Haynes' World is a regular feature that takes a look at what the staff at Haynes are doing with their vehicles. This time, Euan's been fitting a roof top tent to his Skoda Yeti.
Car: Skoda Yeti 1.4 TSI S
Owner: Euan Doig
I love the great outdoors. Faffing about in the yard, walking along beaches, walking anywhere for that matter, jumping on a bike, climbing a mountain – as long as there isn’t a cloud of white stuff falling from the sky (and even then, frankly, if there’s a sledge nearby), I’m happy to be out in the great outdoors. And preferably camping in it.
We need speed, flexibility and manoeuvrability, so that we can get up there, crash out, and be ready to get walking the next morning. Step forward, the car roof top tent.
Which roof top tent?
After much research, I settled on British brand Tentbox, and its Lite 2.0 model, which you can buy here. It provides enough space for two people to sleep comfortably, and can be pitched in around five minutes (once you’ve got the hang of it).
Putting it away takes a similar time, so actually putting up and taking down the tent becomes inconsequential, rather than inconvenient.
Fitting a roof top tent
I checked my Skoda’s dynamic roof load limit, and found that the 49kg Lite 2.0 was well within it, so I invested in everything I needed, starting with roof bars. Fitting these was pretty easy, just requiring a bit of shuffling back and forth to get them in the right place, then a small torque wrench to get the feet done up to the correct tightness.
After that, it was a case of attaching the ladder to the Tentbox, then enlisting the help of a neighbour to lift the whole affair onto the roof bars, before attaching the fixing bars and bolts using the ratchet spanner provided in the Tentbox installation toolkit. I’d also paid for some locking bolts for extra security, so did those up with a slightly larger ring spanner.
And hey presto, that was it. I unzipped the Travel Cover, flipped down the tent using the ladder, and that was it – ready for adventures.
Putting the roof tent to the test
We’ve already had a dry run with the tent at a nearby campsite, and can confirm that it is every bit as convenient as hoped, albeit with a certain degree of extra risk involved in going to the dunny in the middle of the night.
The Tentbox unfolded in seconds, and was put away in a similarly brief period – no folding up, no searching for lost tent pegs, and no trying to cram a tent into a bag that always seems to be too small.
Bring on the outdoors!
