Clamshell Roof Top Tents vs Pop Up Roof Top Tents

If you want an extremely easy to use car camping shelter, you might want to consider clamshell roof top tents and pop up roof top tents. They share some common features but there are also important differences.

Why this comparison

Both clamshell roof top tents and pop up roof top tents belong to the same group of hard shell roof top tents. So when closed, you have a solid box, or at least a solid roof of such a box on the top of your car.

The essential detail where they differ is the fact that clam shell tents have hinges. So they become open like a clamshell, hence the name. This is known in general as the clamshell design. The picture below shows one great example, the iKamper BDV (Blue Dot Voyager) Duo:

On the other hand, when you open a pop up roof top tent, its flat roof is the roof of the mentioned box. So this is a structure with a solid roof, and with fabric walls on its four sides. The picture below shows the Evolution Series Rooftop Tent by Freespirit brand.

Common features of the clamshell roof top tents and pop up roof top tents

Here are the most important shared features:

Ease of use:  So both types are indeed very easy to use. I would say that non-expandable clamshell rooftop tents may be a bit easier to use because you have fewer latches to release. But all in all, I would not make a difference here.

Durability: I think there is no much difference. They are built with strong solid shell, and they can take a lot of use and abuse.

Weight: Both types are moderately heavy and the weight difference is not substantial. They are in general lighter than most of soft shell tents.

The most important differences

I have decided to summarize them in the table below where you also see that I give advantage (the sign +) to one or another type. Below the table you have my explanation why this is so.

 

Doors: In the clamshell roof top tents, almost always you will have one door on the side. The other side is with hinges.

On the other hand, most of pop-up hard-top roof top tents have doors on both sides. But this is not always so, see the Freespirit Evolution Series Rooftop Tent shown above, it has one door.

Windows: Here, the difference is again due to the fact that in clamshell tents, one side is with hinges and you do not have opening on that side. So this means you usually have 3-side views.

However, there are clever designs with a window even on the side with hinges. You will see this in the video below. Note also that some of these tents have a skylight window as well.

With the pop-up roof top tents, you almost always have views on all sides, so some people may find this better.

Note also that many of the clamshell roof top tents have awnings above windows, see the pictures here in the post. This is usually not so with the pop-up roof top tents, and this is yet another of the reasons for giving + to this type.

Price: These hard shell roof top tents are usually far more expensive than the so-called soft shell roof top tents. This holds in particular if you compare the price per square meter. But clamshell type is among the most expensive.

Performance: None of these tents is perfect for very windy places. They are boxy and noisy, and it is best to avoid such situations. But I would give a slight advantage to pop up hard top roof top tents.

This is simply because they have fewer features, you realize this when you compare them with those clamshell models with extension, see the picture below.

On the other hand, hard top pop up tents are with a solid roof. Compare this with the clamshell type where the solid part is on the side, so the roof is a fabric. I think the roof is more important, and this is one more reason to give a slight advantage to the hard-top tents.

Area: Pop-up hard-top roof top tents are determined by the width of the car, more or less. So they are of a limited floor area. Typically, the maximum capacity is up to 2-3 people.

The clamshell roof top tents can have a part that expands on the side of the car. This is yest another difference that has some important consequences. So you can have more space inside, and you also have a dry entry here. You can communicate between the car and the tent on the roof without being exposed to the rain.

I think this is the most important difference of all. The Armadillo X2 clamshell roof top tent by 23Zero shown below is one of that type. Observe also the awnings.

You can see more about this in the video, please have a look:

Roof gear storage: Both types allow for extra racks on the top of the solid shell. This is what makes them different from the soft shell tents.

However, with clamshell roof top tents, such an item can remain fixed on the roof of the tent even when you open the tent and use it for sleeping. This can be a kayak or anything similar. To realize what I mean, see the picture, this is the OVS Mamba clamshell roof top tent.

You can see this also in this Kabari hard shell roof top tent where there is a bicycle still on the roof as you sleep inside:

This is not so with the pop-up hard-top roof top tents because their roof is supported with some system that has a limited weight capacity. It cannot support extra weight when the roof is up.

Variety of options: If you follow this industry, you have probably noticed that there are far more clamshell type options on the market than pop up roof top tents.

Overall comfort: From many features mentioned above you realize that some of the clamshell type offers more comfort.

This includes the awnings, dry entry in some of them, some even have a higher peak point inside. If you have things on the roof of the tent, they can stay there, no need to remove them before preparing the tent for sleeping.

Summary

For more texts about such products please check under the category Roof Top Tents. Let me know if you have questions, there is a comment box below.

Bookmark this site and keep as a reference, you will always have new texts added here. Thank you for reading.