I had ordered a roof top tent from African Outback Products, and it arrived late last week.  I just fabricated my mounting brackets today, so did a quick trial set-up.  I'll point out a few details, but most you'll be able to observe in the photos.

- Very thin (just over 7") with the travel cover permanently attached.  The cover wraps under the edges of the platform, so should provide excellent water and dust protection.  It is held in place with a ratchet strap, hidden discreetly behind a velcro flap.

- The tensioning poles are outside and are designed to be adjusted from inside the tent.  This makes for a very clean interior, with nothing to obstruct the window zippers.

- All the windows and doors have awnings.

- There is a nice skylight which can be used as a wildlife viewing platform.  One side of the rain fly is rolled back, and the skylight has both window and bug net zippers, everything done from inside the tent.  For extra warm and wet weather ventilation, the rain fly can be left in place.

- Nice overlanding colors, and a pretty neat African motif fabric on the mattress cover.

I shortened the ladder without cutting by using some Thule bicycle rack clamps.  They fit the ladder tubing perfectly, and this new arrangement allows height adjustment and is very secure.  I've attached a few photos here, and will include a few detail shots in following posts.

The first shot shows the cover in place.  The second shot shows the ratchet strap exposed and still tensioned.  The third shot shows the aluminum tent base.

These shots show the skylight from inside, and an outside shot showing the rain fly pulled back.

Wow, that's a spiffy setup Ed!  What does it weigh? I like how compact it is.

I did as lot of research, and kept coming back to the Technitop.  When I saw how their new aluminum base tent addressed some minor issues Overland Journal pointed out in their test of the original model, I was sold.  I did bring it in myself, along with a Disco I roofrack for another Rover guy here near me.  African Outback Products did have a relationship with Slee Offroad in Colorado, but he was not capitalized enough to bring any quantity of product into the US, so they are without US distribution currently.  The owner's wife, Liz, handles the exports, who coincidentally grew up in Portland and moved to South Africa in the early '70's to work with Dr Christiian Barnard.  She was absolutely amazing to work with.

Their specs list the weight at 48 kg, or 105.8 pounds.  

I love how small it is when closed up. My truck would actually fit through an 8' garage door with a tent of that size on it, now I'm a little tall.

What are the internal dimensions, or at least the dimensions of the sleeping pad?  I can't find much on their website.

Edit: I found some information on the Slee Off-Road website on the dimensions but only the external, would love some internal dimensions when you get a chance.  I might just have to stop by soon and take a look at this tent.

Hi, Ed! Great photos. Congrats on the purchase.

Just have a quick question. I was looking at the Slee Off-Road website. It shows the Technitop as have an LDPE (Plastic) base. Are they building the tent in aluminum now and now plastic? I notice the plastic had an 11" height instead of the 7" height you have on yours. I would much rather have the one like yours.

Is importing a tent something someone else could do? Did you spend about the same, more, or less as Slee advertises?

Thanks so much for the info. I would like a tent. I am in the process of selling a large Maggiolina that was just too big. This one would be just right. I'm torn between this one and the Oasis II.

Jason

Jason - Their web site, and the catalog binder they sent with the tent, show both tents are available. I don't know whether the plastic base tent will be discontinued in the future, but the aluminum version has some nice advantages. In the end after paying all the fees, it came less than Slee's price for the plastic base tent. When he sells this inventory, he won't be selling them any longer.
We did bring in more than this tent however, so an order for one tent would likely cost more. I advertised on NWOS if anyone else wanted to join in for a larger purchase, but received no response. I did find someone to join me in the purchase through the PCRC. He is in the importing business, so his contacts might have saved us a little as well.
African Outback Products will gladly ship a tent to anyone. They suggested using Panalpina as our customs broker, a broker they use for all shipments to their distributors world wide. We used them, and they have an office in Portland, and likely one in Seattle as well.
If anyone is interested in ordering product, send me a PM and I'll send you the contact person's info.
You'll find their tents at the bottom of the products page.
http://www.africanoutback.co.za/index.html

I am moving but not for about a month, still trying to find a place then we have to pack, etc.  I'll ping you in the next few days and try to stop by.

The tent's internal dimensions are as follows:
Mattress - 47" wide X 81" long
Interior of frame and walls - 51" wide X 86" long

A nice feature of the Technitop is the outward sloping end walls.  This gives more interior volume and keeps the ends of the sleeping bags from making contact with the tent walls.

I just modified the ladder for my low mounting height.  I used some Thule bicycle rack clamps, which allow length adjustment in my desired range and are very secure and sturdy.  I can take the ladder back to it's original configuration by replacing the tube sleeves which were removed and saved.