Which roof tent should you choose for your family outings?
For your mountain outings or road trip, you need the right equipment.
You can therefore opt for the roof tent, which lets you camp wherever you want. The roof tent is installed on the roof of an adapted vehicle and lets you enjoy the scenery and be safe. You'll need to choose the right equipment if you want to enjoy all its benefits. In this guide, we'll give you tips on how to choose the right roof tent for your family outings.
A roof tent that can be supported by your vehicle
One of the advantages of a roof tent is that you can transport it on your vehicle. You can also install it on the roof of your car for sleeping aloft. But, to take advantage of this benefit, it's important to make sure that the car can support the roof tent well.
Already, you need to understand that with a city car, you can use the roof tent. But generally, this equipment is used on 4x4s and vans. Your choice of roof tent will depend on the type of vehicle. You'll need to check the minimum weight each roof bar can support. You can then make a comparison with your car.
You can consult the car's manufacturer's logbook to see the maximum load supported. This will give you a good idea of the type of tent you can opt for.
A tent that can accommodate your whole family
You need to choose a tent in which your whole family can take shelter. For example, you could opt for a 4-seater roof tent, if there are 4 of you. In any case, you'll find several sizes of roof tents depending on the number of berths you want. So you can choose a model for 2 to 6 people.
Yet you'll need to be aware that, the higher the number of berths, the less space there is per person in the tent. When choosing the number of places in the tent, you also need to pay attention to the size of the people. Adults take up more space than children. It's also important to pay attention to the tent's habitable volume in order to fully understand its sleeping capacities.
A tent with advantageous features
When choosing your roof tent, you need to pay particular attention to the features. First, you need to consider the structure of this piece of equipment. A tent can have an inflatable, freestanding or wallet structure.
As the name suggests, an inflatable tent inflates in seconds. It is generally more compact than other types of tent and is well suited to small cars.
The freestanding tent has a shell that opens without going beyond the length of the vehicle roof. This type of tent is generally easier to erect and dismantle. Finally, wallet tents have a platform supported by a ladder. This means that the tent must always be securely locked to prevent the tray from leaning into the void and failing to support the loads.
Also included in the tent's characteristics is the material of manufacture. This criterion has an impact on the quality of the tent and how it performs over time. You can opt for 100% synthetic, cotton or polycotton fabric. Synthetic tents are much lighter than the other types, but less resistant to UV rays than cotton. Opt for polycotton, which is a blend of the first two materials.