Recommendations for 5 person rooftop tent

Fenton5

New member
We are looking for a rooftop tent that fits 4-5 people; we have 5 so the bigger the better. We are considering the 23Zero Walkabout (either 72 or 87) or the Tuff Stuff Elite. Does anyone have personal experience with these? How’s the quality, comfort, and how do they do in the rain?
 

adaml

Active member
I've never been in a Tuff Stuff or 23Zero tent but I can say that almost all of these tents seem to come from the same place in China with many similarities among them. That being said, I have owned a number of different CVT and Tepui tents of this style and I think CVT was the best in my opinion. I'm also a huge fan of their customer support.
 

plh

Explorer
I owned a TuffStuff (not the 5 person) maybe 5 years ago. Its an OK tent. Like the vast majority its it coming out of the same factory in China as many of them but with a TS label.

Mattress is crap like most.
 
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DiscoDino

Observer
ONLY one I know of but unsure if available States-side is the Howling moon 2.2m long (and 2.2 wide when open) tent. A buddy of mine has it here and he, his wife and 3 kids (under 13) all sleep comfy up there. We have an iKamper 1.0 SkyCamp which fits 4...when it is all 5 of us, I usually bunk in the truck bed on a cot off the ground...but that's rare...usually its me and the 3 kids and all 4 of us are up there comfy...
 

Fenton5

New member
I've never been in a Tuff Stuff or 23Zero tent but I can say that almost all of these tents seem to come from the same place in China with many similarities among them. That being said, I have owned a number of different CVT and Tepui tents of this style and I think CVT was the best in my opinion. I'm also a huge fan of their customer support.
Thank you! I'll check out the Tepui and CVT ones.
 

Fenton5

New member
ONLY one I know of but unsure if available States-side is the Howling moon 2.2m long (and 2.2 wide when open) tent. A buddy of mine has it here and he, his wife and 3 kids (under 13) all sleep comfy up there. We have an iKamper 1.0 SkyCamp which fits 4...when it is all 5 of us, I usually bunk in the truck bed on a cot off the ground...but that's rare...usually its me and the 3 kids and all 4 of us are up there comfy...
I hadn't heard of of the Howling Moon. I'll check it out. And we just discovered the iKamper. Good to know you like it! We sold a Maggiolina that was great but NOT for a family of 5.
 

Fenton5

New member
I owned a TuffStuff (not the 5 person) maybe 5 years ago. Its an OK tent. Like the vast majority its it coming out of the same factory in China as many of them but with a TS label.
Good to know. From the options I gave, I'm leaning toward the 23 Zero one, but I'll check out some brands other people mentioned, too.
 

adaml

Active member
I hadn't heard of of the Howling Moon. I'll check it out. And we just discovered the iKamper. Good to know you like it! We sold a Maggiolina that was great but NOT for a family of 5.

If you had the Autohome, you're going to thnk the iKamper is pretty uncomfortable unless you put some extra padding in it.

FWIW, I think Tepui is now owned by Thule. Not sure how that has affected their product though.

CVT's were probably the most comfortable tent I had and, IMO, the setup was PERFECT when I had a bed-rack and could easily access all of the tent for packing it away. It became something of a pain when it was mounted on top of the cap of an already tall truck. https://cascadiatents.com/
 

DiscoDino

Observer
If you had the Autohome, you're going to thnk the iKamper is pretty uncomfortable unless you put some extra padding in it.

Agree - that's where aftermarket mattresses like Exped Mega 10 or 15s are used (I'm using the 10s and love them!)

I hadn't heard of of the Howling Moon. I'll check it out. And we just discovered the iKamper. Good to know you like it! We sold a Maggiolina that was great but NOT for a family of 5.

That's funny: I had the Columbus from Autohome as well but once we got the 3rd kid it was a no go...before with 2 kids the wife and them 2 would be in the Columbus and I'll sleep on the ground...but with 3 it was impossible...
 

Scoutman

Explorer
We have the CVT Mt Denali summit series tent and have used it moderately for the past 4 years with a family of 4. It worked well while the kids were small but my 12 yr old son is now the size of an adult he prefers to sleep either in a ground tent or in the annex. If you're wanting to squeeze 5 in the larger soft RTT's (~87" long) then just know it'll only be good for a few years unless you have really little ones.

The 2 smaller tents isn't a bad way to go either. We had a rental in Namibia for 2 weeks with (2) 2 person rtt's and it really wasn't that much more work compared to my (1) 4 person tent (mainly due to the cover difference).
 

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