Our Story

G'day — I'm Jack. I'm 19, still in school, from Melbourne, and I started Polished 4x4 after trying to buy a hard-shell rooftop tent myself.

The annoyance

The going rate on the big-name ones was three to five grand — for an aluminium shell, gas struts, canvas and a mattress. I'm 19, and so are most of the people I camp with; none of us have four grand to put toward a tent. So I put together something we could actually afford.

The T1 is a proper aluminium hardshell tent: 320GSM poly-cotton ripstop canvas rated to 3000mm, a genuine 202 × 122cm double bed with a 7cm high-density mattress, open in seconds on gas struts, 18cm tall packed. The same construction standard you'll see on tents at nearly double the price, because it comes off the same kind of production line.

I'm not going to pretend to be a big company, because I'm not one. I'm a sole trader (ABN 37 551 024 426) running this properly: real warranty, Australian Consumer Law backing, honest freight billed at cost, and a phone number that I personally answer.

The trip

The going rate on the big-name ones was three to five grand — for an aluminium shell, gas struts, canvas and a mattress. I'm 19, and so are most of the people I camp with; none of us have four grand to put toward a tent. So I put together something we could actually afford.

If you're heading up that way yourself, you already know why a rooftop tent changes everything — camp goes up in the time it takes your mate to find the headtorch, and your bedding's already inside.

Come and see it

Because I'm new and you've never heard of me, come and inspect the T1 in person before you spend a single dollar. I'm in Box Hill South, you can open and close the tent yourself as many times as you like. Book a time here — or if you're interstate, call me on 0450 619 710 and I'll walk you through it honestly, including the freight cost to your postcode before you commit.

That's the story. . Just a 19-year-old who thinks getting up into the hills shouldn't cost a second-hand car, and a tent built well enough to back that up.

— Jack
Founder, Polished 4x4 · Melbourne

Shop the T1 — $2,199