Official Is a rooftop tent (RTT) for me?

[cruiseroutfit]

There have been quite a few new players in the roof top tent scene as of late, unfortunately most of them are just simple copy/paste of the same old Chinese designs, nothing innovative or surprising yet they all have some flashy new logo.

However, today we get one that floats as well




I’ve spent hundreds of nights in a roof top tent starting in 2005. I can’t think of a single night where I thought “man I wish this thing also floated” lol

 

[TRD270]

There have been quite a few new players in the roof top tent scene as of late, unfortunately most of them are just simple copy/paste of the same old Chinese designs, nothing innovative or surprising yet they all have some flashy new logo.

However, today we get one that floats as well


View attachment 138102

I’ve spent hundreds of nights in a roof top tent starting in 2005. I can’t think of a single night where I thought “man I wish this thing also floated” lol

When I first scrolled down before reading and saw the top picture on the right my first thought was man that dude really wanted to test his snorkel on his Range Rover

 

[nnnnnate]

Has anyone had to deal with a broken zipper on their cover? The very beginning of the zipper broke off this last trip, the male end, and I'd guess it either needs to be replaced or I need a new cover. The cover from tepui is $159 but they are sold out until the end of July.

I'm kind of thinking if I go the route of getting a new zipper sewn on it's going to cost as much as the replacement cover.

Am I wrong?

 

[moab_cj5]

Has anyone had to deal with a broken zipper on their cover? The very beginning of the zipper broke off this last trip, the male end, and I'd guess it either needs to be replaced or I need a new cover. The cover from tepui is $159 but they are sold out until the end of July.

I'm kind of thinking if I go the route of getting a new zipper sewn on it's going to cost as much as the replacement cover.

Am I wrong?

I've had Sugar House Awning sew stuff for me in the past. They repaired a couple of soft tops about a decade ago. Wouldn't have cost deets anymore.

 

[Kevin B.]

I'm kind of thinking if I go the route of getting a new zipper sewn on it's going to cost as much as the replacement cover.

That's what I ran into. My cover was damaged in several places and so was the zipper, so I ended up making a new cover. I used some fancy treated canvas from Sailrite and a new zipper, came in under $100 I think.

What part of your zipper is broken? The teeth, or the pull?

 

[nnnnnate]

That's what I ran into. My cover was damaged in several places and so was the zipper, so I ended up making a new cover. I used some fancy treated canvas from Sailrite and a new zipper, came in under $100 I think.

What part of your zipper is broken? The teeth, or the pull?

The teeth are damaged. Specifically the first tooth, the long one that you use to seat the zipper into the pull as you start to zip. The whole long tooth is gone so I couldn't get it to zip back up on a recent trip to the devils playground. I used a couple ratchet straps to kind of hold the cover in place for the rest of the trip but it obviously is subtracting from my expo points and I've got another trip in a couple weeks down at Palisades and was hoping to get it resolved by then. With the covers being sold out though it seems I'll be rocking the ratchet straps a while longer.

Full disclosure, when we lived at my parents house a couple years ago while our house was being built I had the tent stored in their garage. It was leaning against a wall but my dad moved it a few times by dragging it across the concrete which naturally wore some holes in the cover. Anyway, those holes got patched up and they wouldn't tell me what it cost to fix it but thats one reason I was kind of leaning towards getting a new cover anyway.

 

[moab_cj5]

The teeth are damaged. Specifically the first tooth, the long one that you use to seat the zipper into the pull as you start to zip. The whole long tooth is gone so I couldn't get it to zip back up on a recent trip to the devils playground. I used a couple ratchet straps to kind of hold the cover in place for the rest of the trip but it obviously is subtracting from my expo points and I've got another trip in a couple weeks down at Palisades and was hoping to get it resolved by then. With the covers being sold out though it seems I'll be rocking the ratchet straps a while longer.

Full disclosure, when we lived at my parents house a couple years ago while our house was being built I had the tent stored in their garage. It was leaning against a wall but my dad moved it a few times by dragging it across the concrete which naturally wore some holes in the cover. Anyway, those holes got patched up and they wouldn't tell me what it cost to fix it but thats one reason I was kind of leaning towards getting a new cover anyway.

A new zipper sewn in likely won't be too expensive if you want to go that route as a patch, but the ratchet straps are free...

 

[Kevin B.]

The teeth are damaged. Specifically the first tooth, the long one that you use to seat the zipper into the pull as you start to zip.

Bring that up around my way, let's see what we can do.




Although I will say, the ratchet strap subtracts more mall crawler points than expo points. I ran ratchet straps on mine for a couple years before I got sick of them...

 

[nnnnnate]

Cool. I'm pretty busy for the next couple days but will holler when I've got a minute.

Luckily, I have been able to park the cruiser (and tent) and haven't needed to commute in it for a few months. I just don't think my self esteem could handle such a bit hit, maybe if my straps were camo colored rather than bright orange it wouldn't be so bad.

 

[anderson750]

Bringing this back from the depths of forgotten threads. We have a couple trips planned this year with friends and my wife is not a sleep on the ground person and I don’t like the idea of sleeping in the back of the JKU.

I have read through this thread but have not looked at many of the brands listed at the beginning yet. What are some of the better lower prices tents on the market that are of decent quality? I can’t justify spending a lot of money on something I know I won’t use more than a couple times a year.

 

[Kevin B.]

Bringing this back from the depths of forgotten threads. We have a couple trips planned this year with friends and my wife is not a sleep on the ground person and I don’t like the idea of sleeping in the back of the JKU.

I have read through this thread but have not looked at many of the brands listed at the beginning yet. What are some of the better lower prices tents on the market that are of decent quality? I can’t justify spending a lot of money on something I know I won’t use more than a couple times a year.

@moab_cj5 has a rad price on a very good tent right now. If you don't need a ton of space those hardshell tents are the way to go in my opinion.

For Sale - Hard Shell Roof Top Tent

I'm selling my Hard shell roof top tent. Has about a dozen nights slept in it. Tent weighs less than 140lbs. 6" tall when closed. Load bars for carrying gear on top. Insulated bottom. Not a name brand, but same as small Hutch Tent. $1500 for RME. Let me know if you're interested. Located in...

www.rme4x4.com

 

[moab_cj5]

Bringing this back from the depths of forgotten threads. We have a couple trips planned this year with friends and my wife is not a sleep on the ground person and I don’t like the idea of sleeping in the back of the JKU.

I have read through this thread but have not looked at many of the brands listed at the beginning yet. What are some of the better lower prices tents on the market that are of decent quality? I can’t justify spending a lot of money on something I know I won’t use more than a couple times a year.

How tall are you? Mine is great for 5'10" or shorter people. Setup and take down is super fast and the tent is pretty good quality for a no name. If you're ever up in Davis County I'm happy to show it to you.

 

[anderson750]

I was looking at that one but the front to back length would probably require a bigger roof rack that would prevent me from being able to remove the front top pieces on my JKU. Have Ben looking g more at the style that extends over the side.

 

[rholbrook]

I bought a SmittyBilt and have enjoyed it. I got the queen size bed which I would do again.

 

[The_Lobbster]

I’ve seen you can get a fiberglass hardtop pop up tent from China direct for around $800 prior to shipping. I’ve been thinking about demo’ing one, and if it’s decent, bringing in a container full to resell.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I’ve seen you can get a fiberglass hardtop pop up tent from China direct for around $800 prior to shipping. I’ve been thinking about demo’ing one, and if it’s decent, bringing in a container full to resell.

That‘s been done a handful of times by folks in town alone. I’ve not seen them do a second order yet

QC on a sample of an often knocked-off product, rarely matches the QC of the bulk container.