Truck Tents

[Shadowrider]

You can't gat that where I'm going. And you wouldn't want to either! Nice!!!!

 

[dennishoddy]

Your truck appears to think it's a rap star

Its a bad assed mofo. The 20" wheels do put into gangsta territory.

 

[Rod Snell]

For "coyote camping" where I might want to move quickly, I have a Leer top and a small canvas tent that fits over the end with the tail gate down and the top gate up, adding maybe 18" to the interior room.
Used it several times in places like McAlester bowhunting in warm weather, break camp in minutes, put in deer with ice bag in cavity and book for home.

Definitely not for family camping.

 

[dennishoddy]

3) The floors always get punctured by all that rock and leak. I hate wet sleeping bags!

You could put a tarp underneath the tent. Cheap, rugged, and water proof.

Is this your place? Can you prep the area? Bring a younger hunter for a "free" hunt and have him move some dirt for ya as payment.

My present and past family camped in tents for 20+ years. Had it down to an art on my side. Had a camping box with every thing in it only for camping, etc.
Putting the tent up was always a chore. We camped as a unit. The kids and wife had set up the tent and camped as many times as I did.
When it came to setting up the tent, it was like the first time they had ever done it. WTF? The tent was set up and taken down the same way for 20 years. How could they not know how to to this? First irritation of the weekend. Second was taking the tent down.
20+ years of breaking camp was like the first day out for a newb. Pick up your trash, that you should have not not left in the first place all over the ground like cigarette butts.

Gave it up. Not worth the hassle.
Bought a camper. Life is good.

 

[YukonGlocker]

1) Where I hunt is on a mountain in southeastern OK. It's really difficult to get all your stakes driven and you ALWAYS end up losing several and have several others that won't really hold anything. I think there may be about 3" of dirt on top of all that rock.

2) All that rock is lumpy as hell and I can never get comfortable.

3) The floors always get punctured by all that rock and leak. I hate wet sleeping bags!

At least with one of these I could level the truck with a jack or park a wheel on a rock and there's no stakes to deal with, it all straps to the truck and then there's that floor thing that's fixed with these. Those mattresses do look cool, I hadn't seen those. I was looking at these for the pickup bed but might could use a cot too. http://truckairbedz.com/Airbedz-Lite






Mine too but the checkbook doesn't care for them one bit and these are taller.

If there are trees or big rocks, you can anchor your tent to those instead (with longer guylines). Sometimes it's better to have *longer* stakes, but drive them in at an extreme angle (i.e., very shallow). If it's too rocky for stakes at all, and you don't have trees/rocks to anchor to, pack large sandbags in your truck to anchor the tent to. I use a heavy tarp to cover sharp objects, cover that with a dedicated tent footprint, then put the tent on top of that. A 3" or 4" self-inflating mattress (because of the foam inside it) will mitigate all but the very tall/sharp objects under you. The smaller the tent, the easier it is to find a decent spot to put it (the downside being less comfortable, but usually worth the tradeoff)...smaller tents handle bad weather better too. If you try the truck-tent, please let me know how it works for you because I didn't care for the setup.

 

[swampratt]

Buddy made his own truck tent. PVC pipe stuffed into the stake beds a large tarp and some 550 cord.
Get the sleeping bags under you. Some thin plywood like the Lauan plywood works well to make the bed of the truck flat.\

Carpet remnants are nice addition ..I sometimes carry a small section of carpet to sit on in the woods.
That rubber backed short loop stuff keeps your butt dry.

I sleep in a tent on the ground..One i got when I was about 14. Rolls up into a ball about the size of a softball.
Like this one.
http://www.jcpenney.com/titletbd/pr...-plaid^81646490018-sku^67011410018-adType^PLA

I like to rake pine needles into a spot and place tent on a tarp on top of the pine needles.
Another tarp over the top of it.. and you are ready for the storms.

I usually set it up under a pine or cedar tree.

 

[Eagle Eye]

My present and past family camped in tents for 20+ years. Had it down to an art on my side. Had a camping box with every thing in it only for camping, etc.
Putting the tent up was always a chore. We camped as a unit. The kids and wife had set up the tent and camped as many times as I did.
When it came to setting up the tent, it was like the first time they had ever done it. WTF? The tent was set up and taken down the same way for 20 years. How could they not know how to to this? First irritation of the weekend. Second was taking the tent down.
20+ years of breaking camp was like the first day out for a newb. Pick up your trash, that you should have not not left in the first place all over the ground like cigarette butts.

Gave it up. Not worth the hassle.
Bought a camper. Life is good.

Yeah I can understand that. I am lucky however. I found me a lady that will help set the tent just as efficiently as I do, and sometimes have it all torn down by the time i return from hunting. Now she goes hunting with me, so those days are over.

However, she wants a camper. Maybe we start with one of them tear drop ones. Guess who its for.....




The Dog! Its so that she can bring the dog and not have to ask someone to watch him while we are gone. I bet the fact that we'd be sleeping on a comfy bed in a more climate controlled area might have a part in it too.

 

[Shadowrider]

3) The floors always get punctured by all that rock and leak. I hate wet sleeping bags!

You could put a tarp underneath the tent. Cheap, rugged, and water proof.

Is this your place? Can you prep the area? Bring a younger hunter for a "free" hunt and have him move some dirt for ya as payment.

Yes it's my place, at least 1/2 of it. Clearing isn't going to be easy even with a dozer. The mountains in SE OK are just huge rocks that have jutted up out of the ground. I'm right on top of one.

We've done the tarp thing on the ground, they just get torn up too. My BIL once had a french style rendezvous lodge back when he was into blackpowder. It didn't have a floor and honestly that's the way to go, but water will run through in heavy rains. A truck tent with no floor will let you just sweep out the bed to clean up and as mentioned a throw mat or two can also be swept or shaken for cleanup.

 

[Hobbes]

Buddy made his own truck tent. PVC pipe stuffed into the stake beds a large tarp and some 550 cord.
Get the sleeping bags under you. Some thin plywood like the Lauan plywood works well to make the bed of the truck flat.\

Carpet remnants are nice addition ..I sometimes carry a small section of carpet to sit on in the woods.
That rubber backed short loop stuff keeps your butt dry.

I sleep in a tent on the ground..One i got when I was about 14. Rolls up into a ball about the size of a softball.
Like this one.
http://www.jcpenney.com/titletbd/prod.jump?ppId=ppr5007171086&country=US&currency=USD&selectedSKUId=67011410018&selectedLotId=6701141&fromBag=true&quantity=1&cm_mmc=ShoppingFeed-_-GooglePLA-_-Tents-_-67011410018&utm_medium=cse&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=tents&utm_content=67011410018&cid=cse|google|004 - home furn leisure|tents_67011410018&gclid=CJWU0Pjsr9ACFVg7gQodRX4EIg&kwid=productads-adid^45810122978-device^c-plaid^81646490018-sku^67011410018-adType^PLA

I like to rake pine needles into a spot and place tent on a tarp on top of the pine needles.
Another tarp over the top of it.. and you are ready for the storms.

I usually set it up under a pine or cedar tree.

I made my own too.
PVC frame, that is easily assembled and disassembled, tarp over the top with bungee cords from the grommets to the wheels and underbody.
There is a YouTube video where a woman made her own that gave me the idea.

 

[Wheel Gun]

I had a truck tent ten years ago when they first started coming out. My boys were in Scouts and I found myself camping quite often. For how I was using it, it worked great. This was with a Toyota Tacoma. For one- to two-night camping, it did everything that I wanted. Getting dressed in one can be a challenge, but sleeping and reading and getting away from the bugs worked fine. I found it much faster and easier than pitching a dome tent on the ground.

The one observation that I have that I don't seem to see discussed elsewhere involves the axle. Because you're sleeping over that rear axle, it can get warm after a long drive. If it's summer and you're driving a long way and wanting to jump right into bed, be prepared for some extra warmth until the driveline cools down. I found that annoying a couple of times. On the other hand, if it's winter, that could come in handy.

Other than some sweaty, axle-heat moments, I liked it. The best thing was being off the ground. It's nice to unzip the tent and put your boots on from the tailgate. It gave me time to boot up and look around for snakes, bugs, mud, standing water, etc. I think the tent stays cleaner than on-ground tents, but that could just be my own experience.