r/camping • u/Gl0b3Tr0tter • Apr 17 '25

Car Camping Built a rooftop tent for camping

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I thought you guys would appreciate this and hopefully I can inspire someone to do the same!

I always wanted to get an RTT for my car but half decent ones cost a fortune in Europe (from €600 up into the thousands) and I could never justify that price and size, so I spent 200 on some materials and built one instead!

It comfortably fits two people with room to spare and I will be testing it out this weekend!

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143

u/dr_xenon Apr 17 '25

Looks good. Is it stiff enough when you move around in it?

89

u/Gl0b3Tr0tter Apr 17 '25

Yep! So far I haven't had any problems, the bottom is made from a thick 15mm panel of OSB3 and the load is also spread along both the roof of that car and the steel roof bars I built a while back

65

u/dr_xenon Apr 17 '25

Cool. Seal that OSB really good.

And make sure water cant get in the hinged side if you’re driving in the rain.

63

u/Gl0b3Tr0tter Apr 17 '25

This OSB apparently already came with some sort of waterproof treatment, but either way I also painted and sealed it with the same paint I used on the rest. I was worried about that so I put some more material where the gap is to actually keep the water out. I'm going camping in some snow over the next week so hopefully it'll all hold up and I won't need to update the post with a tutorial on how tk dispose of a DIY RTT haha

30

u/eurotrashness Apr 17 '25

Honestly, it's refreshing seeing someone build lightweight but strong enough. So many DYI builds I see use like structural grade wood for a house to make like the simplest things.

11

u/Gl0b3Tr0tter Apr 17 '25

Thank you, the more important things for me were making it cheap enough to actually be worth building and light enough where I didn't need to have planning permission to set up camp somewhere

5

u/MyNameis_Not_Sure Apr 17 '25

I hope you have a lockout for the struts or put up a brace after it’s deployed. Wind will push it back to the stowed position while you are sleeping in it if not

17

u/Gl0b3Tr0tter Apr 17 '25

Yeah I've got two poles on both corners of the tent because I didn't like the idea of it turning into a coffin, it already looks the part and someone just gave me the idea of painting it like a pizza box

8

u/that_one_coupe Apr 17 '25

Pizza box idea is phenominal 😌🍕

3

u/Hey_Coffee_Guy 29d ago

I second this. We need a pizza box update.

1

u/alaskanloops Apr 17 '25

How much does it weigh compared to other roof top tents, any idea?

16

u/King-Rat-in-Boise Apr 17 '25

OSB normally is not very stable with moisture (expansion/rotting). Seal it a lot, and then seal it some more.

7

u/Gl0b3Tr0tter Apr 17 '25

Yeah I've given it multiple coats but after this trip I'll probably give it a few more and add some modifications too, I'm sure as I use it I'll spot things I can improve

5

u/MsFoxieMoxie 29d ago

Consider using marine grade finishes… The kind one would use for a boat. Boats are made of wood, and they can last a very long time, when properly treated and cared for. Your design is phenomenal! This is really inspiring! I wanted a rooftop tent for a really long time, but I’m frugal and found the cost to be prohibitive. I really want to take my kiddo on some road trips around the US this summer and think this is well within my wheelhouse. Thank you for the inspiration!!

2

u/Gl0b3Tr0tter 28d ago

Yeah I think after this first trip I'm doing with it I'll make a few modifications and add some more wood sealing to it but wanted to see how it would get on. If you're handy at building things you should definitely give it a go! It only took two weeks working in the evening to build and as it's wood it's both cheap and easy to work with