Roof Top Tents - 4 Season Use?

[bs1865]

The Roof Top Tent design interests me. For those of you that may have used them in a 4 season scenario. Snow, sleet, moderate to high winds and cold temps - how do they fare?

We spend time in the Rocky Mountains camping during late October and November at 10,000 ft + elevations. Snow accumulation and winds are standard issue more often than not.

Thanks for the insight in advance. Roof top tents are new ground for me. Also, if anyone has comments regarding RTT on top of vehicle vs on top of tow behind trailer that would be appreciated as well!

[Equipt]

I actually like the Roof Top Tents for winter camping. To me, the best feature that makes them nice is that you are up and off the ground. No snow, mud or other similar issues. The only thing touching the ground is the ladder. Key that success is the materials that the tent is made of. A solid construction will help keep the drafting out in wind, the snow out, and insulate the floor as well. I would keep those items in mind when searching for your solution in RTTs. Most of them come with a mattress, which will help insulate you from the cold exterior. You are swapping the ground under you to air space. And that air space can get cold. Solid core floors tend to insulate better than the honeycomb style, and heavier 4 season fabrics will keep mother nature at bay.

During the Expeditions West Arctic Expedition, Scott Brady and his crew slept in the Arctic in RTTs at I believe -47 degrees Fahrenheit. I think you can find that info on the EW site. So it is definitely possible.

As for vehicle or trailer mount, that is a personal preference. If you don't mind or our actually need the capacity, having the tent on a trailer is very handy. Once in camp, if frees up your vehicle for day trips from base camp. The tents cause a little drag regardless of mounting location. And results will vary there. I have traveled using both scenarios. I use the tent on the truck on extended and rough terrain trips, and take the trailer when hauling gear to a desert site I am at for a couple days or to a outdoor race of some sort. I love both options.

Cheers,

[MANUCHAO]

I got the Eezy-Awn brand and have used it pretty much all on temps ranging from 10F to 110F.
It has kept us dry & warm on wet snowy conditions several days at a time and cool on desert heat....
Wind is a bit of an issue from time to time.. but nothing that a guy line cant fix.
Also under windy conditions we have had to take out the tarp to avoid the flapping noise but this has been only twice in 4 years...
It paid itself off the first year we had it and continues to be a great great investment to this day....

You might also want to look at the hardshell (autohome) RTT.
They, for what I have heard and read are great tents too....

Good luck !!

[bs1865]

I got the Eezy-Awn brand and have used it pretty much all on temps ranging from 10F to 110F.
It has kept us dry & warm on wet snowy conditions several days at a time and cool on desert heat....
Wind is a bit of an issue from time to time.. but nothing that a guy line cant fix.
Also under windy conditions we have had to take out the tarp to avoid the flapping noise but this has been only twice in 4 years...
It paid itself off the first year we had it and continues to be a great great investment to this day....

You might also want to look at the hardshell (autohome) RTT.
They, for what I have heard and read are great tents too....

Good luck !!

Thanks for the feedback. Eezy-Awn is on of the brands I've come across. Do you have the extra room or canopy attachment? If so, thoughts?

[bs1865]

I actually like the Roof Top Tents for winter camping. To me, the best feature that makes them nice is that you are up and off the ground. No snow, mud or other similar issues. The only thing touching the ground is the ladder. Key that success is the materials that the tent is made of. A solid construction will help keep the drafting out in wind, the snow out, and insulate the floor as well. I would keep those items in mind when searching for your solution in RTTs. Most of them come with a mattress, which will help insulate you from the cold exterior. You are swapping the ground under you to air space. And that air space can get cold. Solid core floors tend to insulate better than the honeycomb style, and heavier 4 season fabrics will keep mother nature at bay.

During the Expeditions West Arctic Expedition, Scott Brady and his crew slept in the Arctic in RTTs at I believe -47 degrees Fahrenheit. I think you can find that info on the EW site. So it is definitely possible.

As for vehicle or trailer mount, that is a personal preference. If you don't mind or our actually need the capacity, having the tent on a trailer is very handy. Once in camp, if frees up your vehicle for day trips from base camp. The tents cause a little drag regardless of mounting location. And results will vary there. I have traveled using both scenarios. I use the tent on the truck on extended and rough terrain trips, and take the trailer when hauling gear to a desert site I am at for a couple days or to a outdoor race of some sort. I love both options.

Cheers,

What brand and model set-up do you use? Thanks for the feedback!

[Ash]

What brand and model set-up do you use? Thanks for the feedback!

Equipt (ie Paul May) is a distributor of expo/overland gear - check out his website. Paul sells (and obviously uses) Eezi-Awn RTT's but you'll find (like most of the retailers/distributors on Expo) his advice is without prejudice.

With respect to your OP - It's not the cold that would worry me, it's the heat, but that is a universal problem no matter the tent style. RTT's are generally much thicker material than a ground tent, have much thicker bedding/base material, and allow you to store blankets inside even when packed away for travel - hence they are quite warm and comfortable affairs. Heavy snow may present a problem? I'm have no experience here, but perhaps a RTT with a pitched roof (a sopposed to a flat roof) 'may' perform better under heavy snow load?

[MANUCHAO]

Thanks for the feedback. Eezy-Awn is on of the brands I've come across. Do you have the extra room or canopy attachment? If so, thoughts?

No extra room here..... really havent had the need for one.... the tent does come with a canopy (rain fly, if that is what you meant)...
Otherwise only as you see it on the link under my sig line..
As stated it sheds down pours no problem...
I have been only on light snow fall conditions and its no problem at all....
Ventilation on this tent its awesome...during desert camping...

[Martyn]

Snow can vary in weight due to the water content. I lived in the Sierra's for 27 years and have some experience with "Sierra Cement". Homes are built so that the roof can support 180 lb/sq/ft. I was used to waking up to 3ft of snow on the ground. This gives you and idea of the extremes that a RTT can be subjected to.

On a practical note I've woken up with 6" of snow on the roof of an Eezi Awn tent with no issues. The tent usually sheds snow, although there are conditions when it may not, and it will need some help to do so.

I've thought of the Eezi Awn tent as a 3+ season tent, a tent that can be used in all 4 seasons with a little supervision from the user.

[bs1865]

Snow can vary in weight due to the water content. I lived in the Sierra's for 27 years and have some experience with "Sierra Cement". Homes are built so that the roof can support 180 lb/sq/ft. I was used to waking up to 3ft of snow on the ground. This gives you and idea of the extremes that a RTT can be subjected to.

On a practical note I've woken up with 6" of snow on the roof of an Eezi Awn tent with no issues. The tent usually sheds snow, although there are conditions when it may not, and it will need some help to do so.

I've thought of the Eezi Awn tent as a 3+ season tent, a tent that can be used in all 4 seasons with a little supervision from the user.

Martyn - thank you for the experienced feedback, just what I was looking for! In non-extreme conditions with a smart user, most 3 season tents have the potential to work year round.

[Lemsteraak]

You can make some modifications that will help a three season tent.

I sold my old Maggiolina to a fellow who had a very early Hannibal Tent. He wanted a better "cold" weather tent. While I think a Maggiolina to be good cold weather tent out of the box there is a lot you can do to make a standard tent handle the cold better.

The first thing that bothered this fellow with the Hannibal was that water would condense on the tent poles and drip all night long. There is an easy remedy, you can simply sleeve the poles with fabric adding some insulation to kill that condensation.

The second problem was he didn't think the Hannibal breathed well enough, hence the condensation. The four season mountaineering tents I've used a long time ago were double walled. They used a waterproof awning or fly to shed the snow, wind and moisture. The inner layer of fabric, really the tent itself would be more for controlling air and warmth. If conditions were really nasty, we would assemble the poles and awning first and then under its protection, the tent part. In essence, they were two tents.

The old Maggiolina "Adventure" I had was a little different from the new ones. I had what they called a "winter hood" very thin waterproof fabric that went around the sidewalls , the top being fiberglass and insulated, didn't need it. The difference was the way it attached. You first installed a velcro strip to the inner lip of the drip rail of the roof. The the winter hood would fit to that, kind of backwards, with the velcro out to attach to the inner drip rail. When you tightened the drawstring under the tent, the winter hood would tighten up and you would have a little more than an inch of separation between the waterproof outer fabric and the breathable inner fabric. It was confusing, the new Maggiolinas use a much more straightforward system. The concept is the same, to separate the the fabrics so they perform better. I would think you could do this to just about any tent and make it better for cold weather.