Which hard shell rooftent?
 

Hi folks,
need some feedback if possible! I am in the market for a new roof tent, have up until recently had a hannibal folding type one. Now, I don't need roof rack space so the hard shell type really appeal due to their ease of opening and closing, not getting covered in dust and sweat would be nice. My ideal tent would be:
- hard shell
- 1.3 m wide or so
- generally super easy opening and closing
- sourced either South Africa or Germany for better freight deals and especially price from ZA!
Gil

Hard shell roof tent
 

Hi Gil,

I had an EeziAwn roof tent for a few years and it was fine. Now I've gone to the dark side...

My Autohome Columbus is fantastic! Self erects on gas struts in 5 seconds, pull cord to close & tuck in sides in less than 30 seconds. No need to climb on the vehicle, it's all done from ground level.

Sleeping gear stays in the tent - including the ladder. I've used it in the Sahara and 900km north of the Arctic Circle. Cool & airy with 3 windows open or warm & cosy with them zipped shut. A lot less flappy than a conventional roof tent when it's very windy, and very slim so less drag on the car.

I bought the carbon fibre version, expensive I know, but it's only 28kg and it's my home for half the year.

Hannibal copied the design with their Impi tent. The fabric is the same as regular rooftents and there's a small canopy over the rear door.

Hope this helps,

Jojo

Good info Jojo, many thanks. The Impi I was considering as ZA is good for me for shipping, so am getting a mate to quote me. The columbus I hadn't heard of so will check it out if I can find a German seller. I really like the idea of the gas strut opening - call me lazy but I hate ars***g around with wet tents or rolling around on a dusty roofrack.
Thanks,
Gil

Hi Gill, I know someone in SA who made a hard shell that attaches to his roof rack enclosing his tent.
Autocamp also make a hard shell cover for their Marco Polo range which gives you the advantage of a big living space on the ground as well as raised sleeping.

Thanks Chris,
have a done deal - Hannibal Impi being despatched from Durban next week - total price €640 Euros which seems to be a bit of a bargain looking at 2nd hand prices in the sale/wanted section. The autohome columbus tents looked great, no doubt. But 1000 euros more, so a bit of an easy choice! I couldn't help myself, but chatting to my mate and the South African prices being what they are at the moment led to a set of African Outback roller drawers being included as well. Great thing is he is loading a 40' container with various stuff so the freight costs nowt!
Gil

That seems like very good value - here in the UK it would be double the price and a hundred quid fitting charge - happy camping:palm:

900 kms north of the Arctic circle should be around 74.4° north, where did you go?

My two cents:

- I have had a Maggiolina Columbus Variant tent for over a year now, but have yet to actually sleep in it ;-) I brought it because 5 nights out of 7 on all of my my trips I would sleep in a different place each night - and almost every day I would want to drive somewhere. So looking forward to the ease of use and increased sense of freedom when I set off again next year.

- The Hannibal Impi wasn't a very good design when it first came out - Dutch friends of mine who bought one in SA (after starting the trip with a Eezi Awn) complained it leaked badly in the rain - and I've heard similar things from others - so maybe check with Hannibal to see if it has been redesigned or modified etc. This was no more than 2 years ago.

Cheers, dj

Heading north
 

N71 10' 21" actually, all the way to Nordkapp. Just checked my log - it was nearer 1000km. Awesome!

roof tents
 

Hi Darrin,

You'll love the Columbus, such a doddle to use and as comfortable as the conventional types. Plus better mpg.

Not sure if Hannibal are still manufacturing the Impi. I believe there were copyright issues as Maggiolina thought they'd ripped off their design. Not a great fan of Hannibal - my 1.2m was replaced twice and they still couldn't get it right. Bought an EeziAwn second hand in perfect condition which then had 3 years' hard use with no problems. Ended up selling it for more than I'd paid for it and put the money towards the Columbus.

Jojo

Okay, roadmiles... Cape North is approximately 500 kms from the Arctic Circle.

nordkapp
 

Quite right!

Had to take the road as I've not tried the roof tent on the Cessna yet...

ok ok
 

OK guys, stopping pissing. Its 517 km due north as the crow flies.

Nice idea to try the roof tent on the Cessna, like to see that.

cheers,

Noel

Well, Hanibal are definately still making the Impi, whether they have improved or not I don't know, but the price was just tooo good! Never really had an issue with my folding normal type Hanibal, so hope the same with the hard shell one. Will put up some opinion when it arives (hopefully 5-6 weeks). Thanks for the reviews as always folks.
Gil

I've got a Columbus roof tent (medium). I'm 6'4" and it's just long enough. It has an external thermal layer that velcros on for cold confitions. I've got a 3" memory foam mattress in it that's very comfortable.

It doesn't like high winds, other than that it's great.

http://www.adventuremag.net/users/25...16-0_thumb.JPG

Tents to tyres
 

Hi Bronze,
I was idly going through your links and saw that you are running Grabber AT2 tyres... I would be really interested in feedback on them as we buy a lot of tyres and I just confirmed 50 of these tyres! We were using Maxxis 751 as a general fleet tyre and found them very good, hard wearing (but not on heavily loaded pick-ups) and quiet. We couldn't get the Maxxis so went for the General Tyre option. The General certainly looks more off road biased than the Maxxis, but that doesn't mean it will wear any better...
Would be cool if you had any feedback on them thanks,
gil

I've done less than 10,000 miles on them so can't really comment on how they wear (they're looking pretty unworn so far though).

They do look quite off-road biased but they're actually better on road than the OE wranglers and much better off. They're cheap too...

Thanks Bronze. After an afternoon in the rainforest in a downpour I can definately confirm they are better than 751 Maxxis, and in fact for a AT in the mud not bad at all! Holes for ice studs as well...

Fold-out questions but may as well put it here to save space.
Having once had perhaps the only rooftent to fold out onto the roof, I wonder what the rationales are for having a fold-out over the back or the side.

Also, is it rare that bedding can fit in on a fold out, ready to go as on a Magg or Columbus while still making it easy to close, or does it depend on the mattress, etc.

Thanks for your ideas.

Ch

Fold out - saves roof rack space, provides shade/rain cover over the back door if you mount it that way, also allows the use of a 'shower skirt' for privacy/rain cover, but never seen one in use, too much hassle and bulky to store is a common comment.

Imho you should mount a tent over the back door or over the bonnet (think South Africans like this method to avoid Rhino's etc scratching themselves against the ladder in the night etc) as tents that fold out over the side create problems when you only have a narrow camping area (not unusual when you are camping in a hotels car park etc etc).

Over the back door it also adds to the illusion of security as somebody or thing would have to climb up the rickety ladder to get ya, as opposed to standing easily on the bonnet etc

(Awnings should generally be mounted on the passenger side whilst we are at it.....:)

roof tents
 

I've had 3 Hannibal folding tents, 1 Eezi Awn, and one Columbus carbon fibre.

Opening over the back door is better as you can just about unpack the tent from ground level without climbing on the bonnet. Undo the cover and use the ladder as a lever to open the tent. After trying both methods the vehicle seemed to move around less at night with the tent opening over the rear.

Darrin's right, it's great for shade if you're cooking off the back door, and is a simpler footprint if ground space is tight. Opening over the back can be a problem for some cars with tailgates, eg 100 series Cruiser or pickups with hardtops.

I've always left the bedding inside the tent. 13.5 duvet + 2 pillows. No problem in a folding tent or a Maggi.

Shower skirts are good if you need shelter in foul/cold weather, (great on our Arctic Circle trip) but they're a pita to pack away when wet. There's a lot of bulky, heavy, wet canvas.

However, I'm liking my current method most. 2.1mx1.5m Memory foam matress in the back of my Troopy. 5star!

Happy trails,

Jojo

Ok, I'll bite (and I may have had a G&T or two), why?

Nick.

with reference to the OP Maggiolina every time :thumbup1: I have a Topline and it is excellent. After faffing about with a folding Safari Equip RTT Im so glad I made the swtich. Feel like I have 1/2 a caravan on the roof with its whiteness but nevermind. Maybe I should get a Carbon one...

JoJo how are you getting on with the CF version? I REALLY fancy one, but its a lot of £££ right now, maybe something for the future. Give me a shout if you ever feel like selling it. :clap:

Nick, most rear doors open out/swing out to the right. so on a RHD vehicle it makes sense to have the awning on the opposite side where you can walk around to access the (open) boot/back.

You dont have to do this, but its the most commonly adopted approach.

G

Yip - you can sit under the shade in your deck chair (with complimentary G&T) and be able to see your back door when it is open, or at least the approach to it. So it would be hard for somebody to sneak in an grab something as you would see them approach etc

If the awning was on the other side it would be quite easy for somebody to walk up and help themselves (unless you want to close/open the door every time etc)

Also, when you want to access the front of the vehicle it is generally easier to do so from the passenger side which does not have the foot pedals and steering wheel in the way.

But hang it off the front bumper if you wish - its all fine! ;-)

Sorry to maybe drift even further off topic but I was wondering about roo-tents and roaf loadings. I just got the Maggio-doodad catalogue in the post and there's a pick of one of their Columbus Smalls on the top of a Renault Twingo!!


Now my Twingo handbook says no more than 70 kilos on the roof, and that's me without even starting on a roof tent. Is that a cautious safety thing? or is it 70 kilos when driving but more when stopped? I have laid on the roof before and I didn't break the glass sunroof.

And why are awnings etc still seemingly made out of heavy canvas-like stuff when the rest of us are using nice lightweight nylon etc for our tents, even the HUGE family ones?

And finally, has anyone ever made their own roof-tent/awnings? Or seen anything online for tips/hints?

Sorry to the OP for enlarging the topic, but this looks like a mine of people who actually know about these things.

Perhaps better to copy your questions to a new post and delete this one - It's nice to maintain a little posting discipline for readers that stumble along later... ;-)

Well often I would, but as Chris hadn't (and he's a mod) I thought I'd stay here, and as Columbus tents have already been talked about on this thread, it's only a slight drift away really.

"it's only a slight drift away really" - not really, but as nobody will make me a mod I can only make suggestions ;-)

:offtopic::scooter::thumbup1::nono::welcome::clap: :stupid::mchappy:

Stuff
 

Hi all,

G - sold the Carbon Fibre Columbus I'm afraid, best roof tent I've ever had.

Alexlebrit - roof load is probably OK. Ratings normally relate to dynamic loading when driving the car as opposed to the static load when you're in the tent at night.

Happt trails,

Jojo

Ref Chris's question - I think most roof tents can fit the bedding in, but depending on the design of the tent frame and the thickness of the mattress, you can end up with a bit of a wedge shape going on when you fold it over.
My Autocamp will fold with a couple of sleeping bags in, but much more than that and it doesn't fold totally flat. Which bugs me.

I got round this by using self inflating mattresses last few times out - lighter, flatter and more comfortable to be honest, though not as wide as the foam mattresses I took out.

This has now been superceeded by a Range Rover ambulance though :mchappy: No more climbing! :clap:

:( denied! Do you mind if i ask what you got for it 2nd hand? (feel free to PM it across) just gives me a ball park figure if one ever comes up. I assume you got it from Boab, not many in the country I would imagine. shame.

Would look and feel much better attached to my roll cage :thumbup1:

G