Car Roof Tents?

[A100man]

Spotted a car with a thing call tent box or summat which piqued my interest.

Seems like they're a thing.. but why? What's the big advantage and why would I spend a grand on one that still only sleeps two? Where do you cook - in another tent?
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Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750, SL1000

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600, Skorpion

[MarJay]

For safaris where getting eaten by large animals is a possibility. Otherwise I think they are a waste of money.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Nobby the Bastard]

[MarJay]

But they keep you off the floor, away from snakes, scorpions, zombies etc. I don't make the thing, I just know the vague application for them.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[A100man]

[Tarmacsurfer]

That's exactly it, they're mainly aimed at "overland" adventure types, often to be seen on the roof of jacked up 4x4s and so forth. They're OK to use for a weekend away but I find them hideously uncomfortable in UK weather, because they're atop a tall vehicle they sway enough to make motion sickness a real issue and opening your tent door to be greeted by a face full of horizontal rain isn't something I'd recommend to anyone.

On the flip side, they're convenient because it's basically a caravan tent, you just unfold to use. They leave the rest of the vehicle free for stuff and makes it possible to fit out a middling large (think Hilux Surf or Discovery) competent off roader as a rough camper for longer trips.

These days it's more the 4 (or 4x4) wheel equivalent of a BMW adventure bike with the full Charlie&Ewan™ options package.
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[Andy Perrett]

[Andy Perrett]

[MCN]

PM the Back Scuttler.
I'm sure he's probably fought off lions from his air bed in a roof tent.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[WD Forte]

I bet they're good for watching herds of Wildebeest
sweeping majestically across the plain.......................
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bikers smell of wee

[UncleFester]

[Andy Perrett]

[A100man]

[Andy Perrett]

[ThunderGuts]

Weight is unlikely to be an issue if the mounting points are half decent; roofs are designed to hold the weight of the car these days so they don't collapse if a vehicle flips onto it's roof. The reason you see low load limits on car roof systems is due to dynamic forces, i.e. braking/cornering etc. - you can put a lot more load on them when they're not moving.

Back to the tents themselves;

Pros: they're probably better at preventing condensation as you're not on damp ground, nothing crawling in, no worry about finding smooth flat grass and possibly (ironically) greater privacy, depending on the height of your roof. Might even get a good view from campsites next to the sea/mountains etc. as you will probably see over walls.

Cons; I imagine they're cold as air can circulate underneath them, no shelter, ladder access for a 3am toilet break could be interesting, access back into the tent after returning from the pub at 2am could also be interesting, I imagine they're generally small and I wouldn't want to cook in one as if the thing caught fire, it's both going to be more painful than average to escape and it'll probably take the car with it when it burns down. You're also not going to be able to "set up camp" for a weekend then go out somewhere during the day, unless the car isn't moving.

I saw a lot of these in Iceland on top of Jimnys; I imagine to enable easy exploring of the F roads without having to worry about finding luggage space for a tent. Seemed popular so I assume they're acceptable, even in harsh Icelandic weather conditions (if you've not been, it redefines what we call "windy" in the UK).
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TG.

[A100man]

So let's say you've wined and dined a Tuscan beauty and you head for the hills in the boxster (or whatever model that is..)

..you arrive at a panoramic location and gaze at the view while engaging in some pre-coital fumblings.. At which point you toss her the camp chairs and say 'stick these up will you luv I'm just going to set-up the roof-tent..'

..right.
____________________
Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750, SL1000

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600, Skorpion

[ThunderGuts]

[Ste]

They're warmer because you're not on the ground.

They're warmer because the tents have built in mattresses and are built more solidly than normal tents.

They can be put up really quickly.

[Andy Perrett]

[pepperami]

[MarJay]

[Polarbear]

Can I just say "HOW MUCH"
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

why can't we have bike roof tents that's what i want to know
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

* paging aaron adams *
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

Slightly off-topic but there seems to be a vogue round here for black sheets over rear passenger windows. At first I thought it covered vandalised glass but now they’re so common I think it’s a commercial sunshade for the little treasures.