Having been the lucky and proud owner of a campervan for nearly a decade it was with some sadness that I had to get rid of it. However the peripatetic lifestyle hasn’t stopped so it was back to car camping; driving around the country recceing scrambles and other rocky adventures for a new guidebook (see Wild Rock).

Much as I love car camping and the flexibility it offers, the age-old challenge kept presenting itself. Arrival at your destination in the dark, nowhere to pitch a tent wild, campsite gates closed. That sort of thing. Too many nights in a bivvy bag waiting to be woken by the snuffle of a dog on its early morning walk.

The solution? A Roof Tent of course! I'd been eyeing one for a while and then discovered to my delight that Alpkit have been making and selling them for nearly a year! How did I not know that? I called at my local shop in Hathersage to see whether I might get a look at one and there they were, erected and available to touch, feel, and get inside. Exciting. 

They currently make two different models, a fold out soft shell version called the Lookout, and a pop-up hard shell version called the Nest. I went for the former as it is a little lighter, a little more spacious (I'm 6 foot five) and less expensive.

Lookout
£1,299
Total (incl. ladder and mattress): 52.4kg
Pitched size: 142cm x 240cm x 110cm (L x W x H)
Packed size: 142cm x 120cm x 27cm (L x W x H)
Max. ladder length: 195cm

Nest
£2,099
Total (incl. ladder and mattress): 67.3kg
Pitched size: 218cm x 127cm x 98cm (L x W x H)
Packed size: 218cm x 127cm x 27.5cm (L x W x H)
Max. ladder length: 195cm

Alpkit have written a very good article which answers lots of questions you might have about roof tents. It covers the dynamics of load bearing roof bars and rails so I won't go into them . Read the article here.

What I will do is talk through some of the details of the Lookout and how it's been serving me over the past fortnight since I attached it to my car.

First a quick word about the actual act of fitting it. Depending on the clearance between your bars and the roof of your car this can be fiddly. I have some low profile Thule Aero Bars which means getting my big hand inside the space with the included 13mm ratchet (I did appreciate that touch) spanner is tricky. It probably took me half an hour to fully tighten the 8 bolts securing the thing to the bars. I'm sure this will get quicker as I become more practiced. On the plus side I am confident this will make pinching it difficult. On that note I did purchase some separate security nuts which I have put on in addition to the nylock nuts supplied. These cost me £18 for 4 so weren't cheap, but mean that any would-be-thief would have an additional thing to tackle before removing it. 

I plan to leave it on for the summer, then remove it and put it in my shed for the rest of the year, getting it out when needed. Its packed size was one of the biggest draws when choosing between models. I can envisage manhandling and storing this relatively easily, whereas the Nest is a bigger beast. 

I've fixed mine so that it hinges down the passenger side of the car. Now when siting up I give a little time and thought to the orientation and positioning so that the erected tent is in the right place and as level as possible. I've ordered some levelling ramps. If you're used to siting a camper (or caravan) then this won't be new to you. 

Erection is pretty straightforward. There's a thick Velcro edge to the rectangular waterproof cover. It’s simply a matter of loosening the Velcro fully along one edge, and half way down the two sides, and then pulling the whole thing up and over to remove it fully. There are then 2 small Velcro straps and 2 heavier duty webbing straps and buckles holding the whole thing snugly together. Unfasten all four. I have opted to leave the ladder attached as this means I can pull out a couple of sections and use it as a lever to unfold the tent. Once the straps are unfastened and the ladder is extended a little, it's literally a pop up tent, erected in a couple of seconds. Very satisfying!

Entry is via the end which overhangs as this is where the ladder is attached. Each of the four sides has a storm porch and fully openable panel - large rectangular entrances on the ends, and oval windows on the sides. The porches can be held down with toggles or tensioned out by means of 8 (2 for each porch) identical metal rods which slide into small brackets on the underside of the platform and fix to eyelets on the porches. It's pretty much essential to install 2 of these to create a porch above the main entrance above the ladder. The others can be left down if you don't need the air flow and light. Using all the poles and opening up all 4 sides makes for a really lovely airy space on a hot evening. 

Each of the doors and windows has a midge net as well as a rain proof outer. And in the roof is a plastic window which gives loads of natural light. Closing all the flaps at night means that there is near total darkness. I've had to set an alarm as I have been sleeping in!

The entire floor of the tent is covered by a fitted mattress with a lovely soft covering. This is larger than a King Sized mattress (200cm by 150cm). It lives inside the tent at all times, folding up with it when not in use. It's comfortable, yet firm. There are 4 small hanging pockets for keys, phones etc. I'd have liked to see a few more elasticated webbing stowing areas, but that’s no biggie. 

I've so far used it in medium winds and light rain. In the wind it coped fine, moving around a little as you'd expect, but not too badly. The owners manual says not to use it in winds above 30mph. It kept out the rain as you'd expect. After a fairly heavy dew one night it required a decent airing to dry it out before putting it away. 

Putting it away is a little trickier than putting it up as you might expect. I've taken to leaving the main door unzipped to allow any air inside to escape as it folds flat. The sides have a tendency to  end up billowing out, and not folding away neatly inside. This requires the excess material to be hand-fed into the main folded body of the thing. As I mentioned, I am tall so I can reach to do this standing either on the floor, or on the sill of the open doors. If you are not tall you will almost certainly need something solid to stand on (also useful to attach the rods to the porch eyelets). Once everything is dry and tucked away inside, it's a case of re-fitting the cover and lining up the Velcro all the way around. With the ladder left on (which makes putting it up easier and saves stowing it separately in the car) the cover can be quite tight to pull down fully, but there is enough Velcro to make it safe and weather tight. 

Here's a 5 min video showing just how long it takes to stow:

 

I've experimented a little with what you can leave inside when folding it up. If left on the crease of the fold on the mattress the bag with the 8 rods can be left in no problem. I also left in a sleeping bag and a pillow. This worked, but just means that it’s a little harder still to pull down the cover all the way. I think a thin duvet will fit fine, but would not leave big pillows. And definitely don't leave your car keys in one of the pockets as I did one morning!

It's been amazing how people have reacted to it. When I first put it up outside my house every single person who passed stopped to chat, to ask what it was in some cases, and in others to have a nosey inside. A few naysayers have questioned why it is any better or different than just having a tent and pitching it? To them I’d say that now I have first hand experience of arriving at midnight in a deserted car park in Devon I felt a lot more comfortable popping this up than erecting a tent by the side of the car. It is currently in use in London. My brother's car broke down so he is borrowing mine and making use of the tent. Last night he parked in a pub, ordered a meal, did some work, and had permission from them to sleep in the quiet and secluded car park in Surbiton. Result!

It’s plenty big enough for two adults plus a couple of bags, and I think would sleep 3 at a push. Sure it's knocked my fuel economy down a little, but not by much. Am I sold on the idea. You betcha! 

 

You can buy it from the Alpkit website