Find the rooftop tent for your next adventure

Find the rooftop tent for your next adventure

The rooftop tent is a perfect comfort camping solution that fits right between an uncomfortable and difficult to set up ground tent and an expensive and cumbersome RV. Very few people can attest to sleeping well in a ground tent especially in poor weather conditions and rocky or rooted terrain. It is also the source of many a wildlife encounter story that is not usually pleasant to experience.

The RV is a major investment and the bigger your RV gets the more expensive the cost, storage, fuel and vehicles that can pull them. You are also limited on where you can go with an RV in terms of off grid spots that are not designed for RV access. This means you will not be going to all the best spots that are away from the crowds with an RV.

The rooftop tent on the other hand gives you an easy to set up camping solution that gets you off the ground into a safe, dry and comfortable sleeping platform. Your bedding can be stowed in the tent so everything you need for a comfortable night’s sleep is already in your tent when you need it. The vehicle that you mount your roof top tent to is the only limiting factor on where you can set up your next camp.

Roof Top Tent Advice

OK, I hope you don't mind me chiming in about advice on rooftop tents. You can get a lot of advice but it is meaningless because it is a personal thing. We don't know why you want one? What do you like to do outside and how will it help? What kind of conditions do you go out in and where do you like to go. Think of buying a rooftent like buying a sleeping bag, get one that fits you and the conditions you go out in. Your tent will then outlast many many vehicles. Remember you don't always camp alone so what does your partner like? It is just a tool, it works with you. Don't be surprised if a rooftent isn't right for you.

Now that we have that out of the way, Design and materials play a big part. You can have two exact same tents but made of slightly different materials and they will behave differently so sweat the details if you have specific needs. Make a flowchart and list all your needs.

Example -

- Don't camp much - ground tent
- Drive long distances - hard shelled tent
- Camp in cold - insulated tent, small volume
- Sleep with your dog - ground tent
- Camp in hot - look for ventilation and materials that don't absorb heat
- Wet conditions - hard shelled tent
- Sleep walk - ground tent
- Need lots of room - folding tent
- Big family - ground tent

You get the idea. Once you determine your needs then don't limit your choice to the tents listed and advertised here in the Portal. It is a big world and there are a lot of tents and virtually none of them are made in the US. An example, say you are into kayaking, I mean really into kayaking so much so that you always have a kayak on your roof just in case. No problem, in Italy they make a tent that is perfect, instead of folding like a wallet, it folds lengthwise like a book. You can have your tent and kayak on your roof at all times .... if that is your sort of thing. Your tent is out there. Oh, and your answer to those guys that tell you rooftents are stupid, you can explain your choice and why it works for you. Chances are they didn't do any soul searching and listened to the salesman and bought some big cool expedition tent that weighs a ton and put it on their Subaru.

One last thing, sometimes what make a tent really good for one thing, makes it really bad at another. I talked to a fellow who had a really great expedition tent, you virtually had to show credentials to get one. He bought it used for his family to camp. The ladder was designed for sand so on pavement it would slide. He was camped at a park with his family and was climbing the ladder, it slid, he grabbed the blanket and as he fell took the baby with him, true story. Just because the tent is great, doesn't mean the tent is great for you.

Guide To Buying A Roof Top Tent

We know that buying a serious piece of kit such as a roof tent can be daunting – the variety of suppliers in the market, types of construction materials used, and many different prices can all prove very confusing. And you must be wondering, will I make the right choice. Fear not, we, at Mako56 are here to help make the buying process so much easier with our buying guide.

Read through this section first before going through the others – here, we cover the different types of tents, materials that can be used to manufacture, various sizes and accessories needed and storage. I’m sure you will have a much clearer understanding afterwards.

Q. Can I test out a rooftop tent to see what it feels like before I buy?

A. Yes, you can. If you call to our premises, we have all our roof tents set up for viewing so that any prospective purchaser can look and examine them carefully and get into the tent to see what it is like to sleep inside.
We can cater to our customers who prefer to view a tent in the flesh before purchasing and our website endeavours to provide as much information and up-to-date pictures as possible to customers who are happy to buy online without ever seeing the product. We provide a refund and returns policy for all distance purchases which fully protects this customer segment.

Q. What is the best type of roof tent – hard shell or soft shell?

A. This depends on what a purchaser deems the best, the answer is very subjective.
For one person, it may mean the best or keenest price and for another, best may mean the highest quality materials that can be used in manufacture.
The best-priced roof tents are the soft-shell variety. There is less ABS or fibreglass used in soft shells and the roof is usually constructed from canvas or other soft waterproof material. Expect to pay around €1000 for a soft-shell rooftop tent.
Hardshell tents are much more expensive than soft shells and are considered to be of superior design with more expensive materials used in their construction. Such tents are more durable, secure, safe, and lockable as the top and base of the tent is constructed from ABS and/or fiberglass. A basic hard-shell product will cost at a minimum of €1500 and upwards.

Q. What is the best one for sale?

A. The best product that we sell is our fold-out tent. The mattress allows 3 people to sleep in it, in addition, the tent has an annex supplied with it free of charge and this allows you to store camping equipment or install camp beds on the ground allowing more people to use the tent. Fold-out tents are suitable for people who want to bring a lot of equipment or who have larger families and need the extra space.

Q. Will a Roof Top Tent fit in my garage?

A. This depends on how large your garage is. If you can fit a car in your garage, you will be able to fit a roof top tent in your garage too.

Q. What is the Largest I Can Buy?

A. There are tens if not hundreds of manufacturer’s worldwide, it would be a difficult task to trawl through all the specification sheets from every supplier offering to find the largest tent available on the market. The largest Mako56 tent is our fold out option. This tent measures 160cm wide and has an annex supplied at no extra cost. The annex adds considerable covered and waterproof space to the side of this tent.

Q. What is the Cheapest?

A. Following on from the last question, we do not know what the cheapest tent on the market is. However, our keenest priced tent is called Car Camper. Car Camper was the first tent we sold, and it is still our most popular one. It is priced at €2299 (at the time of writing of this page) and with this tent, you get all the usual accessories plus a solar panel, battery pack and lighting system. It represents great value for money.

Q. What do Rooftop Tents include?

A. When you purchase a new rooftop tent there will be a standard set of accessories provided free of charge. These can include mounting fixings to attach the tent to your roof rack, ladder, mattress, solar lantern, poles for the awning, spare hydraulic arm, instruction manual etc. Purchasers of a Mako56 tent have the option to buy a solar panel with a battery pack and lighting system. Different vendors will have a variety of optional accessories including sleeping bags, towels, BBQs, cooking utensils and many others.

Q. Why do you need spare parts for the rooftop tent?

A. If you buy a quality tent from a reputable manufacturer and vendor, spare parts should be available if you ever need them. The likelihood is that you will lose an accessory such as a mounting fixture or ladder before you break one, but it serves as peace of mind knowing that having bought from a reputable business spare parts will be available if the need arises.