Ep181 - Lightweight Rooftop Tents: What's New

The minimalist movement: rooftop tents cutting weight without compromise

Ben and Lauren climb the ladder of the latest lightweight rooftop tent innovations, from 23ZERO's Super Lite range to Inspired Overland's carbon fibre brilliance and Darche's detachable designs. Our gear gurus examine the critical trade-offs between shedding kilos and sacrificing features, explore how new materials and technology are pushing boundaries, and reveal what's coming down the pipeline like Inspired Overland's Trailpeak. 

From removable features allowing customisable weight versus functionality, to integrated lighting and power points for convenience without bulk - this episode is essential listening for anyone chasing that sweet spot between roof rack-friendly weight and ultimate camping comfort – because sometimes less is more if you're not losing what matters.

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Transcript

Intro

Lauren 0:05

Howdy folks and welcome to the Snoys Camping Show with Ben and Lauren. How are you, Ben?

Ben 0:11

Well, thank you. I'm just getting over cold, so it might be a little bit of squeak in my voice today, but I'm alright.

Lauren 0:16

Squeaky.

Ben 0:17

Yeah.

Lauren 0:17

Um don't forget to subscribe wherever you're listening to your podcast, whether that be uh on uh YouTube or Spotify, your favourite podcast app, and jump into the conversation on the Snowy's Camping Show Facebook group. Um so today's episode has um been born from discussions around one of our recent episodes, which was um like what car to choose. You know, you're looking to purchase a new car, what's the best vehicle for camping?

The Latest in Lightweight Rooftop Tents

Ben 0:46

Yep.

Lauren 0:47

Um, and that is we've done a few rooftop tent episodes recently. So this one is sort of a I guess a spring off of that and and this other car episode. Uh, and we're talking talking specifically about the the latest in lightweight rooftop tents.

Reflecting on Ep178

Ben 1:02

Um yeah, which is a becoming a bigger and emerging category for sure. Yeah. Or across quite a range of the vehicle types we talked about in our last episode from small SUVs right through to four wheel drives who've got the roofload rating, but people are still trying to reduce their um the dynamic load of their vehicle and the roofload rating. So yeah. Um, and manufacturers seem to have made a specific move. Some of them started out there, others who make heavy rooftop tents, big roomy heavy rooftop tents, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those, but we're talking 80 to 120 kilos for some of these tents. They are heavy items. Uh, we'll go through some weights here shortly that are a portion of that. Um, and there's some of those guys who are making heavy rooftop tents, 230 is a classic example. Giving a lot a crack. Yeah, giving uh I mean that he's 23Zero are always listening to their customers, and all their range is always evolving. They're constantly taking new models and then they take the best of three models and put it into one new model, and yeah, they've um made a bit of a foray into the lightweight space from a few uh angles. So, yeah, as you mentioned, episode 178 just done went recently, talked about different types of vehicles to camp in, heaps of comments on that, lots of photos and stuff as well, which is really cool. So if you interested in the case.

Lauren 2:14

I haven't had a chance to go through those yet. I'm really looking, I've had a really flat chat week, but I'm looking forward to going through that.

Ben 2:20

For those who've made a comment and haven't had a response yet, we are behind in catching up with our YouTube conversations. We'll get there. Um, but lots of shared photos online um of people with their setups, different camp types from corollas through to troopies and all sorts. So yeah. Um so that was really cool. Um, so from that we thought we'll uh go down this path of lightweight a little bit more because the the question of can I put that on my my vehicle uh comes up a lot. Now, what we're not going to answer is sit here and say, well, you can or cannot put this on certain cars because I know I talk about the Jimny in particular. There's a roofload rating there that doesn't fit with a lot of what people put on top of the car. Whether you do or don't do that isn't our space to advise on. Um we're just trying to find the best solution if you are going to do that.

Lauren 3:07

So um I do have more to add on that though.

Ben 3:11

I was gonna say we've got more to add before I jump into this. Yep.

Lauren 3:13

No, we'll we'll when we aren't touching on on the the I.O. tents, we'll talk about then.

23ZERO Dakota Super Lite Rooftop Tent

Ben 3:20

Okay. Well, let's start with what we've got in the snow is range. If you're thinking I want a rooftop tent, but I want it to be light because you've got a small car, this is the range that we've got at the moment. And there are we're we're just talking about the ones that we sell. So there are manufacturers out there who have similar. Um in a nutshell, they all kind of do very similar things. So I couldn't put my finger on one of any of these and say that's the best one. They're all really good. Um, the 230 Dakota Super Light is kind of where it started. That was 230's first foray into lightweight tent, only weighed in at 46.7 kilos, including the ladder that was a folding tent, still very unique in that it's got a small footprint. So if you've got a small car without a long roof and you don't want that overhanging rooftop tent each side, this folding Dakota Super Light is a really good option. And I actually really like it. It sets up really easy. It's got self-deploying awnings, super simple to set up.

Lauren 4:13

In fact, it's very comfortable as well, even though the mattress is a bit thinner, yeah, feels roomy.

Ben 4:18

Heaps of heaps of foot room, bed space. Probably the hardest bit about the whole pack up and and setup is is the tonneau cover over the top. Like that that would have to be the the oh, you mean when you're packing it up with it?

Lauren 4:30

Yeah, but that's like with all fold-up rooftop tents.

23ZERO Saber Super Lite Rooftop Tent

Ben 4:32

That's right, yeah, getting it over the top. Um, and then they followed that up with a full-length hard share one called the Sabre Super Light, which is about 64.5 kilos. That one I think is being phased out um because uh like it was good, but they just had some things that they weren't entirely happy about.

Lauren 4:50

Um and I guess when you say super light, 65 kilos isn't super light. I mean, it at that point it was definitely super light in terms of other options in the range, especially when you're talking about a hard shell that opens up like that. Yep. Um, but uh,

Ben 5:07

Yeah, it was it's good, it's a really nice low profile looking tent. It's kind of got that heavier duty construction with a lower profile, but it's still a little bit up there in in weight.

Lauren 5:16

And which which the I think the plus of that particular model for majority of the people I spoke to was, like you say, that packed profile, which allows people to still have it mounted on their rooftop tent and get into a car port or get into car parks or things like that. So um yeah.

23ZERO Saber Vert-X1450 Hard Shell and Super Fly Lightweight Rooftop Tent

Ben 5:32

It had a thin mat inside and benefited from a addition of um 230 have actually got a mat that goes in there, self-inflating mat. So you can suck the air out of that and then close it down easier. Yeah. Um, so that was an upgrade that was asked for. Now they've taken the super light and a few others and put it all together into their vertex, I think it's called. That's a that's a heavier tent, not in this category here. But uh as a flow on from their super light, they created one called the Superfly, which has got a tonneau cover on it, uh, weighs in at 53.4 kilos. So we're talking 10 kilos less than the super light. It's got a thicker mattress. Um, not the same strength on top for roof racks and that sort of thing, but this we'll get into it shortly. Um, there's a lot of people things that people are saying, oh, but you can't do this or you can't do that with these lightweight rooftop tents.

Lauren 6:16

That's the trade-off, though, right? That's the point. It's exactly the point. It's the same as when you are hiking, doing multi-day hiking, and you go with an ultra-light tent, it might only last you um, you know, 2,000 K's or whatever, because and it might not have as many bells and whistles because it's ultra-light. Like that's that's the point in an ultra-light product, it's paired back because you're prioritizing the compactness or the pack size and the overall weight of it.

Ben 6:44

Yeah. So I was going to cover off on some of those later in this app and and um talk about some of the ways you can get around it.

Lauren 6:50

Still it's I mean, unless you want bells and whistles to be made of air, yeah, you're not getting them in a lightweight version of anything.

Ben 6:57

Or have the whole thing made of carbon light, uh carbon um and pay 10 grand for your rooftop tent because there are some lightweight options out there, and the biggest complaint is how expensive.

Lauren 7:08

Yeah, also true.

Lightweight Vs Features: Determining the Trade-Off

Ben 7:09

Um anyway, moving on. Uh so that's a 23Zero range, Inspired Overland.

Lauren 7:13

I feel like people just like to complain. Which I don't I don't want to go there realistically as a whole, but I think sometimes people just like to complain.

Ben 7:23

You usually hear about the complaints more than the positives. Yeah. It's the same as here. Usually the customers we speak to are usually the ones with an issue. Those who are happy are at enjoying life because we've you know they're happy.

Lauren 7:35

Yeah, but I think it's it's one of those things where it's like you've got to stop and sort of have a think about it. Yeah. You know, in that sense, because yeah, it's ultralight, doesn't have a huge amount of features, it doesn't have a huge amount of bells and whistles. But then if you're looking at a rooftop tent that does have all of those features, they're really heavy. And so then it's like, oh, but it's too heavy. Yeah. And then it's like, okay, so then you look for something that has a trade-off of both, um, the Carbon lite, Inspired Overland Carbon lite, and it's like, well, it's too expensive.

Ben 8:08

So Stargazer, sorry, is the one I was thinking of. That's the really expensive one.

Lauren 8:11

So the um, so it's one of it's I think it's just one of those things where when you're looking at a product, if it's too much of something or not enough of something, it's not the right product for you. And it doesn't mean that it's a bad product, it just means that it's not the right product for you. So continuing to sort of ask those questions for yourself about whether or not, ah, is this is it within my budget, is it within my weight rating, is it the features that I like? That's how you sort of narrow down what's right for you.

Ben 8:39

Minimize the compromises.

Lauren 8:41

Correct. Other people are gonna have a totally different set of requirements to you, and they're probably gonna love it even if you don't.

Ben 8:48

Yeah. You can't have your cake and eat it too, damn it.

Lauren 8:50

Yeah, it's what it's one, there's got to be a trade-off somewhere.

Inspired Overland XL Lightweight and Carbonlite Rooftop Tent

Ben 8:53

So Inspired Overland, we've had Inspired Overland on the show here before. We went to the Sydney show with them to showcase the three tents that we had. We didn't have the Stargazer at that point in time, but they have got their standard, just their regular, which is a tonneau cover tent, weighs in at 34.5 kilos.

Lauren 9:10

Yeah.

Ben 9:11

But we're talking less than super some light tents. Like it's yeah, really, really light.

Lauren 9:17

And like I know there's lots of footage around of you lifting it up above your health head. I can do that. I can literally pick it up and move it by myself.

Ben 9:24

So there's a Standard and an XL at 39 kilos, still under 40 kilos. They've then got a Carbon lite one, which has got carbon fiber elements in it. It's not all carbon fibre, it's got carbon fiber elements in it. Price goes up, weight comes down, 36.3 kilos. That is a sleek looking rooftop tent. It's about 12 centimeters high. You can put roof rails on that for lightweight stuff. Like you're not gonna, once again, it's lightweight, you're not gonna go and put swags and stuff on on top of that because you're trying to keep your roofload down, right?

Lauren 9:52

Yeah.

Inspired Overland Stargazer Duo Rooftop Tent

Ben 9:54

Latest version, which is really cool. I love this tent, is the Stargazer. Um, lots of questions about that, and actually, that's led me to another episode that we're gonna talk about with condensation and insulation, all that sort of stuff. So stay tuned for the conversation about that.

Lauren 10:07

That is cool.

Ben 10:09

It's a sweet looking when I saw it.

Lauren 10:10

I was like, oh, like it was Christmas, climbed in, laid in it. It's just cool.

Ben 10:15

Yeah, and look, it's not cheap. And we're not gonna sit here and mass cheap. Because it's not cheap, because it's got heaps of carbon fiber elements to it.

Lauren 10:21

Um or the hit like the cross struts, it's different to their other tents because it doesn't open up at like an apex hinge. It's got that cross strut which lifts the whole roof up, giving you about a foot of extra space down at the foot end or the head end, however you get in. And all of those, that X hinge structure is carbon.

Coming Soon: Inspired Overland Trailpeak Rooftop Tent

Ben 10:39

And even the extendable poles that hold it up, that's carbon fiber as well. And it also has a clear top on it. Check it out, it's pretty cool. Um, and then there's one called the Trail peak. This weighs in at 38 kilos, and I'm really excited about this one.

Lauren 10:53

Now I have I'm really excited about that, and this might be me getting a rooftop tent.

Ben 10:57

Yeah, yeah, it's one I'd buy for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's 38 kilos, it's got more room than any of the tents we've just talked about here so far. Um, I have seen the pre-production version. We've got one in our warehouse and we went out of play. Um, that's not they had made a few tweaks, but you can sit upright just about anywhere in the tent. It's a similar design.

Lauren 11:22

There are some other brands, like I think um uh Darchy, I think Buffalo, and um what's that other brand? Um I don't know.

Ben 11:32

I think there's a few of them. I reckon XTM.

Lauren 11:34

Or Thule, or however people pronounce that brand, they've got one that looks similar to that. There's a few different brands that do what do a rooftop tent in this style where it the hinges are on the long side, right?

Ben 11:46

That's right, yeah. It opens up sideways.

Lauren 11:48

S o it opens up sideways and then the roof pops out and it ends up being like a square.

Ben 11:52

It's almost like a box, yeah. It kind of overhangs on one side for a bit of protection where the door is, but there's heaps of space to sit upside. And because you've got upright ends, you don't have that little sandwich kind of V shape in the end where you know tall people are trying to jam their feet.

Lauren 12:06

Really boxy inside.

Ben 12:07

I'm pretty excited about that one. I think that's gonna go really well uh for us and it's gonna complete what we've only got three or four in the IO range now, but that's gonna create a really good um sort of range for those guys. Now that that's a tonneau-covered one, the same with the Standard and the XL, so you can't put roof racks and stuff on top. But once again, this is to reduce your roofload rating. Now, people are gonna look at that and go, oh, it hasn't got an awning to get in. They're gonna have a winge and can complain about all sorts of stuff. But the thing is it's 38 kilos and you've got heaps of room inside and it's waterproof.

Lauren 12:33

And you can't remove it by yourself.

Darche Detachable Rooftop Tent

Ben 12:35

You can remove it by yourself. So, yep, there's gonna be negatives for some. So if you want all that, then get a heavier tent. Yeah. We're preempting what everyone's gonna say about these things ahead of time. Now, a couple of other ones, Darche's detachable rooftop tent, a bit of a different one. Kudos to Darche doing different things. The same with the they've got a rooftop tent that's got a um solar panel integrated into a heavy range out different category than this. But these this is a detachable one, so you can set it up on the roof of your car, or you can take it off and put it next to your tent. That's 54 kilos, quite a unique setup there, would would fit that you know, small category of people who want that feature.

Lauren 13:11

Yeah.

Front Runner Roof Top Tent

Ben 13:12

Um, and front runner classic, a bit like um 23Zero's Dakota Super lite, um, weighs in at 47 kilos, about the same range, just that classic folding style. So that is the range that we've got online at the moment that is kind of well, there's one that's 64 kilos, but we're talking 55 kilos and under for all those rooftops.

Lauren 13:32

Um 64 kilo when the Super lite is phased out anyway.

Ben 13:35

It is, yeah. So lots of options for smaller cars and lighter weight setups.

Inspired Overland Standard and Carbonlite: Removable Features

Lauren 13:39

You did sort of mention the Jimny before, um, and it is a bit of a fine line because the uh the stock Jimny, I think from memory is 30 kilo roofload rating, right? So um regardless of whether or not you you've got a GVM or something to increase your overall vehicle load, that's something that you need to sort out for your vehicle. But um the Inspired Overland standard, which is 34 and a half, um, and the Inspired Overland Carbon lite. Now the the features of these that you can remove. Um, so the ladder itself weighs nine kilos, and that's not included in the stated weight. So the state and and that has to be packed separately, right? In your vehicle. So um you do need to account in your overall GVM that nine kilos for the ladder weight, but that's not on your roof. So, for example, that's standard at about 34 and a half. Now the awning poles weigh between about 400 and 500 grams. So for both of those poles, you're probably looking at, you know, 800 to a kilo. You've got your tensioner poles, which are 150 grams each, so about 300 grams for that. Uh, and then your anti-condensation mat is about two kilos, and the mattress is around about um three to four kilos, roughly. So, not having weighed all of these components individually, just knowing what those components weigh generally. Um, around about six to seven kilos of that three, 34.5 kilo tent weight is removable.

Ben 15:24

So you're throwing, you've got to put a roof rack system on there. So depending on your roof rack system, you can probably come pretty close to that rating. If that's something you're trying to stick to by the law, heaps of cars out there probably aren't gonna be like that.

Lauren 15:37

Yeah, but don't do it because you're calling. We're not gonna advise you to do that.

Ben 15:40

We're gonna say do I do it.

Lauren 15:41

Um, but yeah, so 34 and a half, standard 10. If you remove all of those bits and pack them inside your vehicle instead, um, and just add them every time you set up, you're looking at 28 and a half, 27 to 28 and a half kilos.

Ben 15:57

Yep.

Lauren 15:57

So that is under your 30 kilo weight rating. Um, same thing for the carbon light, which is 36, you're probably looking at 29 to 30 kilos.

Ben 16:08

But by the time you add roof rack on it, you're you're probably over anyway. So it's hard to get under. But if you are looking for it.

Lauren 16:12

It's hard to get under, but there is some flexibility there when it comes to removing those components and packing them separate.

Technology, Materials, and Sacrifices in Lightweight Rooftop Tents

Ben 16:19

So, in terms of can you or can't you, when as we've said, we'll say it again, we're not going to sit here and say you should or you shouldn't. That's uh as guided by your insurance company and however, what whatever um how closely you want to play uh that line to the to the rules. Um, but moving on to the technology or the sacrifices put in place to make these lights. So materials obviously is a big one. Carbon fiber is put in, not a sacrifice, but it sacrifices your bank account. You can pay for light, it's gonna cost you more. Same with a lightweight um tent uh hiking tent, right? Um some and it's a bit of durability as well. Same with a lightweight hiking tent. You get a lightweight hiking tent, it's made of lightweight materials because it's made to be light, it's not to be as durable as the one that's three times heavier. Yeah. So you've got to use it with that in mind.

Lauren 17:09

And you might be paying three or four times more for a product that has more maintenance, more or different care practices that you have to be really mindful of. You have to you can't be careless with it.

Ben 17:25

Yep.

Lauren 17:26

But you know, but that's what you you're ultimately you're paying for that the weight.

Ben 17:32

Weight, that's right. The tonneau cover makes for lighter as well. So the the standard and the um trail peak are just wrapped in a tonneau cover. Um, people are gonna go, it's not gonna handle all the low low-lying branches and stuff in the rough, tough places that I go to. That's fine. It's not the tent for you then. Get a heavier duty one. Yeah, you can handle that. You can, yeah. It's not designed for that. Yeah, yeah. So um, if they were gonna design it for that, they would have made it out of Kevlar or something and you paid 10 grand for it again. So um don't buy that tent if that's how you four-wheel drive.

Lauren 18:01

It's it's yeah, and I think the other thing is also to consider that, yeah, it it's a tonneau cover, it's on a rooftop tent. You might not have seen it done before, but how many utes are going around with a tonneau cover on a farm? It's going over 30 years, 15, 20 plus years, getting crap pushed, pulled in and out, and the bits not even being undone properly and being shoved around, stuffed around in the sun all day, every day, and it doesn't get trashed.

Ben 18:31

Yep.

Lauren 18:32

So there's no real reason to think that unless you're doing something wild, like you're literally trying to drive through, make your own pathway through a bush. Yeah, like there's no reason why that tonneau cover isn't gonna stand up to that.

Ben 18:48

And it's it's probably gonna last well beyond the lifetime of the tent anyway. And if that's starting to break down, which it will eventually, yeah, it's probably time for a new tent anyway, no matter which one you bought.

Lauren 18:57

And then on that, remember we were talking before about how like if you get an ultralight hiking tent, there might be additional maintenance things you have to worry about. With a tonneau cover rooftop tent once a year, just cover it with some tonneau polish or some tonneau balm or something to look after it, it'll probably outlive you.

Ben 19:13

Yeah, absolutely. Um other changes are there's they use a slatted base, um Inspired Overland in particular, use a slatted base in their um in their tents, which is so it's not a hard base, although I think they're looking at hard base options. So that means the sacrifice is you need to pump the mat up, otherwise you're gonna feel the slats. But you pump up their hybrid mat, or in their standard tents, they've got a um uh EP EVA. No, it's um anyway, it's a firm foam mat and then a soft, it's basically a dual density mat. Yeah, they've got the firm thing underneath to try and alleviate that feeling of the of the slats. If you sit upright with your butt cheeks pushing down and wiggle around, you probably feel where the slats are. Yeah, yeah. By the time you lie down, you can't feel it.

Lauren 20:03

When you're climbing into it, like I was the same when I first climbed into it, I was like, I'm not sure how I feel about this. Um, because you know you can feel it. But then when you lay down and your body weight is evenly distributed across the whole mat, you don't you really don't notice it that much at all.

Ben 20:18

And put the self-inflating one in there, pump it up a little bit firmer. You've got six centimetres, pump it up firmly, and it's perfectly comfortable. So um, yeah, I don't I don't see that as being an issue. And um, the other thing is the the profile, which leads into our next um our next point, that they're made to be low profile. So the sacrifice is there's not much room for storage in there. No, you can't put heaps of bedding in there because once again we go back to their making it to be lightweight. If you go and put a big heavy-duty double canvas sleeping bag in there, you're adding six to ten kilos to your roofload rating if you want to leave it. Which maybe if they did leave space for it, you're taking a 34 kilo tent and leaving eight kilos of bedding in there. So what are you what what are you trying to achieve there? So it's designed so that you can take it out and keep your roofload low. So for everyone who says that's useless, I can't leave bedding in there. No, that's intentional. Yeah. Because they're making it lightweight. Yeah. If you want to leave your bedding in there, then that's not the tent for you.

Lauren 21:17

Yeah.

Ben 21:17

So I think we're talking a little bit like we are sick of answering these questions.

Lauren 21:21

Yeah, it's it's more, it's not well, it might, it's obvious for us, but might maybe not necessarily obvious for other people. Maybe, you know, so excuse me. Like if you see, yeah, if you see you see a see a product out there, um, you know, you're looking at that in isolation. Whereas I think that um when you look at that product in conjunction with everything else on the market, that's it, that's on offer, and the pros and the strengths of both, it starts to make sense.

Ben 21:49

Yeah, absolutely.

Lauren 21:50

Yeah.

Ben 21:50

So you can't fit much bedding inside. Talk a little bit more on that in a second. Yeah. But the assumption is if you've got heavy bedding or bulky bedding, you'll pack that separately. Also, minimal storage for stuff on top. So the Superfly, for example, has got two very lightweight bars fixed at the hinge end because they probably use lighter weight struts to reduce the weight, which can't handle the weight of something being on top. If you put something too heavy, it'll just close the lid down. So they put it right up at the hinge end. You can't move them. So if you want to put two massive panels on there, that's not the right tent for you. If you just want to put a light one lightweight panel or perhaps strap a camp table or something small up there, then there's a couple of roofrails for you to do that if you want to.

Lauren 22:32

There are like some, you know, in response to the lightweight sort of move towards lightweight gear, there are also lightweight solar panels now. Like they're not these huge, big, heavy panels. You can get very lightweight panels now. Um, like Kickass do like a flex panel, which just when you pick it up, it flexes around a fair bit. But if you're mounting it on a roof rack or or like a rooftop 10, then it's got enough support.

Ben 22:55

Yep. And the IO's rails on top are really good for that. They're low profile. So once again, it only adds like on the carbon model. Carbon and Stargazer, put it on the Stargazer too

Lauren 23:05

Can you? Right. Okay.

Ben 23:06

So the rails down the side. So of course, because it's got a hard top. If you put a a um solar panel on the Stargazer, you're somewhat eliminating the clear top on it.

Lauren 23:16

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ben 23:17

But um, yeah, but once again, they're made to be low profile, so it's not made to strap a 14 kilo swag on top of a 38 kilo rooftop tent. Um they're made to put low profile things, like a Maxtrax, solar panels, really basic stuff. I've seen boxes up there as well, like you can sort of mount a box.

Lauren 23:36

Potentially even mounting something to it that you want to remove, like surfboards or something when you get to camp.

Ben 23:41

Yeah. Um, IO, interestingly, to keep the tent weight down, they put lighter weight struts on. And when you buy the roof rack kit, you get heavier duty struts to go with it.

Lauren 23:50

Yeah.

Sleeping Gear and Bedding

Ben 23:50

Because you've got to replace them so that it can handle the extra weight. So they've that's how far they've gone to try and keep the weight down. Now I want to move on to um if you've kind of gone, oh, okay, well, I I really want this lightweight tent, um, but I really want to leave my bedding up the top. I don't have room to store a big sleeping bag in the back of my car. There's alternatives. Uh, once again, comes at a price. Yep. You could buy a heavy-duty canvas sleeping bag um for what's the what is the Cold Mountains like 130 bucks or 150 bucks or something, isn't it?

Lauren 24:23

So yeah, but if you got a double, you're sort of looking two, three hundred dollars.

Ben 24:27

Yeah, okay. Down. Think hiking. You've got your your mind's crossing over into that hiking category a little bit here with what can I get that has offers warmth and comfort in a compact nature. Down is the perfect solution. And there are down blankets out there. I've been talking to purchasing about should we do this as a as a something for the lightweight rooftop tenths.

Lauren 24:48

Oh, yeah, 100% should, yeah.

Ben 24:50

Compressible or inflatable pillows.

Lauren 24:52

Yeah.

Ben 24:53

They will go in these rooftop tents easily because they squish down. If you don't want to leave them in your rooftop tent, they squash down into a compression sack and fit easily in the back of your car. So either way, you're saving weight. It's going to cost you a little bit more of money because a good down bag's probably oh, you're probably spending at least a couple of hundred dollars more of a if you're talking the double to get an equivalent within a down, you're probably starting at least a couple of hundred dollars on top of that. Yeah. Plus, depending on how technical you go. So I would go down that hiking path if you want to leave stuff up on top.

Lauren 25:25

Yeah, and the same thing with the pillows, like um Sea To Summit do wn Aeros down pillow, which is like an inflatable pillow with a down top on it. Oh boy, they're so lush. Yeah, yeah.

Ben 25:36

Other features that I'm thinking on the fly here a little bit. A lot of the heavier tents have got things like integrated lighting, power points, all that sort of stuff. You could probably retrofit that if you wanted, or just have a cable that runs up into your from your car and into your rooftop tent. LED strip lights you can attach anywhere. They're easy.

Lauren 25:56

Or you just get hardcore U-lights. Or get hardcore U-lights. And there you go.

Ben 25:59

And you could probably, if you put them in there, you could actually leave them in there when you pack it up. That's a easy one. So there are lightweight compact alternatives to have just as much comfort in these lightweight tents so that you can have you don't have to buy a big 70 series troop carrier or or um Land Cruiser, sorry, to have a rooftop tent. Yeah. You can if you want, although that would be like super hot. It'd be pretty cool. Yeah, yeah. Um, I don't have the dollars for that there.

Lauren 26:25

Yeah, me either.

Ben 26:27

Um, anything else to add? I really just wanted to cover off on lightweight tents for all vehicles, small vehicles, right through to those who've got heavy vehicles but trying to trim down weight and ways you can.

Lauren 26:38

I'm pretty sure Inspired Overland have some marketing material of them attached to a Lambo. Like if I had it, if I had a Lambo, I would not be putting a rooftop tent on it. Let me tell you that much for free. Um, but it's on there, it can it can it can go on a Lambo.

Ben 26:54

So have a look at Inspired Overland's vehicle gallery. There's some really cool shots in there. It's a US brand. Uh latest one I've seen, actually. I reckon it was on their Inspired Overland um owners group. I reckon it was like an old Subaru Outback, those boxy old with this slick as Inspired Overland tent on top. And it looked, it just looked really cool. Yeah, so they've got all sorts of vehicles with these on top. Heaps of happy people with them as well.

Lauren 27:24

Um there's also a little uh a little two-door Jeep Wrangler that gets around here that's got a super light attached to it, like a Dakota Super Light on it.

Ben 27:34

Oh, has it?

Lauren 27:35

Yeah, it looks cool.

Summary

Ben 27:36

Yeah, okay. The Superlight, just to mention too, that the front runner and the Superlite are the folding style. So when we're talking about roof racks and stuff, you can't put it on a soft top. But it's a small footprint. So if you've got a small Ute and you want to put it on the tub, you can use that folding style to go on that. So um I think what we've got now compared to even just a year ago, what we've got available now in the lightweight category to suit heaps, uh such a bigger range of vehicles is is really good now. Um so yeah, if you've got a small car and you go, I don't know which rooftop tent to suit or a small space or something unique, just give us a call because this just covers off on the lightweight ones. We've got heaps more in the range. Cool. Let us know your thoughts, uh, what vehicle you've got, how you go about saving weight in your rooftop tent. Um yeah.

Lauren 28:27

Anything else?

Ben 28:28

That's all I've got. Catch later. See you next time.