Enthusiast III
Roof Top Tent advice
- Thread starter 4WheelAstroHack
- Start date
From what I have seen, the soft RTT's are all extremely similar. When you check Alibaba, you can really see there are like 3 or 4 factories making the same tents.
I chose to go with one of the OGs, Tepui, now owned by Thule. It is ok. The pockets that hold the rainfly poles ripped immediatly which I have come to learn is very common from overtightening (my fault). Other than that its been great. No need for the anti condensation mat for the two of us in the summer. I can see it being more necessary in the colder months.
I chose to go with one of the OGs, Tepui, now owned by Thule. It is ok. The pockets that hold the rainfly poles ripped immediatly which I have come to learn is very common from overtightening (my fault). Other than that its been great. No need for the anti condensation mat for the two of us in the summer. I can see it being more necessary in the colder months.
We have the Free Spirit Recreation High Country 55 and love it. Set up and tear down is extremely simple. Over the last year we have spent well over 60 nights in it and have not had a single issue.
If you want an RTT to fit a family of 4, you’ll be looking at some of the bigger options available that will almost certainly have to open off the side of the rig (as opposed to the back).
I’ve used the Smittybilt Overlander XL, which is big enough for 4, for a while now (3 years I think). Apart from the vestibule support breaking under a snow load, it’s been OK. To some degree you do get what you pay for - if you are willing to address the issues you don’t like (cumulatively, maybe an hour of work on mine) its adequate. The key ‘cons’ to this particular tent:
- Quality of Construction. This is a weekend warrior tent at best, but I wouldn’t want to trust it on a multi-month expedition (Which isn’t what it’s built for). The aforementioned pole breaking is one example, but there have been a few rivets pull out from time to time. They are easy to drill and replace with a bigger, stronger rivet.
- Mattress is a bit thinner than what we had in our old Tepui. We addressed this with an extra thick blanket underneath - warmer, easy to clean, and still leaves room for our stuff.
- Slow to setup & tear down. ”Peak” RTT size for us was our Kukenam tent we had a few years ago; that was a bit smaller and everything was just that much easier to do with it.
The Pros:
- Cheap. The Smittybilt was half the price of some competitors.
- Cover is actually well designed - instead of going for a zipper like so many other manufacturers (Which in my experience, quickly get caked with mud so they don’t operate smoothly and become a real chore in the cold) the Smitty uses a Velcro cover, which I actually find to be nice and quick/easy.
- All the advantages of a typical roof tent (no need to worry about ground conditions, separation from animals, etc.) except for that setup time; this tent definitely takes longer than my ground tent (whereas the Tepui was a bit faster).
That’s my experience with the Smittybilt after some long-term testing, and my conclusions have not changed since I bought it - the Smittybilt is the best value roof tent on the market, so if you only go out occasionally you’ll probably be fine with one, but it’s not really suitable for longer term expedition-style use. There are more expensive offerings from CVT and Tepui amongst others, and no question the build quality for Tepui at least is much better than Smitty (CVT very likely is too; I’ve never seen a CVT in person before but I’ve only heard they are comparable to Tepui in build quality). I don’t know if it’s $1000+ better built, though — all I can say is i never had to re-rivet stuff on my Tepui, and it was a very early-gen model. Is that worth $1,000 to a buyer? That’s up to you!
I guess one of the most telling questions is “Would I buy the Smitty again?” And my answer is “No” — not for me, but I’m looking for something that will be better for longer trips. I would instead save my pennies to buy the iKamper Skycamp 2.0. The speed at which it sets up and tears down is far better than a typical big RTT, but it also sleeps 4 from what I’ve been told. Alternatively, I would consider a clamshell tent like an Alucab, and just accept that some of my party will need to sleep in an awning room on the ground (We did this on our Alaska trip — two adults in the RTT, two adults in an awning room — and it worked well.)
I’ve used the Smittybilt Overlander XL, which is big enough for 4, for a while now (3 years I think). Apart from the vestibule support breaking under a snow load, it’s been OK. To some degree you do get what you pay for - if you are willing to address the issues you don’t like (cumulatively, maybe an hour of work on mine) its adequate. The key ‘cons’ to this particular tent:
- Quality of Construction. This is a weekend warrior tent at best, but I wouldn’t want to trust it on a multi-month expedition (Which isn’t what it’s built for). The aforementioned pole breaking is one example, but there have been a few rivets pull out from time to time. They are easy to drill and replace with a bigger, stronger rivet.
- Mattress is a bit thinner than what we had in our old Tepui. We addressed this with an extra thick blanket underneath - warmer, easy to clean, and still leaves room for our stuff.
- Slow to setup & tear down. ”Peak” RTT size for us was our Kukenam tent we had a few years ago; that was a bit smaller and everything was just that much easier to do with it.
The Pros:
- Cheap. The Smittybilt was half the price of some competitors.
- Cover is actually well designed - instead of going for a zipper like so many other manufacturers (Which in my experience, quickly get caked with mud so they don’t operate smoothly and become a real chore in the cold) the Smitty uses a Velcro cover, which I actually find to be nice and quick/easy.
- All the advantages of a typical roof tent (no need to worry about ground conditions, separation from animals, etc.) except for that setup time; this tent definitely takes longer than my ground tent (whereas the Tepui was a bit faster).
That’s my experience with the Smittybilt after some long-term testing, and my conclusions have not changed since I bought it - the Smittybilt is the best value roof tent on the market, so if you only go out occasionally you’ll probably be fine with one, but it’s not really suitable for longer term expedition-style use. There are more expensive offerings from CVT and Tepui amongst others, and no question the build quality for Tepui at least is much better than Smitty (CVT very likely is too; I’ve never seen a CVT in person before but I’ve only heard they are comparable to Tepui in build quality). I don’t know if it’s $1000+ better built, though — all I can say is i never had to re-rivet stuff on my Tepui, and it was a very early-gen model. Is that worth $1,000 to a buyer? That’s up to you!
I guess one of the most telling questions is “Would I buy the Smitty again?” And my answer is “No” — not for me, but I’m looking for something that will be better for longer trips. I would instead save my pennies to buy the iKamper Skycamp 2.0. The speed at which it sets up and tears down is far better than a typical big RTT, but it also sleeps 4 from what I’ve been told. Alternatively, I would consider a clamshell tent like an Alucab, and just accept that some of my party will need to sleep in an awning room on the ground (We did this on our Alaska trip — two adults in the RTT, two adults in an awning room — and it worked well.)
I have the FSR high country 80. It’s a monster, sleeps 3 of us (2 adults and an 8yo) plus 3 dogs (2 80lb labs and a 20lb spaniel mix) we do have to keep our clothes bag and any “extras” outside of sleeping bags and blankets and the like in the truck while sleeping but we make due 2-3 nights at a time. We have about 15 nights this summer in it with this set up. the tent overall is very well built. It is the roughly the same size as the larger IKamper that my buddy uses with his wife and 2 kids.
astroflashjones
Rank V
Advocate I
We've had a Tepui Autana for about 5 years. It will fit three but its kinda tight. It does have an attachable annex though where you could sleep a couple more. Its held up well except the Colorado sun cooks the cover to a crisp every couple years.
Pathfinder I
You should define “family” we have one child some have 8.
In my experience of owning a couple tents, best to subtract one person from the size rating for actual comfort. Otherwise expect a backpacking tent like experience with respect to space.
