After doing a bit of research into roof tents for our Touran I popped into Yate at the weekend, as I was passing through, to look at some from http://adventurehire.co.uk/For-Sale/Roof-Tents/

What a top bloke and what a brilliant concept. I saw something pretty impressive too…

Kev was clearly passionate and knowledgeable and had the most awesome Defender 90 I’d seen (bare in mind I live in west Wales so most are hammered farm 90’s) – if I didn’t have a pregnant wife at home I’d have loved to make an offer on this beauty, although I know she’d probably love it more!

Anyway, thought I’d share this with the masses on here. I’ve bought one and can’t wait to try it out in two weeks in Scotland…might even sleep in it during the week 😀

I’d say it’s a worthy accessory to any biker!

One’s been on my shopping list for quite a while, always thought it made more sense for a MTB Van conversion to make the van a kitchen / diner / garage / shower / changing space and stick a roof tent on top.

There are some really clever ones with fold out awnings, ladders etc that turn the landrover/van into a big multi storey tent/camper thingumajig!

…just need to remember you are 5ft in the air when you get up in the middle of the night for a tiddle! 😀

it popped up in seconds and boom – you’re done!

I agree, stick the household stuff inside and the bed on the roof. Seriously impressed. Funnily enough it wasn’t massively clever or blingy – just simple, effective and comfortable.

Yes, I am excited with ours!

Quite cool! Though I’m not sure I fancy being high up in a boxy flat sided tent when a force 10 blows through 😀

Quite cool! Though I’m not sure I fancy being high up in a boxy flat sided tent when a force 10 blows through

I’d be worried about being up on the Cairngorm Plateau mid November in a 2WD van with minimal ground clearance or out in the middle of the Channel in something that doesn’t float first :-p

What do you gain by being up there?

Can’t help but think that it’s a great idea which could be vastly improved by simply taking it off the roof bars before you pitch it. Did the concept originate somewhere that has bears?

Am I missing the point here or wouldn’t the tent on top of a VW be unusable? Doesn’t the roof have a 75Kg weight limit? I don’t really want to discuss my weight but me + tent + usual tent stuff > 75Kg…

Rachel

I know I don’t need one, but I do want one. I’ve seen a couple of similarly-shaped roof boxes recently and wondered what they could possibly be – maybe this is it.

Go on then, what’s the damage? And for the medium size (assuming you have the small)?

Am I missing the point here or wouldn’t the tent on top of a VW be unusable? Doesn’t the roof have a 75Kg weight limit? I don’t really want to discuss my weight but me + tent + usual tent stuff > 75Kg…

It does look quite cool but this was my 1st thought too

I think the point is you have no need to pitch it, just leave the bedding etc in there. Turns a landrover into a campervan for places where a campervan wouldn’t work. Not sure if the fact you can make a 4×4 habitable or the height is what makes them popular with safari/overlander types.

Can’t help but think that it’s a great idea which could be vastly improved by simply taking it off the roof bars before you pitch it.

That’s what decathlon pop up tents are for. Great for road trips to the lakes etc, arrive after dark, park in a remote car park, throw the tent up, sleeping bag and mat in, and crash out. Wake up, roll down to the lake with the trangia and a packet of bacon for a wash/swim and a bacon sarnie.

I have one in the garage, just don’t currently have a 4×4 to put it on.
I slept in it all round Morocco – very comfortable and dead easy to put up/down.

The 75kg limit on most roof tents is for while moving, there is usaually a higher limit for static. Also vans usualy have a much higer dynamic weight limit on their roof racks.

I thought that the weight limit for a T5 was about 100kg or so, but I was more worried about the height that such a rack would add to the van and how it would limit my ability to get on a ferry. That and a couple of kayaks would probably add over a foot to my van.

I’ve always loved the idea of a roof tent and would have bought one in a second if I’d got a Landy 110 instead of a the van. Yes, you have the worry of forgetting you’re six+ feet in the air, but as long as you take care on the ladder up, you should be ok. You’re also safer from marauding rabbits, penguins, etc than you would normally be.

That ^ looks a bit limp compared to:

How much are they? I couldn’t seem to find a link to prices.

^^ that one? Expensive.

They seem to be generally very good quality though.

Just hook one of these to your pickup. Much more comfortable

And they do quite big ones if you need more space

Quite common in Oz. Not a new concept by any means.

The weight thing is bollocks! You can place a car on it’s roof (gently) and it won’t crumple down so two adults spread over a base which, in turn, is attached to the edge of the roof – the strongest part – is fine!

With regards to moving the tent to the ground, that’s a waste of effort and reduction in free footprint space, plus it’s quite heavy/cumbersome to move each day from the roof to floor and back again.

I’d rather not say what I paid, it wasn’t at all expensive for the kit, and Kev was open to negotiation!

He’s on ebay too and the prices there state:

Small: £1350 125cm width

Med: £1550 145cm width

he will do deals!

A Proper roof-tent corral in Morroco 2010 🙂

(I was on the ground 🙁 )

Drac – WTF is that?! It looks fantastic!

That Morocco shot is brilliant – another good reason not to camp on the ground! 😉

If anyone’s interested I just emailed Kev and he said 10% discount to anyone on STW, and I thought I was special!

Hammock tent….
Sling between 3 trees – sorted!

DrP

It’s a Tentstile pretty cool aren’t they?

Agreed, very cool. I couldn’t justify one but that never normally stops my purchases

Cougar, your thinking along the right lines.

Roof top tents are far from a new idea and very popular with overland tours of Africa, there a large portion of the small wildlife can be unpleasant and quite toxic to your health, then you have the wildlife that views you as an English takeaway, although if a lion/tiger/panther/meateater with big teeth really wants to eat you it will investigate a top tent.
Then we have the big heavy weights, cattle/elephants/rinho/hippos a stampede through a camp or just a hippo coming to have a wander through late at night…..tent on the ground is no protection.

In reality for UK, if it’s very wet, possible minor flooding or you pitch up in a field full of curious cows then they will be of use.

Another factor is freeing up vehicle space, you can carry lots of weight on the roof and sleep inside the vehicle, this makes a top heavy vehicle and prone to falling over when serious offroading.

Carrying all the water and spare fuel low down is more stable and secure when in remote locations.

Look for the Pinzgauer and Steyr overlanders 🙂

Looking at the images on the tentstile website makes me realise how disappointingly boring my life is…!

Not me:

Not me:

DrP

As cool as they look, I can’t imagine those tree tent things are that easy to get in & out of, although that’s probably a small price to pay for pitching one up in one of the locations shown on the home page.

I just imagine that bloke sitting in his tent having to have a breather after spending the last 10 mins trying to hang onto the flexible material surface, while swinging a leg up and over to pull himself up…. 😀

Agree, whilst very cool being able to pitch a tent over water, by the time you’ve put your gear in, swam across, cimbed up, repeat for the third, and put the tent up you’r mate will have already finished the BBQ and have drunk most of the scrumpy meaning you then have a restless night imagining your gear letting go and swinging you into the rocks like a wrecccckkkkkkkkkkkkkinnn””” baaaaaaaaaaalllllllllll

I bet they boing up and down a lot when someone turns over. Or when the wind blows.

Funnily enoughwas looking at these myself recently. Is that Defender one an Italian brand? If so the ones I saw were 3k 😯

3k??? Hmmm, a couple of backpacking holidays to far-flung places on the globe, vs a week in Rhyl with that roof-tent?

Of course, If have cash to take or hire a 4×4 across the globe then a 3k roof tent is an afterthought. It is a neat design I’d have one.

*+1 for not using up the Cairngorms 😉

…just need to remember you are 5ft in the air when you get up in the middle of the night for a tiddle!

No worse than sleeping in the top bunk

I bet they boing up and down a lot when someone turns over. Or when the wind blows.

“If the tent is boinging don’t come knocking”

I don’t think I’d struggle to see what was going on in any of the ‘voyeur’ tents in my pictures!!

DrP

Bossing it in the Kimberley (2005). The roof’s the only place to be with all the psychotic creatures round there (not talking about Mrs Scuttler)

Roll on to 2015 and here’s the roof tent 🙂

I really like the look of these tents.

Anyone had any experience of using one in the UK/Europe?
Are they “accepted” in Aires or other motorhome specific areas?

Reason I ask is that we’re considering a family camper build next year and converting a transit combi van. Pop up roofs are considerably more expensive for something that’s largely similar to a roof tent.

Are these kind of things perceived the same as throwing a tent up in a car park or does having them on the car make them more free-camp friendly?

I never had any problems with mine. It sometimes involved some pointing and explaining to the campsite owner to explain what the hell I was on about, but never an issue.

My brother’s roof tent gives plenty living room.

About 40 years ago I had a roof rack that was a tent. You put it up like a Gazebo with the extending legs, then drove the car out.