Buying a Maggiolina Airlander or not?

[Kiwi_Ed]

Hello everybody,

After reading a few reviews on the Magiolina Airlander and finding a good second-hand one (1 year old) for the right price I am trying to make up my mind about actually buying it.

We live in Ireland where it is simply impossible to buy an roof top tent unless you import it yourself from the UK or elsewhere. Finding one second hand is also unheard of, so this is possibly the only chance I will ever get to buy one without spending loads of money.

Reading through the reviews and stories of people using them you'll read great comments about how easy it is to set it up, how spacious warm and dry it is, but I haven't read one thing about how these things hold out in a good old heavy storm. Living on the west coast of Ireland, where most of our camping will be done as well, we ever so often (more ever than often ) get hit by Atlantic gale force storms. I have camped in these in ordinary ground tents, no problem, but being on top of a car between two pieces of fiberglass held apart by a few strips of metal cover by canvas screwed to the car by a couple of brackets somehow sounds different.

So I am wondering if anybody has any experience using the Airlander in stormy weather. Or does anybody know if there are any recommendations from the manufacturer about using these concerning wind forces etc.

Hope anybody can help me out before I'll buy it and you might see my flying around the Irish hills in my fiberglass and canvas box...

Many thanks!

Edwin

 

[Lemsteraak]

Hi Edwin, hope I can help out, I too had to import my first Maggiolina direct about 25 years ago.

A Maggiolina is well designed for very wet weather, after you climb out, you bang on the fabric sides and the water flies off and you close it up. All your stuff in the tent is well sealed. If you are going to be in really, really nasty weather, get a "winter hood" for it, turns it into a double walled four season tent. I live in an area that get about four meters of rain a year, very green and I also recommend getting what we call a "tarp" here in the US. Discussed in other threads, but a simple large piece of waterproof fabric with grommet holes that you can configure to deflect rain. My personal favorites are called "wings" because the edges are parabolic and are quieter in the wind.

Buying used is really a good option if you can find one as there isn't anything that can't be repaired or replaced on these tents. The factory is excellent about responding to questions and giving advice. Wear points aren't what you think, the structure is pretty bulletproof, first look at the outside fabric, black marks are a signal that the fabric has been pinched between the shells. The black is from a sacrificial foam that looks like a seal and protects from chaff. Small wear holes aren't a problem, the fabric is really just a water repellant mesh with thousands of holes so it can breathe well to keep you dry. After a few years, the water repellant coating "DWR" will wear and the fabric may start to wick up water a little. There are several coatings you can use to renew the DWR, I like 303 products stuff but I've heard good things about McNett stuff. The other wear point to look for is under the mattress. Even though the base is insulated, in wet weather water will sometimes get in and also there is always condensation. If the mattress isn't turned or allowed to dry, mildew could develop. Structurally the tents are very good, there are a lot of cosmetic things that happen like "spiders" small cracks in the protective gelcoat that radiate from a hit or stress point, don't worry about those, they happen even to new tents.

 

[Kiwi_Ed]

Hello Lemsteraak, Thank you very much for your reply.

As far as I know a tarp is a tarp here on the other side of the Atlantic as well. As I can definitely see all the benefits of having a good tarp with you on camp, I can't make up the connection between the tarp and the Maggionlina from your post. Would you cover the Maggionlina with a tarp? I can see this would give you a bit of a dry area when you are climbing out of the tent, but other than that it shouldn't be necessary I suppose.

Thanks for giving me all the tips on what to look for when buying the tent. As it is only used once I don't think wear and tear should be a problem (haven't seen the tent yet, only photos), but mildew is definitely a problem here, so I will keep an eye on that.

Did you have any comments about using the tent in a storm? There were some strong gusts of wind last night and I was thinking about lying in a tent in that sort of weather. In a ground tent you already feel like holding on to everything, but being on top of a car would even be more scary I suppose. If there is anybody that knows if there are any recommendations about wind force etc and using the Maggiolina or who has been camping in really strong winds, I would love to hear.

And finally one other question: We went to our local car part shop yesterday to have a look at some roof bars. Looking through the different options I noticed they all recommend a max weight of about 80kg. Asking the guy in the shop if that was per bar he looked at me with a odd look and told me that that was for the whole system and also the recommended weight limit for the roof of my car and that any more weight might cause the roof to cave in... Thinking about this afterwards I found this a bit daft, As I did see cars being tipped over and lying on their roofs without any sign of the roof being crushed and that's a hell of a lot more weight on the roof than just 80kg. But it did start me worrying, the tent being about 60kg with my wife and I about an extra 150kg, that's 130kg more than 'recommended'. Having said that I did see pictures of tents being fitted on normal estate cars (we have an Opel Astra Estate), so it should be ok, but if somebody could take away my worries that would be great!

Many thanks!

 

[Lemsteraak]

Hi KiwiEd

You are most welcome, and these are good questions, basically you are asking about high winds and how your car will handle the weight on the roof.

High winds, a Maggiolina will handle higher winds better than you can. High winds aren't comfortable and it gets loud, makes sleeping difficult. The simple answer is to climb out of the tent, close it and drive somewhere more protected and get a good night's sleep. If you have to stay, climb down, get the tire jack out of the car and jack up one side of your car a bit to take it off the springs. Winds aren't steady but come in gusts, so this will keep the tent (and car) from rocking. That is it, the newer tents have some nice features that make them especially good and quiet in high winds.

Weight on the roof - the dude at the car parts store is absolutely correct. You don't want to put more than say 150 pounds on the roof bars, when you are driving. That is where the bars are tested. When you are parked, who cares, the worst you could do is dent your roof but since a good set of bars don't sit on the roof but on your car's roll cage, you aren't going to dent the roof.

My advice, buy the tent, it will change your life. The AirLand is my favorite, it will serve you well if you like to play outdoors.

 

[Corey]

AirLander, great choice, just do it

 

[Lemsteraak]

Oh, forgot to discuss the "tarp"

The Maggiolina has no problem with water but when you get out of the tent, you get wet.



This is my solution, the attachment is a little tricky, when you get the tent and want to put up a tarp, I'll run you through it.

 

[Anu]

Oh, forgot to discuss the "tarp"

The Maggiolina has no problem with water but when you get out of the tent, you get wet.

View attachment 116158

This is my solution, the attachment is a little tricky, when you get the tent and want to put up a tarp, I'll run you through it.

Not to hijack - however that set up looks really cool. Just bought a Maggiolina Grand Safari and love it. How did you get that tarp on the roof ? I saw something about a sailing track somewhere on the forum? Was that you?


Thanks

 

[INSAYN]

Oh, forgot to discuss the "tarp"

The Maggiolina has no problem with water but when you get out of the tent, you get wet.

View attachment 116158

This is my solution, the attachment is a little tricky, when you get the tent and want to put up a tarp, I'll run you through it.

I have the Maggy airtop on my eped trailer and also have a 12'x12' Kelty Noah tarp. I wanna see how you have your's attached, because I know what you mean regarding "wet" exit from the camper.

Thanks,
Fellow Oregonian!

 

[Colin Hughes]

We've slept in our Maggiolina 15' from the cliff edge in a major rain and wind storm on Grand Manan Island in the Atlantic Ocean and stayed dry. Yes, if you get out of the tent when it is raining, you'll get wet but that will happen in a ground tent too.

 

[m(a)ce]

Can someone please also explain (ideally post pics) of the winter hood?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Kiwi_Ed]

I am glad to hear that everything should be fine in high winds and with the weight on the roof. And finally somebody that slept in a storm on the cliff edge and the tent did its job! Thanks!

Good tip about jacking up the car, I will probably need it as sheltered places aren't always at an abundance here.

Your tarp set-up was what I was guessing you were doing. I've been thinking about doing something similar. I read somewhere that you can hook up a tarp to some strip of metal or something at the top of the actual canvas of the tent. I'll have a look at it when we get the tent, I'm sure we can figure something out but if I need help I will let you know. (I found the article again: http://autohomeusa.blogspot.ie/2009/03/attaching-awning-to-maggiolina.html)

We'll make a decision this weekend, I'll keep you posted!

 

[Colin Hughes]

If I know we are going to see a lot of rain in the period we are camping, I'll tie a tarp to four trees, drive the truck under it, open the tent which lifts and tightens up the tarp and protection is provided on all sides, keeping you dry not only with the tent but getting supplies out of the side and rear of the vehicle. I've banged the side of the tent to remove excess water, packed it down and when I opened it up later in the day, it was already dry.
Here's a shot of us camped on the cliff edge. Looking it it now, maybe we were even closer than I thought and we heard the whales all through the night from down below.

 

[Corey]

I have that one from AutoHome, but never hooked it up to my tent yet.
http://www.autohome.it/file_gb/magg_accessories.html

Pic on the left:

 

[DUTCH]

I have that one from AutoHome, but never hooked it up to my tent yet.
http://www.autohome.it/file_gb/magg_accessories.html

Pic on the left:

The AirTop and other Maggiolina tents have loops built into the tent on both sides to mount the awning. I haven't hooked mine up yet either, but it appears to be a relatively simple procedure.

 

[Corey]

Maybe I will bring mine along on the next trip, would like to try setting it up part way at home, but my parking spot prevents me from opening it up all the way, but I could get the feel of how it mounts in the loops on the roof.

It has really never rained on me hard enough to warrant setting it up.
I have camped in the rain with it, but no torrential downpours when it is time to exit the tent.