GETTING HIGH

IN A WORLD OF CHEAP OPTIONS, HOW DO TWO OF THE BEST PREMIUM SOFT-TOP ROOFTOP TENTS SHAPE UP?

- MARK WATSON

YAKIMA SKYRISE

RATED

AVAILABLE FROM: www.yakima.com.au

RRP: $1999.

WHAT WE SAY: Yakima has deliberately prioritised features over packable size.

OKAY! So you have gone and remortgaged the house for a shiny MaxTrax-clad 70 Series Tojo, with the intent to bust out and prove Australia really is better than the rest of the world. It is quite possible you may have even saved a few oversaturated photos of linen-clad, fedora-hat-wearing influencers drinking Aperol Spritz by serene waterholes, to convince your better-half that Outback Aus truly is better than a floating hotel in Fiji. The problem is, you forgot to consider where you might sleep upon reaching those aforementioned waterholes, and there’s no money left for that off-road camper you’ve been dreaming of.

It is at this point when the mind starts to veer from romantic thoughts of campfires and off-road adventures to the back corner of the garden shed, where an old-school, ground-dwelling swag of those good ol’ B&S ball (Bachelor and Spinsters) years lies gathering dust.

“Maybe it’s not that bad?” you tell yourself.

Dreams are dashed as you kick a rusting paint tin of mismatching nuts and bolts aside and peer behind the mower. Your best Casanova skills are no match for the waft of mouldy canvas and stale VB that greets you. Fortunately, all is not lost. A world of rooftop tents are waiting to save you and your better half from the stench of a mouldy swag, and we have put a couple of the best through their paces

BACKGROUND & DEVELOPMENT