Napier Sportz 82000 tent can provide great car camping experiences.   

By Dan Sanchez

One of the great things about the Napier Sportz SUV 82000 tent is that it can incorporate your full-size SUV as part of your living quarters, and comfortably fit up to five people in it’s spacious interior.  This 9×9 foot tent is tall enough to stand in, measuring seven feet in height at the center and six-feet at the corners.

This concept has it’s distinct advantages for first-time and novice car campers who like to bring lots of gear, and family, to enjoy the outdoors. The design allows you easy access to your gear by attaching the tent’s SUV sleeve to the rear of the vehicle. We liked the fact that we could climb out of our sleeping bags and grab a favorite book, flashlight or a warm jacket out of the SUV (in this case a 2011 Ford Explorer XLT), without having to go through the ritual of unzipping the tent door, and putting on dirty boots. This is an exceptional advantage if you have small children, who constantly want to go in and out of the tent to get their toys and portable video games. With the vehicle’s rear hatch open to the interior of the tent,  extra campers can also sleep in the rear of the SUV, allowing those who have never tried camping, a greater sense of security while still enjoying the company of everyone else in your group.

The Napier Sportz SUV 82000 is a three-season tent that is sturdy enough to withstand some windy conditions and rain.  It’s made of 1200 PU polyester taffeta which is light but durable. It comes with a heavy-duty rain-fly that can also be used as a 6×6-foot awning for shade. The bathtub style floor is waterproof and ensures that water won’t seep in. The tent also features two large doors and two skylights that provide excellent venting in hot weather and, with several people sleeping in the tent, the venting can prevent morning condensation inside.

After opening the nylon carrying case and taking out the rolled-up tent, it was easy to set-up. The top portion of the tent uses four fiberglass poles that make up the top dome. Four steel poles hold up the sides and both the top section and the sides are connected via heavy-duty plastic elbows that are permanently attached to the tent. Once erected, the sides of the Napier 82000 use hooks to attach to the steel poles and there are several stakes and stake loops that secure the bottom to the ground.

Although it’s much larger in size, the Napier 82000 SUV tent is easier to erect than some backpacking tents we’ve tested. But keep in mind, it can act like a sail in windy conditions. One of the two times we erected the tent, there were slight 3-4 mile per hour winds which made it almost impossible for two people to set it up. Furthermore, not every campsite allows the vehicle to be backed in all the way. So if you want to attach the tent to your SUV, you need to check with the campground first. We’ve found that many beach side and lakeside campsites are often your best bet.

The SUV sleeve is fully adjustable and you can attach it to various points on your vehicle. We used a new 2011 Ford Explorer during one of our test days and found we could attach the tent sleeve to the rear fenderwell lip at the bottom, and to the roof rack at the top of the vehicle.  The bottom portion of the sleeve is a thick nylon that can be adjusted to a snug fit, but there are some precautions you should know before attaching the sleeve. First, make sure that the vehicle has had time to cool down. Some SUV’s like our Explorer, the mufflers can come in contact with the sleeve so it’s important to ensure that everything has cooled down to the touch.

During one of our outings to the desert, the rear hatch and bumper got covered in dirt. So you should wipe down the area before attaching the sleeve to it. This will avoid scratching the paint on your vehicle and keeps dirt from getting into the tent. If you get to a campsite and find out  that they don’t allow you to back the vehicle in, there’s no worries. The entire sleeve can be unzipped and the tent can free-stand.

Packing the tent back into the carrying sack is a challenge, but it can be done. It took us two tries to pack it back tightly, remembering that the poles, stakes and rainfly are rolled up along with the tent. We liked that the plastic elbows that are permanently attached to the tent come with protective sleeves that prevent them from damaging the tent once it’s rolled up tight.

The Napier Sportz 82000 tent fits a wide variety of make and model vehicles and seems rugged enough to last many years of use. It retails around $329. For more information, visit  www.sportzbynapier.com.