The cheapest room in a car-camping setup is the space the vehicle already has. A tailgate tent hitches to the tailgate, extends the load bay out by a couple of metres and gives you a level floor, a roof over your head and a door that shuts against the weather — without pitching anything on the ground. Sold to overlanding retailers, vanlife channels and the outdoor parks that need a shelter that arrives with the vehicle.
The build we ship most. A double-layer shelter with a 210D Oxford fly, a PU-coated inner and a PE groundsheet, sized 250 × 250 × 200 cm open. It attaches to the vehicle with a zip and elastic around the tailgate aperture, so the hatch can still be opened from inside, and two cross poles carry the front extension and the porch awning above it.
| Open size | 250 × 250 × 200 cm (L × W × H) |
|---|---|
| Layers | Double layer — fly plus inner |
| Fly | Oxford cloth, PU 2000 mm |
| Inner | 210D Oxford, PU 2000 mm |
| Groundsheet | PE, 2000–3000 mm |
| Poles | Fibreglass, cross-pole front extension |
| Weight | About 9 kg |
| Season | Four-season |
| Colours | Blue / grey · orange / grey |
| Custom | Logo on the fly or the carry bag; colour to your Pantone |
The double wall is the reason this shape works in weather. The fly takes the rain and the wind, the inner holds the condensation back instead of letting it drip onto the sleeping mat, and the PE floor means a muddy pitch does not soak through. That combination is what separates a tailgate tent a buyer keeps for years from a car awning they replace every season.
The zip-and-elastic tailgate connection is the detail that decides whether the product is usable. The hatch opens and closes from inside, so gear comes out at night without unpitching, and the fit is by measurement rather than by model, which is why it suits SUVs, hatchbacks and crossovers from the same carton.
Buyers in this channel compare on two numbers: how fast it pitches and how small it packs. A fibreglass cross-pole front is faster than any steel-frame tent, and a build that folds to roughly the size of the load bay does not need a roof box. Both properties are what make it sell beside rooftop shells rather than under them.
This is the volume part of the line. The customer is not overlanding, they are a family with a boot and two kids, and the pitch is that the boot no longer has to hold the tent, the table and the sleeping kit all at once. A double-wall floor and a door that shuts against drizzle are the two things they will mention in a review.
Where the pitch is fast setup and a floor you can put chairs on. Operators care about how long a guest takes to clear the pitch, and a tailgate tent can go up on a hard standing in minutes without pegging a ridge line or moving a car. Colourways that read clearly against grass matter more here than anywhere else.
A buyer who already sells rooftop tents or awnings can extend into the ground-adjacent range with this build. Logo placement on the fly, on the groundsheet or on the carry bag, plus colour matching, are all buildable at volume — see the OEM service page for how a spec gets locked.
Tailgate tents are specified around the vehicle, not around the person. Getting these four answers from the buyer is what makes the quote accurate rather than approximate.
Send us those four answers plus your target quantity, and the quote comes back with unit price, carton dimensions, gross weight and a container plan.
The tailgate connection. Zip plus elastic around the aperture means the hatch still opens from inside, so gear is reachable at night without unpitching. Ask for it in writing — it is the difference between a shelter you use and one you only erect once.
The porch awning. The cross poles carry an extension above the tailgate, giving shade and a drip line away from the vehicle. On a site where guests park nose-out, that roof is the part people photograph and the part that stops people standing in the rain cooking.
Buyers who take the tailgate tent usually also take rooftop tents, tarps and canopies, and camp kitchen and furniture into the same container. We quote them as one shipment.
Denier, coating weight and stitching spec are quoted against your order — a buyer selling into wet climates gets a heavier coating, one selling into deserts gets a lighter pack weight. Send the market and the spec sheet and we will confirm what is achievable at your volume.