Dometic is a brand name so ubiquitous across the RV market, you're unlikely to go a full day in the segment without seeing it pop up somewhere – a stove, an air conditioner, a sink. Over the past decade, the Swedish staple has moved well beyond traditional motorhomes and caravans, into lighter, more flexible types of vehicle-based camping, purchasing brands like overlanding pioneer Front Runner while launching its own RV-without-the-RV hardware. The new Out-Post rooftop tent (RTT) brings those two worlds closer together. It looks like a standard family tent on the outside but comes embellished inside with RV-like features such as a room divider, convertible sofa-bed and stowable dining table.
Some of the world's biggest rooftop tent innovations are coming out of Sweden of late. Global vehicle rack and accessories brand Thule has established itself as a big presence in the RTT market, first by purchasing innovation leader Tepui in 2018, then by pursuing some outside-the-box designs like its RTT-style hitch-mounted Outset tent, half-width Foothill tent and sofa-lounging Widesky tent.
Northeast of Thule's Malmö headquarters in the greater Stockholm metro, Dometic has largely focused in on inflatable RTT design, going so far as to integrate an air tent into a rather impressive Jeep Wrangler pop-top concept. The company used this year's Düsseldorf Caravan Salon to preview the more conventional, but elevated, tack it's taking with future RTT offerings.
Beyond merely swapping out air beams for a hard frame, Dometic is using the new Out-Series to develop rooftop tents that deliver "a functional living space, not just a sleeping space." Unlike an RV in which you can comfortably spend daytime hours eating meals, doing laptop work and simply kicking back in comfort, a rooftop tent is traditionally a sleeping quarters that you leave moments after waking up and don't return to until it's time for bed (or a midday nap). Sure, you can head inside and wait out an afternoon rainstorm and read a book or play a board game, but a roof tent really isn't designed for extended day camping comfort or for use with furniture that could add that comfort.
The Out-Post debuts as the flagship of the three initial Out-Series RTTs, all of which are slated for launch next year. As the largest of the group, it's designed to sleep up to four people, and Dometic bills it a family basecamp.
In transitioning the Out-Post and its smaller Out-Series siblings into more inviting RV-like day camp spaces, Dometic incorporates a variety of new features meant to make spending time in the tenst more comfortable and productive. It smartly borrows some thinking from its fellow countrymen at Thule in giving each of the tents a tilt-up lounger bed meant for more comfortable support while sitting up. That futon-like design works in conjunction with a stowaway table to support occupants in more ergonomic in-tent dining and laptop work.
Dedicated reading lights, meanwhile, work with ambient lighting to ensure the tent is fully illuminated after sunset. A charging strip lets campers charge mobile devices as easily as if they were at home or in an RV. Power for the system comes from a mobile battery bank with a dedicated in-tent docking area.
Dometic further implements its RV-light design strategy by offering an optional room divider for the Out-Post. The soift wall secures inside the tent, splitting the floor in half to create a pair of two-sleeper rooms. To go along with this wall, Dometic also offers a split-room lighting system to give each side of the wall its own dedicated lighting.
The available divider package looks like a great way for parents to get a little privacy from the kids, both at night and during the day, or for two couples to have their own dedicated spaces. A thin removable divider wall probably isn't the best solution for parents to go all in on raucous intercourse without scarring their children for life, but it should support enough privacy so that the kids can nap in one room while the parents keep the lights on for reading or playing games ... or vice versa, if it's one of those days.
Dometic isn't the first RTT manufacturer to offer a multi-room setup or available divider wall, but more often than not, roof tent builders rely instead on ground-level add-on tents to create layouts with discrete rooms. Such tents tend to be well more expensive and time-consuming to set up than we imagine Dometic's basic divider wall will be.
While the individual bedrooms don't get their own skylights, Dometic does install a generously sized skylight stretching most of the length of the tent for stargazing at night and natural lighting during the day. The skylight doesn't work alone, as the Out-Post includes a 360-degree array of windows and doors.
One other nice feature of the Out-Post and Out-Series at large is the integrated light at the top of the ladder. Controlled via sensor, the light ensures you don't have to stumble up down in complete darkness, even if you can't find your flashlight when heading outside for a nature call.
Dometic has not announced specific pricing information outside of saying that the Out-Series will start at €1,799 (approx. US$2,025). Given that the Out-Post is the flagship of the family, expect it to price in well higher, likely above the €2,499 TRT 140 Air, a two-person inflatable tent that's currently Dometic's most expensive RTT in European markets. The Out-Series will launch in Europe in March 2027, but there's no word yet on other global markets.
Source: Dometic
