START WITH A TENT
For first time roadster campers that are really gonna dive into this, I would say start with a tent and everything else will follow. If you’re gonna buy anything, buy a tent you enjoy being in and looking at. Personally I buy tents that geometrically look best with my car. I like my setup to be complimentary of each major thing; from the car, to the tent, to the land, to the space. My main car is red, so I wouldn’t be getting a tent that has a color that clashes. If you don’t care about looks, skip this part and look into practicality. Us Miata owners have very limited space in the car so choose wisely for how big your tent is when it is stowed and packed. Eventually you will branch out and possibly get another tent in the future, but for your first one pick one that’ll save you space and you’ll enjoy for a good while. Lastly, do some research on material of the tent (whether its nylon or canvas) to prepare you for weather depending on your region. Me, being a primarily PNW camper in the US, I wanted to start with a canvas tent. They’re a lot more heavy duty for harsher weather conditions in Oregon, and the breathability feels more natural. I started with a Onetigris canvas teepee tent.
Fort Stevens State Park - Astoria, OR Mar. 2023
It’s designed to be a hot tent meaning you can put a stove in it for warmth. It traps heat well and has a port for the chimney. With it being pretty cold throughout most of the year in Oregon I figured it’d be best to at least have something like this because it doesn’t hurt if I don’t use the feature. The downside to canvas tents is they are much heavier and take up more space. It took up most of my trunk space in the NB. The trunk of the NB vs NA is definitely bigger so if I brought it in the NA it would take up the majority of my space. If you get a 1-2 person tent you probably wouldn’t have a problem with packing since it’ll be fairly small.
NORTHGAZE Chimney tent by Onetigris (9”x19.6” stowed)
But when your tent is pitched in the field, the bigger the tent the more relative comfort you may have for other amenities than pure sleeping. The choice is yours!
Some things to consider:
How your tent best represents you and your car (if that matters to you) i.e. color, shape, brand etc.
How practical it is packing wise and size wise (1-2 person or 3-4)
How comfortable you want to be on the field. Ask yourself, do I want my tent to be something I just sleep in? Or something to hangout in as well?
