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Equipment Reviews: Eezi-Awn Series 3 - 1600 Roof Top Tent

Here Is What THEY Say About It

Equipment Image

Eezi-Awn Series 3 Roof Top Tent 1600

The first name in Rooftents, Retractable Awnings and Roofracks the last word Quality. The originators of vehicle based expedition travel. The first, and still the best.

Their are good reasons why Eezi-Awn is one of the largest manufacturers of RECVEE Equipment

Since its inception 20 years ago the name Eezi-Awn has long been synonymous with quality, from rooftop tents, retractable awnings and aluminum roofracks, Eezi-Awn's dedication to exceptional quality and service is evident in all the equipment we produce, sell locally and export to many countries around the world.

The new Series 3 Rooftent 1600 was launched in July 2006. It offers several updated features including all new larger side windows and modified interior pockets. At 63” wide, you will have all the room you need. As with the 1200 and 1400 models, the 1600 is package full of high quality innovations. It measures in at 48”x63”x11” when closed and a very spacious 96”x63”x51” when open. Because of it's width, this tent will most likely require mounting for opening to the side of the vehicle. The 1600 weighs in at 132 pounds, complete.

Manufactured of heavy duty ripstop canvas, double stitched thru'-out and stretched onto aluminium bows, which are fixed to top quality polyurethane coated plyboards supported with anodised aluminium hardware and stainless steel hinges.

* Board locking mechanism - anodised custom designed aluminium extrusions - the only rooftent in the industry that has this system.

* Mattress which is fabric covered 60mm laminated hi-density foam and chip. SABS approved.

* Flysheet of lightweight re-inforced PVC supported free of roof by aluminium bows.

* Mosquito mesh both entry doors and window openings.

* Zip-up privacy panels both sides to cover windows internally.

* Unique internal bungy mechanism to aid closing of roof tent.

* Two elongated internal storage pockets.

* Patented anodised aluminium retractable extention ladder.

Eezi-Awn is beyond comparison. Remember long after the sweetness of price is gone Quality prevails.

Eezi-Awn Very Simply, the Very Best !




Here Is What WE Say About It

Do a search for Roof Top Tents (RTTs) on Google and you will come up with dozens of manufacturers and probably thousands of dealers. Everyone of them will tell you tht they have a better product than the other one and it is up to you to decide what to buy based on what a company is telling you about their product, your budget and if you want to buy the least expensive of the whole lot or if you are willing to spend a few dollars more for a well established name with a reputation for quality. You also need to know if you are going to be using it once a year or once a month, for a day here and there, a weekend here or there or even longer term trips of a week, 2 weeks or more.


As the person writing this, I have done lots of research on the web before making any decisions. I have talked to owners of different RTTs and asking their opinions. I have seen the cheapest ones up close and I have seen the expensive ones up close. The tents with the lessor cost are typically knock offs of the more expensive and by some accounts the better quality South African models whose reputation has made them the choice of the serious professional Expeditioners. While most us here are never going to be the "professional expeditioner", many of us do recognize that price is not always the 1st factor to look at and quality, reputation and customer service of the manufacturer and dealer are every bit as important if not more as price. We see this all time when we do builds and modifications on our Jeeps where trying to save a dollar could cost you much more in the long run.

Ok back to the matter at hand. Being a larger kinda guy the "made" in China tents just didn't seem big enough for me and I tend to be chlostrophobic so while the price was right I needed to look elsewhere. That was six months ago or more. I have read about, looked at and studied just about everything out there. From the $900-$1000 ones to the $1,000 to $1500, the $1500 to $2000 ones and even those that run $2000, $3000 and more (yep there is at least one that I found at about 3K). Besides I had talked to a magazine editor who had reviewed one of the "made in China" tents and decided not to publish it due to concerns about quality (it was falling apart the 1st trip out). Now anyone can get a "car made on Monday" and perhaps that was the case. But it reinforced my determination to make my 1st try at a roof top tent my last try as I wanted something that was going to last a long time, a good return for your investment so to speak.

My requirements were simple: 1. Price of under $2000; 2. Size, it needed to fit on my M101 trailer and be large enough for 3 people; 3. The company needed to have a good repuation and good reviews from owners; 3. There needed to be a US dealer that stocked the larger tents for immediate delivery and finally it had to be a brand that has been used and tested in the toughest envirnments in the world with success. Was any of this too much to ask? I was about to find out.

I started by emailing and calling dealers, distributors, manufacturers (yep I made phone calls all over the world, thanks to my VOIP MagicJack). Now you would think that getting an email or a call from someone interested in your product would be a priority but believe it or not, I had some companies never get back to me even with a 2nd request. Now I am not out to trash anyone so I wont mention any names but I can tell you the company who gave me consistantly fast responses: Eezi-Awn and their US Distributor Paul May of Equipt Expedition Outfitters who is out of Salt Lake City. Now having a distributor in my back yard, that was not someone whose vision of a vehicle with a roof top tent had a Land Rover or Land Cruiser as part of it. It is amazing how some companies won't give you the time of day becuase you represent a Jeep group. That was not the case with Eezi-Awn or Equipt, they were very frienely, very helpful and very responsive to all of my questions.

Now Eezi-Awn is not an unfamiliar company to me as I have used their awnings on motorhomes in the past and never had a question about quality or reliability. I also noticed that there seemed to be a number of hard-core Expedition people from all over the world that use their RTTs. Groups that cross the Sahara, the Outback, the African plains all use their products. So if this product is good enough for them, it certainly should be good enough for this Urban Cowboy. And the fact that they have been doing this for over 20 years shows that they must have been doing things right. In fact, one of their units came thru Arizona back in 2005 on a trip from Argentina to the Arctic Circle which is in part why Paul of Equipt is now a Distributor for them here in the US.

So now all the questions have been asked and the RTT is in stock in Utah, just a day or two away by truck. It seems to be exactly what we are looking for so we get the order in and just like that it's "on the way" via Fed Ex Freight.

It's D-Day (delivery day) and the Fed Ex Freight truck arrives. What a huge box it seems in the back of the truck and the driver separates it from the pallet it is attached to. We slide the box out onto the lid of a custom M101 trailer. It fits almost like a glove and in looking at it, after the box is removed it should be a perfect fit. So now we get started on the unpacking and installation part.

The 1st thing to do is to remove the unit from the box, which was easy enough with two people. The hardware bag and directions/users guide were easy enough to find. Now being typical of the "male of the species" I don't have time for directions, I want to get into the meat and potatoes of it all. Besides I have seen Roof Top Tents before, seen the U-Tube videos of them being opened and closed and after looking our new unit over carefully, it seems simple and obvioius as to what needs to be done.

We position the unit on the lid of our M101 to decide on where to mount it. Due to weight distribution it is decided to mount it to the front of the trailer. The next part is to make a few marks on either side, snap a chalk line and drill 4 mounting holes in the lid of our trailer. The mounting system is quite simple and with where we drilled the holes will allow us to make side to side adjustments for the final placement of the tent. In about 1/2 hour we had the unit installed on our trailer and opened it up for the 1st time.

The 1st thing that someone noticed was the "cool" looking jungle pattern on the foam mattress cover. It was leopard, tiger, zebra, giraffe and more. I noticed that the "rain fly" was coated with a pliable rubber or polymer of some type and thought to myself that it should be pretty good in a heavy rain, unlike some other RTTs I have seen. Even the protective cover for transit was made of the same material. As I examined the zippers, screens and other materials along with the construction, I told myself that this was a well built and designed unit and should give many years of service.

One thing for sure, it is going to get tested next week on our Canyon De Chelly Expedition which will be about 800 miles round trip and 3 days off-road inside the canyon. The canyon has unpredictable weather as we found out last year, it can pour down rain for a few minutes and created some high water situations and just 15 minutes away another group has nothing but sunshine. The winds can be brisk or calm and can pick up without warning and looking at the weather forecast for this weekend, they are calling for snow.

De Chelly Day! Time to hit the road and 300 miles later we have nearly 60 people at the trailhead and are breaking into groups with our 6 Navjo Guides. The trailer towed well with the Eezi-Awn attached. The system that secures the heavy duty cover did its job well and now we are ready to drive into the canyon to our base camp at Antelope House Ruins.

After what seemed to be an eternity of driving thru soft, deep, dry sand we arrive mid canyon at our base camp. Everyone is choosing their spots and I pulled the trailer in front of the 2 millenium old ruins. What a contrast in culture, the ancient "settlement" that has stood for 2000 years and was shelter for a number of Anastazi families and the modern shelter of the exploring expeditioneer.

A view of the Antelope House Ruins that we set up our camp in front of.

Antelope House Ruins

Here is the 1st picture taken at base camp of the trailer with our Eezi-Awn Series 3 1600 mounted on the roof still attached to the tow rig. The canyon walls in the background are 600 feet tall!

The complete travel rig

We pulled the cover off of our Eezi-Awn and with a tug on the ladder the tent began to open and seconds later we were alomost there. A few minutes to place the spring steel supports for the rain fly and the window "awnings" and we were all set up. We sat back and watched those with tents still setting up. Across the road in our camping area another member of our group had set up his Eezi-Awn 1400 that he just purchased and right next to me was a member who had purchased a Mombassa tent, it looked to be about the size of a 1200 model. Everyone with RTTs were set up within minutes.

And now after just a few minutes, we are all set up and ready to give the Eezi-Awn RTT it's 1st try. The Anastazi ruins in the background are the Antelope House ruins dating back 2000 years.

All set up

More views of the Model 1600 set up in camp

All set up

All set up

Now having been used to sleeping in a 7 man tent with a 6 foot ceiling I wondered if I would be satisfied and comfortable with something about 4 feet tall with the footprint of a queen sized bed. In just a few hours I would find out.

In the mean time I thought I would go over and compare notes with our member with the Eezi-Awn 1400. I found out that they were going to sleep 4 people in their 1400, sideways instead of longways like I think it was intended. An efficient use of space I guess but not for someone like me who likes his space and likes to stretch out. I work my way over to the Mombassa tent which is made in China. This model Mombossa is the "new and improved" model that came out about a year or two ago. It appears to be pretty much a clone of the Eezi-Awn design but that is where the similarity I think stops. The material seems to be very similar to a regular tent fabric, a rip stop nylon. The Eezi-Awn has a much thicker "rip stop canvas" type of material. The rain fly on the Mombassa is again a rip stop nylon and not the heavy rubberized canvas type material used on the Eezi-Awn rain fly. I talked with the member who has owned the Mombassa for about a year now he looked at the transit cover for my Eezi-Awn and was impressed with the heavy duty construction, the reinforced sections that his unit doesn't have and the ratchet tightening system and said that "I need one of these". The couple of people that I know with the Chinese made Mombossa RTTs all have the same complaint: The cover is light duty, cheesy and falls apart after a few trips.

The Eezi-Awn 1400 on top of a commercially available off-road trailer

Eezi-Awn 1400

Well the time is here, the campfire program is ended and people are hitting the sack. My fiancee, Carol, was already sound asleep when I crawled up the ladder and zipped the the large doorway shut. The 1st thing I noticed is that the inside of the RTT was warm, cozy warm and it was cold outside, in the low 40's. The rest of the night I slept on top of my sleeping bag, something I would not have been able to do in a typical nylon tent. The Eezi-Awn with its heavy material and the windows and doors zipped up seemed to be and excellent insulator from the cold outside.

It's morning, we wake up and both note that the foam pad was firm but not nearly as comfortable as our water bed back home. On the bright side it didn't weigh a half a ton either. I get dressed and climb out of the tent, dang, it's cold outside! Maybe I should skip breakfast and climb back into the Eezi-Awn where it is cozy warm but my belly was saying "feed me" so I stayed out to prepare breakfast.

Before we left on our 1st days trail ride through the canyon, we rolled up the front and rear doors/weather panels and the window/weather panels on the side so that that the RTT would have plenty of fresh air hopefull be cool when the heat of the day rolls in. And it's off for the day, leaving the Eezi-Awn until later this afternoon.

It's nearly 4pm and we are back in camp. I climb into the Eezi-Awn to check out the temps and it was nice inside, not hot at all. I am guessing that the ample screens and large openings have something to do about that but also the heavy rain fly above the main structure probably has a big role in helping to keep the tent cool on a warm day. We sit down to compare notes about the Eezi-Awn and decide that so far this RTT is a good investment for the off-road Jeep community that spends time camping. And we decided that just after 24 hours.

Nightfall again and campfire program over it's time to turn in. It's cold outside and I am looking forward to climbing into the warm Eezi-Awn. After I get in and zip up again I notice that it is a toasty temperature inside, so toasty infact that I "cracked" a window for a little cold air. The second nights sleep in the Eezi-Awn was even better than the 1st as we both had gotten used to the firmness of the mattress pad over the mushyness of our waterbed at home.

Breakfast being over it is time to pack up everything so that when the days trail rides are over, we come back to the base camp, hook up the trailer and drive. Now I have to be honest, it takes about 2 minutes longer to pack the Eezi-Awn up than it takes to set it up. Big deal, it was all done in less than 5 min, maybe less than 4. We sit back and watch people struggle somewhat with their tents in the mild wind, lifting them up shaking them out, pulling poles folding stuff up, trying to put it back in the carry bag that was fine when new but now it seems too small. Life is good.

Take notice that even with the Model 1600 completely set up how you can easily access supplies inside the trailer by simply raising the lid!

Lid open

When the lid is put back down the Eezi-Awn RTT "snaps" right back into place as if nothing had ever happened. A great feature!

One last observation. Upon returning home, my good frind Jim stopped by and took a look at the Eezi-Awn that was attached to the M101 trailer. Jim has a Chinese Mombossa RTT that he has had for about a year. It has gone through some tough trails and has taken a beating, parts of it are falling apart and the transit cover looks like a patchwork quilt due to all the repairs. Just a short inspection and Jim said he was going to buy one from one of our clubs suppliers who is an Eezi-Awn dealer. Being a successful business man, Jim knows the meaning of quality and value.

Now those of you that know me know that I am a real world writer, not a technical writer so what I see is what you get in easy to understand English. So, here is the scoop on the Eezi-Awn line of Roof Top Tents. NICE ! There are many choices out there for Roof Top Tents. If you are looking for a quality product that will give you years of service then spend the few extra dollars on a quality RTT like the Eezi-Awn. It's like they say "long after the sweetness of price is gone, quality prevails". The obvious quality of this South African made RTT puts it at the top of the choices you should condsider when looking for a RTT. Over the next few months and even years we will continue to put the Eezi-Awn to the test. This review will be added to to keep you informed as to how the Eezi-Awn is holding up and performing on future Jeep Expeditions.

Eezi-Awn units are available at dealer’s world wide, check out all the details at Eezi-Awn’s website below:
Read more about Eezi-Awns Series 3 Roof Top Tents and other great products at their web site...

The Eezi-Awn US Distributor is Equipt. Eezi-Awn products are available directly thru Paul at Equipt or at a number of US dealers that he supplies. Please visit Equipt's website below.
Equipt - Eezi Awns US Distributor

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