After blasting up the 14 freeway into the Mojave Desert, I turned the Ranger off-road and set out to find a relatively flat spot to car camp—with a good view, of course. I figured at least being close to level might help with the ease of setup, though devotees of rooftop tenting will often air down tires, climb up on rocks, or line up MaxTrax to level out the sleeping platform. Luckily, I found a good location that required none of the above to get close enough to level by eyeball (wondering, all the while, how good my eyeball would actually do versus the four-foot level I brought along for science).
I know from years of experience that setting up any tent for the first time takes inexorably longer than anytime thereafter. Did I watch the walkaround instructional video that Roofnest sent me beforehand? Of course not! But still, the whole process took only about ten minutes, which I’d qualify as not at all terrible for an inaugural outing.
Michael Teo Van Runkle/SlashGear
First, I unclamped the hardshell upper via a couple of velcro straps that then double as pull handles. The lid almost immediately lifted to maybe 30 degrees above level, exposing the feet of a latter within. Pulling out the ladder began to unfold the rest of the platform and walls, until I noticed an elastic string that I needed to loop under everything beforehand (more on that elastic string later). With another hard pull, the ladder looped up and over, bringing the fold-out sleeping platform with it and simultaneously erecting an entryway cover.
I set about getting the ladder situated in an uneven clump of baby chaparral—an expert might take the ladder’s location into consideration before parking, but I had been focused mostly on getting the truck level with good lighting for photography as the sun began to set. Then I noticed that while I had fiddled with the ladder at about a 70-degree angle, the sleeping platform had hinged back up a bit.
Turns out, before you put weight on the ladder, definitely make sure each clasping run clicks into place. Luckily, I only dropped a few inches with my first step up. Even more luckily, those few inches popped the sleeping platform into place, too, and I climbed up in to take a look inside the Condor Overland 2 for the first time.
