Roof tent VS Doka Canvas load cover.

[cobblers]

I go for a quick night out once or twice a week in my big LWB high top camper with all mod cons etc, but it feels like cheating and a lot of the places I go are not accessible when it's wet in winter even with proper tyres etc - there's only so much a FWD 3200kg van will do!
 want to make my Syncro usable for quick overnight camps. I have tents that I use for camping high up on hills after walking 20 miles but I want something easy and "vehicle based".

A roof tent or a Canvas load cover is going to cost about a grand, has anyone got any experience using either?


I'd kind of prefer to just chuck a bed and stuff 0n the back of the van under a load cover as it'd take less setting up, but I'm not sure how we'll it'd breathe and whether it's designed to be able to open and close from the inside!

On the other hand the roof tents are designed for sleeping in, but need 15 minutes stood in the rain putting them up and down, and drying out after use, and I'd have to store all the camping gear under the van and drag it all out.

Hopefully someone has made the mistakes before me and can advise!

[300CE]

Unfortunately I can’t comment on either but might be worth contacting slaughterhouse customs on their one to see the pros and cons (claims a 1 minute set up time):

https://www.slaughterhousecustoms.com/p ... ish-design

[Splurt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaqM8zUl04o

Here's a blast from the past, when a doka was a cheap way to own a syncro! 

It's another option for you to consider, a couple of swivel seat bases and a multivan r'r seat could work out cheaper than a grand if your only going to be using it occasionally  

[saysomestuff]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaqM8zUl04o

Here's a blast from the past

I'm thinking about the same thing at the minute and funnily enough that video convinced me to keep the front as the "lounge" part and sleep in the load bed instead since I'm 6'.

I've seen some brilliant examples where they've made a roll cage and/or fibreglass lid for it.

I have a camper trailer that's almost the same dimensions as the load bed so I'm seriously considering stripping it and using the mechanism from that to make a 4-berth fold out tent/camper. Would be great to just fold the beds back over flat, put tonneau on and go.

[DoubleOSeven]

Can you modify a trailer tent?

[saysomestuff]

That's exactly my plan ^^^

[Womboy]

I've no idea if any of this will be helpful to you, but I went through a vaguely similar dilemma with my tintop after my second child was born. I didn't want to cut a hole to add a pop top so opted for a roof tent instead. I foresaw the same issues you describe with the canvas style roof tents and opted for an Autohomes Columbus instead. It's on gas struts so takes seconds to open and not much longer to put away. More importantly it can be put away wet even with all the bedding inside and will dry out (within reason) as you drive along. They are also far more aerodynamic than the canvas style. Anyway, here it is for reference:



They are more expensive than a canvas style one, but do crop up occasionally on gumtree or eBay secondhand, which was where I found mine. With hindsight I probably would have opted for a Maggiolina version if I had to choose again as they appear to be even quicker and easier to put up and down using a handle.

[clift_d]

We travelled for a while with a Dutch family in Iceland who had 2x two-person roof tents on a custom rack on top of their Doka, so they were sleeping four up-top.





They had some metal fatigue issues with the rack due to differential movement between the bit over the cab and the frame over the load bed, but this didn't cause a problem with the tents. One advantage of having the tents unfolding to the side was that it gave them a sheltered area at the back of the van where they could locate their kitchen. If I recall correctly they were able to leave their bedding in the tents when they folded them up during the day.