Outdoors

Rolling tent hitches a ride and inflates into above-ground abode

Rolling tent hitches a ride and inflates into above-ground abode
Urang presents a different style of vehicle-based camping
Urang presents a different style of vehicle-based camping
View 17 Images
No small storage box, the Hitch Home case rolls to the accompanying pivot hitch
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No small storage box, the Hitch Home case rolls to the accompanying pivot hitch
Urang's hitch arm pivots upward 90 degrees to get the Hitch Home higher off the ground, standing vertically for the ride
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Urang's hitch arm pivots upward 90 degrees to get the Hitch Home higher off the ground, standing vertically for the ride
With the 12-V pump, the main Hitch Home tent inflates in three to five minutes, depending if it's the two- or four-person version
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With the 12-V pump, the main Hitch Home tent inflates in three to five minutes, depending if it's the two- or four-person version
The tent stands on a combination of a support frame and its cargo box, keeping it off the ground for better comfort
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The tent stands on a combination of a support frame and its cargo box, keeping it off the ground for better comfort
While you can build base camp around the Hitch Home and vehicle, the tent can easily detach from the vehicle so that you can drive without having to pack it up
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While you can build base camp around the Hitch Home and vehicle, the tent can easily detach from the vehicle so that you can drive without having to pack it up
Like other inflatable tents, the Hitch Home relies on wide air beams for support
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Like other inflatable tents, the Hitch Home relies on wide air beams for support
Home sweet Hitch Home
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Home sweet Hitch Home
The awning does not come with the base-level "Hitch Home Light" pack but does come with more expensive packages
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The awning does not come with the base-level "Hitch Home Light" pack but does come with more expensive packages
The Hitch Home set up with roof fly, side walls and awning
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The Hitch Home set up with roof fly, side walls and awning
Urang Hitch Home vehicle tent
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Urang Hitch Home vehicle tent
For all-season camping, Urang offers this tent-inside-a-tent setup, adding an outer shelter that improves warmth and protection for colder, rougher weather
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For all-season camping, Urang offers this tent-inside-a-tent setup, adding an outer shelter that improves warmth and protection for colder, rougher weather
The All Season Hitch Home package is currently advertised at Kickstarter pledge levels of $3,490 (two-person) and $3,990 (four-person)
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The All Season Hitch Home package is currently advertised at Kickstarter pledge levels of $3,490 (two-person) and $3,990 (four-person)
The Hitch Home is designed to explore the same open spaces as a rooftop tent, just without some of the downsides
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The Hitch Home is designed to explore the same open spaces as a rooftop tent, just without some of the downsides
Urang presents a different style of vehicle-based camping
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Urang presents a different style of vehicle-based camping
We do like the design of the basic Hitch Home tent, with its inflatable construction and well-ventilated layout, complete with dual skylights
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We do like the design of the basic Hitch Home tent, with its inflatable construction and well-ventilated layout, complete with dual skylights
Getting the Hitch Home hitched and pitched
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Getting the Hitch Home hitched and pitched
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View gallery - 17 images

The first time we saw the proposition of a hitch-mounted vehicle tent, it felt like an idea that was DOA. But perhaps it was just in need of some development and refinement. Tinkerers and companies, including global brand name Thule, keep resuscitating it, hellbent on creating a better alternative to the rooftop tent (RTT).

This go-round, startup U-rang is putting out its own iteration of the hitch tent, folding an inflatable two-person tent into a rugged wheeled box that hitches up and rides to camp. The Hitch Home, as they call it, sets up in as little as three minutes and detaches from the hitch to keep camp in order during vehicular day outings.

The way U-rang sees it, the rooftop tent is overloaded with inconveniences, most notable of which being that you have to pack the tent up, essentially breaking down camp, in order to leave with the vehicle. Either that, or you simply don't drive the vehicle anywhere and leave the RTT set up.

U-rang also notes the aerodynamic inefficiencies of mounting a big tent on the vehicle roof, the inability to use the sunroof with a tent hovering over it, and the safety and inconvenience issues brought about by camping high off the ground up a ladder (the dreaded midnight pee is a good example of "inconveniences" that pops to mind immediately).

So U-rang goes the hitch tent route, creating a different spin on the concept from what we've seen previously. It uses inflatable construction in an effort to make a tent that fits comfortably on the hitch and sets up quickly and easily like an RTT.

Since it's no light, tiny backpacking tent, the company stores it in a large wheeled cargo box for easier transport. Keep the Hitch Home box in a corner of the garage with your other camping gear, then simply roll it right to the 2-in Class III vehicle hitch receiver, where it's secured in place, flipped up into travel mode and ready to ride.

Getting the Hitch Home hitched and pitched
Getting the Hitch Home hitched and pitched

At camp, the deflated tent fabric folds out and sets up atop the storage box and a separate collapsible support stand, inflating in minutes via the included 12-V pump. That inflation includes an integrated air mattress, as well as the air tube frame.

The need for a tent support frame seems a little rough and unpolished to us, and we'd think this product would better meet its brief if the support was integrated into the tent storage box itself. Perhaps the tent could stand atop the open lid and use adjustable-length folding legs for support. U-rang already includes spring extension legs on the base of the box, and if it added them to the lid, it could perhaps present a cleaner, more all-in-one design.

The tent stands on a combination of a support frame and its cargo box, keeping it off the ground for better comfort
The tent stands on a combination of a support frame and its cargo box, keeping it off the ground for better comfort

Further roughening the Hitch Home's current design, U-rang has separate elements meant to be installed independently depending on weather. For instance, there's a weatherproof roof fly, fly walls, a front awning and what the company calls a "shelter," something of an all-season over-tent that adds better weather protection.

So if the weather is supposed to be bad – or if it's actively raining on your face while you're trying to make camp – your set-up will be more difficult and time-consuming than that quick fold-and-pump U-rang is advertising. Photos of just the roof fly show the need for poles and guy lines, making it more similar to pitching a ground tent than a rooftop tent.

For all-season camping, Urang offers this tent-inside-a-tent setup, adding an outer shelter that improves warmth and protection for colder, rougher weather
For all-season camping, Urang offers this tent-inside-a-tent setup, adding an outer shelter that improves warmth and protection for colder, rougher weather

Rooftop tents may not be perfect, but they do typically have their various rain flies (or hardshell roofs) and small door awnings preinstalled so that you can pitch everything all at once without a bunch of fabric zipping and ground staking.

U-rang plans two versions of the Hitch Home: a 77-lb (35-kg) two-person model and a 99-lb (45-kg) four-person. Kickstarter pledge levels start at US$2,690 for the two-person and $3,190 for the four-person, and U-rang offers several different kits depending upon how much weather protection is desired.

The awning does not come with the base-level "Hitch Home Light" pack but does come with more expensive packages
The awning does not come with the base-level "Hitch Home Light" pack but does come with more expensive packages

We appreciate camping alternatives, but we're not sure we see the argument for this one. It's just as expensive as a rooftop tent and more time-consuming to set up to the same level of weather protection. And if the high, non-detachable (while camping) nature of the rooftop tent is a turn-off, you could save a lot of money with a simple ground tent, sleeping on a cot if you prefer to get up off the ground.

But as often happens, Kickstarter seems to disagree, having already pushed the Hitch Home well beyond its $10,000 goal. The campaign still has 53 days left to go, and U-rang hopes to begin deliveries in July so backers can be Hitch Homing by the heart of summer camping season.

Source: U-rang

View gallery - 17 images
3 comments
3 comments
JeJe
$2,690 to sit out under a tarp and a tent you can't stand up in - a downgrade on the vehicle if its bad weather or if there are dangerous people about or bears.
AlWe
I'd want to be pretty sure that all that weight on the hitch is very secure and didn't make too much noise when being transported at 100kmph. The video only shows the tent when it's off the car.
Aross
I don't know if this is supposed to be hitched to the back of the car and towed to the camping location but given the size of the wheels I would not expect this to get out of the development never mind to the camp site. If not towed than I would suspect a substantial hitch would be needed. For the price I think there are much better options out there.