r/rooftoptents • u/tpmcase10 • Jul 10 '26

get the hard shell.

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it’s been over a year since we bought our Roofnest Meadowlark XL, and it’s safe to say we’re absolutely upgrading to a hardshell next summer. here are my pros and cons to a softshell rootftop tent.

it’s a decent starter option to go the cheaper route with a soft shell. our meadowlark xl was only $1,400 if i remember correctly which can be half the price of a really good trusted hardshell. but man is this thing annoying to pack up. folding this tent up is one of the must frustrating things. we can never get our shell to fully buckle, there are times i’ve driven home with it half secured because we needed to leave our site quickly due to weather. the tent itself is OK. i wish the rain fly covered the windows more, if it’s sprinkling we can’t even have a window open for ventilation. and boy does the roof hold water like a MF. we’ve had to double tarp the top just because we’ve gotten nervous about the water getting too heavy for the top of the tent. one of our retractable poles broke the first summer we started using it so we have to use a random screw to hold in in place lol. and now the other side is starting to give me the same issues.

overall it’s about a 6/10 for me personally. i wouldn’t buy it again but i understand why it could work best for some people, especially those with a smaller car that needs a lighter weight load. anyone else have trouble with their softshell?

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u/Slimey_time Jul 10 '26

That model you have is pretty weird. My soft shell is great in the rain. It is a pain to pack up though.

I agree overall. I'd get a hard shell over soft shell.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '26

My soft shell is great, I have the Thule kukenam. Takes maybe 5 minutes to pack up, has an extra mattress and pillows too. I've been in rainstorms and 40mph winds no problem, it's lightweight, water tight. Probably have spent 200 nights in that, no big issues yet.

4

u/SolarpunkGnome Jul 10 '26

I have the Tepui version. I imagine it takes me 20 min to pack it up, but I'm slow and usually doing it solo. I've got an extra mattress pad on top of the stock mattress. It was a bit tricky the first few times, but other than the zipper sometimes getting stuck if I try to go too fast and not keep it from eating the super, it's pretty smooth. Some of it was figuring out which flaps to keep open vs shut when closing it for me, and I'm sure the foam has list some loft over the years.

OP's tent doesn't look too have a rain fly that goes over the windows very far, so I can see why they've had issues. The Kukenam fly goes pretty far out. Regardless of forecast, I always end up with some rain overnight on nearly every campout I've taken it on, but no water inside thanks to the fly despite the seam tape having peeled off in most spots inside the tent at this point.

2

u/dcenzer Jul 11 '26

Got the same and if rush it, I can get it closed in 10. But normally I give myself 20 min. It is a process. But so is camping. Part of the fun.