Two years ago, Thule surprised the world with a vehicle hitch accessory quite different from the bike racks and cargo boxes it’d been dealing in for years. That product was the Outset, a hitch-mountable unfurling tent designed to combine the comfort and vehicle integration of a rooftop tent (RTT) with the ease of access and detachability of a tent trailer or simple ground tent. After several years on the European market, the tent is finally making its way over the Atlantic to the US. Will Americans embrace it like they did the rooftop tent, or is Thule trying to thread a needle through a hole that simply doesn’t exist?
After purchasing Tepui back in late 2018, Thule immediately had a full selection of some of the market’s most innovative rooftop tents in both hard and soft-shell varieties. Rather than merely relying on Tepui’s existing reputation and catalog, though, Thule continued to innovate in the RTT space, launching some of the more unique designs we’ve seen in the 2020s, such as the half-width Foothill, a slim RTT meant to leave crossbar space for carrying a bicycle, Pelican boxes or other cargo.
So it was a bit surprising when Thule introduced what could be viewed as the anti-rooftop tent in 2023. But we suppose it had identified a market of folks that liked the burly, hard-floored construction of the conventional RTT but not so much the mounting it all the way on top of the roof.
Thule
After giving the Outset a healthy head start in its home continent of Europe, and taking home prestigious Red Dot and iF design awards, Thule officially launched the Outset in the US this month for a price of $4,699.95. The tent boasts easy, single-person vehicle attachment and pitching, 663-lb (300-kg) three-person sleeping capacity, and a hard-framed, above-ground camping experience. At 163 lb (74 kg), it weighs in comparably to a three/four-person rooftop tent, but its hitch-based mounting system is designed for improved accessibility and better aerodynamic performance than an RTT.
Before getting into the hitch versus rooftop debate, it’s worth tackling the grunting gorilla in the room: That price looks completely ridiculous. We recognize the Outset isn’t aimed so much at competing with the huge market of ground tents that can be had at a mere fraction of the price, but it’s still expensive when compared against its primary competitive target, the rooftop tent.
Even forgetting that there are many RTTs at half or less than that $4,700, you can get a pretty pricey name-brand tent with more sleeping space and tougher hardshell construction for the same or less money. The four-sleeper iKamper Skycamp 3.0, for instance, has an MSRP of $4,395, and the Roofnest Condor 2 XL Air prices in at $3,995.
Thule
Heck, even Thule offers several three-person+ rooftop tents way cheaper than the Outset. For example, its 2-/3-person Approach M costs $2,699.95, while its 3-/4-person Approach L comes in at $3,199.95. Its cheapest three-person tent? The Explorer Kukenam carried over from the Tepui days, which is currently on sale for $1,699.95, well less than half the Outset MSRP.
And even if you can justify a few extra hundred over a rooftop tent, that high Outset price should prove enough to remind you that you’re essentially buying a basic ground tent atop a cot-like platform that just happens to mount to the hitch. While most cot-tent products are smaller solo-sleeper designs, they also have price tags low enough to leave thousands of dollars left over after buying a separate one for each of the three people the Outset sleeps.
Thule
The Helinox Tactical cot-tent we looked at last year was quite expensive, even by ultralight tent standards, but you could still buy three at the all-in price (separately sold tent, cot, rain fly) of ~$850 each and save $1,150 versus the Outset.
That $1,150 isn’t quite enough to buy yourself a Thule hitch box system in which to carry those tents, but opt for an alternative like a combination of Kakadu’s $299 one- and $499 two-person Cot Tents, and you have more than enough to buy a $700 Thule Arctos tilting 2-in hitch platform and accompanying $1,000 large Arctos cargo box without coming close to the Outset price.
Ridiculous.
And if you really want to keep your thousands in the bank and not spew them all over camp, just use the big, cheap cabin tent you already own (or can buy during the next major big box outdoor store sale) and then buy a few cots for use inside it.
We’re just not seeing any value in a $4,700 Outset.
Thule
But we suppose people have been making the same argument for years when pricing rooftop tents against ground tents, and that hasn’t stopped rooftop tents from positively exploding in the US from virtually nothing to popular everyday RV/car camping alternative in a decade or so. Grand View Research estimated the US RTT market for 2023 at nearly $168 million and expects it to grow to over $286 million by 2030.
After all, overlanders and vehicle campers are often driven more by precise functionality than cost. They’ve long been spending crazy amounts of money to transform basic vans, trucks and 4x4s into overloaded adventure machines boasting heaps of specialized equipment that may or may never even find actual use in the field. So what’s an extra thousand or two for a tent that gives you the exact experience you desire and, as a possible perceived bonus, becomes a piece of kit that strangers around the campground point at with a mix of curiosity and envy?
A hitch tent like the Outset does offer some very clear baked-in advantages over the rooftop tent. From the start, it’s easier to mount to the vehicle because you don’t have to deadlift it straight up to the roof. In fact, the folded tent rolls to the vehicle on wheels, mounts to the hitch and folds into drive position without ever having to lift up at all. It’s designed for one person to set up with ease, as the short video demonstrates:
Thule Outset One Person Install
By riding on the hitch, the Outset keeps the vehicle cabin clear for passengers and other gear while ducking behind the vehicle for better aerodynamics than you’d get with a boxy roof tent standing atop it.
At camp, the Outset keeps occupants off the cold, bumpy ground on a solid, flat floor with the added comfort of a built-in 2.7-in (6.9-cm) mattress. Unlike a rooftop tent, it can detach from the vehicle to ensure your campsite remains reserved and to lighten up the vehicle for day trips, possibly down narrow forest roads on which you don’t want anything sticking off the bumper (or roof). It’s also easy to remove after the trip so you don’t have an entirely unneeded tent hanging off your car come Monday’s work commute.
Thule
The Outset also eliminates the need to climb up a ladder to bed, something particularly valuable for pets, small children, elderly campers, and those who took one too many pulls off the Jack bottle around the campfire. Also, anyone who finds themselves having to pee in the middle of the night.
Even if your pet isn’t sleeping in the Outset itself, he or she will probably be happier to be right next to their people than being left on the ground far below a rooftop tent – at least I know my Swissy would vastly prefer that. And the tent’s oblong 89 x 53-in (226 x 135-cm) sleeping area should leave a nice space at the foot of the bed for a dog who refuses to be left out in the cold.
Thule
Thule wasn’t actually the first (or even second) to pitch the idea of a hitch-mounted fold-out tent, though it was the first we know of to design a new folding tent specifically for the purpose. And as a global brand and leader in the vehicular accessories space, the Swedish company throwing its weight behind such a concept gave it more credence than it gained from small startups playing around with the idea.
We’re still not convinced the Outset concept is ready to take off like RTTs did, but we never initially thought we’d be seeing rooftop tents in city gridlock and at suburban gas stations nowhere near popular camping spots. It will be interesting to see if the Outset sticks around long enough to spark more competition or disappears quietly.
Source: Thule
