Solid review, thank you. To add to the list of things that AluCab needs to change: For the love of all things that are good and holy, please AluCab stop using white fabric on the insides of your tents. Do they not understand that overland travel = dirt and dust!?
Great review, thanks so much for sharing! It was particularly useful to see the backrest in action, we are on the fence about whether to get it or not.
Thanks! We knew we wanted the backrest, but were skeptical of the drop-down table as I thought it quite pricey. The salesman almost insisted that we take the table as well and gave a deep discount on that. I am very glad he managed to convince us, as it is even more useful than the backrest.
I actually really prefer the doors zipping down rather than up. It gives you the option of “closing” them halfway and having privacy in the tent. But still utilizing the mozzy net.
@@RovingAfrica I may not have explained well. If you want to have the mozzie net in place, my preferred design still provides what you want. The door would be fully closed so you are fully shielded by the mozzie net, but the window (which only goes through the canvas and should zip from the top) can be opened as far as desired. The only thing that design does not provide is if you want the top half of the door fully open with neither canvas nor mozzie net in place.
@@overlandersaah ok. Yeah i used to have a “normal” style RTT and i was always slightly annoyed by the lack of privacy when everything was open. So thats how i came to that conclusion. But either way. Great review! I have had this tent for a while now and couldn’t agree more. I was wondering 1 thing though. That rubber strip you have on the bottom lip at the doors. Did you fit that yourself? If so thats a great idea its a very painfull lip to accidentaly set your knee on I also noticed you put velcro on the velcro bits at the doors. I did that too. One of the small oversights that they made that rough side face in
@@RovingAfrica Thanks! Ours came with the strip - we didn't add that. You're very perceptive to notice our modification to the velcro. We found the velcro to be super noisy getting out at night and did not want to disturb fellow campers. It's only real benefit is when you deploy the side owning and then we simply remove our velcro cover.
@@overlandersainteresting! Mine did not have that. I will go back to alucab and ask about it. Because that ledge under there is thin sharp metal. Really not great when you lean on it with your knee or shin 😂
Thanks for the review, I have a beginners question. I (coming from Europe) have overlanded a few times now, solo, in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana. I have rented a Hilux or Landcruiser "camper" from bushlore. You have a small internal space accessible from a backdoor and then step up from there into the tent. It gives you a bit of space to change for the night (and lots of internal storagespace) and thus you keep the tent and bedding etc cleaner. But it is also more (too) expensive. Now I presume you get in your tent with your daytime ('dirty') clothes and change into nightdress in the tent, is that correct and if so doesnt the tent and bedding get sandy from the dirty clothes?? Those shoes in the bag, aren't hyena going to try to get to them? Thanks for explaining!
@@IddoRoscher Where we change our clothes for the night depends on the circumstances. In many of the places we camp there is no one else so we just change next to the vehicle, standing on our ground sheet. In other places the campsite may have ablutions, which we will use to change. If neither option is viable we'll change in the tent. It is usually possible to remove the dirtiest outer layer of clothing before getting in. We never take shoes into the tent. We take off our shoes standing on a little ground sheet at the bottom (see my 61 days overlanding : what worked, what didn't video) or while on the ladder. In our experience hyenas aren't the greatest of jumpers and will usually confine themselves to things on the ground. At least, we've not had a problem yet.
We leave bedding and cushions inside even with the table. If the bedding and cushions are thick the tent is just a bit more difficult to close. We also leave the ladder inside, but move the cushions so the ladder is not on top of them.
Hi! Another very informative video. Thank you! I also have a new Wildrtrak 2.0 and am wondering what it feels like to drive with this weight on the roof and how the aerodynamics are affected. I once drove with just having bicycles on the back of a saloon car, and the effects were dramatic - especially over 120-140kph - So am concerned with how this will feel. I see you mounted it quite tightly against the roof, which makes sense. What is the effect on fuel consumption.
Thanks! From a feel perspective it is really not an issue, but it does have an effect on fuel consumption. It is difficult to say how much of the fuel consumption hit is because of aerodynamics and how much because of total weight - when overlanding we are pretty much at maximum weight with extra fuel, water, firewood etc. If I compare the consumption on highways while carrying a medium load, with the consumption at full weight, including rooftop tent, extra spare wheel and gravel and 4x4 thrown in, there is probably a 2 tot 3 litre per 100km hit. We have found that we can save on fuel significantly when in "overlanding configuration" by slowing down from 120km/h to 110km/h.
@@owenwiggins9416 The people who have the Bundutop like them, but I have seen quite a few where the mechanism gave problems (it seems the rods can bend if you are not careful how you arrange the bedding). So I prefer something less sophisticated / more robust. Also the Bundutop is less aerodynamic. I'm not sure how the mattress length of the Alu-cab and Bundutop compares. To add to my original response on the "feel" of the vehicle with the tent - we try to keep as much of the rest of the weight is we can low down in the load bin. I don't know how much of a difference it makes, but I never had a top heavy feeling.
@@clementwhittle8302 Not really. Once or twice a creaking noise from the load bars, so from time to time I checked that they remained tightly bolted to the roof rails. What did make noticeable noise was the extra spare wheel on the vehicle roof if the ratchet fastening it loosened a bit, but that was easy to fix by just tightening the ratchet another notch.
What a fantastic review!!
Thank you! Glad you liked it.
Excellent tips. Great video!
Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement!
Solid review, thank you. To add to the list of things that AluCab needs to change: For the love of all things that are good and holy, please AluCab stop using white fabric on the insides of your tents. Do they not understand that overland travel = dirt and dust!?
Valid point, didn't think of that one.
Great video.
Explained simply.
Nice piece of kit that.
Thanks 👍Yes, we are enjoying it!
I Bought One Myself, best money I have ever Spend,never ever Complain About the Price! Is Excellent Tent.The Bush company in Capetown.
Good to hear you are satisfied. Regards
Great review, thanks so much for sharing! It was particularly useful to see the backrest in action, we are on the fence about whether to get it or not.
Thanks! We knew we wanted the backrest, but were skeptical of the drop-down table as I thought it quite pricey. The salesman almost insisted that we take the table as well and gave a deep discount on that. I am very glad he managed to convince us, as it is even more useful than the backrest.
@@overlandersa that’s good to know. I’ll have to persuade my better half 😁
I actually really prefer the doors zipping down rather than up.
It gives you the option of “closing” them halfway and having privacy in the tent. But still utilizing the mozzy net.
@@RovingAfrica I may not have explained well. If you want to have the mozzie net in place, my preferred design still provides what you want. The door would be fully closed so you are fully shielded by the mozzie net, but the window (which only goes through the canvas and should zip from the top) can be opened as far as desired. The only thing that design does not provide is if you want the top half of the door fully open with neither canvas nor mozzie net in place.
@@overlandersaah ok. Yeah i used to have a “normal” style RTT and i was always slightly annoyed by the lack of privacy when everything was open.
So thats how i came to that conclusion.
But either way. Great review! I have had this tent for a while now and couldn’t agree more.
I was wondering 1 thing though. That rubber strip you have on the bottom lip at the doors. Did you fit that yourself? If so thats a great idea its a very painfull lip to accidentaly set your knee on
I also noticed you put velcro on the velcro bits at the doors. I did that too. One of the small oversights that they made that rough side face in
@@RovingAfrica Thanks! Ours came with the strip - we didn't add that. You're very perceptive to notice our modification to the velcro. We found the velcro to be super noisy getting out at night and did not want to disturb fellow campers. It's only real benefit is when you deploy the side owning and then we simply remove our velcro cover.
@@overlandersainteresting! Mine did not have that. I will go back to alucab and ask about it. Because that ledge under there is thin sharp metal. Really not great when you lean on it with your knee or shin 😂
Simply buy a good solar reflector white paint for the black top.
Thanks! Would one apply that with a brush or is it sprayed on? Do you have a specific product in mind or any light colour paint?
Thanks for the review, I have a beginners question. I (coming from Europe) have overlanded a few times now, solo, in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana. I have rented a Hilux or Landcruiser "camper" from bushlore. You have a small internal space accessible from a backdoor and then step up from there into the tent. It gives you a bit of space to change for the night (and lots of internal storagespace) and thus you keep the tent and bedding etc cleaner. But it is also more (too) expensive.
Now I presume you get in your tent with your daytime ('dirty') clothes and change into nightdress in the tent, is that correct and if so doesnt the tent and bedding get sandy from the dirty clothes??
Those shoes in the bag, aren't hyena going to try to get to them?
Thanks for explaining!
@@IddoRoscher Where we change our clothes for the night depends on the circumstances. In many of the places we camp there is no one else so we just change next to the vehicle, standing on our ground sheet. In other places the campsite may have ablutions, which we will use to change. If neither option is viable we'll change in the tent. It is usually possible to remove the dirtiest outer layer of clothing before getting in. We never take shoes into the tent. We take off our shoes standing on a little ground sheet at the bottom (see my 61 days overlanding : what worked, what didn't video) or while on the ladder. In our experience hyenas aren't the greatest of jumpers and will usually confine themselves to things on the ground. At least, we've not had a problem yet.
Great video! So bedding and cushions can stay inside (when you don’t have the table)?
We leave bedding and cushions inside even with the table. If the bedding and cushions are thick the tent is just a bit more difficult to close. We also leave the ladder inside, but move the cushions so the ladder is not on top of them.
Hi! Another very informative video. Thank you! I also have a new Wildrtrak 2.0 and am wondering what it feels like to drive with this weight on the roof and how the aerodynamics are affected. I once drove with just having bicycles on the back of a saloon car, and the effects were dramatic - especially over 120-140kph - So am concerned with how this will feel. I see you mounted it quite tightly against the roof, which makes sense. What is the effect on fuel consumption.
Also - did you consider the bundutop tent? I think the Alucab is best, but as I am 196cm tall, I have to consider the space.
Thanks! From a feel perspective it is really not an issue, but it does have an effect on fuel consumption. It is difficult to say how much of the fuel consumption hit is because of aerodynamics and how much because of total weight - when overlanding we are pretty much at maximum weight with extra fuel, water, firewood etc. If I compare the consumption on highways while carrying a medium load, with the consumption at full weight, including rooftop tent, extra spare wheel and gravel and 4x4 thrown in, there is probably a 2 tot 3 litre per 100km hit. We have found that we can save on fuel significantly when in "overlanding configuration" by slowing down from 120km/h to 110km/h.
@@owenwiggins9416 The people who have the Bundutop like them, but I have seen quite a few where the mechanism gave problems (it seems the rods can bend if you are not careful how you arrange the bedding). So I prefer something less sophisticated / more robust. Also the Bundutop is less aerodynamic. I'm not sure how the mattress length of the Alu-cab and Bundutop compares.
To add to my original response on the "feel" of the vehicle with the tent - we try to keep as much of the rest of the weight is we can low down in the load bin. I don't know how much of a difference it makes, but I never had a top heavy feeling.
@@overlandersa Thank you. That is very useful.
Look at Bushtech Ax 27 Top of the Range,when it comes to Rooftop tent.
Hi, we rented one from GoCamp and it rattled quite a lot on gravel/offroad. Does yours rattle?
@@clementwhittle8302 Not really. Once or twice a creaking noise from the load bars, so from time to time I checked that they remained tightly bolted to the roof rails. What did make noticeable noise was the extra spare wheel on the vehicle roof if the ratchet fastening it loosened a bit, but that was easy to fix by just tightening the ratchet another notch.