One big drawback to sporting a roof top tent is the challenge of bringing along all your other toys. Tepui Tents found a way. The new Project White Lightning adds fully integrated rack-ready side rails to the top of the tent, enabling you to bring your bike, kayak, or surfboard on your next adventure.
Tepui’s Project White Lightning uses a high performance lay-in fiberglass composite construction with a six bar custom aluminum hinge in order to create an aerodynamic and low profile hard shell tent. Sleek lines help cut down on noise and drag while you are driving down the road–it basically looks like a thin, square cargo box on the top of your car with bikes mounted on top of that.
The interchangeable strut design allows you to choose the right gas strut (the springs that push and hold open the tent) for the load you carry and still operate the tent. You can even sleep in it with your gear securely mounted on top so you don’t have to worry about your bikes being stolen in the night.
The tent canopy itself is made of ripstop nylon with rear and side entry doors. A 2.5-inch foam mattress is 79 inches long and 54 inches wide, comfortable enough for two people, especially since you can keep most of your gear down in the car. Not sure how breathable this tent is going to be, however, without the windows fully open.
The Tepui White Lightning does not come cheap–early bird pricing is currently set at $2,850 over on Kickstarter. And no word yet on how much this one weighs, but the soft-sided Tepui roof tents weigh upwards of 180 pounds. Not something you can take on and off your car regularly. But think of how cool you will look climbing out of your tent at the trailhead in the morning, fully ready to shred.