Roof Top Tent FAQs

Why are Roof Top Tents (RTT) popping up all over campsites these days?

As you can tell from the number of roof top tent installs we’ve done in our two California shops lately, RTTs are rapidly gaining popularity. Here’s why.

• Speed. Quick set up and tear down- today's roof top tents are a snap to set up. You literally just unsnap the locks, and up pops your tent! All of our roof top tents include gas-strut assisted opening. So there is no heavy lifting or finicky set up. These roof top tents cannot wait to go camping- you just have to set them free!
• Comfort. Roof Top Tents come with a built-in mattress. Forget about rolling off of your 2 ft wide sleeping pad or cursing the low battery on your noisy air mattress pump. Our high quality roof top tents come standard with a cushy, wall-to-wall foam mattress.
• Convenience. Sleeping bags and bedding can be left inside the tent when you are packing up. This also frees up space inside your vehicle for other camping essentials or companions. The speedy set-up, built-in mattress and bedding storage space really come into play for long road trips or campers who like to move around a lot.
• Elevation. The view from the roof is both more private & less obstructed by ground brush, offering you an entirely new perspective while lounging in bed. Panoramic view from above? Heck yeah!
• Security. Sleeping off the ground offers peace of mind from critters, bugs, and all sorts of things that go bump or rustle in the night. You're also way less likely to find a rock or pokey stick on your roof than you are on the ground. Meaning you'll sleep better and wake up refreshed & ready to explore.
• Style. They're really cool. It feels like you're in a treehouse. Yes, it's stating the obvious, but being awesome and looking great is a big reason why you're seeing them at all the epic outdoor camping locations!

Can I test out a roof top tent to see what it feels like before I buy?

Yup! Please get in touch to make an appointment at one of our two California Showroom Locations, located in San Francisco and San Diego. You can climb up in our demo models and have a thorough discussion with our knowledgable staff about fitment to your vehicle and any other questions you have. 

What is the best type of roof top tent- Hard shell or soft shell?

Hard shell all the way! (unless you have a small car)

• Hard shell (or hard top) roof top tents are: more aerodynamic (fuel efficient) while driving; much faster to set up & to put away; quieter on windy days (less material flapping about); better insulated; and frankly better looking (in our opinion).
• Soft shell roof top tents tend to have a smaller footprint when closed (making them great for small vehicles). But, if your vehicle can handle the size, we strongly recommend a hard shell roof top tent.

My roof rack says the load capacity is 200lbs, so... how can I sleep in the tent (which weighs 150lbs) on my car?

What, you weigh more than 50 lbs? And you want to use your tent for sleepovers? This is actually no problem. Roof rack manufacturers are referring to the “dynamic load capacity” in this case, which is the amount of weight the roof racks can safely withstand while driving the vehicle. When your car is parked and your roof top tent is open, the roof rack is not being subjected to abrupt changes in momentum caused by cornering, acceleration and breaking, so the “static load capacity” of rack systems comes in to play. The static load capacity is dramatically higher than the dynamic load capacity, since vehicles are engineered to withstand the weight of the vehicle itself, in case of a roll-over. For this reason, it’s totally encouraged to have sleepovers in your roof top tent, even if you weigh more than 50 lbs.

What you’ll want to watch out for as the limiting factor is that dynamic load capacity- the weight on your roof rack while you are driving. Be mindful that you mount your roof top tent on a heavy duty rack system- all the way from the crossbars to the feet of the rack. Otherwise you’re limited by the lowest capacity component in the system. And obviously, you should never be in a roof top tent while the vehicle is in motion, as this would exceed the dynamic load capacity.

If you need help getting an appropriate roof rack and installing a roof top tent in California, please get in touch. We can help you assess the rack racks you currently have in place, or get you set up with a rack system if you don't already have one. Rhino Adventure Gear is an authorized Rhino-Rack dealer, and we also carry other rack systems that are popular with the off road community.

What is the best Roof Top Tent for sale?

Good question. We firmly believe in only selling the best of the best. This applies not only to roof top tents, but to all our overlanding and backcountry camping equipment. As outdoor lifestyle and roof top campers have exploded in popularity, so too have the number of companies manufacturing roof rack tents. We’ve been approached by numerous manufacturers asking us to carry their brands. But Rhino Adventure Gear is a family-owned, local California overlanding shop, not an online megastore looking to profit off a trend. We care about our customers’ long-term satisfaction and want to be confident about every tent we sell, so we are extraordinarily selective about the roof top tents we offer for sale. If you see a tent on our site, you can be sure we’ve vetted it thoroughly, used it ourselves, and have demo units on hand in our two California Showroom Locations for you and the family to come test out.

Most of our customers come to our site specifically to buy a James Baroud, iKamper, or Camp King roof top tent. They've done their research and they're asking for a specific RTT by name. If this sounds like you please head on over to our Roof Top Tent shopping page, and select the tent you’re looking to buy. If you are just beginning your roof top tent buying journey, and want to do more research first, please read on to get caught up on the best roof top tents on the market.

iKamper Skycamp | The most innovative hard shell roof top tent

iKamper Roof Top Tents made a big splash with their historic Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $2.3 million. The brainchild of a father who was frustrated with cramped camping solutions for his family, the iKamper Skycamp was specifically designed with family camping in mind. After 20 iterations and design tweaks over years of development, the Skycamp was born. The folding mechanism of the floor is unique to hard shell roof top tents, in that it is the only hard shell roof top tent on the market where the footprint of the tent extends beyond the roofline of the vehicle.

Enlarging the sleeping area of a hard shell roof top tent to accommodate a king size bed required extensive engineering and use of cutting edge materials, like the aluminum honeycomb flooring that enables the platform of the tent to overhang the vehicle.

• King Size bed can sleeps 4 people (2 adults & 2 kids; or 3 adults)
• Hard Shell Tent with Skylight window
• Many modular accessories (annex room, awning, storage shelves)

James Baroud | The reigning champion of luxury and quality in roof top tents

James Baroud tents have withstood the test of time and come with all the bells and whistles included. These luxury touches enhance the comfort and ensure the longevity of the tent:

• Ultra thick, moisture-resistant foam mattress
• Solar powered, reversible ventilation fan
• Bright, removable LED flashlight
• Mosquito-proof screened windows & doors
• Storage pockets
• Market-leading 5-year warranty
• Available in hundreds of colors (New as of 2019!)

The James Baroud roof top tent lineup includes 3 body styles- clamshell, extended clam shell, and full opening / flat top. Each of these are then available in standard or XXL size, and with or without an integrated storage tray on the exterior of the tent. The naming conventions can get a little bit confusing, so be sure to scroll through the photos on our Rhino Adventure Gear product pages where you’ll find a helpful model comparison chart, as well as dimensional information and feature summaries of each type of James Baroud Roof Top Tent.

Another huge selling point of the Baroud RTTs is the sweet line up of cleverly engineered awnings and accessories. For example, the new James Baroud Tunnel Awning, allows you to climb through the roof of the awning directly into your roof top tent via an enclosed tunnel as you ascend the ladder. Combine the Tunnel Awning with a 3-wall Awning Enclosure/Annex Room, and you get two separate but connected sleeping spaces (your RTT and the annex room on the ground).

Camp King Industries | Aluminum Roof Top Tents

The distinguishing feature of the Camp King RTT is its aluminum shell construction. A 2 mm thick, powder coated aluminum shell makes the Camp King RTT strong enough to support its own rack system and carry a gear load on top of the tent. Whether it’s a set of MAXTRAX, mountain bikes or surfboards, you can mount it on top of the Camp King RTT.

The most comparable roof top tent to the Camp King is the Alucab, which also has an aluminum shell. However, we sell Camp King RTT over the Alucab, because we believe the build quality is superior. Camp King Industries uses only premium Australian materials in their RTTs. The best way to appreciate the significance of quality materials is to make an appointment at a Rhino Adventure Gear Showroom and spend some time opening and closing tents, laying on the mattresses and operating the zippers. Below are some additional details on the Camp King Roof Top Tent features:

• Strong aluminum shell
• Breathable natural fabrics
• Eco-friendly foam mattress
• Ultra high quality seals
• Heavy duty struts for easy, assisted opening

How do you install a roof top tent? What type of roof rack is required?

Unfortunately there isn’t a simple, ‘one size fits all’ answer to this question. It really depends on the type of vehicle you have, the type of tent you get, whether you have factory roof rails pre-installed or not, and what mounting configuration you’re looking for.

Some types of vehicles have tons of compatible aftermarket roof rack options; others not so much. Sometimes roof rack installation requires precisely drilling into the roof of the vehicle; other times it’s pretty simple.

          

If you’re in California and looking to get set up with a roof top tent but aren’t sure what rack system you need, fill out this form or get in touch to chat with our roof top tent installation teams in San Francisco or San Diego. They’ll gather information about your vehicle, and discuss options for how we can help get you set up.

How long will it take for the Roof Top Tent I bought to be installed?

We always do our best to give you an accurate estimate at the time of purchase, or when we send out a quote for a custom build project. If we have inventory of the specific roof top tent and roof rack you need, we can usually schedule you in for an install within a week or two, depending on how busy we are at the shop. Other times we have to wait for an incoming shipment of tents to arrive, and it’ll take longer.

If you have an upcoming trip planned, be sure to complete your order well in advance to give us enough lead time to acquire any backordered parts. Usually purchasing your gear 4 to 6 weeks before a trip is sufficient, but the more lead time the better. Again, we’ll give you an estimate specific to your order when you buy your equipment.

Even a basic roof top tent installation often requires coordinating multiple vehicle-specific parts- roof rack crossbars, feet, bracketry etc., and if just one of these is out of stock, we’re dependent on the manufacturer’s supply line and shipping times to get it in hand before we can complete the install. Manufacturers across the overlanding industry are struggling to keep up with rising demand and tariffs on raw materials, so we often experience backorder queues in the 4 - 10 week range if we have to custom order something for your build. We appreciate your understanding that there is a difference between sourcing quality overlanding products from around the world and buying diapers that you can have delivered within 2 hours from Amazon.

Will a Roof Top Tent fit in my garage?

Well, it depends on the height of your garage, your vehicle, and the profile/height of the roof rack you use to attach the tent. Some measuring tape and a careful look at roof top tent and roof rack dimension charts are probably your best bet to get an accurate answer this question.

If you have a large or lifted vehicle and a low clearance garage, but really want to keep your tent in the garage, you could consider mounting the tent to an off road trailer with an overhead rack system instead. This has the advantage of keeping the roof of your vehicle free for other cargo such as surfboards, kayaks or mountain bikes, and it means you can easily detach your camping equipment from your vehicle.

Still have more questions about Roof Top Tents?

Browse our selection of Roof Top Tents and scroll through some images to get a sense of what it would look like on your vehicle. Don't be shy about giving us a call if you have a question specific to your vehicle that wasn't addressed above!