Roof Top Tent or Ground Tent?
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- Опубліковано 9 сер 2017
- Considering the age old question Roof Top Tent or Ground Tent? What is right for you?
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![Roof Top Tent vs Ground Tent: Which is the Best Tent for Camping Travel? (Camping)[Overlanding]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gzYF8rkrqU8/mqdefault.jpg)
The ground tent also isn't 1500 bucks. Not including a rack to accommodate mounting it...
An overland trailer with a rooftop tent is the best. You can leave it at camp still all set up and take your vehicle if you want to leave camp, they free up a lot of space on top of and inside of your vehicle as well. Also allows your vehicle to be a daily commuter vehicle when you aren't out in adventures since everything is inside and on top of your trailer rig back at home.
Only downside is the slow drive with a trailer...
We were using ground tents but just went to a RTT because camping at the beach we kept getting a lot of sand in the ground tent. It is not fun sleeping on sand paper..Lol. Bought mine used and got a great deal. Just over $600 for a CVT Mt. Shasta extended. Love it so far.
You can stumble out of a ground tent in the morning. On the other hand,
stumbling out a RTT in the morning can be quite hazardous. Exercise caution when descending from/exiting your RTT !!
Congratulations on the vastly improved production!
Price is a huge difference!!!!!!
True!
Although if I was in Australia and not amazing California I would be all about the roof top tent. Lol
Other option Truck Bed Tent. If you own a pick up, which I'm going to try
Having camped lots of times in Northern Australia with a ground tent, you do not need a rooftop tent. Anyway, why is northern Australia so special, we have snakes all over Australia. I have hiked the South Coast track in Tasmania and seen Tiger snakes every time, and camped with my tiny 1kg ground tent. The only extra risk in Northern Australia is crocs, and if you are camped so close to a water source that you have to sleep in a roof tent, then you are crazy and camped in the wrong location. If you camp near water with salterwater crocs a roof top tent is not going to save you, because you have to come down some time......
1. I work in the outback in NT. I sleep in a ground tent for 6 months straight. Not everything wants to kill you. Maybe that's what the townies think, but it's not true.
2. Roof top tents add a huge amount of drag to your vehicle. They are really heavy, and really high on the frame, resulting in increased fuel costs and less stability.
3. If it rains while you are using your roof top tent, plan on spending a day unable to drive while it dries out before you fold it up.
I drive a cj so I went with a rei half dome 2 plus ground tent. I am happy with my decision. I only am in it when I am ready to sleep so nice to save the weight and space
Tent Cot might be the sweetest option. Off ground, comfy and cozy...Just take a bit more room to store, especially more than one.
Price is a consideration although you can pay a whole lot for a ground tent as well. Rig weight and center of gravity and hurting your mileage is also a big consideration. Getting out to pee also in the middle of the night also to consider. Ground tents is all I’ve used besides a hammock once (👍🏽). I’ve had critters sniffing around, some peed on the tent. I’ve been flooded a bit during a overnight downpour, had poles break in bad wind storms. Slept on so many rocks and roots setting up too late. Had trouble finding a spot in a large group of friends and only so much flat spots. Plus the ground tent can get seriously dirty with few ways of cleaning and drying before putting it away. I’d really like a truck camper shell with a pop up tent. So it looks like a regular truck with a camper shell. There was a company that made them but went belly up but I liked theirs cuz you could pop the top and slide the bed floor back and have more room if you are in the truck bed also a second way in and out of the tent bed as well. With camp set up I usually always use a tailgating pavilion type mosquito net tent for the kitchen set up and a place to escape the bugs. So that would stay put as base camp while driving truck to wherever and back. This would also be good for the doggo. Put a dog bed in the bed of the truck and she’s secure not running around at night ( shout-out to my best boy Chico, a malamute I rescued that was born to camp. All by himself he would walk a perimeter around camp and would stay and kept watch while we slept! That first night camping we only had him a week and he freaked out on the chain and wouldn’t stay in the tent. It was basically a “ok fine I hope you’re here in the morning “ ordeal. And he was. He even led us to water camping in southern Utah! We had water but still I was blown away at his skills and mindset good boy still missed )
you also got to remember about weight and where the weight is on the vehicle. that can be the deciding factors on what trails you take. I like the ground tent for that reason.
Pop up tent with the family. Just picked up a Gazelle. When it's two of us we sleep under the Softopper
This is a subject I'm really struggling with. I do like our ground tent, it's ahhh semi-quick to set up and I don't live in Austrailia. Although I do like the concept of mobility, yet, I hear more and more folks like yourself saying they are going back to ground tents. Good video, Thanks Michael.
Have both of them a roof top tent and a ground tent, then you have choice whatever is the situation is.
Video quality jump with the 5d and lighting -good stuff!
When you go to film, zoom in on his eyes and check manual focus, and then zoom back out. itll give you the clearest picture!
Keep up the good work!
Roof top tents look really cool, and I agreed that if you're in areas where things might want to kill you it's a great invention, but being able to leave your camp set up, and also be capable of leaving camp is nice. It's something we will change about a future build. We sleep inside our vehicle, but our awning set-up and outside kitchen is time-consuming and once we are set up we can't leave without breaking it all down. Probably like most things you might have to try both options before you know which is best for you. A good idea would be to rent a roof-top tent before buying one. We are on the Pan-Am trail and have interviewed some other overlanders and we see lots of roof-top tents. Most people seem to not love it, others even hate it. A few said they don't love it, but at the time it was the best option for them to get on the road. As I'm sure most people know a build, where you live inside the vehicle, can be costly, so even through an RTT is expensive it's still cheaper than a camper or van build.
If you're doing very technical trails center of gravity is also something people should take in consideration when it comes to roof top tents.
Poptop! Used to have an rtt but a pop top is so much more convenient 🙂
Great video..very interesting...Thanks.
Very informative... Thanks
I love your honest explanation about ground tent V.S. RTT, well done!
Glad it was helpful!
I have a tentsile connect tent, I love it but you obviously need trees... Ive used this in the mud in tahoe and the snow in oregon but I want to get a RTT soon. Love the channel.
Haha love the comment about 'those in the north of Australia'. Not everyone sleeps in a RTT actually most long term campers would prefer a ground swag, but we do set up far away from the waters edge. But in saying that I have recently bought a RTT and am so far not sold on it...
I agree that finally the place and personal preferences are the same, but what happens with the system to the inclemency of the weather? I'm thinking about winds, rain or snow, which of the "roof top ent", that you know, is better in those conditions of the top ?.
Northeast area like Maine, New Hampshire, and such ground tent for sure. Same things on the ground are pretty much going to get you up high too. Desert I would want a roof top tent or in my vehicle.
Also, couple of things worth mentioning. With a roof top tent your car has to leveled. Otherwise, you wont be able to sleep. Second, if you crash and your car is tilted or in a ditch no tent for you. And you dont want to lose your tent in the middle of nowhere.
Went with ground because my dog is 90+ pounds and doesn't do ladders. Also wouldn't be able to get my rig back in the garage with any more added height. And got a high end Big Agnes on sale for about 1/4 the price of a rooftop.
BGHokie05 Lucky, haven't even lifted mine yet and my 4runner barely fits
+1 for the doggos...
mine sleeps in her kennel inside the vehicle. That would never fly with our last dog but this one has been crated since day 1 and she loves it in there. She'll even hop up in the back if I leave it open and go lie in her kennel when she's tired during the day if I don't take it out for her.
You need to do a walk around of your ground tent of choice and why you selected it. I see some videos you have a gazelle tent now which doesn't seem to be the same model as pictured in the video.
Thanks for the comparison. After watching a couple vids on RTT’s, I started wondering what the heck the upside was. I’ve always used ground tents, but have been pretty curious about RTT’s here recently. Thanks!
I love my RTT. Yes it can be a pain if I want to put the annex on and break it down every day, but I don't have to have the annex, so it takes about 10 minutes without.
I don't like scorpions and rattle snakes, so its a RTT for me.
In a perfect world James Baroud would make a tent big enough for us to be comfortable in, and I would be able to afford it, but they don't, and I can't, sooooooooo.................................
it takes like 2 minutes to setup most RTT, which one are you using?
You are 100% correct in that application is key. In South Africa we can go from anything from a chilled 2 night getaway in the mountains, at a lush campsite, to a 30 day trek in the harshest of deserts or lion and hyena infested Savannah. Personally I have a ground tent, and trailer top tent depending on my trip, But would totally consider a RTT if it was the right option for the trip..
Good stuff. We are ground tent folk but I've thought about having access to both. My own POV, the tent is great if you are base camping and then multiple day tripping in a single area but if over multi days you are going point to point to point, I like the roof top option. And not that a quick pop up ground tent would not work either. I'm not a happy camper in heat so we are far more active during the cooler and colder months of the year and much of that is our wet season. If we base camp and I mean multiple days, I've got a large outfitters tent setup just for the nighttime comfort after playing all day. And then there are times we just want to go plop down somewhere, camp for several days and hang out and de-stress from life but with a bit of comfort. Out comes the big boy. Probably over kill or to much for most, sometimes I even wonder, but how we work it, it works. But a roof top is definitely in our future plans. Another option I have considered for a multi day base camp is to get a pop up camp and gut the suspension by replacing with a trailing arm suspension with 35 inch off road tires. That idea I'm still noodling around in my head and it may just stay there but we'll see. Thanks again Michael.
OB #5288
man you are not clumsy! the first time i opened my motherf@@@@r ARB rooftop tent (simpson III) i almost had a concusion to my thumb... used it only four times and then sold it!
ground tent for the rest of my life !!!
I think another overlook on RTT is drying it out. If you live in the rainy PNW like me and don't have a shop/garage, then RTT isn't practical.
you can use a ground tent on the the roof also if you have the right set-up.
For me it boils down to this. My springbar costs way less, takes about the same time to stake as an RTT and is way more livable, but you are sweating when you are done hammering in the 500th stake and packing it up is a pain. If I am sharing a tent with 3 or more? springbar. If I have 2 people? RTT. If I have one? in the truck. I never travel with 2 people.
Awesome Video Mike
Michael again outstanding video!!!! You forgot to mention if your older like me, a ladder is not good in the middle of the night.
I know it,s not about me !!!!! SOON!
I feel like this really depends on the RTT. I've used both Soft shell tents and hardshell. I agree the soft shell types are just very cumbersome, and frankly are too much work. But with a good quality hardshell tent, you can open, and close in less then 1min with no fuss. All bedding stays inside. Moving and exploring will never been an issue with a hard shell. .
I’ve used a rtt for a while now and don’t think I would go back to a ground tent. I have it mounted on a bed cage that when packed up it’s sits same height as roof line so I can still carry a SUP board. One main issue I find with it though is that if it’s very windy you have no protection where as the ground tent you can always block the wind with your vehicle.
Other than that it takes me about 5 mins to set up and pack up. Quick enough that it’s not too much effort to pack up base camp and do a day trip. Have just built an electric hoist in the shed so just reverse up lower the rrt and cage down in one. 8 bolts and I’m away!!
2 adults and 2 kids, I want additional storage, so don't want to fill my rack with an RTT. My ground tent takes far less space. Also I like to set up camp and then roam. Price on ground tents are better too. Something for beginners or weekend warriors to consider, test the sport out before spending a fortune.
Why not make the best of both? Use azdale panels with air alloy for insulation to design a lite weight pop up shelter you can keep on the roof of a vehicle or detach and place on the ground? A pop up tent with azdale panels that fold down from the ceiling and up from the base that swivel lock into place forming a hard shell shelter. With frameless windows with screens and a door built right into the azdale panels hay even a solar powered fantastic fan that ran off solar during the day and charged a battery pack to operate during the night to keep things cool and for air flow? 12 volt thermal blankets could be incorporated into its base to provide heating on cold nights. Make a hybrid everyone will love to own! It would be a really great bug out survival shelter for sure!
I'll admit out RTT isn't as quick and easy as I imagined it would be but we are coming from a pop-op tent trailer (not off road trailer) and I am happy with it. It is still quicker than our tent trailer was or our large Big Agnes family tent to set up and take down with the air mattress and sleeping bags. I know they don't serve the same level of "protection" to us in North America as they do in places like Africa and Australia but having woke up in a tent with a moose 4' away and setting up a tent wondering if the herd of buffalo was going to trample us in the night, I'm glad to be 6' in the air on the roof of my vehicle. The biggest hassle with the large tent was finding a place to set it up. I can park over rocks and uneven terrain but as long as I get the truck level we have a flat, level place to sleep!
Be neat to design a model you could deploy over water has well. All you would need was one of those emergency inflatable round life rafts to secure your hybrid shelter within and you got a shelter you can use in a flooded area or on a lake or pond. Crazy ideas yet cool right?
How are those small converted cargo trailers? >>ie Colorado Trailers
I wish someone would make a lightweight rooftop tent that can be quiet in windy conditions
Tent cot on pickup bed?
Production game is strong M&C :-) Thanks!!
Thank you!
Another huge advantage of a ground tent is you can hang out in it in bad weather or to get away from bugs. If big enough you even Stand up in, bring a table and chairs in and play cards and have a beer. If needed and you are careful you could even cook inside. It is also easier to walk in and out. Roof top tents are good for sleeping and maybe sitting up. Not comfortable for very long.
I can never fold my damn ground tent. Haha but I'll be doing an 8 mile off road trip (small by your standards but big for mine) this weekend so we'll see how the tent stands up to 10-17 mph winds at high altitude.
One other thing to point out is the fact that a rooftop tent is always with you if something happens and you have to stay on the trail overnight you're good to go!!
In North America I think most people get rooftop tents because people on UA-cam have them. I've never been sleeping in a tent thinking about how for 1000-2000$ more I could be off the ground and still in a tent.
Yes price is crazy
Nice video production !! Personally I will not even consider an RTT. We set up base camps and explore from them, sometimes for 3 or 4 nights at a time. An RTT ranks very high on the "cool" scale, they scream, "hey, look at me, I'm an overlander", but really, here in North America they are horribly impractical and I look for there to be a flood of RTTs on the used market very soon.
When we are on the move, I am searching for a quick ground alternative for those 1 nighters. Thanks for pointing me in the "Frontrunner" direction.
rubicondon04 currently I sleep in my rig
This is something I am struggling with I have hammocks and ground tents but a rtt is appealing for quick overnights. But driving a tj its kinda not even an option unless I build a trailer. Which is still an option and then you can leave base camp.
Braapzakk
I built an offroad trailer, complete, for $2200. It's on 33" tires, so it would be a little cheaper than that if you scaled the tires down to 31s. Building an offroad trailer for your TJ is a real option. I pull mine behind my '04 Rubi with zero issues.
I was at one point seriously considering a rooftop tent for my Subaru. But the cost, the sheer weight and significant drop in MPG made it not really worth it for me. I have 2 ground tents, a 3 person pop up for when I’m with fellow overlanders, And a standard 4 person for when I have a passenger.
Roof top!
Good comparison, but kinda the same conclusion all of these RTT v. ground tent comparisons come to. Whatever happened with the Hi Tents RTT you installed some time ago? Unless I missed something we never heard any more about how that worked out. Is that a case of, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"?
I'm not sponsored like Last Line Of Defense so my Taco is my daily driver...+1 for ground tent
The cheapest roof tent I can find without losing quality is roughly $1500. That’s without the rack I need, another $1000. Found a big tent that sleeps 6 and has a ton of features and is $500. I think I know what direction I’m going haha
Try Yakima Skyrise
I use my Tacoma truck bed for now, if I were to go with a rtt it will probably be a hardshell pop up. way faster set up and tear down than a clamshell rtt. but still I don't want the weight of a rtt that high up on my rig when wheeling so I think I'm going to stick to the carpeted bed cap. plus aerodynamics and gas mileage.
You could design a 3 D printed aluminum stand that folds down and folds out like an aluminum folding ladder to attach your hybrid shelter to to get it up off the ground. You could even design footings the stands legs slip into that have a spike in order to secure your hybrid shelter to the ground. Hay if it were already made I would be saving up to by at least two of them. It would be really cool if they were modular has well so you could connect a few of them together. You could make a pop up shelter and a pop up restroom to hold a cartridge toilet and to be able to take a hot shower that you could connect to the main structure. A PvC hot and cold spring piston water vessel would be cool to market with the shelter. A electrode heating element in an insulated hot water spring piston water vessel for a nice hot shower? Some really cool ideas for you! ; )
Swag on the ground anytime!.... Oh and I live in Northern Australia and I'd be more worried about the midgies rather than the reptiles and other critters lol....
falcidi what's midgies?
Tiny sand flies who's bite is worse than a mosquito!
falcidi n
In South Africa the issue is often the wildlife, but more pressing is the wife's reaction to suggestions of sleeping in a swag,,,,
Is it me, or was Michael gettin' down a little at the end of the OB logo intro, lol?
Family of four, ground tent!
Hammock!
I love my smitty built rooftop tent. In a hustle I can have it down in less than 4 minutes. But then I do have a ground tent for backpacking. Sometimes the 4x4 trails can't get you where you want to be. #6665
I have a thin sheet of ply tech screwed to my roof racks then the swag goes on that so i can go either ground or roof.
Ground tent all the way !
For the guys who run pickup trucks, how about truck bed tents?
Great suggestion!
When I first got into overlanding I went with the truck bed tent... they are cool in theory but was pretty inconvenient in practice. You have to unload everything from your truck bed creating the gear yard sale around basecamp. Also you have to sweep out the truck bed each time you use it because any little piece of something will stab you when you're sleeping. When you carry your own firewood in the bed it makes it real inconvenient. The one that I had was also a pain in the butt to set up. They made you put poles in places that made you have to get creative in order to put them in without falling on the tent and breaking it.
neworder18 or a truck cap. Storage built around a sleeping area inside. It was in one of my overland vehicle blueprints.
Full Size Overland the tent I'm looking at is the Kodiak canvas tent. The way my bed is configured I'm going to just kinda fold the tent into the bed then roll out the tonneau cover. If the tent I do get has a liner over the floor (like many do) I'd set the tent up before I pack, load the truck, then fold the tent in (with everything inside it) and roll out the tonneau.
Zach Novosad I thought of doing that at first, but my pickup is my daily driver and didn't want to carry all that weight around all the time. I need to be able to use the bed for other things as well
The question is, what's the tent in the thumbnail?
What about how friken top heavy you are with a roof top tent
Ground tents are way more my style.
Ground Tent on my truck bed lol
I assume a ground tent is better for beginners. Not to mention incredibly cheaper.
I got confused so I have both
I'm more of an inside the car sleeper hahah. Check out my latest video overlanding in Arkansas with my Defender 110 and let me know what you think!!
snakes, scorpions etc.
Anyone else think the contrast is a bit high? Ground tent or sleep in rig because of budget lol
Just get a patriot or conquerer trailer
Hahaha!
Roof Top Tents put to much weight at a higher center of gravity!!
If danger comes, I'm hopping in my vehicle and leaving the ground tent. Whose gonna sit there and pack a roof tent away while being in harm's way
Cot tent
How about a tent cot😏
roof top tents are hipster cool not practical unless it is unsafe to camp on ground.....ever slept on un level ground constantly moving from suspension.....not fun = ps nobody likes the top bunk like a un level waterbed yea no bueno get a ground tent for a fraction less put $ into gas to get to the next adventure or vehicle mods/parts
meet in the middle and buy a truck bed tent.
Sorry but a guys opinion on this is completely irrelevant to women. We need to hear from women about this and bathroom breaks at night.
Agree after traveling in Australia in RV it's best to sleep above ground but the locals often just sleep in a bivy kind of insulated sleeping bag- we don't have the equivalent here in US.
Lots of great women out there with POVs! Check out @thewildyolo and @jillianrebekah on IG. They both run dedicated RTTs. And in the wide variety of conversation I've had with people on this topic, I'd say bathroom breaks are an equal gender opportunity offender. :)