Rooftop tents are highly convenient. Most of them have been designed to be pulled out in a matter of seconds, and they offer a huge amount of protection from the elements. Therefore, it isn’t that much of a surprise that people wonder whether a good rooftop tent can make their family camping trips that much easier.
So, are rooftop tents good for families? Well, it depends on the size of the family. They could be a great choice for a couple with a baby or a toddler. However, most rooftop tents don’t offer that much in the way of space. This means that families with older, or perhaps more, children will require a different way of camping.
As you can probably imagine, people will often have a few more burning questions about rooftop tents and which groups of people are going to be getting the most benefit out of them. We will try and answer some of the most burning of questions here.
Who Rooftop Tents are Good For
As we said, rooftop tents can be a good choice for smaller families (with toddlers or babies), but as soon as your family seems to get a bit larger than that, then you will want to look into alternative camping options.
Rooftop tents tend to be a good choice for those that are solo camping, or perhaps one for a couple that is looking to enjoy the great, big outdoors!
Is It Safe For a Small Child To Use a Rooftop Tent?
Potentially.
Obviously, with a rooftop tent, the child is going to be up quite high. Much higher than they would be if they were using a tent that is firmly planted on the ground.
This means that there is a potential for falls if the child is exploratory enough. Here’s some more safety tips from RoofNest.
We recommend that if you are going to be using a rooftop tent for a child, you try to position the child in a way that they aren’t going to be opening the interior of the tent when you are sleeping at night (some children do have a habit of attempting to leave tents!)
We also recommend that you do not have your child inside of the tent alone. This means no putting them down for a nap unless you are there.
Of course, you could always try to teach them how to leave the rooftop tent safely.
Granted, the chances of them getting hurt are probably going to be quite minimal. We can’t imagine many children are just going to plummet off of the roof of a rooftop tent. However, we can tell you that these tents are going to be a whole lot more dangerous than your average tent just because they are going to be a few feet off of the ground.
What Are The Advantages For a Family to Use a Rooftop Tent?
The big advantage is the speed that you are going to be able to get a rooftop tent sent up. Most can be set up within a minute or two. This is highly convenient when you have a younger family. It means that your child is going to be spending a whole lot less time waiting for your to connect poles and peg everything out. This can be ideal when the weather isn’t too great outside.
We also find that these rooftop tents are going to be a great choice for families that are touring the country. As you can probably imagine, there are a lot of places in the United States that make it exceedingly difficult to pitch a tent.
Chances are that you are going to be stuck inside of a car with your child for hours and hours on end. When the time comes to park up, you probably don’t want to hear them whining everything is taking so long while you try and find the perfect pitching spot for your tent. You just want them to be quiet so everybody is fresh for heading back out on the road in the morning. A rooftop tent will allow that.
What Are The Disadvantages Of a Rooftop Tent For a Family?
As we said before, space is probably going to be of a little bit of a premium inside of a rooftop tent, and chances are that your family will outgrow a rooftop tent eventually. Although, hopefully, this won’t be for several years.
Beyond this, the main disadvantage is that they are not great in windy environments. After all, the roof tent is going to be a bit higher than your average tent, and this means that it is going to catch the wind easily. It doesn’t mean that it is going to get cold in the roof tent. It just means that it may shake a little bit in the highest of winds.
It can also be incredibly difficult to get a child into the rooftop tent. After all, you will need to use a ladder to get up there. If you have a baby, then getting them into the rooftop tent can be difficult, particularly if only one family member is with them.
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Getting them out of the tent is going to be even harder. Ideally, these tents would probably be best for children that are capable of walking or climbing e.g. 2-3 years old minimum, and, even then, you may still need to think about whether your child is capable of climbing in and out of it.
Closing Thoughts
Rooftop tents aren’t a great choice for most families. If you have a younger family (children no more than a few years old) then sure. They can be a good choice. However, rooftop tents never really have that much in the way of space.
This means that sooner or later the children are going to outgrow it. A rooftop tent can be a great introduction to camping. However, it is likely going to be something that you will be using for a few years only.
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