Jim, this is a fun thread
James, I'm very glad to see you posting your cool new setup here. It turned out really nice!
Jim, to address your questions, I haven't weighed the materials that make up my cargo platform. I used plywood for the deck itself, so James' figure of 90 lbs sounds maybe a little heavier than I recall mine "feeling" but it's hard to say. I would think it is definitely sub-100 lbs. anyway.
I store bulky items on top of the deck, and that is unfortunately a "trade-off" when two people are on a trip. This is because at night, when it is time to use the mattress for sleeping, the bulky stuff has to come out and be stowed. There are a few ways to do this depending on the weather. Usually, for fair-weather camping, I just set them on a small tarp on the ground next to the vehicle. If we don't have much with us, or anything that we don't want outside, we just set it on the front seats. It's not too big of a deal, but a trade-off nonetheless. It's not a problem at all when I am solo becaue I can keep things to one side of the camper and have 1/2 to 2/3 of the width for sleeping. The "bulky" stuff consists of a wash-water jug, crate full of gear, clothing duffles or packs, kitchen bag, and a dry food box.
Pots and pans are stored in the small kitchen bag. A lot of the kitchen stuff (stove, bowls, mugs, utensiles, kinives, etc etc.) are stored in the pull-out drawer below the cargo deck which makes them really easy to access. Yes, I use a dual-fuel backpack stove. It runs great on unleaded after the white gas is gone.
Before I had the fridge, I used either one or two coolers behind the seats for food storage. (one or both were for dry storage (no ice) depending on ice availability).
"I was complete shelter from the elements. No condensate, no wind, no water. That first day we weather through 2 baja storms. "
That statement you made just about sums up the pros for this setup. I am a light sleeper and having the ready-made solid shelter makes for a great night's sleep for me. Roof top tents are a fantastic solution though, because they can be deployed and stowed without interrupting your cargo area. So I would say those are the two main factors to consider when deciding between the two. One is soft-sided, one is hard-sided. Both are "low-profile" solutions.
Would I do anything different? There is not a simple answer from me... I am really satisfied with this setup and it has served me well for countless trips over the last 7 years. For fair-weather camping, I would not change it.
I will cite two compromises of note:
1. By itself, it is not a good solution for bad weather of any duration. Simply because we are restricted to laying inside the camper until the storm passes, or if we want to sit/stand, we have to set up a tarp shelter (not such a big deal I guess). For a few hours it's not that bad, and of course if it is night-time and you are sleeping anyway, it's great. So I would like to come up with a quick-deploy rain shelter that is positioned off the back of the truck. Currently, I can use a tarp with poles and guy-lines, but I wouldn't mind something faster to set up and take down.
2. Removing items when two people sleep in the back. This is something I just deal with, as I don't know that there is really any good solution other than what I have. Any other ideas I have come up with for this would defeat the purpose of the current configuration and just substitute one compromise for another.
For reference, here are a few pics:
In this photo, you can see my setup in "solo" mode. There is room for me and the cargo. The white drawer with clear plastic face is the kitchen drawer that I mentioned earlier.
And here you can see it in "deluxe" mode, for two people:
Sometimes if I want to keep the removable cargo items in a little more "secure" type of area outside of the truck, I will use a "quick-draw" cabana that just flips open (no setup), which is seen in this photo. It stores flat in a nylon bag like a sunshade for a car windshield.
My camper article is here.
