The main reason is to save time pitching camp and packing up again. The main problems with commercial rooftop tents (for my situation) are:
1) There are four of us, of which 1 is a teenage girl. Therefore we need a fair amount of room, and it needs to be divided into two "rooms" for privacy reasons.
2) While there are large enough rooftop tents available, they are much more expensive than the "standard size" ones, and from what I have been able to gather they are also very heavy.
Putting on two rooftop tents was not an option, as my roofrack is not large enough, and having the kids sleep on the ground while the rest of us sleep on the roof also doesn't work for me.
I therefore spent a lot of time designing a framework that is strong enough yet reasonably light. I then built the frame, which is quite a labour-intensive exercise due to my chosen fabrication. We have just finished putting together a "prototype canvas", so that we can test it before shelling out money for somebody to make me the tent from proper canvas, because my fiance's sowing machine is not suitable to work with canvas, and also because it is better to make a booboo on cheap rags than on real canvas, which is quite expensive stuff.
This is where I am now:
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- DSC_0026.JPG (198.01 KiB) Viewed 3803 times
Due to the unique linkage system it also has significantly more headroom than any rooftop tent I have looked at, and mean that it is strong enough to function without the ladder or in soft sand where the ladder doesn't give any support.
The aluminium skirts mean that one doesn't have to clamber around to fit a bag over it. The side that is currently open will be made from the same heavy stuff that the bags are usually made from, and there will be a door in the gap on the other side. I also still have room on my roofrack for a few jerrycans and a gas bottle.
