the tent? With amortization. The first night you spend in it is very expensive. The more nights you stay, the cheaper it gets. I'm currently at about $8 a night, including the handful of replacement parts I've needed.

 

[dboy]

It was the only way I was going to get my wife to come camping.

and, I can afford it.

 

[MMc]

We all do what we need to do. My wife had never camped before meeting me, 4 years later she would be dry camping on remote Baja beaches for weeks in a ground tent. I started with full campgrounds with shower and such and worked to remote camping slowly with plenty of good times.
I think of a RTT as a fashion thing and marketing thing. The hard tops are much better made than the soft ops and are priced as such. I read not being able to find a spot to set up a ground tent, it’s nonsense. You don’t need a tent the size of Ohio. The “fashion tents” are over sized heavy and cumbersome. My tent is a 4 man 7x7 is all it takes. set up in 10 minutes. Now that my wife is gone, I can sleep on a 30” x 7’ patch or the bed of my truck. I am in the west and sleep under the stars all the time, in my 20s I climbed more than 100 day per year sleeping in a bevy bags most nights(100 nights) Once I had a coyote lick me, that’s it. Plenty of time in black bear county too. The fear of nature is mostly self imposed and not real. I chose to fill the top of my truck with toys and fuel. I don’t wheel hard much anymore, I got tired of camping small, so I got a big truck and camp large now. If I was going to be on the road full time I would get a pop-top.