Roof tents

[DonkeyApple]

Has anyone used a Hannibal roof tent in the uK?

They seem ideal but I've heard that our weather doesn't favour them too well and you can arrive after a long drive with everything wet.

Erring more towards an Air Top with side unit: http://www.autohome.it/mob_file_gb/airtop.html

http://www.autohome.it/mob_file_gb/accessories-new...

[anonymous-user]

Hannibal are seen as the Rolls Royce of roof tents because they're so popular in South Africa and if it's though enough for the Serengeti it must be tough enough for Somerset right? Wrong, rain proof they ain't.
Go for the (European) Maggiolina. I've got the carbon fibre one on my Defender. Snug, bug, rug etc.

[DonkeyApple]

Cheers. This is what I had been led to believe.

The Italian ones have a far more Euro and also simplistic look and feel but also it's easy to put them down and drive off while leaving the side pod in situe which I can imagine being a huge inconvenience with the Hannibal set up which you have to pack all away if you need to move the car.

The CF ones look cool but I'd go for white just to try and keep heat issues down.

Are they really as easy a they look? And how does the movement of the ca effect them etc?

[Zelda Pinwheel]

If I may, could i offer an alternative - Myway Roof tents. These are also made in South Africa.

http://mywayrooftents.co.uk/myway-roof-tents-produ...

We have had two - we replaced an Evolution tend with the sturdier Serengeti for our trip to Iceland and we've not regretted a moment with either tent.

The bonus with a Myway is that, unlike almost every other tent on the market, you don't have to get on the roof of the vehicle to put it away which is a real bonus if your vehicle is tall!

We've taken out the thick foam mattress as we prefer to use an airbed, and this means that we can leave all our bedding, pillows, sleeping bags, blankets etc in the tent when it's packed away, leaving us more space in the vehicle.

It's horses for courses really. The Maggiolina is fine, but we find them too small and as, when erected, they are really a big square box on the roof, they don't seem to hold up as well in strong winds. They do fold down very small but you can't leave much bedding up top.

We've had our Myway tents in gales in Iceland, sandstorms in Morocco, and torrential rain in Wales and they're toasty warm and dry. We have fabsil-ed the outer fly sheet for added protection, but they really do hold up well.

If you'd like more info, please feel free to PM me! I also have personal contact with the UK importer and the fitter for the south as well, but have no business links with them!

ETA: They also do a ground tent: http://www.mywayrooftents.co.uk/myway-roof-tents-p...

Edited by Zelda Pinwheel on Tuesday 12th June 10:59

[volks al]

When I had my Landy I loved the idea of a roof tent, but they just are silly in the UK. Find in the desert when you need to be off the ground for wild animals maybe. It makes the vehicle top heavy and then unmovable when parked mostly. WOuld much rather have an OzTent on the roof, which when stopped you bring it down and stick it up next to the Landy.

Check them out, the RV3 or something with panels would be excellent, and cheaper than a roof tent.

[DonkeyApple]

volks al said:

When I had my Landy I loved the idea of a roof tent, but they just are silly in the UK. Find in the desert when you need to be off the ground for wild animals maybe. It makes the vehicle top heavy and then unmovable when parked mostly. WOuld much rather have an OzTent on the roof, which when stopped you bring it down and stick it up next to the Landy.

Check them out, the RV3 or something with panels would be excellent, and cheaper than a roof tent.

I tend to agree, especially if you are using formal camping areas.

My logic is that it will be stored under the garage roof and lowered onto the car when needed but the main use will be at motorsport events or driving off-piste into the middle of nowhere and the ease of kipping down without needing to find dry or flat land.

While I agree that roof tents have a primary focus of keeping animals out in remote parts of the world like Africa etc they also have a benefit in the UK with our weather as flat land tends to be boggy or easily flooded when it does rain, plus you can't always find a large enough flat area in some of the places you end up.

In regards to motorsport events, it would be extremely handy to be above everyone else and be able to sit out of the rain watching the racing.

Definite pros and cons which I guess depend on what you actually will be using it most for.

[volks al]

DonkeyApple said:

good points

Ahh maybe for your situation then a roof tent could be the option then, esp getting above others at the racing I guess having to get the vehicle level will be important if off road as you will be rolling even more at height, HiLifts maybe?!

Not sure where in the country you are, but the summer LRO show may be worth visiting and seeing some roof tents and owners feelings on the.

These guys
http://www.neneoverland.co.uk/4x4expedition_offroa...

Edited by volks al on Tuesday 12th June 14:55

[Zelda Pinwheel]

volks al said:

When I had my Landy I loved the idea of a roof tent, but they just are silly in the UK. Find in the desert when you need to be off the ground for wild animals maybe. It makes the vehicle top heavy and then unmovable when parked mostly. WOuld much rather have an OzTent on the roof, which when stopped you bring it down and stick it up next to the Landy.

Check them out, the RV3 or something with panels would be excellent, and cheaper than a roof tent.

Why silly in the UK? Practically speaking, they're much better than a ground tent: out of the mud and rain, no chance of tracking puddles of water through your bedding...

As to weight, one of th ekey reasons we chose this manufacturer was weight - only 30kgs I think, which stacks up very well against all other makes which come in considerably heavier, and at no cost to quality.

We're off to wales next weekend with ours and I bet I know which campers will have a drier set of bedding to put away in the morning.

I will concede that if you're on a touring holiday they're not ideal in that you do have to pack it all away each day, but that's a sacrifice we're prepared to make. To that end, we've a routine which has us packed away and ready to go within 5 minutes of getting up. Not many ground tents offer that speed and you'll still have to find somewhere to keep your sleeping bags...

[PugwasHDJ80]

Have done a fair bit of overlanding and always used either a bivvie bag, a small tent or just a mozzie net and a camp bed for when its really hot

would still rather have a maggiolina though- ridiculously quick to setup and take down, and you can be rolling in no time at all- and the weight of a maggi really isn't that much- probably 50kg- i'd be more worried about the cans of fuel that most people put on the roof!

my ideal setup would be a magi on top of an andveture chaser overland trailer

[DonkeyApple]

volks al said:

Ahh maybe for your situation then a roof tent could be the option then, esp getting above others at the racing I guess having to get the vehicle level will be important if off road as you will be rolling even more at height, HiLifts maybe?!

Not sure where in the country you are, but the summer LRO show may be worth visiting and seeing some roof tents and owners feelings on the.

These guys
http://www.neneoverland.co.uk/4x4expedition_offroa...

Edited by volks al on Tuesday 12th June 14:55

Thanks. Getting the wagon level or at least any lean in the direction of feet will be important but then it is with a normal tent.

I've an iPhone ap that will help

I'm in London (some of the best off roading in the UK) and getting away at weekends tends to be difficult but I had been planning to go to one of the big shows.

[DonkeyApple]

volks al said:

Ahh maybe for your situation then a roof tent could be the option then, esp getting above others at the racing I guess having to get the vehicle level will be important if off road as you will be rolling even more at height, HiLifts maybe?!

Not sure where in the country you are, but the summer LRO show may be worth visiting and seeing some roof tents and owners feelings on the.

These guys
http://www.neneoverland.co.uk/4x4expedition_offroa...

Edited by volks al on Tuesday 12th June 14:55

Thanks. Getting the wagon level or at least any lean in the direction of feet will be important but then it is with a normal tent.

I've an iPhone ap that will help

I'm in London (some of the best off roading in the UK) and getting away at weekends tends to be difficult but I had been planning to go to one of the big shows.

[Bill]

We used a Howling Moon tent when we went overlanding and used to keep all the bedding in the tent. Once we'd got the routine sorted we could put it up or down in minutes.

The worst weather we faced was the tail end of a typhoon and while it did leak it was only the seams and then it was only an issue as it's single skinned.

And putting it away wet is no more an issue than any other tent or even a POP up roof on a camper.

The main disadvantage is the lack of entry area for wet clothes and shoes etc. And you can't make a cup of tea in bed

[DonkeyApple]

Zelda Pinwheel said:

If I may, could i offer an alternative - Myway Roof tents. These are also made in South Africa.

http://mywayrooftents.co.uk/myway-roof-tents-produ...

We have had two - we replaced an Evolution tend with the sturdier Serengeti for our trip to Iceland and we've not regretted a moment with either tent.

The bonus with a Myway is that, unlike almost every other tent on the market, you don't have to get on the roof of the vehicle to put it away which is a real bonus if your vehicle is tall!

We've taken out the thick foam mattress as we prefer to use an airbed, and this means that we can leave all our bedding, pillows, sleeping bags, blankets etc in the tent when it's packed away, leaving us more space in the vehicle.

It's horses for courses really. The Maggiolina is fine, but we find them too small and as, when erected, they are really a big square box on the roof, they don't seem to hold up as well in strong winds. They do fold down very small but you can't leave much bedding up top.

We've had our Myway tents in gales in Iceland, sandstorms in Morocco, and torrential rain in Wales and they're toasty warm and dry. We have fabsil-ed the outer fly sheet for added protection, but they really do hold up well.

If you'd like more info, please feel free to PM me! I also have personal contact with the UK importer and the fitter for the south as well, but have no business links with them!

ETA: They also do a ground tent: http://www.mywayrooftents.co.uk/myway-roof-tents-p...

Edited by Zelda Pinwheel on Tuesday 12th June 10:59

It was the Hannibal style I was originally interested in an this versions does seem good.

These style do have more space etc.

How much is a car effected by the lack of aerodynamics that you get from the Italian hard roof ones and also how genuinely easy is it for a bloke with a bad back to stow away etc on their own?

[Zelda Pinwheel]

well, we have ours on the top of our 1990 Land Rover 130, so aerodynamics is a bit irrelevant, lol!

That said, it's actually quite low down without the mattress in. Will try to find a pic.

Most of the Hannibal, Howling Moon, Oztent, Ez-Awn roof tents I've seen have had a really big profile, ours is dead flat. I can't say it reduced the fuel economy significantly - the land rover being a big rectangular box, you can't make it much worse by adding a smaller rectangular box to it...

And for a bloke with a bad back? i don't think it's a problem - mostly stretching, as opposed to bending, and we've never had to get on the roof at all so it's all done at ground level. Our landy is a little taller than average so we have a caravan step we use to reach up to it sometimes. It's not a very heavy thing to unfold, and putting it away involves lifting the ladder until the tent is halfway folded, then you can pretty much lever it from there and let gravity do the rest!

ETA Pics

IMG_6180 by katy_nicolson, on Flickr


First 'puddle' of the trip! by katy_nicolson, on Flickr

Edited by Zelda Pinwheel on Wednesday 13th June 15:23

[DonkeyApple]

How do you fit the cover back on or is it integral and you just have to pull it back in place and tie down?

My Rangie will be slightly lowered for fast road stability which will make it a little easier but I am wary of excessive wind noise if pressing on through Europe etc.

[Zelda Pinwheel]

The cover is integral, and it's joined at the back of the tent (front of the vehicle) - it's a self-enclosing bag, zipped at three sides. We just fold it back and tuck it underneath itself if it looks like rain, otherwise it just folds out over the roof of the vehicle.

This prevents dust etc getting forced into the bag by wind and rain. We've noticed that tents with a cover that have to be fitted on over the top and ratcheted or tied down don't keep much of the dust out.

[DonkeyApple]

I am seeing another issue though and that is the extension on the ground not being stand alone or having an integral groundsheet, unlike the system for the Italian ones.

Most of the time it's going to be me on my own or with the kids. If on my own I wouldn't bother with the base extension unless the weather was shocking but with the kids I can foresee it being very useful in bad weather and if we want to drive off somewhere during the day.

The extension would also come in handy I suspect at some day events where the roof tent isn't required.

[anonymous-user]

DonkeyApple said:

.
Are they really as easy a they look? And how does the movement of the ca effect them etc?

Yes. The sequence goes: Turn off engine, apply hand brake, get out, undo three latches, rotate handle about 20 times. Tent, pitched.
Forget the justification of keeping wild animals at bay, the full size guaranteed flat double bed with duvet and pillows makes it worth it every time. That, and the very real feeling of knowing you won't drown overnight (which given recent weather is a real possibility). Don't forget you can also use them when parked on tarmac. Dead handy when your 10pm ferry gets cancelled and the next one is at 6am the next morning.

[Zelda Pinwheel]

Crossflow Kid said:

DonkeyApple said:

.
Are they really as easy a they look? And how does the movement of the ca effect them etc?

Yes. The sequence goes: Turn off engine, apply hand brake, get out, undo three latches, rotate handle about 20 times. Tent, pitched.
Forget the justification of keeping wild animals at bay, the full size guaranteed flat double bed with duvet and pillows makes it worth it every time. That, and the very real feeling of knowing you won't drown overnight (which given recent weather is a real possibility). Don't forget you can also use them when parked on tarmac. Dead handy when your 10pm ferry gets cancelled and the next one is at 6am the next morning.

Not a lot more complicated with a roof tent as opposted to a Maggi, but similar principles apply, and we've camped at ferry ports for the same reasons!

As to a ground tent then yes, with kids in tow you pretty much always going to need somewhere for them - not sure I'd be happy with 3 in a roof tent but I guess if you're all skinny you'll fit! We've no kids, so it's never been an issue.

I guess, that really it boils down to what type of holiday you're planning. If you intend to head to a campsite and stay put for a week or more, then a roof tent is not ideal, as you're having to put it away each day to go out and about. But, if you're on the move all the time, staying in a new place each day, then for my money, the roof tent wins hands down.

As mentioned earlier, your best bet really is to go look at some and see what you think. the land rover shows at Billing or Eastnor are coming up, and there will be plenty of suppliers there to talk you through all the options.

The offer still stands if you'd like to come and see our roof tent in action!

K

[tcmault]

Zelda Pinwheel,

Are you still using a MyWay tent? I am interested in the Evolution. You mentioned you switched for you trip to Iceland. Do you think the high winds would have damaged the Evolution?

I like how light and compact the Evolution is. Sadly there are no importers of MyWay in the US, so it will be a direct ship from South Africa. When you pay that kind of shipping it is best to do a bit of homework.