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Vogler



Member Since: 02 Nov 2014
Location: Brussels
Posts: 309

Belgium 2015 Defender 110 Td5 HT Chawton White
See the first page of http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic44626.html where I listed the pro's and con's of our JB.

Biggest advantage of the Extec-type tilting roofs is the fact that you don't need to get out of the car, and you can heat your sleeping space together with the interior of the car. Also, a clamshell like ours has as good as no option for changing etc., but there are the box-like Maggiolina's to which you can attach an awning.

Last September I had quite a bizarre encounter while camping in a forest. I was woken at 3 o'clock at night by a guy who was all confused and covered in blood, his T-shirt torn to shreds, asking for help. He clearly was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but fortunately he behaved and I managed to drop him off at a police station. He told me that he was attacked and got in a fight, but when I contacted the police afterwards, he turned out to have fled from a hit-and-run a couple of miles further. This is a scenario where an extec or the like would have been a better option Whistle . I was happy to just having bought a LedLenser 7.2 flashlight with a defensive strobe function (which I didn't have to use), which gave me some sense of security.


Greetings,

Joris
Post #589413 2nd Jan 2017 11:41am
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Pilgrimmick



Member Since: 16 Nov 2015
Location: Highlands
Posts: 581

United Kingdom 
I have used Ezi-Awn tents in Africa, they can be noisy if not fully tensioned, but not signs of them being damaged by wind, even though one night the car was rocking so bad my wife was almost sea-sick. Mind you any tent would have suffered that night, many would have blown away!
That was a one off example though, the tents are comfortable, easy to use, provide shelter from small animals and a excellent viewpoint to take in sunrise/sunset, well worth having. 80" 1948
Lightweight V8
Bowler Tomcat
130 Station wagon
90 300tdi
(Santana PS10 pick up)
Range Rover L322 (Ful fat)
Post #589481 2nd Jan 2017 5:40pm
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Davidej



Member Since: 30 Sep 2014
Location: Devon
Posts: 266

United Kingdom 1996 Defender 110 300 Tdi SW Alveston Red
Thx Joris. Useful write up on the baroud tent which sounds like a quality bit of kit. Having read that I am more convinced to go for a fold out version with the option of a changing room underneath and around the back door of the 110. That type of tent will also leave decent room on the roof rack to stow other equipment as there will often be 4 of us in the vehicle.
Post #589515 2nd Jan 2017 6:33pm
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Mac22



Member Since: 22 Nov 2013
Location: Merseyside
Posts: 675

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 DCPU Santorini Black
Langdale, minus 6, me and my Patterdale in the HM RTT....All cosy and drifting off after a couple of pints of the local scrumpy.
What sounded like a 747's engines screaming woke me.
The noise increased and then BANG!...The tent was violently shaking, I flew down the ladder expecting carnage or at least a branch impaled in the tent but nothing.
This went on all bleedin' night and finally fell asleep about 4 am. Talking to the staff that morning and they told me it's called the Langdale Locomotive.
When it gets windy it gathers speed in the bottleneck valley and keeps going round getting faster and faster...
The HM took it in it's stride, unfortunately me and the dog where Censored a brick.... Mr. Green
Post #600746 10th Feb 2017 7:00pm
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geobloke



Member Since: 06 Nov 2012
Location: Nottinghamshire
Posts: 4348

United Kingdom 
Re: Rooftent in a storm?
DaftOldGit wrote:
I tried my new rooftent for the first time last night in The Cairngorms.

It was my first time in rooftent and Mrs first time camping at all!

It was blowing a wind, but by no means a storm. It was so noisy inside that we couldn't hear each other speak and Mrs was worried that we'd blow over. It did feel like we were on a North Sea trawler.
I tied down the ladder and added some rocks to stop the whole thing folding closed on us.

It's made me wonder if it's really an all-season camping solution.
The tent is a ARB Simpson 3.

Has anyone had really bad experiences or does just feel worse than it is?


Yeah roof tents are crazy in a storm Shocked Shocked Shocked not conducive to sleep at all...

A few years back, after a good blow, I was interested in finding out whether any of the roof tents out on the market were wind tested in particular what speed were they rated too, so I contacted the big names (Hannibal, howling moon and maggiolina). It took a while but both Hannibal and Howling moon did eventually reply. The answer was no, their tent designs were not wind tested or rated and advised not to use the tent in strong winds. Maggiolina did not care to reply...

At this point I sold my Hannibal roof tent and bought a geodesic ground tent. Later an OzTent, but still carry the Marmot tent as a back up should things get... brisk...
Post #600773 10th Feb 2017 8:13pm
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kmac



Member Since: 07 Oct 2009
Location: Middlesex
Posts: 1294

United Kingdom 2009 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 USW Santorini Black
So to what wind speed are the OZ-tents rated? Just curious as I have one
Post #600792 10th Feb 2017 9:20pm
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geobloke



Member Since: 06 Nov 2012
Location: Nottinghamshire
Posts: 4348

United Kingdom 
Yes, OzTent said they have not tested their tents but said they have been rigorously used and abused in all weathers... Take that how you like. Like I said I keep the geodesic tent for brisk nights out.
Post #600800 10th Feb 2017 9:44pm
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Intercept



Member Since: 27 Feb 2017
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 587

United Kingdom 2002 Defender 110 Td5 Black LE Java Black
My Oztent RV4 has withstood a lot of stormy weather over the years. Not entirely without incident though - the awning needs to be tilted to avoid pooling, and I lost a few awning pegs in one squall which resulted in much flapping and a few L shaped tears (ripstop helps). Like a roof tent though, its best to position them so that the wedge shaped rear of the tent faces the wind. As long as you've not got too much stuff in the awning area they are very easy to rotate.

As geobloke, I always keep a Wild Country Quasar geodesic in reserve in case things get really bad - they'll handle 120mph even without any pegs (as long as you're inside to stop it blowing away Shocked)
Post #610423 18th Mar 2017 8:57pm
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Fat Cog



Member Since: 19 Mar 2012
Location: Oxfordshire & Devon
Posts: 502

United Kingdom 2016 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Corris Grey
Theirs a reason why most of the African made roof tents are made of heavy duty rip stop canvas & I mean heavy duty; I had an African made Tentco one which was marine ply base & said industrial canvas which was superb, however, lifting the tent onto the roof required a herculean effort and was virtually impossible to lift without a team of strong arms. Since 1973...S1, Air Portable's, Defender's, but only my Wolf TUL HS GS remains
Post #610503 19th Mar 2017 8:49am
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