Totalcar – Magazine – IKamper Skycamp Mini 3.0 roof tent front tent presentation

If we go away every day, neither the canopy nor the front tent really gives any extra. In such cases, it is better to get a roll-out omnistor (something like the sun awning on the terrace) and install it on the edge of the trunk, it can be opened and closed in seconds during any short coffee stop.

The next level is the canopy that can be set up like a tent, I made friends with this during my Skycamp Mini tour in the Adriatic last year. This can be put together with a little more work, but – at least with iKamper – it’s not bad if you figure out how to open it. This practically protects it even during a few days of camping, especially from the sun, but if it’s not very windy, you can also hide under it from the rain. Instead, you have to pack everything up and set it up again when you return. It is practical that the height of the first part can be varied depending on the weather and location, thus protecting the area from there as well.

And we have arrived at the full solution, the front tent. This really has the dimensions of a multi-person tent, in my case it is basically attached to the tarpaulin of the roof tent, thus practically forming a space with it. When I spread it out, I got such an amorphous shape that at first I didn’t know which was the beginning. They didn’t overcomplicate the manual, a note on the inside of the tent case with four figures.

Fortunately, the assembly is thought out quite logically, you just have to pay attention to a few things, such as the fact that the wall on the car side should be unzipped before setting it up because of the ladder. By the way, this wall is fixed by a rail at the bottom of the roof tent, similar to the front tent of caravans, with a practical small door on the tarpaulin, so that we can access the car behind it.

The other thing to note is that the tension rods are color coded, so the red end goes to the red retaining tab. As a beginner iKamper front tent adjuster, I only realized in the second round which element had to be fixedly staked, in the first round I managed to pierce the securing tab of the door. The tent is full of doors, there are doors on the front and on both sides. All doors have mosquito nets and as a bonus there are two windows.

After setting it up, it seemed that it was made for a slightly taller vehicle (in the past there were several sizes, but now, as far as I know, this is the only one), the Volvo lacks another 10-15 cm so that the connecting element can stand nicely. This does not cause any problems, but it does not hurt to pay attention in case of rain, the water can stop in the bends. The other parts, on the other hand, stand like the stakes, and this is also the reason for the pleasant feature of the tent, that it can be detached from the roof tent and it will not collapse, you can leave it there at the campsite, for example.

There is a lot of space inside, two people can fit comfortably and there is no need to pack the unpacked stuff. In winter, you can even heat it with a suitable device, then the rising heat also warms the roof tent as a bonus. Thinking of winter campers, you can get a transparent foil window for the front door, I’m a little sorry that this is no longer available on the third generation iKamper tents, but it could come in handy in cooler weather. In exchange, you can also get an inner sleeping tent for the front tent, if someone suddenly needs to be accommodated.

So this is mostly practical when we are staying in one place for several days, but very much so, since you can pack everything that you don’t want to keep in the car but don’t want to expose it to the weather. The tarpaulin is heat protected to some extent (it is quite thick), but there are no miracles, in the current 40 degrees, it will still be warm, but not so much. If you wander around in the winter, you can hide in it quite well without the risk of freezing, if you heat it skillfully and smartly, it is worth using a gas alarm in this case due to the danger of CO. For this problem, you can already get a mini, battery/solar-powered cooling/heating air conditioner, and it wouldn’t have been useless at 40 degrees.

Based on what I have experienced, iKamper’s accessories are also well-thought-out products, they have proven themselves so far, they seem durable and, considering the current non-bottom shelf tent prices, they are not expensive anymore. And I still recommend roof camping to everyone!

We owe the tent to the domestic distributor of iKamper tents.