We're thinking about picking up a roof top tent. I've never used one and don't know much about them. The two we're considering are made by ARB and Maggiolina. Does anyone have experience with either of these brands (or others) and if so, what are your thoughts?
Appreciate the feedback!
Posted by Jack Garrett on May 14, 2011 at 10:57 PM
I saw a couple of these in campgrounds last year and while they looked really cool, I don't see great functionality. If you want to go somewhere, you have to fold it up before you can drive off..it would seem a tent would be a much better option. Just a thought.
Last summer, a friend of mine named Steve Petersen camped with me near a wildflower area near South Mineral Creek campground north of Silverton and he had an FJ Cruiser with a Maggiolina AirTop tent on top of his vehicle. Sure looked cool, and he absolutly loves it!
Shoot him an email asking for pros and cons, and he'll give you his honest assessment.
They work well if you will be changing campsites every night.....but if you like setting up a basecamp for a few days/nights, they can be a pain since you will have to pack it up each night in order to use your vehicle.
I'm aware of the good and bad aspects of camping on the roof of my vehicle. The roof top tent will only be for fast and light trips like our upcoming trip to the Oregon coast where we'll be moving daily. If we're basecamping we'll either use our camp trailer or a regular tent.
John: Thanks for the info. I'll get in touch with Steve!
Jason: I've been in much worse places during a storm.
They only work with pickups, since they're a shell+tent, but the flip-pac toppers are genius. I don't have one (yet?), but I've seen them around and been in a few of them when their owners have been generous enough to let me poke around.
Posted by Scott Fricke on May 16, 2011 at 12:27 AM
Bret,
If you still have your FJ you may want to look here, in case you haven't already.
Mark: I'll be getting a Tacoma within a year and those Flip-Pac toppers are pretty appealing. One downside: it'd be impossible to inconspicuously crash in a national park parking lot with one of those, whereas a standard topper draws less attention from the rangers. Certainly less comfortable, though.
Scott: Killer info in that link. Pretty much everything I ever wanted to know. Thanks, man!
Bret - I saw on David DuChemin's blog that he was using a roof top tent of sorts. That might be the same thing as the aforementioned flip. Pixelatedimage.com/blog scroll back to before his Italy disaster.
I agree. If I stay in the area, I'm looking at getting a truck for the dirt roads. For now, I'll probably stick to a regular shell that slopes up towards the back and install a 1/3 length (full width) shelf at the top of the edge for extra storage. If I need to, I could then have my feet under there and sleep in the back while still having room to sit up towards the back of the bed.
The nice thing about the Flip-Pacs is that even though I'm 6'4", I could fully stand up in the back of one when it's in the tent-mode. When I'm a little older...
Discussion
10 repliesAppreciate the feedback!
Shoot him an email asking for pros and cons, and he'll give you his honest assessment.
I'm aware of the good and bad aspects of camping on the roof of my vehicle. The roof top tent will only be for fast and light trips like our upcoming trip to the Oregon coast where we'll be moving daily. If we're basecamping we'll either use our camp trailer or a regular tent.
John: Thanks for the info. I'll get in touch with Steve!
Jason: I've been in much worse places during a storm.
They only work with pickups, since they're a shell+tent, but the flip-pac toppers are genius. I don't have one (yet?), but I've seen them around and been in a few of them when their owners have been generous enough to let me poke around.
If you still have your FJ you may want to look here, in case you haven't already.
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/camping-equipment/68554-complete-roof-top-tent-comparison.html
Do a search there are several other threads on the various RTT's.
Mark: I'll be getting a Tacoma within a year and those Flip-Pac toppers are pretty appealing. One downside: it'd be impossible to inconspicuously crash in a national park parking lot with one of those, whereas a standard topper draws less attention from the rangers. Certainly less comfortable, though.
Scott: Killer info in that link. Pretty much everything I ever wanted to know. Thanks, man!
I agree. If I stay in the area, I'm looking at getting a truck for the dirt roads. For now, I'll probably stick to a regular shell that slopes up towards the back and install a 1/3 length (full width) shelf at the top of the edge for extra storage. If I need to, I could then have my feet under there and sleep in the back while still having room to sit up towards the back of the bed.
The nice thing about the Flip-Pacs is that even though I'm 6'4", I could fully stand up in the back of one when it's in the tent-mode. When I'm a little older...
Just for fun, here's a website of one that's pretty well dialed:
http://www.bajataco.com/vikingvince/Vince_FlipPac/index.htm