Inspired Overland lightweight RTT

[BourbonRunner]

Saw this elsewhere and wanted to share. For those of us that got our dynamic weight cut down due to the factory moonroof, this RTT is well under 100lbs.

And it's kinda a hard shell. And $1350. I'm seriously considering this when I thought a hard shell RTT was out of reach due to price and weight.

https://inspiredoverland.com/products/io-lightweight-rooftop-tent/

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[Dude]

Nice roof top tent!

 

[The_Jimmer]

That's all nice, but for the hassle why not just get a regular popup tent you can put on the ground and actually maybe stand in? You got nearly 100lbs of added weight, the necessity to climb up into the thing, the inability to crawl out and take a piss if you need to (piss out of that and hope to hell you don't rain down on your paint)...just saying I can't see the upside to most of these roof mount tents. I'd be more prone to put on a good side-mounted awning and get a decent all-weather tent to place at the end of the awning. Not knocking you guy...it's just not for me. I did spend 25 years in the military and camping on the ground is second nature. It is a neat design...I'll give it that.

 

[Dude]

… I can't see the upside to most of these roof mount tents

One word: rattlesnakes ?

 

[Colonel Angus]

One word: rattlesnakes ?

Yikes, I was gonna say Bears.

 

[The_Jimmer]

Boots and rugs boys...boots and rugs.

 

[Mark S.]

I find it unlikely that a snake would try to get into a tent occupied by humans; snakes are as afraid of humans as any other animal. Now bears, on the other hand...

Just don't store anything edible near your tent and you should be fine. Unless the bear thinks you're edible.

 

[Dude]

I find it unlikely that a snake would try to get into a tent occupied by humans; snakes are as afraid of humans as any other animal. Now bears, on the other hand...

Just don't store anything edible near your tent and you should be fine. Unless the bear thinks you're edible.

Yep snakes do that. Western diamondbacks perhaps are more brazen ?

 

[BourbonRunner]

That's all nice, but for the hassle why not just get a regular popup tent you can put on the ground and actually maybe stand in? You got nearly 100lbs of added weight, the necessity to climb up into the thing, the inability to crawl out and take a piss if you need to (piss out of that and hope to hell you don't rain down on your paint)...just saying I can't see the upside to most of these roof mount tents. I'd be more prone to put on a good side-mounted awning and get a decent all-weather tent to place at the end of the awning. Not knocking you guy...it's just not for me. I did spend 25 years in the military and camping on the ground is second nature. It is a neat design...I'll give it that.

I get RTT's aren't for you. That's totally fine. I still tent camp on ground as well but an RTT is definitely in the future. Maybe not on the Bronclet but on my next pickup? Certainly.

Being able to pull into a camp site, throw a couple latches and in seconds your tent is pitched, your sleeping bag is in it already, and you're off the cold/hard ground is a game changer. I don't want to waste time setting camp, I've got fishing/hiking/kayaking/hunting/cooking/beer drinking to do.

I've camped my entire life in everything from a single bivvy surplus tent mosquito net/hammock to a full on RTT in a built overland rig and prefer the RTT to all of it.

 

[Meanderthal]

Yep snakes do that. Western diamondbacks perhaps are more brazen ?

Let's see, cold blooded snake finds warm cozy sleeping spot. Seems entirely feasible to me.

Mostly for bugs, I pretty much never leave my tent door open.

 

[Mark S.]

Yep snakes do that. Western diamondbacks perhaps are more brazen ?

https://trailandsummit.com/are-snakes-a-problem-when-camping/
https://thehikingauthority.com/can-a-snake-bite-through-a-tent/

I'm not aware of any documented cases of a snake cozying up to a sleeping person for warmth. Snakes are no different from any other wild animals. They do not seek interaction with humans for obvious reasons. Instead, they slink quietly away from people unless surprised/cornered because they instinctively know humans equate to death. You might see a snake cruising through your campsite at night while hunting, but that's rare.

 

[Dude]

Let's see, cold blooded snake finds warm cozy sleeping spot. Seems entirely feasible to me.

Mostly for bugs, I pretty much never leave my tent door open.

Was primarily referring to under tents and into hiking boots left outside the tent and I’ve had the fun experience of camping out when a rattlesnake took shelter under a friends tent. But not one of my friends reported a snake trekking up the ladder to get under a RTT. Where I hike rattlesnakes are common. Often see 2 a week sometimes more in peak season depending on amount of rains we’ve had.

It’s rare for a rattlesnake to enter a tent (on the ground) and have never heard of that but I’m sure it has happened.

 

[Dude]

Enough about snakes! Back to OPs post, the Overland lightweight RTT looks like a great product. I’d get one of those if I was still in the market for RTTs.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Enough about snakes! Back to OPs post, the Overland lightweight RTT looks like a great product. I’d get one of those if I was still in the market for RTTs.

I'm very intrigued as well. This doesn't appear to be aimed towards long expeditions/overlanding specifically but rather to weekend warriors, much like the AluCab LT50 wedge RTT.

This is aimed squarely at smaller SUV/CUV owners. It clocks in well under the weight of most soft shell tents like the Smittybilts, Yakima, Thule, etc. Those are hitting around 135lbs or more and some aren't that much easier to set up and break down than a ground tent.

Even the lighter soft tents are going to be too much for moonroof equipped owners and bumping up to the max for the non-moonroofs. Plus by the time you get an awning (even a small pull out) and a rack you're on the verge of exceeding dynamic load.

Hardtop RTTs like the AluCab, Roofnest, or iKampers are fast to set up and take down but the weight and cost is prohibitive.

The LT50 clocks in at 111lbs... and is $2700 before you get into the accessories... and you still need crossbars. Upshot to the LT50 is with their Molle panel you can still do some light storage on top and it is an actual hard top opposed to a tonneau style top on this. Still doesn't help me with a moonroof cutting my dynamic load down by 50lbs.

Theoretically, I could get something like this, add a small (8x5) awning and still be under the 100lbs dynamic limit for the BS with a moonroof. My real concern then is how the tent "fabric" will hold up over time. I'm not too thrilled that it's polyester and not canvas but that's where additional weight savings would come from.

 

[BourbonRunner]

The other thing to mention:

On our Cali overlanding trip earlier this year, we had a JTM with an iKamper, our friends had a JLUR with an AluCab wedge.

Although ours was substantially bigger (iKamper says 4 people. I think 2 adults, a small dog and a kid is about the max), it took more time to set up and take down than the wedge but not by much. Both literally release with two latches and have hydraulic assist for opening. The iKamper was a bit more cumbersome, by the time our friends had broken theirs down I was still tucking in tent fabric under the shell. Our ladder was attached to the tent and stored inside. Theirs was separate but the wedge allowed three different entry points- sides and back.

But-- when we arrived at a site and the sun was going down it sure was nice not to fumble around with poles and guy lines. Plus storing our sleeping gear in the tents was clutch. We camped in sub-freezing temps and the rain and had zero issues.

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