Minimalist camping setup - pics wanted

My wife and I started our last camping trip that way...but ended up sleeping in the truck and using the tent for storage. Being higher off the ground was noticeably warmer. We didn't feel the cold radiating up through the air mattress.

 

Don't waste your money buying truck junk. Spend your cash on good/great camping equipment (I am a fan of Kelty tents, but that is just me and I have two sets of bags, +30F and below 20F). Use the bed for what it was designed for: hauling stuff (your camping gear). Truck camping will restrict your choice of trips to only places where you can set it up. Good equipment will let you go to wherever your legs can carry

 

Before I got the ARE Canper top I used a pop up shade tent and a pop up privacy tent (designed for dorm rooms) along with some plywood boards and a cut up memory foam mattress pad and some duck cloth. I could set this up and be ready to go in 5 minutes and then take it down in 5 minutes the next morning.

Hands down the most minimal but comfortable camping for me, my wife, and our 2 year old daughter.

We use the same setup minus the tent for drive in movies





3 pieces that easily break down and fit inside the bed while driving on the interstate




Photo of just the privacy pop tent before we made the platforms

 

https://www.privacypop.com/?gclid=C...PRoqU3fxJZhikMRLA7eT9gWc9iFKhrvUaAlnREALw_wcB

 

The DCSB is not an ideal platform for truck camping. The bed itself is too short. I had visions of building up a robust set-up for truck camping, and have found I can sleep back there (by myself) when I sleep corner to corner.

I keep a tent handy (Mountain Hardware) to sleep in when I want more room.

I have a Leer shell, with some custom built drawers. It works okay, and I do like my set-up, but it is not roomy.

 

My wife and I keep it pretty minimalist. You definitely don't need a bunch of overpriced bullshit to be comfortable while camping out of the truck. We have a platform with a 4" memory foam mattress, with storage underneath. I also carry a 10x10 pop up canopy for shade or shelter if it's needed, though it would be nice to have an awning for quicker set up.


Now that we have a kid on the way, I'll probably be rethinking the setup and getting a roof top tent (or a nice ground tent) so we have more storage in the bed, and more room for sleeping.

 

I think a camper shell or soft topper would be a good investment as it will keep your gear dry and opens up more sleeping platforms you can go with. Plus IMO they hold up better with wind and don’t have to worry about it moving so much as some tents.

 

I've been looking for some kind of comfortable air mattress. Got a full that sucked horribly when I tested it to see if it was something we could take for camping and possibly put in the back of the bed. Don't remember the brand but is the airbedz pretty decent for comfort in this setup?

 

The Airbedz mattress is the most comfortable air mattress I've tried. The fact that it fills all the available space in the bed makes it more rigid than most air mattresses, so it has better support.

That said, the memory foam option some people above used could be great -- I haven't tried that because I spent the money to go the air mattress route.

 

Nice, thanks for the feedback. I've been a little hesitant on memory foam anything because we've had three different "bed in a box" foam mattresses and when it gets cooler those things seem to feel tougher. I'm a fan of those pillowtops!

 

Yeah, my bed at home is a nice soft pillow top, and the air mattress suits me pretty well as long as it's not overfilled. I like that you can adjust the firmness just by filling it more or less, so it can work for anyone.

 

I did manage to pickup a used bestop that i plan on using for our first couple trips and see how it works out.

 

How are y'all fitting in the truck beds? @ 6' 185 and there is no way and hell that could be comfortable. Get yourself a tent from LL Bean they are life time warrantied and have a wide variety. Also pick up some self inflating mattresses from REI, a smallish Mr. Heater, Bring a grill, sleeping bag or wool blankets. Hopefully you find time to invest in a high end cooler that keeps ice up to 5 days so you can freeze any meats you have prior to the trip and keep them packed good with ice until you are ready to cook. Utensils, 5 Gallons of water, couple garbage bags, case of bottled waters. Anything else that will fit in your truck like fire wood isn't a terrible idea and a small forest axe. You should be all set from there.

Have Fun! Looking forward to my daughter growing up a bit so we can strike off on our own.

 

I'm 6'4" and my wife is 5'10" and we fit comfortably in the back of my long bed. It's a little tight, but it works.

 

I guess if it was just me and the wife we could make it work. Using the ground tent is a bit more effective just from a stand point of us not having to yard sale our gear while sleeping.

 

Before I made my bed platform....as simple as it gets.

 

Tents are personal choices and compromise is inevitable. I'm way too tall to sleep in the back of a Tacoma - last time I camped in the back of a truck was when I had my 8'LB Chevy.

I will add that a common rookie mistake is to get an enormous tent, thinking you'll have more room to move around. Do you really need all that room if all you do is sleep and change clothes in the tent? Smaller tents trap heat, making for a more comfortable night.

My $.02 is spend the most you can possibly afford on a really good sleeping pad, followed by the best sleeping bag you can afford. The rest can be done on a budget. A $30 Ozark Trail tent from WalMart will last a couple of seasons until you can decide what you really want/need.

 

I've gone from cheap tents to a pop up camper. It's great when everyone goes and we're out for a few days. But recently, I've went back to a tent. A rei halfdome 4, with they're queen air mattress. Both have changed my mind.i might even sell the pop up this spring.maybe 10 mins to set up the tent and another 10 to pump up the mattress. Now I want to camp...