Adventure Kings Rooftop Tent

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Adventure Kings Roof Top Tent Review – Worth It?

Thinking about purchasing the Kings Roof Top Tent but not sure whether it’s worth it? Perhaps you’ve heard some negative reviews and you’re wondering whether the cheap price makes up for the lower build quality?

In this Adventure Kings roof top tent review, I will explore the pros and cons of the tent, the features and the specifications. I will let you know what people like about it and more importantly what they don’t like about it!

I will do my best to be honest and objective. Let’s get straight into it!

Pros & Cons

Adventure Kings Roof Top Tent

Pros

  • Very affordable - much cheaper than competitors!
  • Sleeping area much larger than other RTTs
  • 320 GSM ripstop canvas for waterproofing
  • 2,000mm waterproof rating
  • Very light - only 57kg
  • Bedding can be left in tent whilst it is packed away
  • 1 year warranty

Cons

  • 35cm high when packed - expect some drag at highway speeds
  • Mattress it comes with is not the best quality
  • Ladder feels a bit flimsy
  • Some people have had issues with the zippers and hinges

Now that you have a feel for the main pros and cons of the tent, let’s dive a little deeper.

Size

When set up, the Kings roof top tent is very large and spacious, being 310 cm long and 145 cm wide, giving you a roomy 4.5 sqm of space. This is much bigger than its competitors, and means that you can store much more gear in the tent, if you wish.

The internal ceiling is also slightly higher than most other rooftop tents, which is nice. Don’t expect to stand up inside it though, as it’s only 135 cm high.

Packed up, the tent sits at 35cm high, which is fairly high. This means that it is likely to add a decent amount of drag when driving, especially at high speeds. Expect higher fuel consumption when driving with the tent fitted to your vehicle.

Kings rooftop tent packed

Weight

The weight is a definite positive of the Kings roof top tent. At just 57kg, it is far lighter than its competitors and can be carried by 2 strong adults. For comparison, the Darche Panorama 2 is about 62kg and the ARB Simpson III is 81kg!

In terms of how much weight the tent can support, according to Adventure Kings, the limit is based on the load bearing capacity of your roof racks and vehicle.

You can find out more about calculating the load ratings for your vehicle and roof racks in this guide from ProRack.

Weatherproofing

The Adventure Kings roof top tent is made from thick 320 GSM canvas, which is pretty standard for roof top tents. Canvas is tough, durable and breathable, making it ideal for roof top tents.

The heavy nature of canvas also means that it won’t flap around noisily at night if there is a breeze.

Kings roof top tent interior

The thing to be aware of is that canvas tents require ‘seasoning’ before they can be used. Seasoning involves soaking the tent with water from a garden hose repeatedly to help the canvas swell up and close off the holes that form when the canvas is sewn together during the manufacturing process.

Adventure Kings claim that seasoning of their tent is not necessary, although I personally would recommend that you do this for any canvas tent that you purchase. It doesn’t take long anyway. Read this article to find out how to season your canvas tent.

A number of people have complained that their Kings roof top tent is not waterproof and that it leaked on them when they used it. I suspect that they followed the Adventure Kings advice of not seasoning their tent before using it.

You can find these kinds of reviews for many canvas tents, not just the Kings tent, and it usually comes down to a lack of seasoning.

Once correctly seasoned, the tent has a waterproof rating of 2,000mm, which is excellent and more than enough for most conditions you are likely to face.

Roof Rack Compatibility

Before purchasing the tent, I highly recommend that you double check that the tent is compatible and can be installed onto your existing roof racks.

You can check the Adventure Kings roof top tent manual to find out more about the installation process.

Kings roof top tent roof rack mounting

Bedding

The tent comes with a 75mm mattress, which is thicker than its competitors, although many people have still complained that it is a bit uncomfortable for longer trips.

Some people have also mentioned that the stitching on the mattress tends to come away prematurely.

If you are just using it for a weekend, it will be fine, but if you will be going away for more than a few days, invest in a new mattress or at least a mattress topper to get some added comfort.

Speaking of bedding, a nice feature of this tent is that it can be packed up with the bedding still inside! There’s no need to remove all of the bedding each time, just leave it in there and fold up the tent.

This makes setup easier than some of the other roof top tents out there.

Setup

Speaking of setup, what’s it like to set up the Adventure Kings roof top tent? After chatting to a number of owners, I think the numbers below are pretty accurate.

If you are doing it by yourself, you can expect to spend about 10 minutes setting it up and about 15 minutes packing it back down again.

Having someone help you will definitely speed up the process.

The first time you set it up or pack it down, expect it to take at least 20 minutes as you figure out how everything works.

Shorter people may have trouble reaching up to unfold or zip up the tent. In this case, consider investing in a door step (like this one) to help you access the roof of your vehicle.

These door steps are useful in general for loading gear on and off your vehicle. A folding step or similar would also do the trick.

Build Quality & Warranty

The build quality is usually the main reason that people have hesitations about buying the Kings roof top tent. There are quite a few reviews out there from people saying that they have had issues with the build quality of this tent.

Some common areas of complaint are:

  • The zippers tend to get stuck on the tent canvas when trying to pack up the tent and are hard to unstick
  • The aluminium ladder feels a bit flimsy, especially for heavier people
  • The mattress stitching can come away prematurely
  • The hinges used to unfold the tent are poor quality
  • The waterproofing is poor (although I suspect that this is usually a seasoning issue)

As you would expect from a roof top tent that is as cheap as this one, there are going to be some quality issues. It really comes down to whether you are willing to sacrifice some quality in exchange for getting a tent at half the price of the competition.

Kings aluminium ladder

If you just use the tent for occasional weekend camping, I think that the low price makes up for the inferior quality. For longer trips of many weeks of months, however, it is worthwhile upgrading to something more reliable, such as the Darche Panorama 2.

In saying all of this, there are also many people out there who have used their Kings tent extensively without any issues.

The tent comes with a rock solid 1 year warranty. Of the people who have had issues with this tent, almost everyone has commented on how impressed they have been with the warranty process. Many people have received a brand new unit straight away, no questions asked.

Click here to read more about the Adventure Kings warranty.

1 year isn’t as good as the 2 and 3 year warranties offered by Darche and ARB respectively, but it is not bad for the price.

Price

Speaking of which, price is the main drawcard for this roof top tent. It is far, far cheaper than the competition, often coming in at 50% of their price or less.

Use the button below to purchase the Adventure Kings roof top tent at the best price out there!

Conclusion

The Adventure Kings roof top tent is a solid choice. It is much more roomy and spacious yet also lighter and far, far cheaper than the competition.

It does have a number of quality issues, although the 1 year warranty is rock solid and you will be able to get a replacement no problem if you do encounter any issues.

Overall, I think that the low price and solid warranty more than justifies the potential quality issues that you may face. This is especially true for those who are just occasional campers.

If you will be going out on extended trips or expeditions, it may very well be worth upgrading to something a little more reliable.

Anyway, I hope that you have enjoyed this Kings rooftop tent review! If you are still not sure whether you should buy it or not, check out my comparison of the best roof top tents in Australia to see how it stacks up against the other options out there!

Review Summary

Reviewer: Louis
Review Date: 2021-04-02
Reviewed Item: Adventure Kings Rooftop Tent
Author Rating: 4.5/5
Product Name: Adventure Kings Rooftop Tent
Price: AUD $799
Product Availability: Available in Stock


This article may contain affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you choose to purchase a product or service after clicking on my link. This helps pay for the cost of running the website. You will not be disadvantaged in any way by using my links.

Note that while every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this page, there may sometimes be errors. Check all specifications with the manufacturer before purchasing any product.

Our Testing Process

In creating this article, we have completed a rigorous review process on not just the Kings Roof Top Tent, but we have also compared it to out there. We have also read hundreds of reviews from fellow campers to help form our opinions.

The primary goal of this review is to figure whether this product is right for you, the user. We systematically compare the product to all of the available options on the market, to determine which ones are worthy of our list.

To see which products we compared the Kings Roof Top Tent to, check out the list below. Please note that we have never accepted free products from manufacturers.

Full List Of Considered Products


This article may contain affiliate links. I will earn a commission if you choose to purchase a product or service after clicking on my link. This helps pay for the cost of running the website. You will not be disadvantaged in any way by using my links.

Note that while every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this page, there may sometimes be errors. Check all specifications with the manufacturer before purchasing any product.

Louis

While Louis does most of his trips near his home in south-east Queensland, he has been camping as far afield as South America and Africa. He loves researching, testing and experimenting with camping gear whenever possible.

  • Kings roof top tent is shiat.
    Comes damaged and missing parts. Seller gave a return item slip and lied about the size and aus post won’t accept it to return. Very frustrating and quality of tent is crap

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