Advantages and disadvantages of roof tents

On the way to road trip, do you often see a square on the roof of some cars! I don't know much about people who go to road trip, and I probably don't know much about them. That's a rooftop tent. With the roof tent, you can save space for your car, and the tent construction will be much more convenient!

Today, I will continue to share the experience of using roof tents and talk about those unexpected troubles about roof tents, hoping to bring some reference to everyone's purchase.

First, super high, super high, super high! The pain that the roof tent can't get rid of

Super high! This is the biggest trouble I have encountered in using the roof tent. The trouble is absolutely beyond your imagination! How much trouble? Almost all underground garages are inaccessible! 13 of expressway compact car lanes are impassable, and many parking lots in many communities are impassable. When exploring rural wilderness trails, I am often stopped by height limiting poles, which has become my cross-country heart disease. Even when I pass many bridge opening and viaducts, I have to stick my head out of the window in fear. I have confirmed that I can pass safely. It seems troublesome to talk so much, doesn't it Then I tell you, it's more troublesome and annoying to use actually! I once detoured nearly 100 km, and the most uncomfortable thing was that I gave up a lot of beautiful scenery because of this problem.

In Yangzhuo Yongcuo, there is no choice but to take a detour of 70 kilometers because it is super high.

Our "white" is not a high-profile SUV, and many people even say that it looks like MPV from the back. Even if I raise 1 inch, it is just the ordinary height of a hard-core off-road vehicle. My roof tent is not too high either. The total height of the car body+luggage rack+roof tent is 2.05 meters, but it is poor here at 0.05 meters! According to the experience of traveling on the road for so many years, the height limit pole of small cars can be roughly divided into 1.9 m, 2.0 m and 2.2 m, of which 2.0 m is the most. The height limit of expressway automobile passage and most underground garages is 2.0m, the height limit of a few residential areas and underground garages is 1.9m, and the height limit of most small bridges, viaducts and culverts is 2.2m. I really didn't care about this problem before using the roof account, but installing the roof account is a problem I have to consider every day. Many people smashed the roof account because they didn't pay attention to the height, and even many people damaged the vehicle.

The total height of the luggage rack and the fixed structure of the roof tent is about 40 cm, which means that if the height of your car is below 1.5 meters, you don't have to consider the height problem. If the height of your car is below 1.7 meters, the height of the roof account will not cause much trouble, but it will have an impact. If the height of your car exceeds 1.7 meters, you should carefully consider whether to install a roof tent. At least look at the actual height of the parking lot and underground garage in your community to see if it exceeds the height. If your SUV is a large hard-core off-road vehicle or an elevated off-road vehicle, then you really have to seriously consider this super-high problem. What car is under the height 1.5m? I'm afraid there are only cars and station wagons, and urban SUVs are all over 1.5 meters. What is the concept of 1.7m? Hardcore off-road vehicles with a little off-road capability basically have to exceed this height.

Super high! Many people have not considered this problem, and the roof tent manufacturer will not remind you, but this is the biggest trouble for me to use the roof tent!

Second, come back and tear it down with fashion? Dismantling the roof tent is very troublesome.

Since it's a tent, it's definitely not something you carry with you every day. You can wear it when you go out on weekends and take it off when you come back, which will not affect the daily use of the vehicle. This is a wonderful idea of many players who have never used roof tents, but in practice, you will find that this problem is not as simple as you think. Let's not discuss how troublesome it is to disassemble and assemble that complicated fixed structure for the time being. Have you ever thought about the weight of this roof account? As mentioned in the last article, 40-60 kg. Where is the roof tent installed? Installed on the roof of the car. Remember, it's on the top! Up there! Up there! This is not to lift 60 kilograms, but to lift 60 kilograms. Don't even think about opening the roof account yourself. I think there are not many people who can lift 60 kilograms above their heads and put them on the roof smoothly.

According to my experience, it takes at least two adults who are not short to dismantle the roof account, and it is even more troublesome if it is a hard-core large off-road vehicle. Don't believe how light the manufacturer advertises and how easy it is to install. I can assure you that even if you have a strong family of five, you are never in the mood to go out and pack at home, which may even become an important reason why you don't want to go out. Therefore, since we are considering using the roof account, we should either continue to install it or go out only once or twice a year. Friday, last Sunday? You will be bored to death.

Well, I suppose there are five able-bodied people in your family. Have you ever thought about how to store the dismantled roof tent? Move in? Can such a big elevator get in? Can you carry dozens of kilograms? There is a garage or a well-connected garage at home, so you can toss it if you want. Life goes on, but I won't suffer that kind of crime, which will seriously affect my travel mood.

Originally, I planned to install it when I often went camping in summer, and then dismantle it when I was not camping in winter. But today's reality is that it is dismantled once a year in the garage and put back on the same day, because the car inspection must be dismantled. The repair shop is a close friend, and there is no charge for dismantling it. As for the dinner in the evening, it's just a small gathering in a street shop. The reality I use is that even in winter, my "white" will take this nearly 100 kg thing around the city. I really don't have the courage to take this thing apart and have no place to store it.

Third, I was drilled into a tent by a strange woman late at night! Disturb personal privacy

In a deep blue lake, the car stopped on the green grass, opened the roof to enjoy the breath of nature, and slept in the wild for a good night. Honey, wake up! This is just a good wish. It is difficult to get the desired effect by using the roof tent, because the roof tent has very high requirements on the surrounding environment and location. What? Is it so troublesome to set up a tent?

First of all, you should remember that this is the tent on the roof, the tent on the roof, and the tent that can't be separated from the car. What does this need? The place where you can set up a tent must be the place where the car can drive. How much space can you save by using a tent? Anyway, forget the grass in the park Beautiful environment, few green spaces for parking. Besides, the roof tent is a new thing anyway, so as long as you open the roof tent, it will inevitably attract all kinds of curious people who want to have a quiet rest. That's just a beautiful expectation. Using roof tents in public leisure places will attract curious people to ask questions, and sometimes even want to print a poster that says: Where am I from? Where are you going? What is in my car? How much did it cost?

Did I make the problem serious? In fact, my words are poor, and I can't describe the pain of being often disturbed when using the roof tent. Even this has become the most important reason to limit my use of roof tents. Being disturbed when using the roof tent has become a part of my camping life, and I even had the experience of being drilled into the tent by a beautiful woman in the middle of the night to find out. These situations really don't involve security issues. Most of them are out of curiosity to see what it is, but it is enough to disturb your leisure elegance. I am by no means a person who doesn't like sharing, otherwise there would not be this article. It's just that curious people like sightseeing groups will keep prying into your privacy. Sometimes I especially sigh, if such a strong curiosity will never live the second episode of the TV series, what if there is a Godzilla or a wretched man in this "big box"?

Under what circumstances can a roof tent be used? Don't even think about it in the city, whether it's a parking lot or a roadside. Parking lots in parks and scenic spots can have a short rest, but I think there will be a lot of trouble at night, and most managers in these places don't allow it. To find a quiet and inconspicuous place far away from urban green spaces and scenic parking lots, it is best to avoid the sight of most people. The high-speed service area should also find an inconspicuous place, which is basically crowded into the parking area of large trucks. The most comfortable place to use a roof tent is a sparsely populated outdoor scenic spot, perhaps a river far away from the crowd; Maybe it's a stone beach in the deep mountains; Perhaps it is an undeveloped coastline; It may be a deserted parking lot, but how many people really dare to camp in such a deserted place? What are the specific hard and fast standards for the roof tent campsite? I think it is a realistic requirement to go out to have a rest in the middle of the night, and there is no harm.

I don't know how many people want to be disturbed, but it really gives me a headache. Camping with a tent is a technical job. Although I am already a "wild" outdoor player, I still spend a lot of time every day looking for a place suitable for a rooftop tent. As for the security problem that many people are worried about, I have never encountered it for so many years. Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe the security environment around us is really better than I thought. Outdoor players who want to use this tent, think about where they can camp. Is it really acceptable to be lonely or disturbed? This is also one of the biggest reasons why the roof tent can't replace the RV.

Fourth, utilization rate and fuel consumption! Roof tents are not cheap to use.

Many people buy rooftop tents to save travel expenses, but can rooftop tents really save travel expenses? Let's calculate the use cost of the roof tent in detail. First of all, there is a purchase fee for using a rooftop tent. The cheapest tent is estimated to cost more than 3000 yuan, including freight. How many times will the average player use it? We use it 60 times in three years, and the cost of each use is 50 yuan. In real life, few people will use it 20 times a year, and few people can get a roof tent for only 3,000 yuan, so the purchase cost of each use should never be limited to 50 yuan.

This is just the purchase cost. Let's calculate the other use costs of the roof tent. The estimation of fuel consumption cost of roof tents is also not considered by many people. With such a big thing on the roof, the fuel consumption will increase by at least 15%-20%, even if 1L/ 100km, we have to calculate it. According to the average annual 1 0.5 million kilometers of family cars, if you carry this thing around all the year round, you will spend about110,000 yuan more on fuel every year, which is equivalent to increasing the fuel consumption of 50 yuan every 20 times you use it. If you don't take this thing with you every day, the daily cost will be 20 yuan according to the average daily driving distance of 300 kilometers, provided that you don't have to spend money to disassemble this thing.

Is this the full cost of using the roof tent? This is not the whole story. More, for example, when parking, because it is too high, you can only choose high-priced parking lots; When the height limiting pole cannot pass, it detours; Time, cost and fuel consumption delayed in finding a camp every day. But these costs are not easy to calculate and I can't enumerate the figures. If the purpose of installing roof tents is to save travel expenses, then I really suggest giving up. This thing is not as economical as expected.

5. shading? Rain proof? Maybe it's not what you think

Most roof tent manufacturers promote their products in order to protect themselves from the wind and rain. Is that really the case? In my experience, I can tell you: "Just look, don't take it seriously". Roof tents are tents after all, and it is impossible to use too thick cloth for weight and structural design. Windproof the roof tent. No problem. Although the tent will be whistled by the strong wind, and even the body will sway with it, it is really airtight, as long as you can bear it in your heart. You've never seen a roof tent damaged by the wind. But if you believe that roof tents can keep out the rain, then you don't know much about tent products.

In fact, frankly speaking, not to mention a few thousand yuan roof tent, even a ten thousand yuan adventure mountaineering tent can not completely block the rain. The tent has an index called waterproof coefficient, which refers to how much water pressure the tent fabric can withstand, but it doesn't say how many hours it can last without water leakage under this water pressure. In addition, the waterproof of professional tents mainly depends on multi-layer structure, and the outer tent diverts rainwater to keep the inner tent dry. And how many roof tents are double-decked? Generally speaking, roof tents are not afraid of heavy rain, but of slow rain. If it rains all night, there is basically no rain in the first half of the night, and the tent will be a little wet in the second half. In the morning, you can see a slight water accumulation in the corner. Many manufacturers' propaganda is not like this, but I have used many models of roof accounts, which are basically the same, unless a two-story structure is added outside the tent, which is how I solve this problem.

In fact, there is a more serious problem than rain protection, which is sun protection. Believe me, this problem is definitely more serious than you think. Travelers who often live in tents know that sleeping time in tents ends at sunrise. Unless it rains on cloudy days, the temperature in the tent will soar to above 30 degrees in an instant after the sun comes out. Limited by weight, cost, structure and other factors, the fabrics of outdoor tents can not basically achieve the effect of shading, and so can roof tents. The sunshine after sunrise will turn the tent into a greenhouse with excellent performance. Of course, the roof tent can cool down by opening the window for ventilation, but the temperature will still be high. This is not only the disadvantage of roof tents, but also the disadvantage of all tent products. Want to shade the sun? Then find the angle of sunrise when parking, and try to reduce the projection area. If the sun shines directly on the side at sunrise, you can hardly sleep late.

Sixth, the center of gravity rises! The most dangerous problem brought by the roof account

Many people have considered the weight of the roof tent, but I don't know how many people have considered the center of gravity of the roof tent, which is more serious than the weight. What's the center of gravity? Increasing the weight of the roof by 50 or 60 kilograms is not only a little heavier, but also will improve the overall center of the car a lot, which will seriously affect the handling safety of the vehicle, especially the roll angle when cornering at high speed. In order to show how serious the problem is, we won't do the experiment. Go running with a 5 kg backpack, OK! No problem. It doesn't matter much. How about running with this 5 kg backpack on your head? Do you feel the pressure? Do you feel unstable? Do you know the seriousness of this problem?

Take the real experience of my family "Bai" as an example. After refitting the shock absorber, it passes through the mountain road 180 U-bend at a speed of 50-60km/H and runs smoothly. Later, the roof tent was installed, and the speed of 40km/H was already tilted badly, as if it were going to roll over. After that, I changed a wheel hub with a value of 0, which is equivalent to the wheel photo being 5 cm wider than the original car data, and barely reaching 40KM/H cornering. You can say that my car has poor performance, but this is the actual comparison data of the same car, and the change amount is accurate. If it is a mountain bend and there is a crosswind, the weight of the roof will make the elegant master instantly become a new driver.

Of course, you may not pass the curve at such a high speed, or even rarely run the mountain road. But have you ever thought about meeting an emergency, such as changing lanes to avoid, braking suddenly, overtaking and so on? This is not a question of driving pleasure, but a question of life safety. What will this problem affect? It won't affect anything, just run slowly and it will be solved. But this is still a big problem that you must consider.

For two consecutive articles, I said so many "bad words" about the roof account, but I failed to tell all the troubles caused by the roof account. Seeing this, many readers may ask: "The roof tent is so troublesome, why have I used it for so many years?" Because the roof tent is really irreplaceable outdoor self-driving equipment, because it accompanies me to conquer the wilderness and enjoy nature, it is my other home, and I often joke that my roof tent is a "mobile attic".

Many people will compare the roof tent with the bed car and RV. In fact, these three products are completely different, and their positioning and application scope are not the same. Bed car is the simplest and most convenient camping way in go on road trip, but it is not suitable for players who have been engaged in go on road trip for a long time and are equipped with a lot of equipment. First of all, I 192cm, with a body weight of 220 kg, feel uncomfortable sleeping in the car. It is definitely a nightmare to be drummed in the car every day. I experienced it personally from the sleeping car. Even if you pack a suitcase, you will encounter many problems such as height, center of gravity and fuel consumption.

As for the RV, the biggest limitation is the use cost and passability. The operating cost of RV is very high. For a player like me who has been playing wild roads all the year round, it is unacceptable to double the toll of towing the RV and increase the fuel consumption by at least 30%. However, the use of self-propelled RV is only limited by passability. Self-propelled RV is basically inseparable from the road, and the heavy body and two-wheel drive structure completely bid farewell to the wilderness.

I wrote two articles about roof tents in succession, and talked about the shortcomings of so many roof tents. It's not to ask everyone to give up the roof tent, but to suggest that everyone consume reasonably and seriously consider whether they really need a roof tent. Roof tents are also very popular equipment in Australia, the United States and other countries with very high RV penetration rate, because the off-road vehicles with modified roof tents are incomparable to RVs in terms of passability and convenience.

In the United States and Australia, there are generally two types of users of roof tents. The first one is an extreme adventure player like me, who likes to shuttle between no man's land and wilderness, has very high requirements for vehicle passability, is often outside, does not want to use a bed car to deal with it, and will not tow an RV. Second, family short-distance leisure, just short-distance rest instead of ordinary tents, there are not many expectations and requirements. Are you suitable for using the roof account? Please think it over before making a decision, because it is a big deal anyway.