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Badass Tents: Behind The Scenes of your Favorite Rooftop Tents
Badass Tents is an industry leader in rooftop tents, and one of the most popular rooftop tent brands sold on Car Camp Pro. As a retailer, a fan, and a North County San Diego local, I went to their headquarters in Poway, CA, where I met with Justus Standley, Director of Sales & Product Development, to get a behind the scenes look at how the magic happens.
Contents:
- Background
- The Convoy
- Universal Fit Rooftop Tents
- Personal Takeaways
1. Background
Justus is a sportbike enthusiast with professional experience in distribution, which introduced him to Roger Davis. Roger owns Hotbodies Racing, which develops and manufactures sportbike products and accessories, as well as Lormac Plastics, which designs and fabricates plastics from the automotive industry to the medical field. Roger, Justus, and their team have an insatiable itch for outdoor adventure, and were swept by Outdoor America’s favorite new trend: Overlanding. However, they were unable to find rooftop tents that had everything they wanted. Roger wanted to develop a rooftop tent that is:
- Lightweight
- Aerodynamic – no extra wind or loss in gas mileage
- Easy to open/close
- Extremely durable
- Matches the OEM design of his Land Rover Defender
And thus, Badass Tents was born in 2020 with its first rooftop tent model, the Convoy.
2. The Convoy
The Convoy is the first of its kind. It is available for:
You’ll notice immediately that The Convoy closes flush against the top/sides of the vehicle for an OEM look. This is contrary to most rooftop tents, where there is a gap between the roof rack, where the tent is mounted, and the vehicle. The Convoy uses a proprietary coextruded plastic alloy mold that provides high-durability, UV protection, and will not easily scratch or scratch your vehicle. This proprietary shell allows you to easily maneuver the cap and make adjustments underneath if needed. This mold and overall tent design was created by Roger & Justus who by the way, taught himself computer aided design (extremely impressive stuff).
The Convoy is just 5 inches tall and 122lbs – both smallest among hard shell rooftop tents and the OEM flush design eliminates a loss in gas mileage and extra a wind resistance.
Gas shock strut arms allow for easy assisted open/closing, while 3 doors, 4 large zipper windows, and a moon roof through waterproof 420D Nylon Oxford Fabric ensure durability and 360 visibility from inside. The bottom is made of thin aluminum layered with ABS plastic on each side and includes a 1” open cell foam sleeping pad & waterproof cover.
The Convoy offers a sleeping space of 40” wide by 72” long. There is an additional 24” at the front for additional length, storage, or a spot for Fido. The Convoy is 40” tall when open.
You’ll also see there are 2 crossbars on the roof of the tent. These are not raised but do allow for storage up to 75lb on top of the tent when it is closed or in transit. They have been used for kayaks, bike racks, paddleboards, snowboards, gearboxes, and more.
Color options are Midnight Sky Gloss Black, Polar Gloss White, and Onyx Utility Black (all shown below in the same order).
3. Universal Fit Rooftop Tents
The next 3 rooftop tents produced by Badass Tents are Universal Fit so they are not limited to your vehicle model:
RECON:
Think of this as your Convoy tent that is available for mount on any vehicle with a platform roof rack or cross bars.
Similarities:
- Pop-up style
- 5 inches tall
- Same gas shock strut arms
- Same waterproof 420D Nylon Oxford Fabric with 3 doors and 4 large zipper windows
- Same mattress pad and floor material
- Both 2 person / 500lb weight capacity
Differences:
- Where the Convoy is vehicle specific, Recon is meant for universal use.
- Tactical storage case styling with semi-gloss textured plastic outer shell (black)
- Recon weighs 135lb, where the Convoy weighs 125lb
- No moonroof on the Recon
- Recon offers a larger sleep space of 45” wide by 76” long, compared to 40”x72” for the Convoy
RUGGED:
The Rugged is similar to the look and utility of the Recon, but offers a clam-shell opening style. Clamshell style is where one end lifts, while the other hinges, resulting in a triangular shape when deployed. One of our customers local to San Diego County, Susan, wanted to have Badass Tents install her new rooftop tent to her Toyota 4Runner at their facility in Poway, CA. Susan liked the Rugged model best, as she would be traveling alone at times and liked the clamshell’s ease of open/close for a single operator. Options abound!
The Rugged still has a two person / 500lb sleeping capacity, 45” x 76” sleep space, and uses the same gas shock struts and 420D Nylon Oxford Fabric with 3 doors. The Rugged has 3 large zipper windows, and rates as the smallest and lightest hard shell rooftop tent on the market at 4.85” tall and 113lb.
PACKOUT:
Think of the Packout as the soft shell version of the Rugged. This shell is made using a RHINOTEK textured rubberized waterproof coating that felt remarkably durable to withstand the elements or the outdoors with branches dragging by. This soft shell allows the Packout to measure in at just 3” height and 100lb - Badass Tents lightest rooftop tent.
The Packout is available in 2 sizes: Standard and High Cap. Standard size has a sleeping area of 45” x 78” and fits 2 people under 5’10” comfortably without bending your knees. This size fits the roof line well for all Wrangler 2-doors, Grand Cherokee, Subaru’s, Rav4, Discovery Sport or any midsized SUV or sedan.
The larger High Cap size has sleeping area of 48×88″ and is great for anybody over 5’10” or for 2-3 people. High Cap is a better fit for trucks with a cab height bed rack, 4-door Wranglers, 4Runners, Land Cruisers, LX460, Land Rovers, Vans, or any other vehicle with a larger roof.
The Packout also offers the option to purchase pre-assembled or not assembled. Justus warned me that the non-assembled version can take 3-5 hours to complete for even the most adept builders and/or Lego legends. Purchasing non-assembled does come at a discounted rate and discounted shipping while offering DIY-ers to put their own stamp on their Badass Tent.
Mounting:
As Convoy models are vehicle specific, they come with low mount crossbars that fit to your vehicle’s stock roof rack and give the Convoy that flush, low profile fit.
The Recon, Rugged, and Packout models can be mounted to almost any platform or crossbar style roof rack by using the universal mounting hardware kit. Each tent comes with 2 vertical aluminum runners along the bottom of the tent. These are adjustable side to side to fit your rack. Brackets from the hardware kit fasten the runner to your rack with the quick twist of a 4mm allen socket wrench.
4. Personal Takeaways:
- Domestic - All Badass Tents have their parts manufactured in the US and built by hand at the facility in Poway, CA. I was able to see the space where the magic happens – it was a big workspace with rollup garage doors, so a vehicle can have easy access and pull inside if needed.
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Customer Service – As mentioned above, we had one local customer, Susan, who had requested installation of her new rooftop tent. Badass Tents is willing to install for a fee. Just drop off your vehicle and pick up in a couple hours (depending on the workload and queue ahead of you). Susan described the experience to me on the phone as “extremely professional” and she was thankful that it was an easy experience that got her exactly what she wanted. HERE is a written excerpt from her:
- “I'm glad I decided to go with that purchase because the customer care not to mention the quality of the product is exceptional. It is easy to set up and close. The stitching on the tent is double stitched for strength and the zippers appear to be very well made as well. I am fortunate to have both Car Camp Pro and BadAss Tents as local businesses.”
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Innovation - Badass Tents made one of the first New (2021-2024) Ford Bronco Roof Racks; now available in both 2 Door and 4-Door options. Justus showed me his design on CAD and what considerations went into making an effective Ford Bronco roof rack.
- Justus showed me some other product designs that they are working on for new model vehicles. I love their drive for innovation and creativity when it comes to developing brand new products for brand new vehicles.
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Convoy Tent - we were able to look at a Polar Gloss White Convoy rooftop tent on a Toyota 4Runner. We didn’t open this one up due to the rain at the time:
- The design of the closed tent was super sleek and looked great both from a distance and up close.
- There were no noticeable scratches, despite being used daily for commuting and frequently for overlanding over the course of years. This is a testament to the material used with a rubber coated cap instead of plastic, which could easily show wear & tear.
- The material of the cap was strong, but also had some flex to be able to lift and look under. This would be handy to make changes to your mounting without deploying or removing the tent.
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Packout Tent – Roger had taken his personal Packout tent off his Land Rover Defender and into the workspace for me to play with:
- Very easy open/close – Just undo the clips and give a slight nudge up. To close, just pull the black straps, tuck in the nylon walls, and clip back up.
- RHINOTEK exterior – This may be a “soft top” but it sure is durable. I pulled/scratched with my hands and this material ain’t going anywhere no matter the weather or brush scrape.
- Floor – I was especially impressed with the floor of the tent. It is a thin sheet of aluminum lined with ABS plastic on both sides. I felt it was the perfect material to support multiple people sleeping up there, but also be lightweight in transit
- Justus also walked me through some of the projects that Lormac Plastics had been working on, which included automotive and sportbike racing parts for major worldwide brands, and medical device parts that are shipped all over the world. I saw products that were finished, being built, and just being conceptualized.
At Car Camp Pro, we have personally used and sold Badass Tents products, but it was a whole other experience to get to peek behind the scenes. I fully appreciate their genesis story, as I had started our business from my obsession for camping, overlanding, and off-roading.
Roger, Justus, and the rest of the team are using their experience, resources, and professional skills to create truly innovative products to better the space and help thrill seekers like ourselves.
Please feel free to comment or reach out to us at 844-888-5669 or info@carcamppro.com with any questions or feedback. You can check out our entire Badass Tents Product Line HERE.
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