If you love camping, you’ve probably already heard about the Tent vs TentBox debate. Rooftop tents are hailed as one of the best inventions to happen to camping, making it easy to travel around with your bed on your roof. However, there are the die hard traditional campers who believe that the humble tent is still the best option.
Both the Tent vs TentBox have pros and cons, and therefore they suit different needs. We’re weighing up the Tent vs TentBox debate, to help you decide whether to invest in a roof top tent for your car.
The Pros of a traditional Tent
For some people, nothing beats a traditional tent. The tent has been our adventuring companion for years, and there is something special about being amongst nature with nothing but a tent to keep you warm.
The Pros of having a tent are:
- They are cheap. A tent is super inexpensive and can offer you amazing trips on a budget.
- The pack down small – if you’re looking to carry it in your backpack, then a tent is the necessary option!
The Pros of a TentBox
Whilst there is nothing wrong with a traditional tent, having a TentBox or rooftop tent completely revolutionises your camping experience. There are so many pros to having a TentBox on your roof, and increasingly people are opting for rooftop tents over a tent.
Some of the pros of having a TentBox are:
- A TentBox takes 30 seconds to set-up and you’re ready to go!
- Think of TentBox more as a camper van, as opposed to a tent!
- You can camp anywhere with a TentBox on your roof. Unlike a normal tent, where you need stable, soft ground to pitch up, with a TentBox you are sleeping on your roof so you can pitch up anywhere where you can park you car!
- A TentBox gives maximum comfort, with a memory foam mattress fitted inside. This is vastly different to a traditional tent which can be uncomfortably without the right equipment.
- A TentBox is more than sturdy. It’s a double bed sleeping pod built from aluminium and steel. It’s going nowhere in the wind.
Cons of a Tent vs TentBox
Although a TentBox costs more, you get what you pay for!
Some of the cons of a ground tent:
- You’re on the ground which can mean dirt and moisture can easily enter your sleeping environment. Not to mention, animals and creepy crawlies can easily find their way into your Tent.
- They take time to put up. The traditional Tent takes a long time to put up when compared to the TentBox which takes seconds to pop up on your roof.
- You have less space in the car when you take a normal tent, whereas with a TentBox you can use the rooftop element to store bedding and camping equipment.
- It’s much harder to go off-road and wild camp with a Tent vs TentBox. This is because a Tent requires a flat area to set up and enough space to pitch a tent.
Why choose a roof top tent?
There are so many reasons that people choose a roof top tent over a normal tent. One of the main reasons is the comfort factor – rooftop tents are amazingly comfy and offer a more luxurious sleep when you’re camping. If you’ve ever had an uncomfortable night’s sleep in a traditional tent, where the rain or dirt came into your tent and left you feeling soggy, you’ll know how important it is to have a camping setup that is comfortable, waterproof and warm.
On top of this, the ease of setting up a TentBox and having it on your roof at all times makes travel easy and spontaneous which suits adventurers! Many TentBoxers find that there is a wow factor when setting up a TentBox – you’ll be the envy of other campers and the ease of the pop up mechanism never gets old.
A TentBox also lends itself to unique and amazing adventures that you wouldn’t be able to have with an ordinary tent. A rooftop tent can take you into the sticks and allows you to pop your tent up and camp close to nature in secluded spots.
One of our TentBoxers recently camped with wild wolves in Croatia with their TentBox, which would never be possible with a normal tent. Or rather, would never be safe! A rooftop tent keeps you higher up, which gives people a feeling of safety and can protect against wildlife entering your tent in the night.
Learn more about the TentBox community and hear their stories.
