Suv tent set ups

[Chaser Almost Good to Go]

Has anyone had experience with the tents that hook onto  the back of an SUV?

It looks like they also free stand so one can drive away leaving the tent to place hold as is required iin some places.

Thanks. Just considering some options.

Chase

Bow to the ground.
Walk into lion day.

Jane Hirshfield

 

[bullfrog]

The ones I looked at were costly and didn't look like they would keep out the rain and bugs so we went with a regular tent and a bug net over the open back hatch at night.

 

[wasanah2]

Hey Chaser, I gotta tell you.  When I was a kid in the early 60s (I'm really dating myself), I went with my family on a trip in a station wagon, and they had bought a tent that hooked onto the back of it.  That puppy was HEAVY canvas.  It was meant so you could have the gate down and throw kids in the back in sleeping bags and then the rest had enough room for adults to stand up in and a couple of cots.  It would also work stand alone style when you added a flap.   It rained so bad one time, yet the canvas tent stood up to the worst weather and was perfectly dry.

So recently I went to see a neighbor's who had one he just bought for his SUV that went on the back, and he was testing it out just out in the yard.  The material was so skimpy.  It was light, which is what you want when you backpack, but when you have an SUV, you're not dragging it far, just out the back, and I thought it would be the perfect situation to have a decent heavy canvas one like the one I camped in as a small child.

Maybe they make sturdier ones, but if you can get one heavier, like I said, you don't have to drag it far.  And having the flap where you can leave it in stand alone mode would be helpful too.  I don't even know if they make them like that, but the skimpy ones look like they wouldn't take any kind of serious wind or rain event.

If they don't make them, I like bullfrog's idea.

 

[highdesertranger]

I used to have one. a few of negatives IMO are,

1. the material that sits on your vehicle paint, rubs the paint in high wind. throw in some dust and dirt and you have sand paper.

2. once set up if you go for a drive, repositioning the vehicle in the same location can be a pain in the a**. especially in the dark.

3. the ones I see nowadays are rather cheap. I don't think they will stand up to regular use.

highdesertranger

 

[wasanah2]

1.  the material that sits on your vehicle paint,  rubs the paint in high wind.  throw in some dust and dirt and you have sand paper.

The one we had back in the 60s that went on the station wagon was pretty cool for its age.  I remember the canvas places where it touched the vehicle had felt pads sewn in.  It was specific for the vehicle.  We camped in the east, so it was cleaner (not sandy) and probably not as high winds.  The vehicle's paint didn't suffer any scratches at all.  I thought it was genius and looked for one when I started tent camping again in the 80s, but we never could find one that would fit the vehicle we had back then. 

And this leads to the idea to pick something that'll work in the area you plan to camp in.  Again, bullfrog's idea is looking better and better.

 

[GypsyJan]

I have one from Rightline Gear. I stayed in it for a week last Christmas. It was fine. Temps fell down into the 30s but it stayed warm with the little electric heater on shore power. I set up my Bass Pro Shop Delux kitchen unit inside and turned milk crates on their sides, stacked to create a wall of cubbies as a pantry. I did not connect it to the RAV4 as I was out and about everyday and did not want to bother attaching and detaching it. I hung a tarp outside over the attaching wall and tucked that under the rain fly above. It was quite snug and rather like a little cabin in the woods. It will go with me when I am a full time car dweller upon retirement a few years down the road. I won't bother using it when only staying for a night or two, but it made a great base camp that week.