The tent is fantastic. Very user friendly, a breeze to set up and well thought out. Have weathered two storms and a bear and held up perfect (the bear didn’t actually try to come in, but liked not sleeping on the ground while he was around). Installation was easy on a Thule xsporter pro rack. Paired with a 270 tarp, it’s the best setup I’ve used. Very highly recommended!
Thank you for the picture and your review! This looks great!
I'll try to do a thorough review of this, we purchased this from rooftopoverland about 6 months ago, I've had it on my truck for thousands of miles now and have tested it fairly thoroughly. Pros: It's huge, we literally just repurposed king bed sheets and they work perfect. It's not light but for the size of sleeping area and profile on your vehicle, I don't think there is anything comparable at all. It has a good profile when driving, I actually get better gas mileage despite the weight with my rack at the lowest position and it on there. I was not going to keep it on my truck, but I pick up 2mpg with it on there, so I guess I'll be that dork who drives around with it all the time. Tons of features and pockets, you can't look any direction without finding somewhere to store something. Built in LED lights are great, but on full power they actually draw quite a bit if you are using batteries, but they are awesome and dimmable. I use my 40V ryobi lawnmower battery and an inverter with it for the lights and charging phones and whatever else. Materials feel very durable, I don't have enough extended use to say how much though, but very high quality materials were used in this. You can open vents everywhere, sidewalls, roof, literally everywhere with good mesh netting so even tiny bugs can't get in. I did not see if it's noseeum or black fly proof, will be tested this year though, but it looks like it should be good if you live in a more Northern area with those nightmare critters. Cons: The metal rod flap holders work but they can be a bit scary and hard to fit, and depending on your setup, some may not work. I can't use the ones on the cab side of my truck because of the roof rack on it, not really a fault of the tent, but they seem excessively engineered having to fit into the metal base. Mattress is very firm, this is probably my only true complaint. We typically sleep on a firm mattress and we camp a lot, it's great not to bottom out, but the mattress is seriously firm. I'm like 200lbs and athletic so pretty dense, I don't put a dent into this, I can't even use my normal bed pillow comfortably because it's basically flat compared to a normal bed. I do understand the tradeoff here and compromise for thickness, but it's just excessively firm, we're trying to figure out a 1 - 2in foam topper for it, unsure if that can work and be folded up though. I don't really care for the ladder. It does work, but every time it feels difficult to get into the correct position. The fold upward style isn't intuitive, I've had issues both deploying it securely and folding it back up, last time, I almost couldn't get it completely compacted. I wish there were other supports, the ladder scares me that it's the only support for the front of the tent, it has worked so far but I just don't have confidence in it. Stuffy when everything is zipped up. Because it's not a tent with a fly, when all the panels are zipped up, you feel like you're in a plastic bag after a bit. With any panel unzipped with just the mesh this is fine, but for cold weather this could be really uncomfortable trying to breath while you sleep. We felt like we were suffocating during a cold weather camp recently. Deploying is super easy, folding it back up is not always easy. The sides specifically even with the retaining strap tend to not want to fold in, and they have to be to close this up. I don't think there's a resolution for this, just pointing it out. Anyway, it is an absolutely awesome tent, it's not cheap obviously but I wouldn't hesitate to purchase it if you want a huge truck top tent with basically a king sized bed but don't want a soft one. Also, I did contact the manufacturer and you cannot put additional racks on this like some of the aluminum ones out there, just in case anyone was wondering. But it sets up very fast, I can literally get it stable in about 25 seconds after unstrapping it, not counting the rods that hold up the front and side flaps. It's almost hilarious how fast it is, we're lounging drinking beer and most people don't even have their tents out of the bag yet. There was one review about it leaking, I believe this may be a result of where it is positioned. On my truck at least it's somewhat low on the bed, it absolutely does not leak. I can see it being possible if it is in an area water is coming off a truck roof and wicking through the shell gap. I definitely do not have this problem though, it's totally impervious in my usage, but I think if you do have this issue, it may be due to positioning, the shell is a single piece of plastic, so it will likely be a unique scenario where this happens.
Thank you so much for your detailed review and thank you for the pictures of the tent on your truck! The tent looks really good on your truck! We are glad you are enjoying your gear! We thank you for your business.
Used with the 12 inch RCI rack for 5.5ft beds on my 2021 f150 5.6ft bed and I gotta say it fits almost like it was built for it. No tent overhang off the tailgate and can still reach the front straps on the tent. 10/10 would recommend the four person version for anyone with a 2021 you won’t be disappointed.
Hi Brennon, Thank you for your review and recommendation! We are glad you are enjoying your new gear!
So far we have 3 nights in the tent. Tool kit included with the tent is super nice! 2 people and 2 large dogs fit with plenty of extra room. We are able to store 2 pillows and a blanket and still close the tent with ease. LED lights are great but could be made better by allowing independent control of inside and outside lights. This feels very high quality so far.
We appreciate the review! Glad to hear you are loving the Tuff Stuff Alpha.
So far so good. Haven’t found any issues yet.
My wife and I have gotten to spend a few nights in the Alpha so far. Arriving late to a dark campsite the set up is a cinch, maybe 5 minutes tops. This version, unlike some of the earlier Alphas, has awnings that can be propped open over the side windows to block light rain or sun which is a really nice feature. The tent breaths really well with the windows and door flaps open and we’re big fans of the “moon roof” on the ceiling. Rain fly is really easy to set up or roll out of the way and stow on rain free nights. The lights inside the tent and under the platform on the outside are a brilliant touch. The “floor space” of the tent is huge. Seriously for only two adults there is so much room for gear and whatever else you might want and still plenty of space to sleep comfortably. We have two tiny complaints: setting up the ladder can be a bit finicky, but this may be a common problem for these types of extendable ladders (stowing it is simple though) and the mattress might be a bit firm for some people. All in all these two things are really minor. It’s a great tent and we can’t wait to use it on a two week trip from California to Utah, Wyoming, and Montana in a week. Thanks also to Rooftop Overland for the lightning quick responses to questions I had prior to purchasing.
Love it.....I got a 2019 Chevy LZT 6.2 with a Putco Rack and it fits just perfect. I cant wait to go camping soon.....
Rock solid and pretty warm, when in windy and rainy conditions. It definitely has a slight learning curve and the break down procedure can be a bit cumbersome, but as a whole it’s up in a minute and super rock solid.
Hi Spencer, thank you for your honest review! We will share your feedback with Tuff Stuff.
The fabric, shell structure, and packaging were way better than I expected. I have concerns with how tight the fabric is stretched in the corners when shell is opened. Don't expect it to last very long before it tears or breaks zipper. Ease of setup is nice, for me I bring a ladder at 5' 8" the ladder is a must. Your unable to drive in the rain with it on vehicle the front two corners are not sealed and it gets soak and wet inside.