Can You Use Roof Top Tents for Family Camping?

Roof top tents are becoming more and more popular and they are convenient for solo adventurers and couples, or for groups of friends that use separate vehicles. But how about family camping? Read more about this here.

A roof top tent annex

You have seen the top picture above, so this is the TentBox Lite soft shell roof top tent. You realize that with such a shelter you are indeed mobile and you can have a place for sleeping anywhere.

But this may not be enough if this is about smaller families. You have to organize your life in the camp, the weather is not always great as you surely know. So having an annex makes the life easier.

This type of shelter attaches to the roof top tent on the side if the car. So it connects the roof top tent with the car, and it creates a common area protected from the elements and giving some privacy.

The size and shape depends a lot on the type and shape of the roof top tent. You have seen in the top picture above that you have an overhanging area underneath the roof top tent. With such an annex, you close the space and protect it from the rain.

In any case, this type of annex can be enough for parents with one kid. There are many options on the market, the picture below shows the Thule Tepui Explorer Autana 4 with Annex. So this is a soft shell roof top tent with a very functional annex. You can buy such elements separately.

The annex in the picture above looks impressive and very practical. But some brands have developed this concept even more. One great example is in the picture below that shows iKamper Annex Plus.

So this is a huge extension of a roof top tent, and they even have an iKamper Annex Plus Inner Tent for the extension. So this all together with the car and a roof top tent becomes a true camping palace.

A screen house

With a screen house, you have a dining space next to your car where you are protected from flying insects. So here you can keep your camping furniture and use the space for cooking and sitting during the day.

In the case when you would use it combined with a roof top tent, it is best to choose a screen house that offers some rain protection as well and a good sunshade.

This Eureka Northern Breeze Aluminum Frame Screen House in the picture below is one great example. Note that you can close its walls when needed.

Using a family camping tent together with a roof top shelter

I think this is the best possible option, and this is for various reasons. If you use some family camping tent, you will have two sleeping areas. Something tells me that kids will love to be on the roof. If so, then you will have far more privacy (and peace) in the tent.

Now, what kind of tent? If this would be something in the style of the roof top tent, and this means changing your camping place frequently, I would warmly suggest an instant camping tent, or an inflatable tent. Both types are incredibly easy to use.

Otherwise, for ordinary family camping, any tent will do, just make sure it is of the appropriate capacity for your family members.

Using an awning together with a roof top tent

I would say this is a minimum you would want to have, if nothing more. Such an addition offers a covered area with some protection from the elements, and you also have some privacy.

The advantage of such an addition is that it is usually reasonably compact and it does not take much space in the car.

One great example is this Crua AER Multi-Functional Awning shown in the picture, designed to be used with their Crua AER roof top tent, but it is more than that, you can use it on its own of course.

You can order this awning directly from Crua Outdoors. But is is available also on Amazon, just to know if this is more convenient to you.

A privacy shelter

A privacy shelter you might want to have together with some of the elements above. This holds in particular if you are in a place without facilities like a toilet.

There are many great options on the market, with one and with two rooms as well. Some of them you can see in the privacy shelters section in the family camping tents site.

Technical aspects to consider

There are several things to consider if this is about family camping with a roof top tent.

Roof top tent capacity

This is about the weight capacity of the roof top tent, and also about its capacity regarding the number of users.

For the largest roof top tents I find the number at Thule site where they mentioned 650 pounds (290 kg). This is likely for those designs where you have an overhanging area of the soft shell roof top tent.

But for the Crua AER Maxx roof top tent you have 882 pounds (400 kg) weight capacity. Such a huge weight capacity is likely due to the fact that it comes with two support poles that you use under the overhanging area, see the picture.

This roof top tent is officially for 5 users. The inner area is 48.1 ft² (4.5 m²). and its dimensions are 2.4 x 2.1 m. So you realize that it has enough space for 5 people. Note that there are inflatable roof top tents that are particularly large.

Dynamic weight capacity of the car roof

This is a parameter you have to check in the specifications of your car. The  term dynamic weight capacity describes the weight that your car can handle when driving.

You definitely would not want to exceed this value.

Just to know that the mentioned Crua AER Maxx weighs 196 pounds (89 kg), and the TentBox Lite tent shown in the top picture above weighs 110 pounds (50 kg). So the differences may be substantial.

Static weight capacity of the car roof

This is about the weight capacity that your car can take when it is parked. The number mentioned at Thule site is ‘usually three times the dynamic weight capacity’. I find this small, and I am convinced it must be much higher.

This will depend also on the extra support by poles if it exists of course.

Roof type

This means that your car’s roof is designed to accommodate some roof top tent. There are many variants shown in the picture from Thule brand site.

So you would want to compare this with what you have, and then check what kind of attachment system the roof tent has. Do this before you buy one of course. Note that Thule has a guide for this.

Summary

In conclusion, a large roof top tent can be used for smaller families and for short family adventures. You can see my separate list of some great options for family camping. But if this is about longer camping trips, you will want to have a few other accessory elements that will make lots of difference in the camp.

Those mentioned above are important, but they are not the only that are available on the market. This is a growing industry as this type of camping shelters are gaining popularity. So there are more and more accessory elements that you might want to use with your roof top tent.

Note that roof top tents are far more expensive than standard family camping tents. So you should not go for such an item if this is about family camping only. But if you have it already and you use it for some other outdoor activity, then you can use it for adventures with your family as well.

Did you know that you can insulate a roof top tent and use it year round? If you have no experience with roof top tents, I would warmly suggest that you see this nice video from Crua Outdoors: