WHY A ROOFTOP TENT AND WHICH ONE DO I GET
One of the hardest decisions for someone to make! What rooftop tent should I buy and why? You will get hundreds of different opinions from hundreds of different people. So here are some different options for tents and camping with your Toyota Tacoma.
(All titles of each individual tent are links that will take you to the product)
ROOFTOP TENTS
ROAM
The first option for Roam is the Vagabond Lite. This is a soft top that folds out and can sleep 2 people comfortably on a high-density foam mattress. This comes with a telescopic ladder and boot bags, as well as two sunroofs to enjoy the night time stars and give you a nice breeze.
This is bigger than the Lite, it is a soft top fold out that can fit 2-3 people. This also comes with the option of an annex around the bottom of the tent giving you the ability to have another room that you can use for whatever you want, leaving shoes or even having someone sleep inside. Like the Lite version, this comes with two sunroofs and a 3” high density foam mattress and a telescopic ladder is included as well.
This tent was made for comfort. Still a soft top fold out, this tent can sleep 3-4 people and definitely has the roam to do so. With the same setup as the other tents, it provides you with a telescopic ladder, two sunroof windows, and a 3” high-density foam mattress.
The Roam Rambler is Roam’s first whack at a hardtop tent and man did they knock it out of the park. With panoramic windows and a high density foam mattress, this tent gives you the coolest place to set up shop for the night.
Freespirit Recreation
This hard top tent comes in either a 49” options that sleeps 1-2 people or a 55” that sleeps 2-3 people, and will set up in under a minute. You can count on this hard top looking slim with its’ 7” profile on the top of your rack, as well as the option of crossbars so you can still mount stuff up top if needed! This tent's interior comes with a LED strip on the inside that can light up the interior of your tent. This tent was built to withstand the journeys you take it on, and the crossbars on top can hold up to 250 pounds of gear. Comes with a telescopic ladder included.
The evolution series, unlike the odyssey, pops straight up in the air. This one is also offered in either a 49” or a 55” as well as a led strip that lights up the tent. This makes the tent a lot more roomier than the odyssey since it goes straight up as opposed to slanting.
This is the soft top for free spirit, and it is made to be as roomy as possible, and man did they succeed. This comes in either a 55”, 55” premium, 63”, 80”, and a 80” premium. This tent gives you the biggest size, but keeps the same warmth and comfort in technology as the other tents. The difference with this tent is not only the size, but it is a soft top as opposed to the other tents that are all hard tops. These tents as well come with a LED strip in the tent so you can light it up if needed!
ARB
Esperance
This rooftop tent from ARB is the best of both worlds. This gives you the luxury of a hard top, but flips out like a soft top giving you a lot more room. This slime lightweight tent comes with two large windows, integrated vents, external LED strips, and dimmable LED strips on the interior. The ladder can be stored inside the tent as well which is super convenient and won’t take up any space in your Tacoma. This tent sleeps 2-3 people, and has a 1.5 inch high density sponge pad featuring a quilted polyester peach skin removable mattress cover.
Flinders
This tent from ARB is a soft top tent made to be much more low profile then other soft top tents on the market. This tent boasts their all new soft top cover system that can stand up to all the elements over other soft tops that are on the market. This tent sleeps 1-2 people comfortably, and offers a sky light and 5 large zipped windows.
Front Runners soft top tent sleeps 2-3 people, and has a 2.25” thick mattress on the inside. There are four windows that can open up giving you access to good views or a nice breeze. This tent also comes with a ladder and option of an annex underneath for whatever you may need.
The best thing about your Tacoma is that it is yours. At the end of the day whatever works best for you is what matters the most. If rooftop tents aren’t the direction you want to take then Luno is the option for you! This air mattress fits the entire bed of your Tacoma perfectly. This can sleep two people comfortably and has an electric air pump that is included. This is super easy to store, and rolls up to about the size of a sleeping bag. This is an excellent option and is obviously a lot more affordable.
FRONT RUNNER
At the end of the day, you can go all out with a roof top tent, or do the awesome sleep in your car with Luno’s air mattress, but you can always count on a ground tent! Front Runner’s two person ground tent is an instant setup, just throw it on the ground and watch it unfold (then punch in the stakes (those won’t put themselves in). On top of the super easy setup, this compacts down so storing it in your rig is super simple!
At the end of the day it is all up to you on what is gonna best fit you rig! Hopefully this makes it a little bit easier to make decisions on what route to take and the pro’s and con’s of whatever direction you decide to take! Let us know below if you have any questions or if we missed anything!
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