Wow, great subject!
FWIW, I run a cabover with a house on back, 10’ tall, 21’ long. My camera choices have evolved over four years and 50,000 miles. I have a 10’ high rear view camera, an under bumper mounted rear view camera, and one camera on each side of my cab facing to the rear. All of them display on a 7“ HD monitor mounted to my cab ceiling where a rear view mirror would be on a typical vehicle. When I use my turn signals or put the truck in reverse the appropriate camera takes over the entire screen, otherwise all four images are displayed while underway. The high rear view is to see what’s going on behind me, to help plan those lane changes. The low camera is strictly for backing up. The side cameras are for lane changes.
It’s funny to think I need cameras to change lanes, but if anybody has driven on a freeway through a major American city where knuckleheads use the slow lane for passing on the right at 80 mph, you’ll understand.
I also have a BlackVue 750 1-channel top center in my windshield with a card large enough to record 24 hours of continuous content.
The rear and side cams are mostly for on-road use. Their use off-road while underway is marginal. Since the wife and I travel solo, I have no need to see who is behind me on the trail, but it may be of use to somebody.
OTOH, I always use the video from the BlackVue camera for IG posts or family use. The BlackVue easily bluetooths to my iPad or iPhone and I can quickly download one minute clips. I always have a note pad on my center console and write down the time that we’ve gone through a particularly difficult or scenic trail, then I’ll DL the video clip later in camp. I have also pulled the SD card and downloaded the entire day’s content onto my laptop, but what am I going to do with eight hours of video??? I want to relax on the trail and not be a slave to my electronics.
As far as navigation, I don’t use an all-in-one solution because you can’t use a Garmin Drive (for example) for anything other than navigation. I use a 12.5” iPad Pro with both Gaia and Avenza maps. Gaia has awesome route planning and route recording capabilities, and Avenza is the vendor of choice for USFS and USNP maps and most of those maps are free. USFS Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) are easily downloaded and use those A LOT when wheeling out west. And when not navigation, my iPad can be used for lots of other stuff.
FWIW, my iPad is on a Ulanzi iPad mount which is attached to a Artcise LB52 gimble which is then mounted forward on my center console. Both those gizmos are available on Amazon. That way I can tilt the iPad where I want it and swivel it right or left so the driver or passenger can do the navigating.
If you don’t have a GPS capable iPad, you can bluetooth a Garmin InReach device to your iPad, providing you with real time location services.
I’ll typically download all of my route and area maps at home and augment maps the road using Starbuck’s wifi (thank you Starbucks) so if you are thinking about using an niPad screen for navigation, buy one with the biggest memory you can afford so you don’t have to stop to download new maps over wifi.
And finally, I respect Clydeps’ four dome always running security cam setup, but that’s a lot of content. In town or in the wild I’m not concerned about security at all. But at night I do put a $100 game camera about a foot off the ground under the truck to capture video of critters visiting our campsite, and I have some pretty cool videos of foxes, ringtails, deer, elk, mice and a domestic cat or two. Yes, we have video of domestic cats out there in the middle of nowhere. Go figure.
If you do want some sort of 24/7 security check out BlackVue’s cameras with Parking Mode. Some of them even integrate into your vehicle‘s 4G system, if you have that option in your truck.
