What's with all the people driving around with roof top tents these days? It has to be the dumbest way possible I can think of camping. Watch for them on trucks, SUVs and crossovers. It's this giant cumbersome box on a roof rack that must weigh a lot and looks really stupid.
This is what I'm talking about, although keep in mind these are nice photos that work to romanticize what is actually a bad idea that makes no practical sense:
It annoys me because of how dumb they are:
- They're super expensive. Like a couple thousand dollars expensive when an equivalent tent from Canadian Tire would be $120.
- They trap you at your camp spot once they're set up. You can't leave unless you pack up.
- They have to be cold with all that cold air underneath you versus trapping an insulating layer between you and the ground.
- Climbing up into a tent is not advantageous in any way. Maybe somewhere that has snakes, but certainly nowhere near us in Calgary.
- They're cumbersome to own. You have to keep it on your car everywhere - wind whistling, the weight, killing your aerodynamics, looking like an assclown.
What a lot of effort, expense and hassle to have it worse off than a tent you can leave behind as you get wood, go for a drive, run to the store, etc.
The crazy thing is at first glance they look really cool and you're thinking,
yeah, that'd be sick to have my tent everywhere with me and would look so awesome on top of my SUV at the campground, but then you realize they make everything worse with no upside.