James Baroud Off-Road Rooftop Tents are an exciting brand we’re proud to offer our customers so they can upgrade their off-road truck or SUV for the ultimate overlanding and camping experience. Designed to blend innovation and tradition, they’re fast becoming a powerhouse in the American off-roading world, quickly growing to rival their already immense popularity across the pond. We want our customers to have access to the top off-roading gear from around the world, so just as we did with South Africa’s RSI SmartCap, we’ve partnered with James Baroud as one of their few American authorized distributors. Give your truck the best if you want to get the best out of it.
Born of a European Tradition
As our Texas customers can tell you, you can drive a full day and never leave the state, let alone the country. Europe is different. Packed with countries, former countries, territories, and a wealth of different cultures, climates, and geographic terrains, exploring areas outside your own home and comfort zone isn’t just easier. It’s been a way of life for generations. Staying at small inns, youth hostels, or just camping your way around the continent is a rite of passage, and James Baroud’s rooftop tents are an evolution of that tradition for a new era.
Designed and manufactured in Europe from European-sourced materials, these tents and awnings show their long pedigree of camping experience. Built to embrace “innovation, comfort, strength, and quickness,” the result is a line of rooftop tents, awnings, add-ons, and accessories that are just as at home in the frigid Alaskan wilderness, crisp fall foliage of New England, or blistering west Texas sun. James Baroud says their products are “made to the extreme,” and we’d be hard-pressed to find a reason to disagree.
Rooftop Homes Away From Home
After a long day on the trail, over the rocks, or in the mud, sometimes you just want a comfortable place that’s dry and out of the sun to lay your head. Rooftop tents have become so popular because they give you that place fast. Carried on the top of your SUV, roof, camper, or rack, there’s no need to dig through your cargo looking for the stake bag, pole bag, tent bag, hammer, or random other gear pieces. Put it in park, unlatch or unzip the tent, pop it up, and you’re ready in minutes. Rooftop awnings are just as easy to set up, and give you more space around your tent or just provide a bit of cover while you’re relaxing, fishing, or taking a break for lunch. That doesn’t mean every rooftop tent or awning is made the same.
The major drawbacks have always been space and durability. The rooftop footprint and weight rating limit the size of the mounted accessories, and (let’s be honest) off-roaders are not usually known for being gentle. Plenty of low-quality tents have ended up ripped, torn, crumpled, and consigned to the dumpster after unsuccessful outings. James Baroud Tents knows this and builds their line to defeat these drawbacks and give you a shelter you can count on time after time.
Brand Features
While there are plenty of different models of tents, awnings, and accessories available to tailor your camping experience, they do share a few common traits our customers love.
- Aluminum supports - Think aircraft parts, not soda cans. When engineered properly, aluminum alloys are strong, lightweight, and resistant to corrosion and rust. This makes them perfect for rooftop tent supports and flooring. This saves your cargo capacity for more gear and makes it easier for one or two people to manage installing and using the tents and awnings.
- Aluminized canvas - When you apply those same properties to a tent material, you get added strength, increased durability, and a water and weather resistance that can’t be beaten.
- Telescoping Ladders - Each James Baroud rooftop tent comes with a telescoping aluminum ladder included. By incorporating a set piece of hardware into their design, they create a more consistent customer experience that adapts to your vehicle as it evolves with lift kits, leveling kits, wheels, and other gear.
- Generous Warranty Periods - We stand behind the products we sell–it’s part of the old-school customer service off-roaders appreciate when they buy from us. James Baroud offers a 5-year warranty on almost every part of their tents, and a 2-year warranty on hard shell gel coats, flashlights, extractors, and tent locks. That’s a heck of a statement for equipment they know their customers are going to put through the wringer out in the wild.
A Look At The Top Products
For The Occasional Camping Adventure
The Discovery and Space rooftop tents are strikingly similar, but bring a few key differences to the table. Both come in the same two sizes: a 55” X 79” medium and 63” X 88” XL format, giving you options for larger and smaller mounting applications. The medium weighs only 165 pounds and sleeps two adults and a child, while for 30 pounds more, the XL can sleep either three adults or two adults and two children. Both have the same pop-up raked roof that improves airflow, a solar-powered fan, secure mounting, and a high-density foam mattress, all of which are protected for travel inside the reinforced fiberglass with a gel-coat-like finish. Where they differ is the hinged side, with the space offering a frontal compass that adds 40cm (about 16 inches) of room for your feet or head and a subsequently taller peak. Both are perfect for the friends, family, or romantic get-away.
Go Big Without Going Home
Our next pair of rooftop tents use similar 55” X 79” and 63” X 88” hard shells, but they open your camping up to even more possibilities. The Evasion pops up instead of hingeing open, giving you a full 360-degree view of your surroundings. This offers uniform headspace and unparalleled airflow for the ultimate in comfortable camping that’s perfect for longer treks off the beaten path. The Grand Raid offers the same benefits, including a mid-range 63” X 79” shell body, but adds an integral luggage rack capable of shouldering a 25kg (about 50 pounds) loadout of its own. Setup is still easy thanks to the automatic opening design that uses hydraulic cylinders and precision-engineered actuators to make the process fast and simple.
There’s Nothing Wrong With Going Soft
Designed with a dome shape for better wind resistance, the Vision soft-shell tent is fast to set up and take down while offering plenty of space for either two adults and a child in the 58” X 71” model or two adults and two children in the 71” X 87” version. Using an aluminum composite floor with insulating layers, the tent remains light and strong while still giving you plenty of durability on the road. Packed up under its canvas cover for travel, the low profile keeps it out of the way and protected until you’re ready for a good night’s sleep.
Throw Shade
Awnings are great for quick breaks or expanding your campsite. James Baroud offers side and rear awnings that work as a standalone cover or to complete your camping setup. To really step up your game, though, consider the Falcon 270. This 270-degree awning sets up quickly to provide coverage around the side and back of your vehicle, making it the perfect way to create a camping compound based around your vehicle and rooftop tent.
Accessorize Your Adventure
James Baroud Roof Top Tents are great, but their attention to detail helps them really rise above the competition. From tunnels that cover your ladder to awning walls and tablet holders, there’s a must-have for every camper and off-roader. A few of our favorites are the isothermic kit to keep you warm on the long winter nights, the boot bags that keep mud out of the tent, and the shower annex that helps keep the tent from smelling the same as you do after a hot day driving.
Customize Your Camping Vehicle
We have the top overlanding gear from around the world in stock at our US-based warehouses. Build your truck or SUV to the extreme. Order your James Baroud off-road tents and awnings from Offroad Alliance today.
