Family roof tent recommendations
 

Hi,

I am looking for recommendations for a roof tent to accomodate a family of 5 - two adults and three children (6.5, 5.5, 1.5).

I have been looking at the offerings from Eezi-Awn, Howling Moon, Hannibal and they all seem to offer similar things, but it would be useful to get the views/experience from the crowd here.

Our first trip will be to Morocco in the spring, and if that goes well we would be looking to do further trips to N.Africa, as well as possible trips to places like Iceland, and Eastern Europe.

I appreciate these things aren't cheap, so want to make sure that I get one that will last.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

For that many people, why not buy a ground tent?

Far cheaper, much lighter and easier with kids?

Julian,

Have you seen the double up Overcamp tent from Autohome? For five people it may still be a bit cramped. I think Darren's advice about a ground tend it not a bad idea.

double up
 

If you're stuck on the idea of roof living, and have a largish rack, it might be better to get two tents opening fore and aft. Although that's a fair bit of weight on the roof.

Eezi awns are well-made, but they aint cheap.

Yes, I know, but then you have the issue of trying to find flat smooth camp sites.

Also the wife likes the 'security' aspect of sleeping together on the roof and I like the idea that it will be easy to throw up at the end of the day.

It's one thing having to setup camp and put up a tent for your average traveller, but when you have three tired children to feed and deal with at the same time, every second counts.

No problem with flat places in Morocco where your going, plus the same goes for parking the LC with tents on top.

Rooftents do actually take a while to setup as well, depending on the design, and in high winds (like in the desert) they can flap wildly - enough so that you can't get to sleep without ear plugs, but I doubt young girls will put up with it.

In 6 months in Morocco I only used my tent about 4 times - always nicer to sleep inside the vehicle in my case, and when a storm did blow in I was up at 4am trying to put the tent down in gale force winds with lashings of sand. A ground tent parked next to the vehicle would have been fine.

With the price difference, you could get a lot of nights in nice, cheap hotels. Your call, but unless your using it for extended use they really are expensive and heavy. Maybe just hire one?

Clearly your wife's questioning of your ability to protect her is something you'll have to work out between yourselves!

Hi Roman,

Not come across them before, but provide some interesting options. Not really keen on all sharing the same tent so the option of having two up there is interesting.

Do you know anyone who has used them?

OK, flat may not be the best way of looking at it - ideally for ground tent you need level and smooth (not rocky) ground - how common is that in Morocco?

Appreciate that, would only really aim of an easy on - that's the whole point of them.

Surely that would be a problem whether on the ground or on the car. OK, you can camp on the leeward side of your car, but it's not going to help that much.

Have made a note to pack ear plugs ;-)

Yes, I know they are expensive, but once we have it it will give us more motivation to use it more often.

Not considered that - do you know who hires them?


One compromise alternative I have considered is building a platform on the roof rack using hinged composite sheets that are light, but strong that can be opened up and then find a ground tent to fit on top giving the best of both worlds. Two 8' x 4' sheets would give you a platform for a tent bigger than what is currently available from the likes of Hannibal and EeziAwn.

- "smooth (not rocky) ground - how common is that in Morocco?"

Assuming you will mostly be in campsites with 3 kids, it won't be a problem - it's sometimes just straight concrete, but any good mattress will provide a comfy sleep - just make sure the ground sheet is good quality and securely attached.

- "you can camp on the leeward side of your car, but it's not going to help that much"

You'd be surprised - your are up quite high and really get a battering - my tent seems to amplify the noise - always seems worse inside than it does outside. Down on the ground you are much more protected (by the vehicle, campsite walls, dunes etc)

- "do you know who hires them?"

No sorry.

- "One compromise alternative I have considered is building a platform on the roof rack using hinged composite sheets that are light, but strong that can be opened up and then find a ground tent to fit on top giving the best of both worlds. Two 8' x 4' sheets would give you a platform for a tent bigger than what is currently available from the likes of Hannibal and EeziAwn"

An excellent idea I think. Any two door tent that fits of a roofrack and a piece of wood will be fine and heaps cheaper. Show us some pictures!

Hi Julian,

No I don't have any experience with these tents. I suppose, like Darrin mentioned, they must be a pain to set up in windy conditions, only in this case the pain is double :-)

Maybe contrary to what you want it to be, Morocco is not in the middle of nowhere, you can find many auberges and campsites to stay for the night - hence the type of tent is not a safety issue.

If you camp near a village (in Morocco you are virtually always near a village), more often than not you will be surrounded by inquisitive visitors, so rooftop or ground makes littel difference here. If safety happens to be an issue, it is because your "hosts" decide you're being disrespectful - attidutes are more important than the type of tent.

Deep in the Sahara, there are hardly any safety issues, so where and how you sleep is even less of a problem.

Having spent months in the back of my 110 on a home made bed as well as ground tents in still and sand storm conditions I prefer the car interior anyday. Wind can keep you awake, as well as noisy campsites, particularly where there are barking dogs. In Djanet some of our party were in roof tents and complained bitterly about the incessant barking dogs, and their tents flapping in night time winds. I could barely here any of this inside, and yes ear plugs are an excellent idea. Use swimming types if available, much better than the traveller ones.

Roof tents are heavy, expensive and upset your C of G. Ground tents are for me at least a mega pain to set up and pack up, especially if windy. As mentioned before, in Morocco, even in the desert there are auberges so if you know where they are and reckon you can get to them in time, that's probably the thing to do.

Andrew.

my experience:stay away from the south african brands.
they are made for dry weather.

had a hannibal,sold it after 1.5 year.leaks,wheighs a ton.

use the overland of autohome.it now.
what a difference in quality.these brand is made for European weather and I can assure you,going to bed is much comfier when the inside is dry.

loads of my mates use Eezi-Awn and they also leak as hell.

If you want a quick set up, go for the box model (columbus/maggiomina)

check with BOAB in the UK for Autohome.it
nice bloke as well.

roof tent for 5
 

Julian

A roof tent for 5 is going some. It would have to be pretty big and therefore very heavy to accomodate you all. Go for a ground tent. On our trip last year we used a ground tent - ok only 2 of us but it stopped the pendulum affect of weight on the roof rack.

There is also the issue of getting in and out at night which for small people may be a little tricky with ladders etc.

And roof tents are expensive.

Jeremy

Thanks for the feedback so far.

Yes I agree that sleeping in the car would be best option for noise, etc, but not really practical when there are five of you.

As for earplugs, would probably go with the little foam ones many use when shooting - nice and cheap and do the job. Not sure what the swimming ones are like.

It's interesting to hear the comments about the South African tents since that seems to be where they originated and it's also good to see a couple of votes for the Autohome tents.

Most of the manufacturers supply 'family' tents, but most of them seem to be large single space tents. I like the Autohome Overcamp range where you have two tents side by side opening on either side of the vehicle - I guess it is the same as having two normal tents at either end of the roof rack.

My ideal would be to have on tent that has an openable divider down the middle so that we can access the children if required or shut the flap and geta little privacy.

So..

Having driven LCs with tents, fuel and spare tyres on the roof I have a good feel for the pendulum effect so am conscious of that.

At the moment I am looking at all the options for kitting out a car for use in N. Africa and elsewhere (I am hoping my trip in the spring will be the first of many) and am being very conscious of the weight and where it sits in the car.

Having understood all that and ignoring the cost implications can anyone here actually recommend a brand from personal experience?

x
 

overland/camp by autohome by far!:clap: