Rooftop Tents - Show em and what you like and don't like

[WasatchBack]

I decided on a 23Zero Walkabaout 62". As their headquarters are 25 minutes away I wanted to support local for one. But their mattresses were substantially thicker and more comfortable than anything I tried. I really would have preferred the hardshell Kabari (or new Armadillo) for setup/takedown ease but chose the softshell for a few reasons. 1) Couldn't justify the increased cost of the hardshell for how infrequently I use it. 2) The softshell has substantially more room. 3) The 23Zero softshells fold out and allow for an annex attachment which would allow us to have another place to let the dog sleep instead of building a ramp system to get him up safely.

 

[JerryBsizzle]

I decided on a 23Zero Walkabaout 62". As their headquarters are 25 minutes away I wanted to support local for one. But their mattresses were substantially thicker and more comfortable than anything I tried. I really would have preferred the hardshell Kabari (or new Armadillo) for setup/takedown ease but chose the softshell for a few reasons. 1) Couldn't justify the increased cost of the hardshell for how infrequently I use it. 2) The softshell has substantially more room. 3) The 23Zero softshells fold out and allow for an annex attachment which would allow us to have another place to let the dog sleep instead of building a ramp system to get him up safely.


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Nice! I really like that 23zero. Your truck looks killer too. Do you have a pic from the side with it folded up? My rack sits a few inches below the roof of my cab. I don't mind having a little bit of the tent hanging out of the back, but not a ton.

 

[jimothy]

I thought I wrote about my solar in detail here, but I think that must have been another forum (probably the Roofnest Facebook group).

There's quite a few pieces to putting together my system, but the key components are:

• Solar panels: 2 x 175W Renogy flexible panels (350W total), connected in series for 43.2 VoC, 10.3A short circuit current.
• Solar charge controller: Victron MPPT 100/30. Based on the numbers above, this is overkill for my needs; I could have saved $100 with the 75/15 model, for example.
• Battery: Renogy 24V 50Ah (equivalent energy to 12V 100Ah) LiFEPO4
• Battery monitor: Victron SmartShunt

Flexible solar panels are much lighter than rigid panels, but they are more expensive on a per-watt basis, and they may not last as long. However, rigid panels will be more susceptible to damage from rocks, hail, and acorns than flexible panels. CIGS flexible panels should outlast monocrystalline flexible panels, but they are substantially more expensive.

I did try using 3 x 100W rigid solar panels on the tent. This could have worked if I replaced the struts on my Roofnest Falcon XL with something stronger. As is, the roof didn't always want to stay open with the weight of three panels. Two panels might have been fine. But, with the flexible panels, I get more power, much less weight, and a lower profile. The biggest downside is I may need to replace them after several years.

Heat reduces the life and output of solar panels, so I used corrugated plastic sheets (like used to make yard sale signs people stick in the dirt) to give an air gap between the panels and the tent. If you're using rigid panels, this isn't necessary.

I used 3M VHB tape to stick the panels to the plastic sheets, and the plastic sheets to the roof of the tent. I one time used Sikaflex (or a competing product) to join the panel to the sheet, and lost a solar panel on the highway (fortunately, no vehicles were damaged in this mishap). This could very well be my fault: Sikaflex may work fine for this, and perhaps I did a bad job applying it or used too little.

Then, I used Gorilla All Weather Black Waterproof Duct Tape around the perimeter of the solar panels. This is not to secure them to the tent; the VHB tape does that. Rather, it's to keep water and wind (especially when driving) from getting under the panels and plastic sheets. I imagine I'll have to replace this tape every so often, but my tent is not on my truck and in the sun all the time, so it's held up well so far.

The solar charge controller is semi-permanently mounted to the bed of my truck, with rivnut inserts and stainless steel bolts. I've run 10 AWG wire through the front stake pocket hole into the bed of the truck; these connect to the charge controller. They then run to a Anderson SB50 connector, with a spring-loaded cover to keep dusty and water (mostly) out when I do not have my tent mounted and solar panels connected. I've also got wiring run through the same stake hole to supply 12V power to my tent and lights on the rack.

There's much more to be said about this, and I'll try to add more details later.

 

[jimothy]

there are two ways you can go about this:

• Solar on tent:
  • This will require a solar controller of some sort. You will connect the solar to the controller, which then connects to your battery in the engine bay.
  • This will also allow you to plug your fridge to the battery.
  • This will then require you to park under the sun for the panels to work.
  • This will also require quite some wiring done.
• Portable Solar:
  • This will not require a solar controller and you will not need a lot of wiring job done to this.
  • You will need to have a portable power station, something like an EcoFlow Delta 2 with 1000w will be plenty enough. You just need to get a portable panel (or two, if you're planning to run the fridge while your power station is being charged, to push out enough juice)
  • EcoFlow Delta 2 series also allow expansion with add-on batteries. But your issue will be charging it to 100% off grid.
  • You can also charge the portable power station while driving via onboard 12v plug.
  • This will probably cost you a bit more because of how expensive a quality, well designed and built power station will cost.
  • This will work perfectly for weekend warriors or for those who don't spend extended time out (by that I mean days)

Alternatively, you can do what I've done. Combining both methods.

• I start with two dedicated 8 gauge powers from the battery. One is to the cab, second one is to the bed. Both have a 60A circuit breaker each to act as insurance and as on-off switch. Both are body grounded.
• Cab cable is hooked up to a Blue Sea Fused Distribution Block with Ground. This one is used to power everything inside the cab. I have a mobile Ham radio hooked up to it. I also have a modified fridge cable that I cut off the ciggy plug and swap ring terminals so my fridge is/ can be hardwired to the battery. I then have a Victron DC-DC charger there as well to charge my EcoFlow Delta 2 and add on battery (3kw capacity total). Victron will push 200w of power while engine's running, and shuts off when the engine's off.
  • When the engine's off (ie at camp overnight) I switch the fridge plug from battery powered to another fridge cable with 12v plug, and power it off with my EcoFlow. I also run my starlink off that same ecoflow.
• Bed cable is ran into a "power distribution" box that I made using a plastic 50cal ammo can. That's where I hide the solar controller, a power bus bar, a fused distribution block with ground, switches, and a 12v plug. The switches control the LED bed rack light strips and the 12v plug. The solar controller connection is fused, and sends power back to the battery.
  • This setup allows me to leave the fridge plugged in to starting battery 24/7 without worrying about draining the starting battery.
  • This setup also allows me to have light where I need them. I have red that goes around the bed rack for grabbing stuff at night, and a white one for cooking. Also allows me to plug in and charge my phone or something from the bed with that 12v plug.

Some pros and cons of my setup:

• Pro: allows expansion and customization. With these dedicated routes you can expand upon it as you see fit and add more accessories since you already have the basic structure - dedicated power. Hell, when it's all set and done and no more revision is needed I'll probably yank the switch in the back out and replace it with Switch-Pro so I can turn off my lights from my tent with my phone lol
• Minimal work needed when I'm at camp. Everything's pre-done already.
• Con: takes some wiring knowledge to pull this off, knowing what gauge of wires to use, knowing how to lay things out, knowing what part to buy, etc
• Con: takes time. I laid the foundation in one weekend and slowly expanded it over the course of 3 weekends, primarily because I didn't have a set plan for how I want it to be. I was just adding stuff to it with the stuff I see fit.
• Con: takes $$. I only use quality parts from Blue Sea Systems and Blue Sea alone. No Amazon specials. No Ebay Specials. No cheap China products that come from questionable origins. Quality stuff costs.

I think I posted pictures of my setup before and how I did it.

I'm going to quibble with a few things you wrote: Using solar to charge a battery will always require a solar charge controller. Power stations like the EcoFlow Delta simply include a charge controller. But you could use a portable power station with tent-mounted solar panels, and you could use portable solar panels with a stand-alone solar charge controller.

In fact, I may well do this one day: In addition to my tent-mounted solar, I am thinking about buying a portable solar panel to use when I'm parked in the shade. But the portable panel would still connect to my MPPT charge controlled mounted in the bed of my truck, and would charge my Renogy LiFEPO4 battery.

The simplest way would be use the portable panel instead of, rather than in addition to, my tent mounted panels. Otherwise, matching voltage and/or current of the tent panels to the portable panels gets complicated, as does how shade affects power produced when connected in series vs parallel, etc. In other words, adding a 200W portable panel to my 350W tent panels is not going to give me 550W total, especially since the whole reason for using portable panels is because the tent would be in the shade.

With this setup, when parked in the shade, I would disconnect the tent solar panels from the Anderson SB50 connector, and connect the portable solar panel to it instead.

 

[boogielander]

I'm going to quibble with a few things you wrote: Using solar to charge a battery will always require a solar charge controller. Power stations like the EcoFlow Delta simply include a charge controller. But you could use a portable power station with tent-mounted solar panels, and you could use portable solar panels with a stand-alone solar charge controller.

In fact, I may well do this one day: In addition to my tent-mounted solar, I am thinking about buying a portable solar panel to use when I'm parked in the shade. But the portable panel would still connect to my MPPT charge controlled mounted in the bed of my truck, and would charge my Renogy LiFEPO4 battery.

The simplest way would be use the portable panel instead of, rather than in addition to, my tent mounted panels. Otherwise, matching voltage and/or current of the tent panels to the portable panels gets complicated, as does how shade affects power produced when connected in series vs parallel, etc. In other words, adding a 200W portable panel to my 350W tent panels is not going to give me 550W total, especially since the whole reason for using portable panels is because the tent would be in the shade.

With this setup, when parked in the shade, I would disconnect the tent solar panels from the Anderson SB50 connector, and connect the portable solar panel to it instead.

yeap. solar controller is required to run to battery. When I said "of some sort" i meant like either Victron, Renogy, or some other brand lol my mistake for not being clear.

Currently, since my solar panel flew away while on freeway and my soft top is not really up to task to hold a panel (i mean... that's the reason why it flew away lol. THAT and i was doing 90 into head wind) Im relying on alternator charging and AC charging at home.

On my friend's 3rd gen Cummins, he has TWO BougeRV 200w Panels installed on top of his GFC, pushing out 400W (realistically about 350w) and because he also has Delta 2 MAX, he has dual input for XT60i. Because of that, he also has a Victron that pushes out 200W while vehicle is running.
Because Delta 2 MAX is smart enough to do the conversion and control the flow, he can get up to 550W while the truck's running. This reading was confirmed with Ecoflow app readout.

My plan, should I ever go GFC route, will be the same. The difference will be the fact that I have to choose which one I want to use since I only have 1 XT60i port and I have a 24v Victron waiting for me to get to it. It's still a 12v input but output can go up to 24v, which the Ecoflow can handle just perfectly fine.
Maybe i'll stick with alternator charging plus portable panels and have to disconnect and connect manually.

 

[Rickyrocket]

Have you ever forgotten about your hight and fallen off.......maybe after a few ....

 

[boogielander]

Have you ever forgotten about your hight and fallen off.......maybe after a few ....

no lol but it does make getting up in the middle of the night to use bathroom a pain in the butt though...

 

[jimothy]

If you have a dog, I recommend iKamper HC Steps, regardless of your brand of tent. You might want them even if you don't have a dog; they're more comfortable and easier to use than the bare ladder. Might be safer, too, if you're coming down to pee after having a few.

Previously, we had Desert Armor Doggo to help our dog get in the tent. It worked great for that, but you've got to take it off for humans, back on for dogs, etc. The HC Steps we can leave one, and their better than bare ladder for both humans and dogs.

I don't have a video of our dog using the HC Steps, but here's one of Adelaide using the Doggo Ramp the first day we got it.

 

[boogielander]

If you have a dog, I recommend iKamper HC Steps, regardless of your brand of tent. You might want them even if you don't have a dog; they're more comfortable and easier to use than the bare ladder. Might be safer, too, if you're coming down to pee after having a few.

Previously, we had Desert Armor Doggo to help our dog get in the tent. It worked great for that, but you've got to take it off for humans, back on for dogs, etc. The HC Steps we can leave one, and their better than bare ladder for both humans and dogs.

I don't have a video of our dog using the HC Steps, but here's one of Adelaide using the Doggo Ramp the first day we got it.

holy fawk thats $160 lol
usually i have slides i wear for going to the tent. easy to put on in the middle of the night to get out and im usually conscious enough to find my footing.
i usually lie in the tent and repeatedly ask myself if i REALLY need to go and then when i'm awake enough i get out. After I'm done i'd kick myself for not bringing an empty Gatorade bottle so i don't have to come out lol

 

[jimothy]

holy fawk thats $160 lol
usually i have slides i wear for going to the tent. easy to put on in the middle of the night to get out and im usually conscious enough to find my footing.
i usually lie in the tent and repeatedly ask myself if i REALLY need to go and then when i'm awake enough i get out. After I'm done i'd kick myself for not bringing an empty Gatorade bottle so i don't have to come out lol

Yeah, it's not cheap. But hardly the most money we've spent on our hobby, right?

And it's both cheaper and better than the Doggo, leaving no reason to buy the Doggo over the HC Steps in my opinion. The only thing the Doggo has over HC Steps is it's more compact. If you have a medium or large dog, the HC Steps are an easy "yes". If you don't have a dog, they're a "maybe": More comfortable than bare steps, but maybe not worth the price.

To put it in perspective: Before I got the HC Steps, I eyed a ladder from Alu-Cab that has steps at the proper angle and with wider treads, so you step on the flat tread rather than the corner like you do the typical telescoping RTT ladder. The price of that? $300, and they're tough to find in the US. So that makes the HC Steps not so bad.

P.S. Now that I've said there's no reason to buy the Desert Armor Doggo, if anyone does have an RTT and a dog, I'd sell you mind at a good price.

 

[TSL]

holy fawk thats $160 lol
usually i have slides i wear for going to the tent. easy to put on in the middle of the night to get out and im usually conscious enough to find my footing.
i usually lie in the tent and repeatedly ask myself if i REALLY need to go and then when i'm awake enough i get out. After I'm done i'd kick myself for not bringing an empty Gatorade bottle so i don't have to come out lol

that's _exactly_ what I do too If I just got up and went down the ladder and got it over with, it would be so much better, rather than "we'll just roll over and go back to sleep and the urge will pass". Nope, it won't, just get up already After 20+ mins of pretending I don't really need to go, I clamber out of the tent.

Here's a totally hilarious story I found one time while reviewing RTT's online :
It involves camping in the bush in Africa, having a midnight freak-out experience, and running out of an RTT ( forgetting that it's off the ground ! )

A rooftop tent, a black mamba and a tighty-whitey dash in the bush

At some point in the deepest, darkest, wee hours of the night, I started having a night terror. But I’m not talking about your usual bad dream about missing socks, I’m talking about an eyes-wide-open hallucinogenic undie ****ter. The sort of “dream” where you’re awake, but not awake, but...

www.alu-cab.com

 

[jimothy]

that's _exactly_ what I do too If I just got up and went down the ladder and got it over with, it would be so much better, rather than "we'll just roll over and go back to sleep and the urge will pass". Nope, it won't, just get up already After 20+ mins of pretending I don't really need to go, I clamber out of the tent.

Here's a totally hilarious story I found one time while reviewing RTT's online :
It involves camping in the bush in Africa, having a midnight freak-out experience, and running out of an RTT ( forgetting that it's off the ground ! )

A rooftop tent, a black mamba and a tighty-whitey dash in the bush

At some point in the deepest, darkest, wee hours of the night, I started having a night terror. But I’m not talking about your usual bad dream about missing socks, I’m talking about an eyes-wide-open hallucinogenic undie ****ter. The sort of “dream” where you’re awake, but not awake, but...

www.alu-cab.com

I've quipped that when sleeping at home, in a bed, with indoor plumbing, heat/AC, and electricity, I can sleep the entire night without having to take care of business once. But when camping, in frigid temperatures, in the middle of the woods, I always have to get up at least once per night.

The colder it is, the longer I stay in denial, hoping the urge will pass, and missing out on sleep, only to eventually give in to the inevitable and get out of the tent. I've been camping in one form or another for decades, and I still haven't learned.

 

[boogielander]

Yeah, it's not cheap. But hardly the most money we've spent on our hobby, right?

And it's both cheaper and better than the Doggo, leaving no reason to buy the Doggo over the HC Steps in my opinion. The only thing the Doggo has over HC Steps is it's more compact. If you have a medium or large dog, the HC Steps are an easy "yes". If you don't have a dog, they're a "maybe": More comfortable than bare steps, but maybe not worth the price.

To put it in perspective: Before I got the HC Steps, I eyed a ladder from Alu-Cab that has steps at the proper angle and with wider treads, so you step on the flat tread rather than the corner like you do the typical telescoping RTT ladder. The price of that? $300, and they're tough to find in the US. So that makes the HC Steps not so bad.

P.S. Now that I've said there's no reason to buy the Desert Armor Doggo, if anyone does have an RTT and a dog, I'd sell you mind at a good price.

i don't have a dog yet so i can make do with the telescoping ladder until something happens: either i eat **** or i happen to have a dog magically.
it's always like that for me when it comes to camping gear: something has to happen for me to spend the money; but when it's the truck it's reverse: i spend the money so something doesn't happen!

I will say this though, the biggest challenge for me is trusting my 200lb fatass on the ladder, especially when i have to extend it long due to uneven ground or something.
Also another challenge is uneven ground where the ladder goes... I've had instances where the ladder suddenly moved while I was up there because the ground was not even.

that's another reason why I'm looking at camper tents with inside passthrough: no more worry about uneven ground for ladders

 

[boogielander]

that's _exactly_ what I do too If I just got up and went down the ladder and got it over with, it would be so much better, rather than "we'll just roll over and go back to sleep and the urge will pass". Nope, it won't, just get up already After 20+ mins of pretending I don't really need to go, I clamber out of the tent.

Here's a totally hilarious story I found one time while reviewing RTT's online :
It involves camping in the bush in Africa, having a midnight freak-out experience, and running out of an RTT ( forgetting that it's off the ground ! )

A rooftop tent, a black mamba and a tighty-whitey dash in the bush

At some point in the deepest, darkest, wee hours of the night, I started having a night terror. But I’m not talking about your usual bad dream about missing socks, I’m talking about an eyes-wide-open hallucinogenic undie ****ter. The sort of “dream” where you’re awake, but not awake, but...

www.alu-cab.com

oh boy hahahahaha

 

[boogielander]

I've quipped that when sleeping at home, in a bed, with indoor plumbing, heat/AC, and electricity, I can sleep the entire night without having to take care of business once. But when camping, in frigid temperatures, in the middle of the woods, I always have to get up at least once per night.

The colder it is, the longer I stay in denial, hoping the urge will pass, and missing out on sleep, only to eventually give in to the inevitable and get out of the tent. I've been camping in one form or another for decades, and I still haven't learned.

oh yeah same here. if it's cold outside then I only eat like 10-20% of what I normally eat for dinner, and I wear extra extra layers to cover my stomach. For some reason my stomach area gets cold easily while camping in fall or winter (not so much in summer) and when that happens, that usually means I have to start digging holes or get my portable toilet ready before I go to bed. Because I guarantee for some odd reason unbeknown to men, I WILL have to get up at 2-3AM to use that foxhole no matter how I try to convince myself.

Now I just setup the bathroom tent and portable toilet and hope I don't need it. Last time I had to go at 2AM I was half awake and it was in the 30s or 40s outside. It was dark. It was 2AM. I spent half an hour convincing myself I didn't need to go, but that didn't work.
I got up, turned on my heater, get dressed, got out, and went for the bush near a ledge to do my business. Then the wind started to pick up, and now I have cold wind blowing up my rear as I was taking a dump. That was the weirdest feeling ever and I did not like it one bit.
After I did everything and gone through the bathroom process, I looked up, and asked myself: "where the hell am I and where is my truck?"
I always leave one lantern on overnight near my truck, but it was so cold that night the battery died. Stumbling around and going at the direction I THINK where my truck was for a while, then I realized I have my headlamp. Turned it on, found my truck, and found i was going completely the wrong way. Fix my mistake, and finally went back to bed.

After that time I learned lol as for taking a leak... I just do it next to my truck.

 

[WasatchBack]

Nice! I really like that 23zero. Your truck looks killer too. Do you have a pic from the side with it folded up? My rack sits a few inches below the roof of my cab. I don't mind having a little bit of the tent hanging out of the back, but not a ton.

With the tent and rack perfectly centered, the tent sits an inch or two inward of the tonneau. I preferred the full height (19") UpTop rack as it allows full rear window and 3rd brake light visibility. Certainly doesn't help mpg though.

 

[GeePee77]

AT Overland Habitat.
Likes: Pretty much everything. Lightweight. Easy to set up. Main sleeping area away from stand up truck bed area - no need to pull out or store away. Can sleep 4 if needed; we purchased the two folding platforms to add additional sleeping space directly above truck bed area. ArticTern windows.
Dislikes: Difficult to put away solo. Lost/down approximately 3mpg on average. Affixed permanently.

 

[JerryBsizzle]

AT Overland Habitat.
Likes: Pretty much everything. Lightweight. Easy to set up. Main sleeping area away from stand up truck bed area - no need to pull out or store away. Can sleep 4 if needed; we purchased the two folding platforms to add additional sleeping space. ArticTern windows.
Dislikes: Difficult to put away solo. Lost/down approximately 3mpg on average. Affixed permanently.

Damn ole son that's legit!

 

[boogielander]

AT Overland Habitat.
Likes: Pretty much everything. Lightweight. Easy to set up. Main sleeping area away from stand up truck bed area - no need to pull out or store away. Can sleep 4 if needed; we purchased the two folding platforms to add additional sleeping space. ArticTern windows.
Dislikes: Difficult to put away solo. Lost/down approximately 3mpg on average. Affixed permanently.

ive seen youtube videos about them. pretty cool ideas but I don't really know if I should trust that hovering design with my fat *** lol.

 

[kapinallinen2]

I like the sturdy construction and the annex room of my ARB.
It does take some time to set up and take down but I can leave bedding for two in it.

I have it mounted on a DIY rack above the roof line as not to obstruct the view out the back window.