The Vehicle - Up To OverLand Spec

To Winch...     Roof Rack And Roof Tent     Extra Fuel...

The Roof Rack

After looking around to see what sort of roof racks were on the market and also at what other overlanders were using. I quickly came to the conclusion that I wanted a full length Brown Church roof rack. This was because the Brown Church roof racks were designed for off road use, as they have many feet, which attach it to the bodywork. Also the same company makes roof tents that are designed to fit on their roof racks. It just so happen that not the Land Rover I was looking at to buy but another one from Yorkshire Electric, had one fitted. It had had some minor modifications, like a rolling bar at the back, but that suited me fine and I managed to convince them to swamp them over for 50 pounds. Bargain!

The Roof Tent

After months of deliberation about sleeping arrangements I finally went with the idea of buying a roof tent. I had held back because a lot of the ones I had looked at where expensive and quite heavy. Most of which included added flooring so they could hang over the side. But looking into it more closely I found one made by Brown Church which was designed to fold out over the roof rack board, and so was cheaper and lighter. I quickly ordered one as I wanted to use it on my Europe test trip and it arrived in time to be fitted and ready. It then saw one month’s service on that trip and I knew I had made the right choice. On that trip we used a blow up mattress, which we found moister would condense on and then make you cold. So I sorted out some foam mattresses for this trip. The down side is that they have to be put in the back of the Landy when the roof tent is folded up, but they are very comfortable. My Mum then made some nice covers for them, which can be removed and washed. The only down side to this type of roof tent is that if you put other things onto the roof rack they have to be moved before you can open the tent. With just me this is not a problem as I have enough storage space inside the Landy for all my stuff. But if two people were travelling in the vehicle permanently, it might be better getting a model that does fold out over the side. As you then still have half the roof rack you can store and leave things on.