TESTIMONIALS

Our Products Have Been Tried and Tested

Clay Bryce
Product: Lunar Roof Top Tent

Hi Andre – well, just back from a 7000 km trip passing through 3 deserts, the Nullarbor and Googs, with its butchered track, and the Lunar Roof Top Tent performed perfectly. Thought I would jot down a few points as there seems to be a dearth of info for others on this wonderful product. Please do what you will with this info.

So, for anybody who might be interested the tent is mounted on 3 heavy duty Rhino Rack bars on top of a Toyota Landcruiser 105 wagon. There is a large solar panel mounted to the top of the tent to charge the second battery.

Performance
Driving at high speed down highways: With the aerodynamic shape of the tent (including the mounted solar panel) there was no indication that we even had a tent on top, even with very strong cross winds.
Crossing over 300 sand dunes (Googs track): the track is sandy, rough and seriously torn-up from drivers attempting the run with poor driving techniques, too high tyre pressure and camper trailers. The tent did not influence the stability of the vehicle or rattle loose. I was a little worried by the supplied plastic channel-mounts – would they crack?, but no, this concern proved not to be an issue. (Good quality Howling Moon product!)
Creek beds and rocky step-ups: we travelled down a lot of creek beds, both stony and sandy, which included driving up the steep rocky and soft banks, and the low profile of the tent, once again, proved to not hinder vehicle stability at all.
Corrugations: the true test! Many hundreds of kilometres over very corrugated tracks and roads did not have any effect on the tent. It stayed clamped to the bars without moving., I will admit to using lock nuts and a little Loctite though!
Dust: not one bit of dust entered the tent during travel, and there was plenty of it!
Rain/Wind: Yes, we had rain and some serious wind, in fact a couple of very serious storms with 50km/hr winds, this between Forrest and Eucla and along the Sandy Blight Road. The tent did not leak at all. The winds did make the end pull-down straps flap against the tent, which was annoying, but by tying them together the problem was fixed. In fact, we have now left them cable-tied together as it does not influence us setting up or closing the tent. In strong winds I recommend not setting up the side awnings – they are stable enough, but tend to flap a bit, and at night this can be annoying – I like my nights quiet!.

The Tent:
love it, and more to the point so does my wife! The in-roof storage nets are fantastic!
Ladder: no problems, but for this vehicle, with a 50cm lift, it could be a bit longer to reduce the steepness. Other than that, no complaints!
The mattress: wonderful, comfortable and easy to remove for cleaning! It does have a zip-on cover.
The 1.5 metre height: well, what can one say! After being in a clam-shell version and an ordinary canvass RTT, the Lunar has all the space (think kneeling, sitting up, getting dressed etc.), comfort and ease of set-up that could be asked for.
Set up and take-down: Everybody will develop their own system depending on your own height, vehicle height and strength etc. My wife and I are of average height and the vehicle is big. She stands on the passenger floor, while I stand on the rear bumper and we both push the tent up, after releasing clips(and solar-lead Anderson plug!) – and up she goes! We then unzip, release the bungy cord and lock in the inside corner elbows (time taken 1.5 minutes)! All our bedding, pillows etc. stay in the tent.
To take downLast one out of the tent will make the bed, pull back the side mattress cushions, so as not to hinder the folding action of the corner elbows, place the pillows lengthwise down the centre of the bed, release the corner elbows and unzip the top of each end and side panel, this allows air to escape when the tent comes down. On exiting the tent don’t forget to reattach the bungy cord! My wife will then pull down on the front pull-down straps while I pull down on the rear, at the same time pulling back to align the roof with the base – this is very easy to do. I, being the tallest, will then walk around pushing in any excess before clipping shut the tent. Total time for this take-down exercise is around 5 minutes (it is not a race, but she is faster than me at making the bed!)

I have spent my whole working life in the field working in remote conditions all over the world and, for what it is worth, feel this tent is a real winner. It has strength, comfort, ease of operation and does look good on my vehicle!”

Thanks for all your help Andre.

Rick Hucksteep
Consultant to the Marine, Tackle & 4WD industry

“While looking to enjoy a bit of luxury… a purpose built trailer was considered and plenty of thought went into what was important and how to get the best results. All the mod cons and equipment were added to ensure there is no better way to truly enjoy the great outback. Go-Anywhere Trailers run by Ron Meddings, brief was to build a trailer with enough mod cons and basic comfort to alleviate Anne’s concerns…

The sleeping quarters are on top of the trailer in the form of a Howling moon Stargazer Tent top. It has a lot of ventilation in the ends, sides and roof… the tent top hosts a full double size bed and packs away with ease. Last year I spent 29 weeks in the trailer between Brisbane, SA, NT, ViC and NSW. It was in hail, snow and sleet.”

www.huckfish.com.au

ALLAN VERMEER

Andre,

Best setup ever. Thanks for your help at the show and with getting the gear to me in 2015. We have been to the Flinders, Morton Island, Local trips around Bathurst, Port Macquarie area, south coast and Ayres rock this year with a round trip of 7200kms with 14 stops over 21 days.

In April I’m going out to the rock via Broken hill, Flinders, Oodnadatta track, Alice, Kings Canyon, then Cooper Peedy and back home. About 7200km’s. Last time we went to the Flinders we survived a storm with 90km winds and the tent and the awnings survived without a scratch. Didn’t get any sleep though.

 

Regards,
Alan Vermeer

 

pete and tanya

Hi Andre,

I just wanted to let you know what we think about our Howling Moon rooftop camper.

We have had our Stargazer for just over 12 months now and we absolutely love it! From the Red Centre to the Australian Alps and the Victorian Coast it’s been our home away from home; so roomy and comfy and ultra convenient. Our Stargazer is our key to adventure, it gives us the freedom to camp, in comfort, pretty much anywhere.

Cheers,
Tanya and Pete from the Hunter Valley, NSW.

winch and unwind

When we first began planning our 1 year trip around Australia we knew we didn’t want to tow a camper trailer and needed more than a swag. The answer was simple – a Howling Moon Rooftop Tent. We travel minimally but efficiently and thankfully the tent is 100% quality that has been the perfect purchase for us. It takes John 5-10 minutes to set up or pack down, has endured torrential rain and wind without a single leak or problem and the best part is the comfort it gives inside when the environment is causing havoc.

We paid a little extra and purchased the Stargazer (our favourite feature) which has been amazing while admiring the clear skies in the desert. We can’t stress enough that if you plan on using your rooftop tent a lot, do NOT scrimp and buy a cheap version!!

We love our Howling Moon and proud to have it as our home above our Patrol as we explore Australia.

www.winchandunwind.com
www.facebook.com/WinchandUnwind

Michael and Anneleis

G’day Andre!
We’ve done our 5-day road trip home with the camper and tent (camping 4 nights in 4 different places), and Anneleis and I have also taken it out for a weekend camping by ourselves.

We love the tent. It’s going to be great for the 2 of us, and we can also squeeze 3 kids sleeping in the room (which we did one night on the road).

When the 2 of us used it the other weekend, we opened up the stargazer roof – although it’s not something we’d use in winter much, it’s going to be brilliant in summer.

Thanks!
Michael and Anneleis.

 

MATT HAWKE

We Wouldn’t be enjoying our life on the road, seeing places and meeting all the kind locals whom we do, without our great little traveling kit. Shout out to Andre at Howling Moon for his help with our great 1.4 Stargazer.

After moving heaven and earth to get it off a ship from Africa in time for our arrival in QLD, he even helped us fit it on at 6pm on a Friday arvo when he definitely should have been packing for a weekend family camping trip! Good Man. It’s a sturdy and well designed bit of kit and needless to say we are over the…..

MATT HAWKE
http://www.overlandexposure.com/

 

BLAKE Singleton

Hey mate.  I’m finally back from the cape trip.  The awning is fantastic!! So easy to put up and looks A lot stronger then my friends 270 degree awnings.  I was able to set it up as a single person no matter how windy while others required 2 or 3 to help.