Questions You Should Know about canvas roof top tent

Purchasing a rooftop tent is a big step. Generally, they're quite expensive and it's difficult to quantify how worthy of an investment one will be until you've experienced one yourself. So, I'll be the guinea pig and walk you through the aspects of owning a rooftop tent that you only get to encounter by owning your own. We have only owned ours for a short period of time, but here is what I've learned so far. 

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Camping in 3,2,1'

These tents literally unfold in minutes. From the time you put your vehicle in park, you could be in your sleeping bag within five minutes. The hardest part for us is getting the weatherproof canvas off. It's just a zipper, but its precarious orientation on the roof makes it a bit of a challenge. Once you unzip though, the tent pops out in seconds and it's up to you whether or not you want to unzip the windows or prop up the awnings. Getting the tent fully opened and extended still only takes a few minutes though. Many pop-up versions only require a few latches to be undone before the tent rises to life. Not to mention, our tent (not every rooftop tent) can store all of our sleeping materials. Pillows, sleeping bags, and pajamas stay in the tent, so there's no fumbling through bags for clothes to sleep in, or rolling up a sleeping bag every morning.

With the tent atop the car, there's no searching for a smooth, flat area to place a tent on the ground. You'll still need to find an area to park your car that is relatively level, though. We have slept while parked on a decent angle, and it was a minor inconvenience, but nothing like sleeping on tree roots or rocks. The tent does not add much to the footprint of the vehicle itself either, so you can essentially camp wherever you can fit your car, especially if you have a pop-up tent. 

 Safety and Peace of Mind

For me, my biggest concern with tent camping is safety. Whether it be from a human or a bear, I have always felt a bit vulnerable trapped in a raincoat supported by fishing poles. During rainstorms I always imagine a torrent of water coming and flooding the tent or washing us away. And if I'm in the woods there's always the fear of critters getting into the tent somehow. I've even had a snake slither under the tent once. All of these fears almost completely disappear with a rooftop tent. Being on top of your car ensures that nothing can overtake your tent. Critters aren't crawling up the side of your car to get to you and if any floodwaters get to the level of your tent floor then you weren't meant to survive the night anyway. 

Warmth

I am no expert in winter camping, but I have slept (or at least tried to sleep) through a number of frigid nights. On the floor of Death Valley, sleeping in bags rated for 20°F, on a foot thick air mattress, in a tent, wearing multiple layers, I shivered through the night as it dropped to ~35°F. In our rooftop tent, we slept like babies. Granted, we were in our two-person sleeping bag, but it is not rated for the cold at all. We're still weighing the benefits of sleeping individually in cold-rated bags versus the combination bag.  Regardless,  37°F was beautifully comfortable atop the Subaru. I was still in a hoodie and pajama pants, but I slept with my torso out of the bag for most of the night. 

Mosquitos

The mechanics of a tent that folds up like an accordion mean that the canvas tent is not a complete, solid unit. At the hinge of the tent there is a small opening that is covered by a canvas loin cloth held in place by Velcro. It's weatherproof from your ordinary rainstorms, but torrential downpours and blowing wind might be a bit of an issue if you're not careful. This also means there are small crevices for insects to enter through. Although no ground critters are likely to scale the sides of your vehicle to these entry points, mosquitos are notoriously crafty and can get into just about any place they want. It may take some extra sealing up if you plan on staying in a place that has a particularly nasty mosquito infestation. This is not necessarily the case for every tent though, especially pop-up versions, which seem to be completely sealed.

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Fuel economy

Obviously, adding a small sail that weighs ~100lbs to the roof of your car is going to affect the aerodynamics, but how much? We are still analyzing data from our Subaru Forester, but the results are of the order of a 7-9% fuel efficiency loss.  This can be made less severe with a wind deflector (the front of the tent is simply a flat face, with a surface area of approximately 4sq. ft.). Personal driving habits also come in to play, as a primary contributor to wind resistance is proportional to velocity squared, so increased speed exponentially increases drag. This is probably why with our Subaru we see such a large loss, since we are most often driving ~85mph on western highways. This is not always the case with rooftop tents, as some are rather low profile and are more aerodynamic, but those are typically pop-up tents rather than unfolding tents, which are generally more expensive.

Is My Vehicle Right for a Rooftop Tent?

It may seem like you need a massive vehicle with reinforced everything to use one of these, but the reality is that they're not as cumbersome as they look. It may look ridiculous perched atop a Mini Cooper, but the stress they place on your vehicle is surprisingly minimal. Our tent weighs ~100lbs. Many standard roof racks are rated for 150lbs of dynamic weight* so make sure you check your car's rating and the weight of the tent, since many tents weigh in right around 150lbs. Any upgraded rack bars (i.e. Yakima, Thule, etc.) should be able to support a few hundred pounds of static weight. Trucks with bed racks may run into issues if they are too tall. Torque is linearly dependent on force and distance, so the less weight you have up high and the lower its center of gravity, the fewer issues you will have on trails when things get rocky. 

*Be careful when comparing weight ratings. Static weight is how much weight something can support standing still, while dynamic weight is the force applied to your roof rack while driving (turning, stopping, etc.).

Mounting the Tent

I cannot speak for all brands of rooftop tents, but mounting ours is not the easiest process. First, while the tent only weighs 100lbs, it is big and cumbersome so you will almost certainly need a second person to help you lift the tent to and from the roof of your vehicle. Some people design personal cranes to hoist the tent off of their vehicles in their garages, but we don't all have that luxury, so plan on having it on your car quite often if you don't have help. With two people the actual lifting and maneuvering of the tent isn't bad, though. My wife and I are able to lift it off the car, and carry it through the house to the back yard storage with some effort, but not a terrible amount of it. 

Physically attaching the tent to the roof rack is a bit of a hassle, since the area between the tent and car is rather narrow, and cranking down bolts through small slots and holding nuts behind cross bars requires a bit of contortion, endurance, and a lot of patience.  A ratcheting wrench or a set of sockets is practically necessary. Our tent came with a ratcheting 13mm wrench, thankfully. Mechanics will no doubt have an easier time than the rest of us. From when the tent is slid on the roof rack, it takes me between twenty and thirty minutes to attach the four brackets onto the tent channels and fasten them to the cross members.

 Space saver

A lot of tents are different, so this is not universal, but our tent has enough room in it to store all sleeping materials while on a trip. The tent already includes a 4' thick mattress, but we can also keep two pillows, our double sleeping bag, and our pajamas in the tent. That frees up a lot of room in the vehicle, and a lot of frustration. We do not need to roll up a sleeping back every morning, and we don't have to worry about our pillows getting dirty with the rest of our gear in the car. There's no need to dig for pajamas either. If we roll into camp real late it's nice to just be able to fold out the tent and get ready for bed without thinking too much about it. 

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Welcome. This topic has been covered many times but it's also a personal choice for your own unique situation. Here's some great reading material:

Roof Top Tent Comparison Test :: Who Takes the Prize? - Expedition Portal

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Spring . I still remember how -57°F felt, a cold beyond description, as if all life had escaped along with my body heat. I recall fighting against the cover of the roof tent, the vinyl becoming hard as stone in the...

The Traveler's Tree House - Expedition Portal

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Gear Guide . The mere mention of the word overlanding is often enough to evoke images of sunsets on the Serengeti, the silhouette of a truck marked for adventure by the outline of a roof top tent. Although roof...

Roof Top Tents Vs Campers: The Pros and Cons - Expedition Portal

Four years. That is how long my family and I lived in a roof top tent. The four of us camped almost every day of those long years'cooking outside, living outside, and sleeping between walls of canvas. As the kids grew and our journey evolved from an adventure into a lifestyle, we realized that it... @Randun It really is a personal thing, I slept in a ground tent for a couple of years but trying to find clear space, and sometimes dryish to pitch the tent got tired fast. I then slept inside for about 8 years, but as my trips got longer that was always work juggling gear to sleep.

Last year I got an RTT, a small one Tepui Ayer 2 man, it is light (95lbs) and works well for me.

Setup and take down about 15 minutes a little more in the rain or snow
Fuel economy hit not measurable , but I drive an 04 LR Discovery II so it is not like I had any fuel economy anyway
Off road performance impact none, but I do not rock crawl and the Disco is heavy

Best thing here in the Pacific Northwest, if I can find a more or less level spot and a hockey stick of distance off the side of the Disco I am good to sleep.

A few things it will not really protect you from either bears or nosey racoons, they can both climb. I have not had an issue with either off roading, but I have seen raccoons climb step ladders
If it gets wet you will need somewhere to setup and air it out when you get home
They are not cheap
Most times you are not getting into any garages with one up there
You will need good load bars or a roof rack and those count against your dynamic roof load. (total safe weight up top when moving)
If you like to camp in one spot for day then explore each day you will setting up and taking down the tent every day. Not an issue for me as I go solo and tend to move a fair bit. Pros:
-Look cool on social media
-Not sleeping on the ground
-You can pretend to be on an expedition

Cons:
-Expensive
-Can make your vehicle top heavy
-Can drop your MPG
-Can't stand up to put your pants on inside of one
-Have to crawl down a ladder to pee at night
-Can't store much in it when its all folded up
-Garages and parking garages are now off limits
-Hard to haul kayaks or a canoe
-Vehicle is stuck when its being used
-Can cause issues if you pack it up wet
-Requires a beefy roof rack or bars
-Looks silly when you are parked at the mall I have a Baroud Evasion Hardshell. I like it, but will definitely not get a Baroud again. My current favorite is the ikamper skycamp. Good summary of pros / cons by jnich77. Expanding on that a little, setup / takedown is very easy with most hardshells, so you can roll into camp at 1am and be in bed at 1:03. The Baroud is easy to towel off and close up even when raining. But you need to level the truck to level the tent (or devise a leveling system for your rack). Most of them really suck to get out of because you are backing out of a tent and down a ladder. Adding decks dramatically improves the RTT experience, especially getting in and out. They will be a target for thieves, many RTT's do not have any theft prevention measures built in, so you may not feel comfortable leaving your rig places with the RTT installed.

I have a Baroud Evasion Hardshell. I like it, but will definitely not get a Baroud again. My current favorite is the ikamper skycamp. Good summary of pros / cons by jnich77. Expanding on that a little, setup / takedown is very easy with most hardshells, so you can roll into camp at 1am and be in bed at 1:03. The Baroud is easy to towel off and close up even when raining. But you need to level the truck to level the tent (or devise a leveling system for your rack). Most of them really suck to get out of because you are backing out of a tent and down a ladder. Adding decks dramatically improves the RTT experience, especially getting in and out. They will be a target for thieves, many RTT's do not have any theft prevention measures built in, so you may not feel comfortable leaving your rig places with the RTT installed.

We have a large Tepui that we love and are looking to move to a hardshell. Why wouldn't you go with the Baroud again? The XXL is our top choice. I have leveled my truck for a RTT before so I'm not concerned about that aspect. What particular didn't you like about the Baroud?

I went from sleeping in a tent of various sizes for about 50 years, to a RTT on a trailer to an Aliner..The older I get the more comfortable I want to be.

That's my wife.

My own Pro/Cons:

Pro:
Flat sleeping area
Away from any critters/animals
Don't need to fuss with a ground tent when it's windy
Keeps in more heat
Packing up is a little bit cleaner; don't have to roll up a tent on the ground
Can be setup anywhere the vehicle goes

Con:
Have to walk around the vehicle multiple times during set up; undo straps, remove cover, undo ladder
Not all campgrounds are RTT-friendly
Level rig is a must
You're up there for the duration unless you really, really have to pee
Keeps in the heat
On/Off vehicle is a PITA sometimes; can limit vehicle in day-to-day living
Sucks to tear down/set-up if you're staying in a campground multiple days but drive places.


It's also a pretty good conversation piece. We've had multiple people ask about our RTT and if we like it.

What particular didn't you like about the Baroud?

As was already posted in response, there are some well documented problems with some Baroud tents. I actually really like mine, but there are a few problems. One is that the bottom isn't perfectly flat. The sides are slightly lower than the middle where the rails are. This will cause crossbars to dig into the bottom of the tent if they aren't long enough to protrude from the sides of the tent. Very poor documentation from Baroud as far as whether crossbars should be wider than the tent or not, and the bottom not being flat just seems like poor quality control, bad design, or both. Then it seems like my tent may be developing the dreaded fabric wear problem. Not enough to worry me yet. Add that to a nightmare experience buying the tent, and the result is I will not buy one again. Just seems like Baroud is still trying to coast on being the only quality product in the RTT market for years, meanwhile other companies are clearly innovating. There are a lot more options now than just a few years ago when I bought my Baroud tent.