TEPUI Hybox Announced!

Box Rocket

Well-known member
Interesting idea. What do you do with all the stuff in side when you want to sleep?
Well, it's gotta come out unless you want to sleep with it. :) In a lot of cases the things you would pack inside would be items that need to come out at night anyway such as duffles with clothes etc.
 

Wallygator

Adventurer
I like the idea of being able to replace the canvas easily if you ever need to. The price point could be lower though. Hope you sell many of them.
 

ducktapeguy

Adventurer
Well, it's gotta come out unless you want to sleep with it. :) In a lot of cases the things you would pack inside would be items that need to come out at night anyway such as duffles with clothes etc.

Seems like that this might be one of those cases of a solution looking for a problem. I’m a little skeptical on the practicality of a combo cargo carrier/RTT, but I’ll reserve judgement until I hear some actual real world use.
 

80t0ylc

Hill & Gully Rider
Seems like that this might be one of those cases of a solution looking for a problem. I’m a little skeptical on the practicality of a combo cargo carrier/RTT, but I’ll reserve judgement until I hear some actual real world use.
Ya might want to click on the pre order link, then click on the "get yours" link. It answered most of my questions and verified my suspicions. For example, to fully utilize the cargo carrier feature or carry lots of stuff, Tepui suggests removing the mattress in addition to the canopy. Now if you're removing the 3" 40 lb foam mattress, you're gonna need to put it somewhere. If you've ever pulled the mattress out of a RTT, you know what I'm talking about. And if you leave it in, your mattress cover and mattress will be exposed to whatever your carrying. The transition from cargo carrier to tree fort, or visa versa, is not as quick or easy as one might expect, at least by the impression their advertisement leaves. I do like the idea of the tent fabric zipping on or off. That's a feature I'm impressed with and wish mine had! And they do include the desired telescoping ladder.
 
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ducktapeguy

Adventurer
I'll admit, years before getting a roof top tent, I laid down in my cargo carrier and thought, "I think I could probably sleep in this". I'm sure I'm not the only one who had those ideas. Nice to see Tepui actively working on developing new products. However, I saw your post over on Mud, I think we basically had the same questions and suspicions. I just don't want to form any type of opinion yet until there's some unbiased product testing, but the announcement does leave me with a lot of questions that I'm hoping will be answered once it's on the market.

The questions that immediately pop up in my mind were

What would you carry in this cargo box/RTT? Seems obvious since it's on the roof and it's a tent, you'd store bedding and other lightweight items that you would need inside a tent. So how is this different than any other hard shell RTT?
If you can carry other items in it, where do you put those items when you're sleeping? If the answer is you put it inside the vehicle, why wouldn't you keep that stuff inside in the first place and not have to transfer it every day?
If it's items that don't fit inside the vehicle, which is why you'd need a cargo carrier in the first place, then do you leave it outside? I suppose you could keep bags of clothes that you would transfer into the occupant seats while you're sleeping, then move them back up when you leave. But that seems like a lot of hassle to do everyday and takes away the main advantage of a RTT in the first place, which is quick setup and takedown.
There's a compromise between keeping a low profile for the RTT shell, and having enough useable space as a cargo carrier. The Hybox is 12" high, which is kinda thin for a cargo carrier. Subtract a couple inches for the actual walls, 3" for the mattress, and there's very little room for anything except long flat items like ski's and snowboards. Large duffle bags would be a problem. It'd be great to hold my thermarest mattresses, but since the Hybox got it's own mattress I wouldn't be carrying them.
Kinda brings me to another point. Most of the time I use a cargo carrier, it's for stuff that's too large to fit in the car, or stuff i don't want in the car. Dirty items, like skis, snowboards, chairs, wet and smelly items, etc. If I don't want it in my car, I definitely don't want it in my tent.

This might be useful for someone who needs both a cargo carrier and a RTT, but doesn't need them at on the same trip, and doesn't have the room to store both. I can see myself using it as a RTT in the summer than convert it to a cargo carrier in the winter. But trying to use them as both a RTT and cargo carrier at the same time does seem like it might be a stretch. I do like the zipper idea though. Who knows, maybe Tepui did their market research and found out there is a need for this and have addressed all these questions. I'll be waiting to see. I love items that are dual purpose, as long as I don't have to compromise too much for either use.
 
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Box Rocket

Well-known member
The Hybox is 12" high, which is kinda thin for a cargo carrier. Subtract a couple inches for the actual walls, 3" for the mattress, and there's very little room for anything except long flat items like ski's and snowboards. Large duffle bags would be a problem.

Who knows, maybe Tepui did their market research and found out there is a need for this and have addressed all these questions. I'll be waiting to see. I love items that are dual purpose, as long as I don't have to compromise too much for either use.
Subtracting a couple inches for the walls? That's one thick shell. Not going to lose as much room as you describe. With any dual purpose item, you get something that serves multiple uses in an acceptable way but inevitably has compromises because inherently it can't fully support either purpose. So, sure there will be better cargo boxes with more room if that's what you need. There may be more convenient tent setups that don't require some degree of unpacking. But if you're limited on space and don't want to spend money on a separate tent and cargo box (neither one is cheap on their own) this might be just the ticket. I don't think it's intended to be a "silver bullet" to solve all issues but a practical solution for those that need something like this.

As for the market research, Tepui has always done their homework. I'm sure this is no exception.
 

Wallygator

Adventurer
yeah I know. I think the price point is too high as stated in a previous post. All this stuff costs too much IMO but it is what it is I guess
 

ducktapeguy

Adventurer
Subtracting a couple inches for the walls? That's one thick shell. Not going to lose as much room as you describe. With any dual purpose item, you get something that serves multiple uses in an acceptable way but inevitably has compromises because inherently it can't fully support either purpose. So, sure there will be better cargo boxes with more room if that's what you need. There may be more convenient tent setups that don't require some degree of unpacking. But if you're limited on space and don't want to spend money on a separate tent and cargo box (neither one is cheap on their own) this might be just the ticket. I don't think it's intended to be a "silver bullet" to solve all issues but a practical solution for those that need something like this.

As for the market research, Tepui has always done their homework. I'm sure this is no exception.

I have many of the same questions as 80t0ylc have posted on Mud, so I won't bother going over them here, but a lot of other people are probably wondering the same thing. I know you're a distributor for tepui and maybe feel the need to defend them, but anyone looking at these tents is going to have the same questions. It's still too early to really get any definite details, but these are the questions that I would be looking for answers to when it does come out.

yeah I know. I think the price point is too high as stated in a previous post. All this stuff costs too much IMO but it is what it is I guess

For a hardshell tent that's about the going price, if anything with the $500 discount it's probably on the lower end of the price range, unless you start looking at off brands with no factory support. Usually if you wait a few years you can find some really good deals from people who are upgrading to the latest model or have given up on camping completely.
 

Box Rocket

Well-known member
I have many of the same questions as 80t0ylc have posted on Mud, so I won't bother going over them here, but a lot of other people are probably wondering the same thing. I know you're a distributor for tepui and maybe feel the need to defend them, but anyone looking at these tents is going to have the same questions. It's still too early to really get any definite details, but these are the questions that I would be looking for answers to when it does come out.



For a hardshell tent that's about the going price, if anything with the $500 discount it's probably on the lower end of the price range, unless you start looking at off brands with no factory support. Usually if you wait a few years you can find some really good deals from people who are upgrading to the latest model or have given up on camping completely.
I understand the questions and I don't have a problem with them being asked. I'm not "defending" Tepui but rather, trying to either answer questions, or provide any other information that I might have in the product. Keep the questions coming if you still have them. I'm hopeful that I'll have one on hand soon that I can get more detailed answers for everyone.
 

Alta22

New member
Anyone get their hands on one yet? I would love to hear some feed back.
I think I like the idea, but the price point ($4200 CDN) and head room might be a non starter for me.
 

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