Falcon XL (2020 Model)

I've camped 287 nights in the last 5 years, and have not missed a single month since 2017 (I keep a log). This in the blazing heat of mid desert summer, and the sub-zero temps (-10 is common) of Colorado at 11.5k feet out elk hunting. Over half of that has been in RTTs. Only cons is naive at best, and disingenuous at worst. And given this oft-repeated hate parade, I'm leaning towards the latter. A hardshell roof tent has offered the most comfortable sleep and best warmth by a country mile, even over my 7.2 R value Nemo air mattress and mountaineering tent or my Eno hammock setup. It's the fastest option by far (15 seconds up; 45 or so down). Even over inflating an air mattress in the back of the Suburban. All the bedding stays inside so it never needs to get laid out, and I gain space in the cab of the truck to boot. I can still carry a kayak and fishing poles on top in the ski rack, my MPG difference is all of 0.3, and no-you don't need to climb down a ladder to pee. That's what a bottle is for. People seem to get really bent out of shape about RTTs and act like they have zero utility or legitimacy. It's wild.

I'll re-iterate what I have before the last 100 times we've had this conversation in the last decade: 12 month a year camper, snow/rain/shine alike from Colorado to Arizona to Washington. 287 nights in the last five years personally, most of which has been in RTTs. iKamper Skycamp, CVT Mt Hood, 23Zero Kabari, Roofnest Falcon XL, 23Zero 62 Walkabout, you name it; I've owned/tested/tried it in every state west of the Dakotas. Anyone who says there aren't pros or it's LARPing or whatever falls into one of these camps in my experience: A. They've never used one personally and are speculating/repeating what someone else said. B. They've used an old school softshell for a few nights and decided they know everything about every design. C. They're jealous or hating on them for whatever reason, and are intentionally exaggerating to try to end the trend. I'm personally all about aluminum wedges/clamshells. you can park them into the wind, mount roof racks for kayak/solar/etc., they setup and teardown faster than any other option besides a basepad cowboy style, they're extremely well insulated, the most comfortable way for me to sleep with the included mattress (I'm 6'2" 225), all your bedding stays inside the tent, you never have to fight water intrusion, you never have to pack up a muddy tent, etc. Here are some cons I often hear that also aren't true/understood correctly. "You have to climb down a ladder to pee." *Use a bottle. Ladies too; my GF uses a She-Wee. Problem solved.* "It's gonna murder your fuel economy." *I lost a whopping 0.3 MPG putting a RTT on my Suburban. Biggest loss was like 1 MPG on my old Jeep.* "If you wanna go somewhere you have to tear it down." *Correct. But if you use a hardshell tent, this is a non-issue. The only time it would be a pain is if you used an old-school softshell design.* "Yeah, but it's too expensive." *It's 2026 and the economy is in the toilet. You can buy a tent that sold for $4K in 2021 for like $2100 now. People will say that's still too much...then go buy a $400 Marmot tent, a $140 Exped air mattress, a $200 Kelty sleeping bag, and a $150 Osprey Atmos backpack. And that's not counting their boots, poles, headlamp, JetBoil, etc. It's not any more prohibitively expensive than MTBing, snowboarding, or through-hiking IMO.* I've built sleeping platforms in my FJC, sleep in the back of my Suburban quite a bit, have a Gazelle T4 for my rock crawler, and a whole rogue's gallery of backpacking tents and three hammocks. I do it all, so you can believe me when I say: **RTTs have extreme merit and are my favorite option that clocks in at a reasonable value.** You wanna talk prohibitively expensive and obtuse? You're thinking of a slide-in or bed camper setup. A 4WC Hawk in a 6.5' truck bed is an RV you can drive through the Rubicon...too bad you're into it for over $20K. But I'll leave that for another day...

I had the opposite at Joshua Tree. The winds were fierce and I thought I was going to do a Wizard of Oz impression a few times. Come morning, my roof top tent was just fine and inside was dry as a bone but almost all the ground tents were trashed. I have a clamshell from Roofnest and it has some very beefy support arms. It has been a great tent other than the crappy outer lining that peeled off.

I’ve been an avid camper all my life, so naturally saw the opportunity provided by rooftop tents. So far, I’ve done about 60 days in mine under all conditions, other than snow. Highly recommend for both the comfort and convenience. Mine is a nature nest. That would be an off-brand. The quality is top-notch and there’s a good reason for that: all of the rooftop tents, whether expensive or cheap in the US, are made in the same exact factories in China. I work in IP and I’ve seen this firsthand in quite a few areas over the years as I’ve had to deal with the manufacturers in China, on behalf of clients in the US. For reference, I compared mine with the American version “roof nest” model equivalent which my friend owns, and aside from a few more aftermarket latches that I can just pick up should I feel the need, they seemed identical in build quality.

I agree with everything Natural Nectarine says. I still love my Roofnest for my needs: - I really only backcountry camp. Colorado eats tents and sleeping pads, not sure why, guessing rocks and pine needles. And finding an even spot for a tent without being stabbed by a rock is near impossible in the Rocky Mountains. Now I just need to put all four tires on roughly the same plane and I’m gtg. - Setup and teardown takes literally 1 minute 30 seconds. My hammock or bivy setup isn’t even close to that time. I wouldn’t leave my tent/ other gear unattended in a campsite anyways. Good news when dealing with impatient children. - The top of the roofnest is flush with my hardtop (gladiator). Which allows me to haul stacks of sheet goods and 16’ boards/timber no problem. Can hold 500lbs dynamic load - have hauled 16’ 8x8s for a timberframe. - Queen sized sheets fit. Makes cleanup and laundry super easy and quick (again, great for when you have kids) - You’re off the ground - peace of mind for wildlife (especially with youngsters) and different temp control dynamics. - Much thicker fabric and stronger than a ground tent. Which means better isolation from the elements when needed (although if the wind is shaking your jeep, not much you can do besides pretending you’re a boat on stormy oceans) - Being able to spread out on an almost queen sized mattress that took a minute and a half to setup wherever I end up after a long day hunting is heavenly. And gets me well rested for the next day of seeing all the wildlife except what I have a tag for. If it were just me? Hammock. But with a family and a wife that can’t figure out how to sleep in a hammock - the Roofnest works. They’re super expensive for what they are (a tent) and I wouldn’t go cheap. Browse Roofnest or iKamper (or a few others slipping my mind) they’re at the couple thousand range but IMO that’s where you’re going to find the quality materials and design that will last, be more comfortable, and less loud/less mpg impact. For $500 I would suggest looking at your needs and going either ground tent or hammock. You can get a very nice or even 4-season setup (tent or hammock) for that budget.

With site selection and ground prep? Multiple times longer than it takes me to setup the Roofnest. But still not long. And for OPs budget [a bivy is] definitely a better choice IMO.