In North America, inflatable tents are still a novelty (they have been de rigueur in Europe for some time now) and seem to teeter on the edge of gimmickry. We decided it was time to put one through its paces, and Dometic volunteered to send one of their TRT 140 Air inflatable roof tents along with their Hub2 inflatable free-standing shelter for long-term testing. I slept in the TRT 140 for over 30 nights across five Western states in all kinds of weather conditions. Are these shelters as good as claimed or full of hot air?
Dometic TRT 140 Air Roof Tent | $2,500
The first metric that grabs your attention about the TRT 140 is its 103-pound base weight. That’s 50 or so pounds below most of the lightest soft or hard-sided two-person rooftop tents. The bantamweight is a boon for drivers of smaller trucks, Subarus, and other crossover SUVs with limited static and dynamic roof-carrying capacity. The trifold TRT 140 also stows neatly into a 59 x 32 x 12-inch package on your roof rack, wrapped in a PVC cover. A 2-inch foam mattress and condensation mat furnish the interior, along with plenty of mesh storage. Two large pockets with hook-and-loop closures hang from the door side for stashing shoes and the included air pump.
The inflatable design (essentially two large hoops framing the long edges of the shelter) bestows the TRT 140 with the largest windows I have ever seen in a rooftop tent. Along with the mesh skylight, the ventilation situation in the Dometic is second to none. The 300D polyester ripstop tent material is highly waterproof, and though the rainfly might initially seem a little skimpy, the TRT 140 weathered plenty of rainy nights without ingress. A note on the rainfly: it is fiddly to remove and install, especially on taller vehicles like my Land Rover Defender. If it is off, and you need it in a hurry, don’t count on it. That said, I rode out a surprise midnight thunderstorm in the Montana high country without the fly and stayed perfectly dry.
If you tend toward introversion like me, the TRT 140 may test your social boundaries because setup and takedown in a common campsite will draw a crowd. The main spectacle is the surprise of most onlookers by a rooftop tent coming to life simply through the magic of air. The 12-volt Dometic Gale pump attaches to a single valve near the tent entrance. After unfolding the structure from its cover, it inflates the habitat in 1 minute 50 seconds (on average, in my timed tests) with a mere 9 psi of pressure. That’s fairly quick, but it’s nothing compared to collapsing the tent, which, with a pop and a whoosh, deflates in about two seconds. The pump initially seemed like a possible failure point—it feels unsubstantial and makes a huge racket—but it continues to soldier on.
My complaints are few. The mattress, while adequate, feels thin and too firm at the TRT 140’s price point. An inflatable or possibly an inflatable/foam hybrid mattress would add a touch of luxury to the sleeping experience. The plasticky extension hose for the pump is too stiff. The lack of flexibility means the vibration from the pump can twist the hose under air pressure, gradually unscrewing it from the tent valve, introducing a leak, and delaying inflation indefinitely. That pump is equipped with a handful of adapters for other inflatables (like paddleboards), but in reality, it will have only one purpose. It will never inflate your tires. The trifold design means even though the TRT 140 has a small footprint on your roof rack in travel mode, once deployed, it will occupy the entire roof.
The possibility of leaks or punctures is an open issue that hangs over inflatable shelters. But after many inflation/deflation cycles, exposure to the elements, and generally rough treatment living full-time on top of a Land Rover for months, there is no sign that it will suffer from those problems. If you are careful with sharp objects and tree branches around the tent it will be fine, and the inflation tubes are patchable. It is highly wind resilient and resists flapping and buffeting, far better than any traditional soft-sided rooftop tent I’ve ever used in those conditions. And the travel cover is probably the best on the market. It has integrated structural elements and reinforced material at the corners and where it rides on the ladder. It’s neither too tight (making installation a snap) nor too loose. My friends report that fluttering at highway speeds is minimal.
Dometic Hub2 Inflatable Shelter | $750
Shade is at a premium no matter where you travel, and vehicle-mounted awnings are often cumbersome to set up and hard to move as the sun does. Once you pitch that rig-side awning, the only shelter you get will be during one particular, fleeting time of day unless you capitulate to moving your vehicle. A standalone shelter can be adjusted and shuffled around as the day progresses, always ensuring a slice of shade. The Hub2 makes it even easier with its inflatable architecture.
The Hub2 inflates with the same Gale pump that the TRT 140 rooftop tent does in about 2 minutes, and the resulting structure is incredibly rigid and lightweight. Takedown is also hilariously similar to the TRT 140; pulling the plug drops the Hub2 in less than five seconds. Integrated tie-downs mean you can ground it in place with stakes, but when it’s time to move, the 20-pound weight means even a robust child can pick it up and place it somewhere else. The 3-D dimensions make a perfect cube, 90.5 x 90.5 x 90.5 inches, which affords plenty of headroom and offers generous space for a group. The included ground sheet keeps things clean and offers an anchor point for the optional magnetically sealed solid or mesh walls ($100 for each wall or $150 for the full mesh wall kit). The Hub2 can be turned into a fully enclosed room to fight insects and weather, and you can mix and match the panels for added utility.
My experience with the Hub2 was colored at first by my innate prejudice against awnings and standalone shelters I’ve used in the past. Floppy, difficult to set up, suffering with flimsy aluminum poles, and constantly needing adjustment, I tended to do without the benefits of their shade, even in sunny climes. They were just too much work. However, the Hub2 has proven to be far more useful. Packing up also takes only a few minutes, and the carrying case features backpack-style straps for easy transport and storage.
Worries over punctures and leaks mirror the TRT 140. I’m not convinced that the recycled and waterproof polyester fabric that holds up the Hub2 is more susceptible to failure than the aluminum poles that support most other portable shelters. It might be even more robust, especially in inclement conditions.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Gear 2025 Issue.
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