3 Reasons Rooftop Tents are Better than Traditional Camping Tents

Rooftop tents - what do you think, passing fad or here to stay? Well what if we told you that people were cruising around back in the 1930s with tents on the roofs? In fact, they came around even further back than that, with the original patent being filed in 1926. What’s even crazier, is that the RTTs from the ‘40s and ‘50s look essentially the same as most of the tents you see today.

You might be forgiven for thinking it was a convincing Photoshop job, but those are real tents that were sold in the US, Europe, and elsewhere in the world. Really lends credence to the saying “everything old is new again.”

Here’s a 1949 Nash with a factory optional rooftop tent:
https://img.hmn.com/900x0/stories/2020/09/01163528/Nash_rtt.jpg

So, passing fad? We beg to differ! This did get us thinking more on rooftop tents, though, and figured it was high time to go over a few of the best reasons why we tend to prefer camping up in the air than down in the muck from time to time.

Rooftop Tents vs Traditional Tents

#1 - Ultra-Quick and Easy Setup and Breakdown

Nowadays even ground tents are mostly pretty quick to set-up, but even with how simplified down that procedure has become, they don’t hold a candle to most roof top tents. Of course this all depends on the model, but especially with the pop-up versions, set-up times are in the 1-3 minute range. If you go for the clamshell type, you can cut that to 30 seconds or under. Packing these up can take a little longer, but you’re still sitting at around 5-minutes for most models at the high end, plus a few minutes if you have an annex attached.

The thing that really sticks out for us, though, is that there are less little things to worry about. You don’t have to worry as much about the terrain you’re setting up over, or bother with things like tent stakes, and rolling the tent up to fit into those little bags they come in that are always too small.

#2 - You Can Camp Just About Anywhere

With a conventional tent, you don’t just need to find a flat spot. It also has to be relatively dry, free of rocks, branches, and other uncomfortable debris. Hopefully there is soil soft enough to get your tent stakes into (but not too loose, rendering them ineffective), and then there is the ever-present dilemma of getting things in and out of your tent without tracking dirt in. It can be a real hassle in some terrain.

With an RTT, however, you just arrive at your camping location, do your best to park your rig as flat as possible, and then pop that sucker out. Then you can spend your time setting up camp, cooking, and finally popping open that end-of-the-day beer next to the fire. If you can’t quite park flat enough, you can move around some small rocks to park onto, use your traction boards, or even air down select tires (if you have a compressor). Easy!

On top of that, this also makes impromptu trips down to the beach, local park, or even tailgating locations that much more fun and comfortable.

#3 - You’ve Got a Built-in Mattress Everywhere You Go

I’ve only camped with an air mattress a few times. You know why? Because I usually end up right in the middle of it, sagging down touching the ground due to some pin-hole leak somewhere that I’ll never ever find. Plus they’re a hassle to set-up and pack in/out. Roll-up bed mats are an improvement, but then that’s another thing you have to pack and store.

An underrated and often overlooked feature of roof top tents is that they have the mattress already there, ready to go. When you set up the tent, your mattress and even thin bedding is there waiting for you, and it doesn’t really take up any more room than the tent itself.

Types of Rooftop Tents

So we mentioned briefly that there are few different form factors for these tents, the most common being fold out, pop up, and clamshell. Fold out models tend to take up the most space, but also tend to be more affordable on average. Clamshell tents are often some of the most compact, aerodynamic, and quickest to set-up -- but they usually end up on the more expensive end of the market.

Often times price and weight end up being more important factors for buyers than the specific way in which the tent opens, so let’s explore those two ideas first:

Affordable Roof Top Tents:

When shopping RTTs, it becomes clear pretty quickly that even the budget options in the category aren’t exactly cheap. Even at the so-called “bottom” of the market, any rooftop tent is still going to cost you a decent chunk of change. There is an upside to this, however, in that even in the affordable end of the market, you’re getting a lot for your money.

Sitting around $999 and $950 respectively we have the TJM Yulara and the Body Armor SkyRidge Pike 2. The trade-off is that these will generally only sleep two adults, might lack some features of others, and are a bit heavier than more expensive tents of the same size. However, for the small family or weekend warrior that isn’t spending a huge amount of time off the grid, this might be a worthy trade-off considering you’re saving $1,000+ over some other options on the market. It all adds up!

Lightweight Rooftop Tents:

One of our favorite aspects of the overlanding community is the diversity of vehicles you see. Next to the decked out Rams and giant EarthRoamers, it’s pretty common to see a little Subaru romping around just the same. If this is you, though, you’re probably not looking lug a huge tent on top of your Crosstrek that weighs half as much as the car itself

That’s where tents like the Tepui Low-Pro 2 come in. They can be had in formats to sleep two or three people, and come in as light as 105lbs installed, making it one of the lightest RTTs on the market (most come in at around 130-160lbs). Obviously, that does come at the cost of total floor area, but at 29.2 sq-ft for the 2-person model, you still have a decent amount to work with.

This isn’t the cheapest tent on the list, but it’s still more affordable than much of the market. Plus, Tepui and Thule (who own Tepui) both have very high reputations with enthusiasts.

How to Set up a Roof Top Tent

Each specific tent will have its own specific instructions for set-up, but there are other factors to consider before you get to that point, and that is in the fitment in general. There are two main aspects to keep in mind before choosing a tent: The footprint and the weight.

You’ll most likely be able to get all the info you need from your owners manual, but it’s not a bad idea to break out the measuring tape to get an idea of sizes. You don’t want to have your tent sticking out wider than the width of the car. You’ll want to measure the distance between the roof rails as well as the total length.

Next, you’ll want to check the owner’s manual for the weight capacity of your roof rack. There are two weights to pay attention to here, and your manual might only list one: Static and dynamic weight limits. Static is for when the car is parked, and dynamic is the weight limit under normal driving. For static, you’ll want to add up the weight of the tent, the occupants, and a rough estimate of whatever other stuff you have up there with you. Most people with 2-person tents won’t reach these limits on all but smaller cars.