7 Things I Hate About My Rooftop Tent
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Overall , I absolutely love my Roofnest rooftop tent. The pro’s highly outweigh the con’s, however it’s important to understand there are a few drawbacks to rooftop tent camping.
WIND NOISE
With the sunroof and sunroof blind closed, I can hardly hear the Roofnest rooftop tent perched above my head. In these circumstances, I don’t even know it’s there. However, the second I open my sunroof, all hell breaks loose which brings me to point number 2.
R.I.P. SUNROOF
This is probably one of the main drawbacks of rooftop tents. I no longer have a view of the sky, clouds, or sunshine through the sunroof. When I do open the roof, it’s extremely loud to the point that I close it almost immediately. I will still use it whenever I’m parked or going slow.
DOOR ACCESS
Depending on your vehicle, you may have limited door access once your tent and ladder is set up. With my 2016 Subaru Crosstrek, the Roofnest ladder sits in front of both the back and front door which causes problems when trying to access these areas. We reach across from the other side if there’s something we need in those spots. Mindfully packing helps with this, too. It’s not a dealbreaker, just something to be aware of.
SET UP & TEAR DOWN
Let’s say you’re camping in a National Park for several days and are set up at a campground. You’ve woken up, made breakfast, and now it’s time to drive to the trailhead and hike. If you were tent camping, you could simply get in the car and go. However with a rooftop tent, you don’t have that option because you will need to close up your tent. In this situation, it will take a few extra minutes to pack up. A Roofnest rooftop tent really shines in this situation. Again- not the end of the world, but something to be aware of. This situation arose on our Mt. St Helens Summit and it wasn’t a big deal.
MPG's
With a rooftop tent, you’ll drop a few miles per gallon. I haven’t done any tests on this yet, but I’d like to in the future. I’d estimate losing anywhere from 1-3 mpg depending on your rig.
BATHROOM
Do you enjoy a hard (and usually cold) ladder on the bottom of your feet while climbing out of your rooftop tent at 3AM? Neither do I. If you’ve got to wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, it can be a difficult process of finding your shoes & climbing down while you’re half asleep. This process is definitely easier from a ground tent, so try and hydrate way before bedtime.
YOUR ROOFTOP TENT LIMITS YOUR CAMPING
You can only camp where your vehicle will take you. Many places (in Washington) allow you to park on the side of the road, and hike down to a stream or river bed to set up camp. With a rooftop tent, you are limited by your vehicle. This means you’d be stuck camping by the road in a situation like that.
Thanks for reading this article. We hope it helped in making your decision to buy a Roofnest easier. If you are still looking to purchase a Roofnest Tent, order here. Feel free to reach out with any questions or comments.
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This Post Has 4 Comments
MPG’s go way down if you using a hard shell RTT but they are not that bad if you are using a lightweight softshell RTT. Atleast, that’s what I have experienced so far.
Our’s has dipped a bit. Working on a blog post about it so stay tuned. Which light tent are you using?
I hear ya about the limited locations u can go to due the only being able to camp where the vehicle can go. we still do some camping sesh’s hiking in and using a ground tent. RTT is still preferred but sometimes to get to some locations a ground tent is the only option
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