What is the Point of a Roof Top Tent?

Tents with roof tops (RTTs) are getting more and more popular in the UK each season. In this post, we’ll take an look at the reason for that. You’ve probably seen cars moving around with what appears like a strange-looking storage bag with a roof, but these are actually tents that fold up into a scrumptious oases off the ground. If this list of ideas doesn’t convince you to invest in one in your house it’s unlikely to.

What’s the benefit of a tent on top of the roof? Here’s 5 advantages:

1. Dozing off on the ground

Because you’ll be on the roof on your car, many roof tents can be accessed using the telescoping ladder. That means that even in the event of rain and you are on top of your vehicle, you won’t be sleeping in a puddle , or in the deep mud pit. It’s also easy to get the breeze when you’re away from the ground, meaning that you’ll be more breathable and cooler in summertime. Additionally, you’ll enjoy the advantage of a higher vantage point when you’re high above the ground. it’s almost like living in the treehouse!

Being elevated off the ground keeps dirt and other debris from your tent. For example, if you’re camping on dusty or sand ground, you could climb up the ladder, scrub off your shoes and go into your tent and not leave any trace of dirt inside.

2. It’s safer

This is an additional benefit of standing away from the ground, but it’s a good reason to have its own argument. The animals are more likely be able to enter your tent when it’s not on the ground, particularly if you take down the ladder even when you’re not inside the tent, which means squirrels and other creatures won’t have a chance to climb it up. It’s much more difficult for creepy crawlies such as scorpions, spiders, or snakes to enter your tent, too.

The world of Australia and Africa in Africa, where there are very nasty creatures in the dirt RTTs have been a hit for a long time, however they’ve begun to take on in the UK in recent years as well.

It’s also an obstacle for those who want to purchase some great camping equipment at the five-finger mark, since they’ll be unable to take your 150-pound roof tent from the roof of your car, especially without making a great deal of noise or injuring their own. A tent set on the ground can be pulled from its place and taken away in just a few minutes.

The tent you set up set up on top of your vehicle lets you store the expensive equipment inside your vehicle that is locked while you are asleep. Many offroaders who are devoted have their beds in their trucks with an over-the-top truck however, this means that when they’re sleeping, their equipment should be stored somewhere else. With a roof top tent the gear you have be stored in a safe place and stored away throughout the day.

3. A comfortable sleeping platform with a pad for sleep.

If you own the most luxurious ground tent and the most comfortable air mattress ever constructed, perhaps this isn’t an accurate statement, but in general the rooftop tents have memory foam mattresses with high density that are a lot superior to air mattresses. Particularly if your spouse or significant other camping with you , nearly being thrown off of the mattress each when the other person gets up even a little bit gets old quick.

The rooftop tents have also a solid bottom (usually steel, fiberglass aluminum, similar) which is incredibly smooth, in contrast to the ground. With or without an air bed sleeping on a rocky surface isn’t enjoyable. The tale of Princesses and Pea was not exaggerated that many times if you ask me. The experience of sleeping in a tent on the roof is quite different from sleeping in your home bed in terms of comfort overall.

4. Durability

If you’ve ever spent the night in a ground tent during a wind/rain/hail/snowstorm, you know that you are likely to be kept awake all night by flapping of the tent material, probably find yourself in a pool of cold water in the morning, and possibly even find your tent damaged beyond repair.

It’s especially terrifying when you get into a state of sleep, only to wake up to the damaged side of your tent being blown flat down to where it’s literally crushing you. And, perhaps you lose your tent off its stakes and you’re hamster-balled all over the campsite.

Fortunately there are no issues that can be a problem with the roof tent. A majority of them feature solid fiberglass panels that can be popped straight up or in an angle which shields you from the worst all elements. While most RTTs include canvas panels which may possibly sag in the winds but the canvas is more durable , and a lot of them come with mechanisms that let you make the canvas more tight when it’s windy.

The majority of ground tents are constructed to be light and compact however RTTS are designed to last and are durable as your vehicle is carrying all the weight. RTTs typically are constructed using aluminum or steel and canvas is more durable than the light materials used for ground tents.

5. Easy and quick to install and set up

The majority of RTTs are easy to put up: just need to park your vehicle in a fairly flat location remove the latches or locks and the tent will pop into place on its own, or you can easily fold it up. Certain tents come with annexes that take an additional few minutes to put up, but generally, RTTs are faster and more simple to put in comparison to ground tents because there aren’t poles to build or stakes to put through the earth.

In addition, the majority of RTTs allow the use of bedding set up even after the tent has been packed down, so that everything is ready to go when you start to open the tent. In a tent with a ground floor this is not feasible and you’d have to fill up the mattress with air or a sleeping pad before laying on top of your sleep bag.