Tents on a Truck

[No_Regerts]

Everywhere I go, I see a small pickup with a tent on top. I mean, if you're going to have a useless bed, might as well I guess. My question is, do people just have the need to spontaneously camp wherever they go? I bet I fish more than they camp and I don't take my boat everywhere.

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[ma96782]

On some occasion(s)......
I go car camping = Hotel Prius

Aloha, Mark

 

[Wyo79]

I had one on our 4 runner it was a pain to take it off. I ended up putting it on a overland specific trailer.
It is pretty sweet to camp where ya want when traveling.

 

[No_Regerts]

I had one on our 4 runner it was a pain to take it off. I ended up putting it on a overland specific trailer.
It is pretty sweet to camp where ya want when traveling.

So, is taking it off the issue?

 

[TNThomas]

I see the draw, but honestly, if im going camping im bringing a standard tent. 10% the price, and you can put it wherever you want it. Plus it doesnt kill mpg. Heck, a good quick car setup is to bring a hiking hammock, and clip it to tow hooks inbetween vehicles.

 

[Wyo79]

I had one on our 4 runner it was a pain to take it off. I ended up putting it on a overland specific trailer

So, is taking it off the issue?

It's not that heavy 225 lbs but 225 over your head regularly is a pain. I set up a winch in my shop.
Really most people you see just think they look cool on the rigs. Bout 2/10 prob used them regularly

 

[Alexx1401]

I was thinking the same thing as TNTThomas. Those quick set up Tents are so damn simple and fast seems far better. They go up and back down in a snap and take up very little room when packed up. I have NEVER yet been able to get one back the bag they come in. So I always just buy some kind of duffel bag to pack them in that is bigger but far easier to pack up.
Now Wife is making noise for a while about buying one that fits in a trailer. Folds out and gets you up off the ground. They are sent as a kit you buy some lumber for. The tent comes out of the trailer so you can use it for other things. Seems a bit much to me but I keep telling her if she decides to pull the trigger on one its fine with me.
[h4][/h4]

 

[Wyo79]

I see the draw, but honestly, if im going camping im bringing a standard tent. 10% the price, and you can put it wherever you want it. Plus it doesnt kill mpg. Heck, a good quick car setup is to bring a hiking hammock, and clip it to tow hooks inbetween vehicles.

It's not something everyone can afford that's for sure. Honestly Lotta folks do it for looks.
My cvt tent will rival any 4 season tent I've stayed in though. Roof tents definitely are only one way to enjoy camping that's for sure.

 

[CamoDeafie]

I entertained thoughts of a rooftop tent on the Kia Sportage that didn't have a roof rack.. then I decided, nah. Just a tarp, and bug bivy would be good enough. Now that I'm driving a minivan.... also no roof rack I'm temped to do a weird setup where I find one of those hide-a-bed folding frame and get it mounted to a hitch cargo tray.. just to provide a platform to set a standard dome tent on lol


Edit. A better option is to make your own tent platform setup on a trailer or hitch cargo bin... I do see there are T and V shaped hitch mounted hammock rigs, the T usually is for two hammocks to a tree or two, and the V is usually for a single hammock.

 

[gryghin]

Everywhere I go, I see a small pickup with a tent on top. I mean, if you're going to have a useless bed, might as well I guess. My question is, do people just have the need to spontaneously camp wherever they go? I bet I fish more than they camp and I don't take my boat everywhere.

Are you saying you've never heard of overland rigs?

What does it matter what one person decides to spend their money on. Free country?

Here is my reason...

I used to have a '96 Suburban and a 18' popup camper when my kids were little. When they got bigger, they didn't want to camp with us, so we sold the whole thing years ago.

Since my adult kids would rather camp with their friends, I decided to treat myself to a boat and pickup.

I have a '93 Ranger with a Yakima bed rack and a Go Fast Campers Ultra light Roof Top Tent. I like to drive to the lake day before, then first light drop in the water to go fishing. I would rather not get up at 3 am to drive to a lake.

As to the cost? I already have Cancer, my goal is to make sure to spend enough so that my kids don't have to pay estate or inheritance tax.

 

[No_Regerts]

Are you saying you've never heard of overland rigs?

What does it matter what one person decides to spend their money on. Free country?

Here is my reason...

I used to have a '96 Suburban and a 18' popup camper when my kids were little. When they got bigger, they didn't want to camp with us, so we sold the whole thing years ago.

Since my adult kids would rather camp with their friends, I decided to treat myself to a boat and pickup.

I have a '93 Ranger with a Yakima bed rack and a Go Fast Campers Ultra light Roof Top Tent. I like to drive to the lake day before, then first light drop in the water to go fishing. I would rather not get up at 3 am to drive to a lake.

As to the cost? I already have Cancer, my goal is to make sure to spend enough so that my kids don't have to pay estate or inheritance tax.

It's not having it that puzzles me. It's the having it mounted all of the time. If people were stopping in the middle of the road and pitching a tent, I'd understand that more than driving around with it as an accessory.

Like I said, I fish way more than anyone camps and I don't take my boat with me wherever I go. Then again, I don't have to shoulder press a 200# tent to unhitch my boat.

 

[slimmer13]

Overland tent + snorkel + recovery tools yet has never been off the pavement. Mostly a bunch of posers.

 

[Alexx1401]

Overland tent + snorkel + recovery tools yet has never been off the pavement. Mostly a bunch of posers.

Hey it "looks cool"

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I don't get a lot of this glamping stuff. It used to be called camping. I think it's mostly based on what product marketers can talk people into buying.


It looks ridiculous. Why would somebody use a sleeping bag like that?

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• ilikegunspdx
• Jan 30, 2022

 

[joken]

It's trendy to see how much crap one can pile on their pickup. I doubt if most of these folks ever use them. I wouldn't want to climb down a ladder to piss in the night, especially at my age.

 

[Mikej]

Everywhere I go, I see a small pickup with a tent on top. I mean, if you're going to have a useless bed, might as well I guess. My question is, do people just have the need to spontaneously camp wherever they go? I bet I fish more than they camp and I don't take my boat everywhere.

@Reno was looking into this sort of thing a couple years ago.

You keep changing your avatar! Hard to keep up with you man.

 

[Member 34319]

It was cost VS use. Much less expensive investments vs trailer. We weren't sure how the kid was going to do with camping too. As in storage of a trailer if you don't have room on your property. I keep the roof top tent in the garage during the off season.

Roof top tents are more comfortable than a ground tent, never mind the fact they are off the ground. They are also way more convenient. Set up in seconds. Less crap to deal with. Warmer. Can leave bedding in it.

They allow you to go anywhere your vehicle can go.

Side effects, folks leave them on throughout the winter. So yes, you'll see folks driving around with them when it seems weird to have one on. Not that you can't camp in one in the winter.

We plan to put it in the truck this season. We added a canopy, so we can sleep in the bed of the truck and roof top tent. Should make for a good summer season. After this season, since the kid has really enjoyed camping, we are looking to upgrade to a pop up tent trailer.

 

[Wyo79]

Call it Glamping or what ever you wish. This is our setup and it works for us. Kids love it, it pulls easy behind our 4Runner, stores easy, keeps us dry and out of the weather, plenty of room for a family of 4 on the move, we have all our camping stuff in one spot now so it takes up less garage space, and it's cheaper than an RV or travel trailer and goes in any place I can drive with my truck.
It was almost a year wait to have ordered, pics were taken when we took delivery and gave it a quick test run in a campground on the way home. We normally disperse camp with it to get away from the crowds.

 

[clanhanson]

Another consideration (for rooftop tents specifically) is weight limit. Vehicle roofs and rack systems can be damaged quite easily by dynamic loads (jumping, falling, other activities, etc).

 

[Wyo79]

Another consideration (for rooftop tents specifically) is weight limit. Vehicle roofs and rack systems can be damaged quite easily by dynamic loads (jumping, falling, other activities, etc).

That's y we went with the trailer. We got the Hybrid (heavy duty) series of CVT tent. 225lbs exceed the weight limit of our stock rack, so I put on a prinsu rack but still didn't like the way it sat on it. It was too low. I had to make riser brackets out of unistrut In order to easily access the tent pack away straps.
So I said what the heck and ordered the trailer.
One more consideration was ease of using your vehicle while set up.
Set up took us about 10-15 mins depending on amount of gear. If we wanted to leave the site to bike, hike, fish… we had to tear down and risk loosing the site ( we ended up packing a "throw away" tent we found at a garage sale to leave at our site most times we would leave ) so now we disconnect our hitch put the wheel lock on and we are free to move about.