I wrote about car tents several times, but I only saw them in person at the Moscow Sokolniki campsite on an Austrian Land Rover.
Why automobile? - many will ask, rather than the usual tourist one, which is cheaper and has more choice. Autotourists choose rooftop tents for several reasons, which I will discuss below. Also, for general development, I will give a chronology of this amazing equipment.
Sedan
Sedan is the most popular body type. It can be found on cars of almost all classes. The sedan has 4 doors and 2 rows of seats. Such a car always looks elegant and respectable. The sedan is an ideal family car for the city, but, alas, it is not suitable for off-road use.
Advantages of car tents
why a car one , and not a regular tourist one , which is cheaper and has more choice.
Motorists choose rooftop tents for several reasons:
Any place to stay for the night . You can stop for the night either in the parking lot of a department store or in the forest. It doesn’t matter whether the soil, dirt, or stones are wet underfoot: only the aluminum ladder is in contact with the ground, which doesn’t care where you stand.
Why spend money on a hostel when you have your own tent?
Safety is predetermined . A night on the roof of a car is a 100% guarantee of the absence of snakes, spiders and other crawling creatures.
Comfort is paramount . What could be better than sleeping in the open air with a soft pillow in your head?
Installation speed . Modern car tents unfold in 2-3 minutes. There is no need to worry about installing arcs, pegs, guy wires, and then putting them back together.
Inner space . The tent box contains all the things you need to sleep, so there is no need to gut the backpack to get the sleeping bag from the bottom.
The car tents did not appear immediately. They were preceded by motorhomes, which would now cause laughter and tears, so let's go through history and find the very point of growth from which mass production started.
Crossover
A crossover is a station wagon with increased cross-country ability. This type of body is great for traveling on bad roads (but not off-road, you will need a jeep for this). Crossover has recently gained enormous popularity.
Impressive appearance, safety, spacious interior, spacious trunk, reasonable fuel consumption - all this is about the crossover.
Cons of car tents
High price . The accessory itself is expensive. In Russia, the cost of a simple tent starts from 15,000 rubles. A more or less normal option costs about 150,000 rubles and more.
Can't be taken on a hike . The car awning will not fit into a backpack because its design does not allow for compact assembly. This tent is placed on the roof of the car and “lives” there until the trip is over.
However, if you like to travel in your own car, sleep in comfort and stay wherever you want, then a car tent is the best option for a leisurely, comfortable and affordable camping trip.
Timeline of car tents
1909 year
. The earliest photograph I could find of a handcrafted motorhome dates back to 1909. It depicts a happy family before going on a picnic.
1915. Not a tent yet, but already warmer - a homemade awning on the roof of the Gypsy Van bus.
1915. If there is an iron horse, then there is no point in sitting at home. In the early 1900s, the first communities appeared. The picture shows two girls during a meeting of the British Caravan Club.
1920. A surprisingly clear shot of a post-Victorian campsite. However, the modern car tent is still several years away.
1923. Automobile tourism is becoming so popular that magazines are starting to write about it. The July issue of Popular Science offers tips on how to travel on an iron horse.
1927. Popular Mechanics dedicates an entire issue to campers. The trend of the time is that car travelers take a lot of things on the road that they will not need. Basically, 90 years later, nothing has changed.
1929. At the Motor Show, visitors saw a folding chair in the driver's seat. I already want to sleep comfortably in the car.
1936. Renowned photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson spends his first paid weekend away from home under a tent.
1937. A limited edition Ford House Car is coming out, with something retractable on the roof. But this is only the ceiling so that you can stand inside. However, it is getting warmer and warmer.
1937. Hot! The earliest photograph I have recorded of a real car tent is in the January issue of Popular Science (source).
In life.
The 30 cm roof box turns into a comfortable shelter that can accommodate two people. The ladder is attached to the hood, and the tent itself has a ventilation hole, the magazine writes. Installation takes 10 minutes. The manufacturer is unknown, but this is not so important, because soon American companies will see this number and new business will begin.
1940. Some dude puts a pop-up tent on the roof of a beach Ford Woody Cruiser. Apparently, I read the magazine and decided to assemble it myself.
1949. The process has begun: when purchasing a Nash 600 car, you can order a roof tent as an additional option. Already mass production.
1953. The golden age of science fiction influenced the design of folded awnings, somewhat reminiscent of spaceships.
1958-1960. There are many tents available to suit every taste - from extreme safaris to romantic picnics.
1961. A 2-person tent with a vestibule for things on the roof of a car.
1969. Promo girls demonstrate how Dormobile Roma turns into a convenient means of outdoor recreation. If they turned 180 degrees, it would come out as a pin-up postcard.
Our days . Demand has generated hundreds of models of car tents, which use modern materials no worse than their tourist counterparts. Moreover, it doesn’t matter what kind of car you have.
Do you want to try it too?
And if you prefer hiking with backpacks, here is a list of the closest ones.
Modern models
Yakima Skyrise Tent
An American manufacturer with the Japanese name Yakima on the market since 1979. His specialization is a variety of fastenings for car racks and for transporting sports equipment. For example, at the 1984 Summer Olympics, American cyclists carried spare equipment using Yakima carriers.
The company received another dose of PR after the autumn Japanese auto show 2020, where Toyota rolled out a RAV4 with a Yakima Skyrise Tent on the roof, promoting the car for picnics, camping, music festivals and just outdoor recreation. The tent is located in a rectangular box and unfolds in half a minute. The main material is ultra-light nylon 210, stars are visible through the mesh panels, and foam is sewn into the base for a soft and comfortable sleep. If it's raining outside, the ground is wet, or there's someone crawling around outside making scary noises, there's nothing better than being on the roof of your car. The set includes a ladder that also serves as additional support.
— Yakima.com : buy for $999
Car iKemper Skycamp
Car tents are popular in areas where nocturnal predators and snakes are found. Americans and Europeans, for example, see such tents as an alternative to caravans.
The iKemper Skycamp costs almost four times more than the Yakima Skyrise Tent, but the design can withstand hurricanes up to 75 km/h. The set includes a wide mattress for a family of four. The tent unfolds in a minute and solves the problem of spending the night almost anywhere: there is no need to pay for a motel or overpay for a separate place in campsites.
— iKamper.com : buy for $3590
Car Tentris ArcHaus 6S
Of course, Tentris is not exactly the car tent that we are used to seeing on the roof of an iron horse. When assembled, Tentris ArcHaus 6S and the car also form a single whole, but the tent turns into an extension of your car or vice versa, which is very convenient.
Firstly, the whole thing can be easily warmed up. Secondly, you get access to additional volume, where it’s convenient to put things or something else. You can “connect” such a tent to a trailer and to almost any SUV or SUV. Dimensions - 304x184x200 cm, material - Ripstop nylon and polyester, it is not afraid of water and can easily withstand even decent rain. A cool option if you have to spend the night on the road, but are too lazy to sleep crouched in the car. And it’s also good for various kinds of outdoor trips. It assembles and rolls up quickly, weighs 11 kg.
— Amazon.com : buy for $313
For Yardstash III bicycles
A bicycle trip of hundreds of kilometers is a great experience, a lot of impressions and good physical activity. During such races you often have to spend the night in the wild, which in principle is not a problem, given how light modern tents have become. You don’t want to just leave the bike itself in the open air, and for just such cases a special accessory, Yardstash III, was created. Made from durable, waterproof polyester, it's a tent for a couple of bikes. It is easy and quick to install, contains a panel inside for securing bikes (including from intruders), closes securely with a zipper and protects against any natural disasters within reasonable limits, be it rain or even hail.
— Amazon.com : buy for $130
Bicycle NSR Riding
Typically, long-distance cyclists carry a regular tent with them. They sleep inside and the bike stands outside. However, there is a specialized version of the tent when you are inside with your iron horse - NSR Riding.
What we have before us is an ultra-light single-layer tent, which allows you to travel more kilometers in dry weather without having to worry about permanent overnight stays. It weighs 1.8 kg and is assembled from a frame on two arcs. Inside there is an anti-vandal mount for the bicycle so that it stands upright and at the same time it cannot be stolen.
It’s interesting that since the beginning of the year the manufacturer had to raise the price by $100 because there wasn’t enough product for everyone.
— nsrriding.com : buy for $300
Motorcycle Nomad 3
The Nomad Tent is for people, not motorcycles, which is what you might think of when thinking of the Yardstash III for protecting bikes on hikes. The trick is that the tent in question does not use its own frame made of aluminum, fiberglass or carbon fiber as a support, but the motorcycle itself. You hook it to the steering wheel, to the trunk, strengthen it with pegs and that’s it - it’s just right for one person. It takes up minimal space on the bike, is made of nylon and waterproof polyester, and contains Japanese YKK zippers - an excellent option for spending the night in the field if you no longer have the strength to hold on to the handlebars.
— Abelbrown.com : buy for 16,000 rubles.
Arthur Malosiev
For more than 20 years I have been interested in hiking and rafting: Russia, Cyprus, India, Tien Shan. My Instagram | Facebook
