Why Are Rooftop Tents So Expensive? (updated 2023)
Why Are Rooftop Tents So Expensive?
Rooftop tents are so expensive because of their well-engineered design, added accessories, easy setup, comfort, safety, and their ability to weather.
As far as my personal experience is concerned, after years of camping, for the professionals and experienced overlanders, RTT is a serious investment because traditional tents don’t match their requirements.
There are many other reasons that you will come across shortly after going through this article. So, let’s have a closer look to find out why rooftop tents are so expensive?
Reasons: Why Rooftop Tents are So Expensive?
High-Quality Build Materials are Used
No doubt, One of the primary reasons is their build material. You may think that it’s the same as an ordinary tent but once you give it a try you realize that it’s worth buying and a huge step above a traditional tent.
Build to Last Frame
The building engineering of rooftop tents is a marvel of science. Their frame is usually made from heavy-duty, aluminum tubes or even fiberglass that help to hold the thick canvas out and provide a solid frame for your bedroom.
They are structured to be folded, opened, and closed easily while still maintaining their strength. Rooftop tents are set up within minutes while traditional ground tents are a real mess, with a time-consuming setup that bothers you.
Well-built Canvas
As we know that the walls of all off-brand ground tents are made from thin, lightweight nylon materials While Roof Top Tents are made from thick and heavy canvas that is highly competitive with severe weather conditions.
No worries, if you are camping in extreme sunlight, cold or heavy wind and rain. Your sleep will be restful with these heavy canvas sheets.
You Can Add Optional Accessories
Rooftop tents often come with accessories but there are also some optional accessories you can add for your comfort like extra awnings, storage shelves, and canvas partitions for tiny rooms are also available there on the market.
Third-Party Racks can be equipped
As it’s evident by the name that rooftop tents are installed on the roof of your vehicle, making them a portable bedroom that can go anywhere with your vehicle. However, it’s my personal experience that during installation, the equipment might not fit on your vehicle. Therefore, third-party racks are needed to deal with this situation.
A third-party rack offers extra support to the pre-installed frames that already exist on your vehicle or as an addition or a substitute for racks that do not come with the model of your vehicle. These racks provide the bottom Support to your rooftop tent to bear the weight of campers sleeping within the tent.
Roof Top Tent has Elegant Mattress
This is one of my most favorite features of RTT and I assure that you will also fall in love with this. When you climb into a rooftop tent, you feel the high comfort vibes because there are no worries like packing mattresses, sleeping bags, and pillows, as these are the priority built-in comfort features for an elegant User experience, and this sets the rooftop tent a grade above the traditional tents.
Usually, the mattresses have high quality and are made from high-density material giving campers a comfortable space to sleep.
There is also a huge price difference for bedding you really need even for a ground tent and that’s up to 100$ for a built-in Mattress in a rooftop tent while on the other side you go for 400$-500$ high-end price.
RTT Provide Relatively Appealing Features
Besides the raw material and components pricing used to build a rooftop tent, its appealing features over the ordinary traditional tents are also one of the main reasons for their high prices as high prices are charged for comfort, ease, and luxuries.
Roof Top Tent is Comparatively Easy to Set Up
Rooftop tents are easy to install with many built-in features that spare your time as it takes only a few minutes to set up. You need to unzip your tent and allow the hydraulic system to work to assemble the tent. And you are ready to enjoy Camping.
However, those with experience with ground tent setup can easily understand the trouble of turning the different pieces of cloth into a shelter in the form of a tent—a huge mess.
When you Unload it from your vehicle, you have to entirely set up the whole thing from scratch, like setting up the frame rods properly and a bedding space for your comfort. While at the end of Camping it’s for another time, you have to pack the entire tent along with mattresses and pillows in the back of your vehicle.
You will have Extra Comfort with RTT
Rooftop tents are equipped with wall to wall mattresses for a great comfort level. You don’t need to air the mattresses and also to get equipped with different equipment to make a night bed.
If you are ready to spend some extra bucks for your comfort, there are many that come with separate living areas, mini kitchens and bathrooms.
RTT Has Long Life Expectancy Due to At Height
It’s another thing to keep in mind while considering the price of a RTT. This factor includes the cost of construction, design and accessories. Companies set up their prices considering all these factors on the top.
Unlike ground tents, rooftops tents almost have no exposure to ground and other sharp things so, considered as more durable and have long life expectancy.
Rooftop tents are also double and triple stitched to improve their life span to return the actual value of money to the buyers.
RTT is more Safe and convenient
A rooftop tent feels more like a safe and homey bedroom than an ordinary tent.
Safety is one of the top priorities of any Camper to avoid the dangers and health complications while far away from their home.
Due to a high distance from ground, RTT is considered more safe and hygienic to avoid venomous creatures like reptiles.
Roof Top Tent has Ability to Tackle Severe Weather Conditions
Rooftop tents are specially designed and made with quality materials to withstand extreme weather conditions – from extreme heat to extreme cold, as well as heavy winds and heavy rain, protecting you from Nature’s fury.
Sleeping on a vehicle’s roof keeps you above the ground, preventing flooding, snow accumulation, and other weather hazards. However, you may also be exposed to wind and rain due to the higher position.
Final Thoughts
After going through all the above discussions if you still have the question that why are rooftop tents so expensive, then my opinionated answer is that they are built far better than traditional tents, with all the extra features you need: heavy-duty frame, canvas walls, lightweight but strong aluminum poles, fold-out setup, and even elegant mattresses for your comfort and to keep you warm, dry, and safe up above the ground.
RESOURCES
https://mountaintreads.com/reasons-roof-top-tents-expensive/
https://findcampinggear.com/why-are-rooftop-tents-so-expensive/
https://www.godownsize.com/why-are-rooftop-tents-so-expensive/
https://bigoutdooradventure.com/why-are-rooftop-tents-so-expensive-how-to-save-money-when-buying-one/
