Roof tent query
 

Hi

I'm sure that roof tents in general have been discussed previosly but i'm after more specific information this time.

Basically HOWLING MOON TOURER vs EEZI AWN T TOP

I want a tent that has the ladder on the inside of the shower skirt/awning and these are the two i have found (i have heard the ARB simpson is c**p).

So views please on the manufactuers, tent models and how they perform.

Thanks for any help

Becky

(www.2riders-1dream.com - join us on our trip around the world - until nasty shoulder injury!)

If you trawl the first 4 pages of this forum you will find at least 4 references to roof tents, not all will answer your question but you may find that they do touch on what you want to know. The last post that I found, 15th Sept 2006 has 41 replies. Give them a go as some of the authors are not always able to contribute when on the road.
Hope this may help,
K

T top info wanted
 

Have checked out these threads previosly and they are very useful. It is more model specific info i am after so if anyone has experience with the eezi awn t top and/or howling moon tourer, please let us know what you think.

Cheers

Becky,

I haven't got any first hand experience with the two models you mention, though a friend has a regular 1.4m Howling Moon which suffers with water pooling on the flysheet - may not be an issue with the Tourer, I don't know.

However there are two German made models you might want to look at, the Autocamp Marco Polo Autodachzelte von AUTOCAMP(R) and the Beduin Explorer BEDUIN tents & more . Reputedly these are both well made and can cope better with a wider range of conditions.

Frogs Island bring Autocamp into the UK, I think you have to go to Germany for a Beduin. There was also a British roof tent called a 'Penthouse' with a massive awning enclosing the entrance - now defunct but you might find a secondhand one...

Best of luck,
Toby

Why specifically do you want the ladder inside the skirt awning?

I have just come back from 5 week trip to Morocco with the a Howling Moon and MyWay tent on the car. The Howling Moon had the ladder coming down under a covered area like you want, but to be honest it was just more fiddling when setting up and pulling down.

OK, if I had had it on the back of the car (it was mounted to open over the bonnet, I may have considered using the shower skirt/awning, but weighing up the benefit of a covered over laddder versus the benefot of some of the easier and lighter tents (like the MyWay) I would go for easier and lighter every time.

I found the Howling Moon tent took much longer to put up and pack away and the bit over the ladder needs to be pegged down to be really effective,, which isn't always possible.

Eezi Awn T-Top
 

Basically i wanted the ladder inside as we are going to be on the road with a dog for a long time so it would give us a living area. I remember seeing a rof tent with the ladder on the outside in Pakistan and when it rained heavily, you had to get wet to get into your tent and the guy was cursing it.

Having said this the Eezt Awn tents are so expensive here. I can get one in South Africa for £400 less but the shipping company say its too small for sea freight so air freight is too expensive.

Any ideas, experience on this from anyone? If i get it from SA then i'd be looking at a front runner roof rack too.

I shipped my Eezi Awn tent and a 3 metre long awning from South Africa via sea - I picked it up from Tilbury docks (though, watch out for hefty dock charges - about £57 I thin, but only a little vat if you class it as camping equipment, not vehicle stuff from a vague memory).

So perhaps askk somebody else!

South Africa contacts anyone?
 

Cheers for that advice.

Can you remember who you bought it from or shipping company? That would be a great help.

Becky

Cape Town Safari Centre - organised it all - but I know everything became much more expensive 6 months later and that was about 7 years ago....