A rugged four-season tent is an outdoorsman’s best friend, but with a dizzying array of poles, stakes, and tie-downs, they’re not always the most convenient thing in the world to set up. If you’d rather skip the “some assembly required” part, you could always get yourself a trailer, but that option is far more expensive, and trailers can’t always go wherever your car can by itself. So wouldn’t it be nice if there were some sort of middle ground? A portable shelter that lies somewhere in the “Goldilocks zone” between tent and trailer?
Enter the rooftop tent from Treeline Outdoors – an innovative popup shelter that lives on top of your car. The entire apparatus affixes to your roof racks, and can be unfolded or packed up in just a few minutes. With this thing, worrying about rocky, uneven, or damp terrain is a thing of the past. You’re pretty much guaranteed to stay high, dry and comfy no matter where you go.
No need to lug around sleeping pads anymore either – inside the tent’s durable waterproof walls, you’ll find a built-in two-inch high-density foam mattress. And thanks to a sturdy baseplate made from 2.5 cm aluminum/polyurethane, the platform can handle unsupported loads of up to 770lbs. Maximum capacity only increases when the ladder is extended for additional support.
Treeline sells these tents for $1,350 apiece – considerably more expensive than your average four-season tent, but still just a fraction of what you’d pay for a tow-behind camper. Hit up their website for additional info.
