$2600+shipping for the smallest tent! Man you must travel a lot!

 

Yup, it is a lot of $$. I want to do more desert exploration in AZ during my retirement years and a comfortable bed would be nice. Compared to a F350 diesel pickup and a camper, it is merely pocket change.

 

A Coleman "Instant Tent" and an air mattress would be 1/10th of the price, just as fast, and much easier to get in and out of.

Put it up in about 2 minutes....

 

I understand that desire to be off the ground! What's appealing to me about the rooftop tents is that, at 53, I don't want to have to get myself up off the ground after a night's sleep. Still, I decided to just continue with a ground tent. I decided the rooftop would only make sense on those trips where you camp in one spot for one day only then move on. If you're staying for a couple days or more you'd have to pack up camp every time you wanted to use your car (even if you were coming back to that camp spot).

I looked at Tepui tents when I was considering it. Even went and saw one. Nice tents. Their smaller model is only $820. Ayer | Tepui Tents

I see they do rentals now! I might have to take them up on one of those to see how it really would be on a trip. The are in Santa Cruz just about 40 miles from me.

 

Thanks, campisi.
I've seen lots of roof top tents over the years, but never really took a second look at them once I set my eyes set on a hard shell AutoHome tent. The one thing that I liked most about the AutoHome is just throw the ladder in and close the lid and hit the road. Set up time and sleeping up above the rattle snakes and scorpions is at the top of my list.

I do see several advantages to the Ayer Tent beyond just the price, which is a big one. First one is it's a small package folded up, on top of the car or off sitting in the garage. Since it's almost always dry here in AZ, I'd rarely need to fold it up wet. The tent fly provides some shade which is paramount in the desert. Also, I could use my existing oem aero load bars vs needing 49-50" bars for the AutoHome unit.

The Ayer Tent does take up space beside the car to set it up, not sure if that is a big deal or not, just a bit less contained. Takes a minute or two longer to close up, from installing the travel cover. The other is it's a bit less aerodynamic but would still work fine. Neither are deal breakers.
Hmm, this has me thinking…………..:smile2:

 

If I was retired and could afford it I'd buy that roof top! Seems pretty cool to me....

 

If you have the appropriate roof rack, how much weight can you hold on the roof? Could 2 people sleep in that thing, considering the vehicle is not moving?

For the $, it really isn't all that bad. You will get years of use out of it.

I am assuming all vehicles are different in this regard.

 

Excellent question, Shredmo.
Which I do not have a solid answer for, maybe someone else does. This is only speculation, but would be surprised if the roof rails were engineered with anything less than 2 to 1 safety factor since a hard jolt could roughly double the weight. Factory roof rail load limits are 165# I think, so 165 x 2 is 330#. GF and I together including the tent would be only 355# and then the fact it's not driving down the road when occupied. Seems doable.
*I should also add that the ladder supports some of the load too.

 

Have had one for 7 years and love it! Get the medium like mine, you won't regret it.

 

Have had one for 7 years and love it! Get the medium like mine, you won't regret it.

Excellent, Kevin. Now I remember seeing your sand dune pic. Sure seems like the perfect solution for basic camping. Are you running a fridge/cooler with the solar?

 

PS I now have 2 x 100 watt semi-flex solar panels mounted on the camper roof.

 

That does look nice but man is it expensive. BTW, I wouldn't have mine on all the time. My plan was to rig up a multi-pulley lift system in my garage and just lift it up (including the cross-bars) and leave it up there all the time. Just lower it on to the car when I want to go camping.

 

Purchased

Thanks for everyones input on RTTs……after some deliberation I bought a tent, but not the AutoHome Columbus (maybe someday). After checking out the Tepui tents online that "campisi" pointed out in this thread I found it to suit my needs even better than the Columbus tent, it is also less then 1/3 the $$$. After reading every review I could find online, they seem hold up very well, people like them and next to zero negative comments.

I looked at them in person at "Bivouac Camping Trailers" in N. Phoenix AZ and ordered it through them. I got the smallest "Ayer" Tan model, 820$ + tax & no shipping charges if I picked it up there.

Mounting today, camping tomorrow :smile2:
Pics to follow……

 

Nice! Anxious to hear your review of it and see it on your Forester.
I just got back from a camping trip along the coast of Northern California where that tent could have come in very handy. Slept in my ground tent one night and in the back of the Forester two nights.
BTW - a Maggiolina Airland (used) RTT just came up for sale on Craigslist Bay Area. Asking $2K for it. I wonder what the wife would say if I bought it?!
Maggiolina Airland Roof Top Tent Like New

 

Taking Tent Camping to a Whole New Level

I've had the new Tepui roof top tent mounted on my Forester for awhile now and have used it a few times too. Very happy with it so far! It takes just a few minutes to open up and about twice as long to fold it back up, but I am getting faster each time I do it. There are possibly a few things that could be better and some things I will improve as I see fit. Overall, it is a great tent and a good value.

The Forester drives fine with the tent, maybe even better with some extra weight which defies logic, but the dash rattles more (?). I have not driven it far enough to get a good idea on mpg loss. I'm sure there will be some loss but so far doesn't seem horrible.

The 2.5" mattress is comfortable enough for us. Nice views up top and good air flow with 4 windows/screens and just plain cool being up off the ground…...Like a tree house on wheels.

To alleviate one known problem, I've added a 24"W x 40"L piece of 6061 T6 .050" aluminum underneath the ladder. This was to prevent the ladder from denting (or worse) the thin platform skin. Using 3m outdoor tape to stick it down I was able to catch three ribs (12" OC) and then taped across the ends. Now the ladder has something a bit stronger to rest on while driving down the road.

I still need to add a battery powered LED light inside, a hanging gear loft shelf for shoes underneath the ladder outside and maybe a shelf inside too.

The decision to use my already owned Sub oem aero bars under the tent was not so good. One bar at the sliding plastic clamp joint already shows signs of fatigue and is sagging. Ordered some Thule crossroad bars to replace them.
***After closer inspection, I found that the slightly sagging clamp joint was actually loose! So, tightened it up all is well. Still plan to change out to the new Thule bars and feel that they are a bit stronger since the bars are sitting on top of the rails.*

Here are a few pics :smile2:

 

I've had the new Tepui roof top tent mounted on my Forester for awhile now and have used it a few times too. Very happy with it so far! It takes just a few minutes to open up and about twice as long to fold it back up, but I am getting faster each time I do it. There are possibly a few things that could be better and some things I will improve as I see fit. Overall, it is a great tent and a good value.

The Forester drives fine with the tent, maybe even better with some extra weight which defies logic, but the dash rattles more (?). I have not driven it far enough to get a good idea on mpg loss. I'm sure there will be some loss but so far doesn't seem horrible.

The 2.5" mattress is comfortable enough for us. Nice views up top and good air flow with 4 windows/screens and just plain cool being up off the ground…...Like a tree house on wheels.

To alleviate one known problem, I've added a 24"W x 40"L piece of 6061 T6 .050" aluminum underneath the ladder. This was to prevent the ladder from denting (or worse) the thin platform skin. Using 3m outdoor tape to stick it down I was able to catch three ribs (12" OC) and then taped across the ends. Now the ladder has something a bit stronger to rest on while driving down the road.

I still need to add a battery powered LED light inside, a hanging gear loft shelf for shoes underneath the ladder outside and maybe a shelf inside too.

The decision to use my already owned Sub oem aero bars under the tent was not so good. One bar at the sliding plastic clamp joint already shows signs of fatigue and is sagging. Ordered some Thule crossroad bars to replace them.
***After closer inspection, I found that the slightly sagging clamp joint was actually loose! So, tightened it up all is well. Still plan to change out to the new Thule bars and feel that they are a bit stronger since the bars are sitting on top of the rails.*

Here are a few pics :smile2:

Is that the Kukenam tent? I'm going to do a really long road trip to TX and was planning on taking it with me to avoid hotel costs. Wondering if you had any updates on MPG. I'll take a few pictures when I load it up, I have 58" Yakima round bars.

 

Puerto Peñasco & MPG

Finally made a trip down to Puerto Peñasco on the Sea of Cortez for a couple of days. Sleeping in the Tepui tent was great! It was plenty warm, comfortable and we had a good time.

MPG: It was a bit over 200 mi RT highway, 25 mi city and then we drove out to El Pinacate (pic) 45 mi of gravel roads with loose sand and washboards. Overall, 30.4 mpg indicated and actual is usually .8 to 1.0 under. Very happy camper with the mpg considering the tent being on top.
:smile2:

 

More mpg reports

Made two more short trips with the tent on my Forester.

1) Over to Tucson, about 280mi RT. Windy heading over and ended up with 29.3 average.
2) Up to Phoenix w/tent and also towing a 4 x 8 trailer, about 240mi. Windy again heading up there and averaged 27.5.

The tent does take a small chunk out of the mpg as expected, about the same for the trailer. It will be interesting to see if a wind deflector will help with the mpg, when I get it built.

 

The gas mileage penalty will be phenomenal.
CR and everyone else who has tested roof carriers of that size measures a penalty of over 5 mpg.
They actually measure it, not just look at the car computer.

The gas mileage of a trailer with a smaller profile than the towing car is small, and about the same penalty of the equivalent weight carried inside the car.

CR actually compared both small trailers and roof carriers in the same test.
There is a day and night difference between a roof carrier and a small trailer, and every proper test has shown that.

 

The gas mileage penalty will be phenomenal.


Noticeable and measurable, Yes.
"Phenomenal"……(very remarkable; extraordinary)….Hardly!

 

Rooftop tents are an incredibly great way to travel. I took my 2010 Forester on an 8,000-mile roadtrip across the county last fall and loved sleeping in my ridiculously expensive Maggiolina rooftop tent. When I was at Yellowstone I didn't have to worry about the buffalo coming through the campground trampling me. It was cozy and warm inside. When I arrived at a campsite at 10:00 pm, I popped it up and crawled inside to sleep--five minutes from driving to sleeping. You can store some of your gear in the tent when it is closed. I kept my sleeping bag, pillows, and some sleeping clothes inside so that I didn't need to go rooting around in the dark for gear.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/trailpixie/15804545221/

From the inside:

 

Rooftop tents are an incredibly great way to travel. I took my 2010 Forester on an 8,000-mile roadtrip across the county last fall and loved sleeping in my ridiculously expensive Maggiolina rooftop tent. When I was at Yellowstone I didn't have to worry about the buffalo coming through the campground trampling me. It was cozy and warm inside. When I arrived at a campsite at 10:00 pm, I popped it up and crawled inside to sleep--five minutes from driving to sleeping. You can store some of your gear in the tent when it is closed. I kept my sleeping bag, pillows, and some sleeping clothes inside so that I didn't need to go rooting around in the dark for gear.

Very nice set up, fike. Fantastic flickr photos, looks like a great trip!

We love sleeping in our roof top tent (RTT) too. A person needs to actually try a roof top tent once to fully appreciate how great it is to sleep up off the ground in comfort. For me, other big feature of a RTT vs sleeping inside a car/pu is that it is not necessary to move and reorganize everything inside the car twice daily to be able to lay down (x2 w/nap:grin2.
Thanks for sharing!

 

Some great pictures of adventures from you folks!!!!!!! Beautiful country out there. I appreciate you all sharing those.....Your roof tops are so cool, may I can get one in the future as well..

 

There's a RTT that's been for sale on CL here in the Bay Area (actually in Carmel which is about 1 1/2 hours south of me) for a few months. It looks to be an Autohome, probably a small Airland. Ad doesn't say. Guy's asking $1800 ... I should probably give him a call and go see it. Here's the link if anyone's interested:

Roof top tent

Jdog, you're right in the middle of the best road tripping in the country! I wish I lived closer to Utah/Northern Arizona.

 

Wow, what a concept. Not for me at my point in life, but my outdoors adventurer son would like this for the week at Burning Man or a camping weekend in the mountains. Looks like either a Forester or Impreza would be a good base vehicle without suffering with truck fuel mileage.

 

Rear attached tent?????

Was in Florida in Nov/Dec

Got a black friday deal on one of these to attach to rear of my '14 XT
Napier 86000 - Hatchbacks Blue/Grey Napier Sportz Dome to Go Tent - Universal Camping Tents

Intend building my own DIY sleeping platform and shallow cooking/sink/storage unit inspired by the amdro boot jump, not for sitting in tho...
Amdro Alternative Camper Conversions


Will be taking setup for wknds away MTB and visiting Isles off West coast of Scotland, like the Islay Whisky Festival in May....

Camping « Kintra Farm, Islay Holiday Cottages, B and B, Camping

Anyone used the Napier Sports tents, look good quality.

Will post pics back in the spring, snow and ice here at the moment!

 

For longer trips Ive also got a couple of windbreaks + One of these tarps
Adventure Tarp

For the odd single night on my own, no need for tent, I hope to just park up late on quiet offroad track and leave early am enroute to proper campsite.

 

I'm seriously looking into a RTT for my Forester. Love the autohome Columbus variant but can't afford it so looking at the Ayer. Does anyone have a dog that uses their RTT as well? I'm in the beginning planning phase but there are 92" pet ramps that I wonder if it would work. It would be steep but with added traction I wonder if it would work. My other thought was if I get a 24" or so platform to stand on I might be able to lift her in. Hard to visualize though. We travel for a dog sport and this would be great vs a regular tent as I wouldn't have to find an actual camp ground or could use an RV only type. Thanks

 

G'day & Welcome!

Teach her to climb a ladder! :grin2:

 

Hi. Just joined the group. We are looking for rooftop tent or a mini camper for our Forrester. Any recommendations?

 

@evanswartz I see you're new to the forum, so welcome to the forum from Oregon!

Your thread has been merged with this existing thread on the same subject.

Bobby...

['07 FSXT Member Journal] ['03 X Member Journal]

 

I just recently went with the ikamper skycamp 2.0 due to its 4 person capacity and being hard shell was a huge plus. Have yet to receive it but will surely post a picture when I do.