Why do people like roof top tents so much?

[JohnnyO]

No, keep the food in a bag hoisted into the trees. Anything on the ground, or in the truck, is bear chow.

Better idea.

Sponsored

 

[D Fresh]

Fishing rods. On the east coast, particularly from NC and north, you need long, stiff, rods (har har) to chuck out bait and 8oz of weight. And, even, long spinning gear to get out heavy spoons, etc, out past the breaks. You need to have a place to put that stuff... just don't drive through a 'brew thru', don't ask how I know.

These are common on the east coast. You keep your rods, coolers, and gear easily accessible up front.

The good fisherman (not me) can load up those huge rods and chuck a bait a long long way out into what we call the washing machine. Really rough water, where the big fish feed.

Ok, that makes sense. I've seen videos of people using a bead seater to launch their bait out.

Bad idea to leave the food out. Sleep in a tent either on the roof or ground but keep the food on the truck. Not real likely to encounter bears at Lowe's Motor Speedway or Bristol.

No.

Never do this. Unless you want your truck looking like a used sardine can.

 

[Tom_C]

Ok, that makes sense. I've seen videos of people using a bead seater to launch their bait out.

With these big rods, you keep the bait hook very short. The leader is like 10 inches, give or take. The weight is usually on a slide. The idea, so I'm told, is keep the leader short so it doesn't wrap around the line while being launched. Makes sense. I came from Florida fishing with a 3 foot long leader, and was laughed off the beach.

 

[D Fresh]

With these big rods, you keep the bait hook very short. The leader is like 10 inches, give or take. The weight is usually on a slide. The idea, so I'm told, is keep the leader short so it doesn't wrap around the line while being launched. Makes sense. I came from Florida fishing with a 3 foot long leader, and was laughed off the beach.

Funny how methods and techniques can be so localized.

 

[BCRanger]

Not real likely to encounter bears at Lowe's Motor Speedway or Bristol.

Yes, but have you considered...

 

[JohnnyO]

Yes, but have you considered...

I've seen worse.

 

[AdamHarris]

reading all the opinions and scenarios of the last few pages, this is exactly why there are a multitude of options available for camping enthusiasts. everyone has different criteria.

myself, i would like a nice mid size off road camping trailer. and some tents for extras.
an RTT would be a wise choice if i was going deep into some trails where a trailer would be foolish.

i have done enough camp site pad camping where the grounds manicured for the purpose. but some places i wanna go, wont have that nice level smooth ground void of creatures that wanna harm me, ive had enough real life bear run ins to know it can go bad in a hurry
so i gotta think beyond a tent on the earths floor.

My daughter and her BF do a fair bit of camping in the foothills of Calgary.
they have a car and an SUV, they drive as far as they can, hike the last few hundred meters and camp. the tents work well for them, but if i ever join them, dear old dad is rollin up with a RTT or an offroad camping setup. I cant do the riverbed tents.

Now see didn’t that make you feel good? A nice, albeit lengthy, post where you didn’t make fun of or call anyone stupid. We may be making progress here. Tomorrow’s assignment: go outside and let a cute butterfly land on your finger and (without killing it) take in its beauty.

 

[TremorOwner]

I don't prefer them because when I go hunting, if I have an attached roof/bed tent, I can't move my truck to run to the local grocery store or something without basically giving up my camping spot.

People prefer them because you get off the ground... less dirt and/or snow proximity.

They make sense for ACTUAL overlanding in the Western US states, South Africa, Australia, etc. You know, places where you can go so far into some remote area that you'll be camping in the territory of animals like wolves, bears, lions, etc., that aren't used to avoiding humans and their stuff.

I'd rather be up on my roof with high ground advantage with a tactical 12 AWG and some quality buck shot at the ready (or whatever the local DNR "allows me" to protect myself with) if one of those fanged mother lovers comes along sniffing and gets interested in eating me.

The nice-to-have advantage is that you can just close it up and go. A pitched tent requires a tedious take down and that on top of cleaning up all the rest of the crap overlanders being out with them just ends up annoying.

One thing is for sure, there's no reason to buy a NEW rooftop tent. Used ones can be had for 1/2 price and barely used because most people realize they never use it or only used it once or twice.

 

[D Fresh]

reading all the opinions and scenarios of the last few pages, this is exactly why there are a multitude of options available for camping enthusiasts. everyone has different criteria.

myself, i would like a nice mid size off road camping trailer. and some tents for extras.
an RTT would be a wise choice if i was going deep into some trails where a trailer would be foolish.

i have done enough camp site pad camping where the grounds manicured for the purpose. but some places i wanna go, wont have that nice level smooth ground void of creatures that wanna harm me, ive had enough real life bear run ins to know it can go bad in a hurry
so i gotta think beyond a tent on the earths floor.

My daughter and her BF do a fair bit of camping in the foothills of Calgary.
they have a car and an SUV, they drive as far as they can, hike the last few hundred meters and camp. the tents work well for them, but if i ever join them, dear old dad is rollin up with a RTT or an offroad camping setup. I cant do the riverbed tents.

Totally with you.

As I age I want some creature comforts as well.

But looking at it, by the time you spend the money for a good RTT, fridge, and what not, you're very close to camping in something with hard sides, it's own wheels, and arguably easier to store when not being used.

 

[EJH]

Totally with you.

As I age I want some creature comforts as well.

But looking at it, by the time you spend the money for a good RTT, fridge, and what not, you're very close to camping in something with hard sides, it's own wheels, and arguably easier to store when not being used.

Have you actually priced a decent teardrop or other small trailer lately? No where near the price of a RTT and bed rack setup.

I have a RTT (but would never pay near full price for one), and am shopping for various travel trailer setups, from teardrops all up to fully equiped 4,000 lbs units. I'd love a teardrop, but can't do the price most decent ones are selling for (more than $10k new, usually more like $20k for a nice one). The value of what you get for most teardrops is not there (for me). Over $10k for something I can't stand up in, no toilet, outside kitchen, etc. Not worth it for me, as cute/cool as they are.

 

[BCRanger]

I have a RTT (but would never pay near full price for one), and am shopping for various travel trailer setups, from teardrops all up to fully equiped 4,000 lbs units. I'd love a teardrop, but can't do the price most decent ones are selling for (more than $10k new, usually more like $20k for a nice one). The value of what you get for most teardrops is not there (for me). Over $10k for something I can't stand up in, no toilet, outside kitchen, etc. Not worth it for me, as cute/cool as they are.

Yep, that was exactly conclusion I came to. Those Teardrops are way spendy for what you get. I could pick up a nice used Airstream for the price of the higher end ones (and almost did). In the end we've decided to go with the Alu-Cab, yes, it also costs over $10k :O and it also doesn't have a toilet or inside kitchen but I can stand up in it, can fit just as much stuff, it weight way less, and don't have to worry about getting it up a fire road.

 

[D Fresh]

Have you actually priced a decent teardrop or other small trailer lately? No where near the price of a RTT and bed rack setup.

I have a RTT (but would never pay near full price for one), and am shopping for various travel trailer setups, from teardrops all up to fully equiped 4,000 lbs units. I'd love a teardrop, but can't do the price most decent ones are selling for (more than $10k new, usually more like $20k for a nice one). The value of what you get for most teardrops is not there (for me). Over $10k for something I can't stand up in, no toilet, outside kitchen, etc. Not worth it for me, as cute/cool as they are.

Most RTTs go for $2k minimum, a rack roughly $750+.

That's roughly 3 grand for a TENT. If you stay away from the hipster brands a decent teardrop can be had near 5 grand.

I'd agree that a full on TT offers the best bang for the buck. But RTTs are an absolute rip off.

 

[Msfitoy]

Most RTTs go for $2k minimum, a rack roughly $750+.

That's roughly 3 grand for a TENT. If you stay away from the hipster brands a decent teardrop can be had near 5 grand.

I'd agree that a full on TT offers the best bang for the buck. But RTTs are an absolute rip off.

My FrontRunner was around $1,200 and has held up to some torrential storms...love it except for climbing up/down the ladders...that's why I'm considering design/build my own square drop...

 

[BCRanger]

My FrontRunner was around $1,200 and has held up to some torrential storms...love it except for climbing up/down the ladders...that's why I'm considering design/build my own square drop...

This was why my wife didn't want one. I wouldn't have minded so much but she pointed out navigating a ladder to go pee in the middle of the night was not her idea of fun, I couldn't argue with that. Seems like a small thing but was actually a big reason we decided to go with the canopy camper.

 

[D Fresh]

My FrontRunner was around $1,200 and has held up to some torrential storms...love it except for climbing up/down the ladders...that's why I'm considering design/build my own square drop...

Definitely one of the cheaper options.

Still not paying that for a tent that requires me to break camp to go for a drive.

Which is the biggest problem with RTTs, GFCs, and Alu-Cabs in my eyes.

Sponsored