Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

That Bundutop is very very nice, but, it is a massive thing though, it looks to me like once that is bolted to the roof rack theres no space for the jerrycans, gas bottles etc?

I agree. There is no space for anything else on the roof. It is the ultimate for ease of operation though....

I like the fact that I can mount my RTT to fold open backwards and it the gives me some form of protection at the back of the vehicle where my kitchen is.

I have a half size roof rack on the front part of the roof for an additional (to the 50lt tank behind the back seats) 50 lt water tank and for space for carrying wood, charcoal and my portable braai.

graham1 wrote: ↑14 Aug 2019 14:59 That Bundutop is very very nice, but, it is a massive thing though, it looks to me like once that is bolted to the roof rack theres no space for the jerrycans, gas bottles etc?

My Bundutop was enlarged [previous owner] and I still have space for 4 jerry cans in front of it on my roof rack
Not the best pict but the space is there - I sometimes have 3 ammo crates there
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Must say the convenience is very attractive, but I'm a firm believer in keeping it simple... What about wobbling down a tricky road - top heavy? I even felt mine and my old sandwich looks looks a ham and cheese compared to the Bundutop dagwood

Got to agree unfortunately, the non foldable RTT just takes up too much room on the , I had an Impi and sold that for this very reason. Also the price is way off the clock and I do not like the idea of electric lift motors on it, just one more thing that can go wrong. I have sold all my other RTT(canvas with cover types as I found the sun hammers the covers and trees also rip them). I am now left with a built into the canopy type RTT on my 130 Landy (Alucab) and a hard shell foldable RTT that I swop between my Disco and my Patrol (again Alucab)

My age, back, overweight and tight time frames during Outreach trips sort of prevents me from the cumbersome energy sapping adrenaline rising tents with the canvas covers .. putting that thing over is a mission .. then I sleep next to or inside the vehicle .. the Bundutop is a "no brainer" for me.
The electric motor is a two tonne winch lifting short of 40 Kg ... it just dont give in.

34 seconds to get a tent read in my book is the ultimate. I am NOT good with pitching a bow tent -- even after 20 years ++ of using them

My desire for simplicity, commonly known as laziness, is stronger than my desire for comfort and makes me leave the tents at home and I either sleep on the ground, or if there is a problem then I sleep in the car. As I get older I find that I gravitate towards less equipment/comfort rather than towards more stuff. A pocket knife and a fleece banket and I'm good to go. So neither ground tent nor RTT for me.

Edited to add: On reflection I reckon it's packing up a wet tent that turns me off using them

I checked the Bundutop on David Talijaart's Patrol during the river trip. Definitely way overbuilt. It is genuinely excellent engineered. I also have an electric type RTT but all my cables and mechanisms are outside subject to dust and water. The Chinas did not think so far on mine. Now the Bundutop all its mechanisms are inside so completely isolated with a proper winch and no grease messing with bedding. I do not like the size of the bundutop. 90 kg brick shape on the roof wont work for me I still get to exited with driving off road. I do have a 35" tire on the roof with my RTT so I know I dont like the weight on the roof and is not much less than the Bundutop. Taking off the tire my water temps drop by 10-15 degrees and drivability increases by about 15km/h so it is quite substantial. Comfort of a RTT vs a Popup type tent I do prefer the RTT even with canvas cover. I do not like the folding in half type canvas RTT's

I find the hard shell tent to be very easy to close - no fiddling with a vinyl/canvas cover and all the mission that brings.
Saying that though, this tent is starting to leak if parked in the rain, so I'll need to get a cover made for it still.
Can see in the photo all the available space left on the rack these kind of tents give you

Ons hou ook van die hard shell RTT. Ja hy is swaar en jy het nie veel van jou dakrak oor nie, maar vir ons doel, is hy net reg. Die idee van op die grond slaap veral in Botswana is en bly maar biekie "scary'.