An Interview with James Baroud HQ in Europe

When did James Baroud Off Road Tents manufacture its first tent? 1999.

Why is it important to be the only true European roof top tent manufacturer? Being the only manufacturer that 100% manufactures allows for constant improvements and innovations as well as developing new models and new products in a faster and better way, not depending on third parties (like other small factories that had to produce for us) for example Autohome only manufactures the fibers, all the rest of the tent structure such as fabric, sewing, metalwork, mechanisms, plastics etc... are made by small manufacturers, this does not give the manufacturer dependence to make changes.

Why is Europe so good at designing and manufacturing outdoor adventure products? I suppose that due to the tradition of exploring the outdoors, the beginning of camping and the environments it provides, it is also historically older in population than some continents.

What sets James Baroud products out from our competitors? When we started manufacturing roof top tents, we wanted to do better than what was available on the market, more resistant, better finished and more comfortable, and we based ourselves on offroad, which was the only sector of activity that used roof top tents that also knew, to achieve this objective obviously we had to develop a product prepared for any extreme weather condition as well as material resistance, users made many expeditions especially to Africa where the tent was subject to extreme gravity forces, where vehicles jumped dunes rotated on rocks and off-road hard paths, creating vibrations on the tent  and contacts with aggressive vegetation and trees, hence our tent being the best on the market and prepared for the most extreme, for a customer to use a tent with sun, no wind and no rain any low cost serves.

The cost of our tent is not based on profit but on the premium raw materials we use to produce the James Barouds, what I mean is we spend more money producing our tent than the competition, however they have the same price than us, in comparison, a Fiat is cheaper than a Mercedes, even the model A, but the raw material has nothing to do with it, we were the first to offer a 5-year warranty (we had to be very sure of the product because it was be used in extreme conditions) currently all offer 5 years but without our quality.

What is your favourite aspect of the James Baroud products? Aerodynamic design, super resistant hard shell with 3 layers of fiberglass reinforced (against 2 or 1 of the competition) , fabric unique in the world used on roof top tents  (Tentcate, manufacturer in Holland and partner of NASA) no other brand uses this fabric because it is very expensive , aluminized (reflects the sun and reduces the heat inside the tent allowing the customer to be inside even in the sun), waterproof for life, fan with solar panel and battery to help reduce condensation while they sleep, automatic opening, super safe fasteners never opened by James Baroud when moving, color option (no competitor proposes), very comfortable mattress, space inside the tent while closed to store some objects including the ladder, panoramic view, super resistant mosquito net.

The new Odyssey model looks like a race car, what is the thought behind the hull design? We wanted to base ourselves on non-offroad vehicles and make a thinner design with curves, based on the hoods of some vehicles and more aerodynamics

Why has James Baroud changed the design of the strut system? First, in order not to take up space in the sleeping space, avoiding those cuts in the corners to enter the old mechanism and thus having a total useful space throughout the mattress, we changed the mechanism to aluminum making it lighter and changed the locking system that is more simple and easy.

How come the Odyssey is now an ABS hull compared to the fibreglass gelcoat? For ecological reasons it will be increasingly difficult to work with these types of chemicals like fiberglass, ABS being recyclable, it meets these standards better, it is also more resistant and light, in terms of finishing being done by machines allowing a perfect finish and profitability in terms of production.

Where do you see the James Baroud product going in the next 5 years? I see, I believe and it will have to be one of the market leaders in the sector, for that we are working on a project to increase production, facilities, training workers and obviously new models and sizes in ABS, our objective is to double and triple production in 5 years and give the appropriate response to the market.

Why is James Baroud the best roof top tent in the world? Because of the reasons that I described above.