roof tent

[en0tdc]

hi guys, im always spending weekends away and ive been looking for a cheap roof tent for ages without any success! anyone got anything cheap?! dont mind if its knackered, sure i can fix it!

Last stab at finding one i can afford before i bite the bullet and buy a load of material and a sewing machine...!

[adafish]

this might sound a bit daft but....put some ply on ya roof rack, and then get ya self one of those POP-UP tents...Mark out where the 4 ground pegs go,sort out some sort of anchorage, and VOLIA...i'M Think alongthe same lines with me Sankey trailer...and then when you are not using ya tent, its folds away in 20secs...;) My POP-UP tent is aways with me.:)

[bvudzichena]

Ada,

As you may or may not know, I'm building an offroad trailer (http://forum.landrovernet.com/showthread.php?t=79838).

Last week I took the trailer to Beyfox (http://www.beyfox.co.za/) for them to build me a custom tent.

The tent maker came out to take the measurements and then disappeared inside to prepare a quote. A couple of minutes later his boss surfaces and tells me that the tent maker has put his notice in, that he doesn't know if the replacement would be up to making a tent and that they will contact me if they can make me a tent.

I now have to either buy a Howlingmoon (http://www.howlingmoon.co.za/) or make a roof rack and pop a dome tent on. I'm starting to think dome tent...

[nobber]

dont buy new in this countyr , its a complete rip off by the looks of it.
this guy bought from s africa and it was half the price , even with postage included.

http://www.roamingyak.org/landy/camping.html

i know where i will be buying my kit from in future.

[bvudzichena]

There are a couple of thing's I need to share with you:

Safari Centre, LA Sport and 4WD Megeworld are all very expensive.
PM Alex, I pointed him in the right direction regarding tents a while ago.

At the risk of being sued by the manufacturers, I need to tell you that Eezi Awn is not a good tent. They are made of rubbish material, don't last out in the bush and leak like seives.

Howling Moon and Echo are the best, but both are expensive.

What you need to try to find is someone with an empty roof rack driving up from SA (or shipping their landy back from SA) to take a brand new one for you. Scan AfricaOverland (http://www.africa-overland.net/index.htm) for trips that are in progress.

[discovery_dude]

dont buy new in this countyr , its a complete rip off by the looks of it.
this guy bought from s africa and it was half the price , even with postage included.

http://www.roamingyak.org/landy/camping.html

i know where i will be buying my kit from in future.

this seems a good idea, I am going to try getting some kit from here, I am looking for expedition stuff and I might be able to get new at the price of second hand UK stuff. cheers for the tip!!:toting:

[Bog]

I have one of these... www.echo4x4.co.za/rooftop.htm (http://www.echo4x4.co.za/rooftop.htm)

It is the small 1300.00 model for 2 people, so not the one with the awning. I have not used it and it is currently atop my TD5 crew cab. I got it 2 months ago from a friend who used it once. It is less than a year old. If you are interested, I will endevour to get a pic posted.

Mrs Bog is now with child, she has told me in no uncertain terms that she is not climbing down that bl**dy ladder to go for a p*ss at 3 in the morning...no sense of adventure I say.

The rack only fits Defenders. I will take a drop and let it go for £625, or fair offer.

I live out in the wilds of the Essex marshes...

Bog.

[bvudzichena]

Echo are doing very well. Thing is their stuff isn't great and is normally shagged after a couple of trips to Botswana or Mozambique. People who've experience Echo tents normally go for Howling Moon.

I was down at Echo's head office / main shop earlier in the week to look at hilift jack mounting brackets and Mr Boss Man's quite new Lexus 4x4 (same as Land Cruiser Amazon) is for sale. When I was inside I asked the salesman why this almost new SUV was blocking the front door with a great big for "sale sign" on it and he told me that it had just been replaced with the latest and greatest one.

Having spent some time in the shop, looked at the build quality of the products and compared that with the prices I understand why he's getting a new £50K 4x4 every year.

Getting back to the brackets. Their price for bracket is R399. We have "mega shops" out here called Makro (they have started their invasion of the UK with a couple of shops in London) that sell an identical product for R99.00 (divide by 14.2 for a price in £). I am also in business and also drive a nice car and a nice SUV, but I don't steal from my customers...

By the way, the "bracket" in question is actually a 300mm x 200mm piece of 3mm mild steel with a 90 degree bend that's had two locating pins welded to one side, two short pieces of threaded rod welded onto the other side and then sprayed with grey Hammerite. The also throw in 10x150mm full thread bolt with a couple of washers, a nylok and a wingnut. Total cost of parts is about R24!

[Bog]

Thanks for dissin' my gear sunshine.

I'm trying to sell something here to someone that they say they might have wanted, not in the Howling Moon price range.

I didn't read anything in his post about Botswana or chuffin' Mozam-bl**dy-bique.

Honestly....

Bog.

[aclarke]

OK Mr. "I live in South Africa and know everything there is to know about rooftop tents". I can't really get Echo tents here, and Howling Moon tents are about as common as Yetis, but I CAN get Eezi-Awn and Hannibal tents. I guess I'm considering importing an Eezi-Awn directly from RSA if I buy one, so really the question is, what real experience have you had with Hannibal tents? They're the only one of the bunch I've actually seen in person, and I want to pull the trigger and get some sort of tent in the next month or so.

I just bought a rack from a guy who had a Howling Moon but sold it and picked up a Hannibal due in part to the superior wet weather performance, in his opinion, of the Hannibal. That's an important consideration if true.

Bog, I'd be interested in your Echo too, except that I live in Canada ;)

- Andrew.

[alexia]

Is Mrs Bog being slightly unreasonable - could n't you suggest ways without getting down?
(please accept this post in the spirit it was meant - not being disrespectful to Mrs Bog and Big to be)