Roof Tents amd Awnings

[chapel gate]

There not cheap, a lot of money just to sit a roof tent onto. I may give a 3rd roof bar a chance.

Lol. Sort of the conclusion i came to. While id love a all singing roof rack, there just allways seemed something better to put the money towards.. maybe one day.

 

[Chris]

Ahh, but if you have a larger one made you can fit the tent on and STILL have room up there. I have a row of Wolf boxes across there but equally you could put Jerries up there or bags, chairs and so on. I can move that space to the back or the front of the vehicle by moving the tent forwards or backwards.

I agree that a full rack just for the tent is a big cost, but I've already explained why I wouldn't use bars personally

 

[Freebeer]

I have a simple roof rail or rack side awning from TJM Australia, great for quick-up sun shade.

 

[chapel gate]

Just keep adding more bars
plenty of room up front

 

[SafariTecPeter]

The Q is; Will Yoy keep the RTT all year long ontop of Your truck & possibly only use it for a short periode of time (ie the Summer)? For some the roof rack comes in very handy for other tasks too.

FrontRunner doe some nice wide cross slates that can act as descent cross bars IF one is desperately set on not spending money on a full rack. They can be partly strapped down to original rails with grab on tie downs.
Another advantage is the huge variety bolt on bits that may practical to some
Horses for courses......

 

[StarCruiser]

Don't know whether it's just beginners luck, but I do seem to be having very little trouble with the zip on our Howling Moon RTT. I've found that inverting the part of the cover that overlaps the zip makes it far easier to zip up, see what's going on and get the zip at the correct angle (straight on) as well as to see anything that's likely to get caught and push it out the way. I've also found it far easier to unhip the ground sheet from the awning and to pack the two away separately, drying/cleaning off the groundsheet then packing away in the duffel bag.

Apologies if I'm stating the obvious or well known facts here.

 

[Andrew T]

The top tip is to cut off the zip tabs and replace with para cord and that makes the rtt much quieter

 

[Andrew T]

i dont take my tent off anymore, that way you can use it all year round.

 

[chadr]

I assume that the 2 ladders mean you have 2 (separate) compartments in your RTT?

How many people does it sleep? - seems massive!

i dont take my tent off anymore, that way you can use it all year round.

View attachment 109098

 

[Andrew T]

I assume that the 2 ladders mean you have 2 (separate) compartments in your RTT?

How many people does it sleep? - seems massive!

It is the Hanibal family tent 2m x 2.4m sleeps 4
It can be divided or kept as open space. It is really nice on rest days or bad weather to have the extra space. Cosy with four though.

 

[chadr]

Thanks - 2m x 2.4m is pretty big. The 120 looks ace btw!

 

[StarCruiser]

Thanks - 2m x 2.4m is pretty big. The 120 looks ace btw!

I thought my 1.6 x 2.4 bed on our Howling Moon was huge, by then it's not divisible.

 

[danny_fitz]

I used a Howling Moon roof tent for just under 11 months during my Africa trip. Apart from the odd night in a hotel or with friends we pretty much slept in it every night. Took us a few weeks to get used to erecting and packing it down but once we got the hang of it we could ‘pop’ the tent and have it ready for use in about 5 mins and it took about 10mins to pack down.

My set up

My non peer reviewed personal thoughts on them are as follows:

Pros


Very comfortable, the mattress that came with the tent was about four inches thick and provided a decent night sleep, I don’t think the importance of this can be overstated!

Sturdy construction

Four large windows on each side provided lots of ventilation (and a good view)

You can leave your sheets/duvet/pillow/sleeping bag in the tent when you pack it away.


Cons

They are heavy – 55kg or so

Very noisy in a stiff breeze

Taking a midnight piss is a bit of a mission

Bit of a faff to pack down in terms of tucking all the flaps and guy lines away so you can get the waterproof cover on and zipped up. You will find yourself hopping from wheel to wheel to runner board trying to do this.

They are f*cking expensive brand new

They are not 100% mozzie proof, on the sides of the tent along the bottom where the two folded half’s of the base board meet there are some Velcro flaps that are supposed to form an effective outer seal and while they keep the water out the mozzies had no bother wriggling through, we had to come up with a fix



While I continue to get use out of my Howling Moon tent in the UK I can’t help but think that the SA manufactures have been a bit lazy and have missed a trick in terms of advancing what was a great design 20 years ago into something that addresses the well documented criticisms above. Why are they not taking advantage of modern fabrics or lighter stronger composite materials, the base board of these tents is still pretty much laminated chip/fibre board. Ultimately though despite my gripes they provided a very comfortable night’s sleep, and when you have been on the road for several hours that kind of luxury cannot be overlooked.

 

[stumog]

Don't know whether it's just beginners luck, but I do seem to be having very little trouble with the zip on our Howling Moon RTT. I've found that inverting the part of the cover that overlaps the zip makes it far easier to zip up, see what's going on and get the zip at the correct angle (straight on) as well as to see anything that's likely to get caught and push it out the way. I've also found it far easier to unhip the ground sheet from the awning and to pack the two away separately, drying/cleaning off the groundsheet then packing away in the duffel bag.

Apologies if I'm stating the obvious or well known facts here.

The zips takes some time to get used to. I really struggle to start but find it OK now.

 

[Pumpy]

Taking a midnight piss is a bit of a mission

6 pint plastic milk bottle for him, additional 'shewee' for her! He can pee lying down on his side, she has to kneel up. Sod that climbing out in the freezing rain malarkey

 

[danny_fitz]

6 pint plastic milk bottle for him, additional 'shewee' for her! He can pee lying down on his side, she has to kneel up. Sod that climbing out in the freezing rain malarkey

Ha

I actually thought about rigging up a system using a fuel funnel and pipe but the wife was having none of it. I think she was jealous at the prospect of me having a no fuss midnight piss while she had to climb down the ladder.

 

[chadr]

Ha

I actually thought about rigging up a system using a fuel funnel and pipe........

That would be a novel way of de-icing the windscreen in colder climes..........though I'm not sure whether the eau de parfum would be acceptable!

 

[Stu156]

I`d like to agree with Chris on this.

Those utrathin bars that fi Thule supply aint up to the task described above IMHO.
There are far better crossbars available IF one does not want to opt for a full rack....
I have seen people mount the Front Runner rack upside-down in order not to have an edge for the RTT to rest on...
Just sayìng

Anyone got any pics of a frontrunner mounted upside down ( 80 series)? What is the clearance like on the roof - we have sunroof (can use slide over tilt) but also a v small antenna mounted on the back end of the roof.

Looking for options for a hard RTT and not keen on roofbars (have read through and considered, Chris makes a valid point on page 3!)

Difficult to find nice ones over here; have also emailed Baja EU Dist as another option as they make lovely racks.

Cheers.

 

[Chas]

6 pint plastic milk bottle for him, additional 'shewee' for her! He can pee lying down on his side, she has to kneel up. Sod that climbing out in the freezing rain malarkey

Yeah, bugger getting up in the night just for a pee, this is what I bought, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361510754856?ViewItem=&item=361510754856
Don't even have to sit up.

 

[garygiles1963]

Hi

I live in a caravan. I use 1 of these for last 3 years,
Nalgene PE Folding Bottles
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000BS0AR4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


With a drop of this,
Elsan ORG02 Organic Toilet Fluid for Motorhomes 2 L - Green
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B2MIPR0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

G.