Truck bed tents, air mattresses
- Thread starter JamesBC
- Start date
ntsqd
Heretic Car Camper
Seeings how no one has answered this yet I'll offer my meager experience with one of the Sportz tents. I bought one on sale from Cabela's a while back. I've set it up exactly once, in front of my house. It set up fairly fast given that it was totally new to me. Only reason that it hasn't been used is that I have other, more desirable options. At some point I expect to use it in my 4x4 when the shell is off, but that hasn't happened yet.
jim65wagon
Well-known member
I've got the Sortz Tent III. Used it one year and now we use two ground tents with cots.
I really liked sleeping off the ground, but (and I really didn't think it would be an issue until we used it a couple of times) you have to unload the entire bed of the truck to use it. Everything.
And then, if you want to tour a trail, tent has to come down and your recovery kit and any other accessories you unloaded the night before have to go back in.
It's not bad to use it as a basecamp for hiking one area, but if your doing a multiday, multiple location trip it's a pain.
As for the air mattress....with the truck tents it's great. A nice comfy nights sleep. One caveat however, keep your cats away from it. You'll wake up at 2 in the morning in the woods somewhere and have to fire up the old air compressor! Believe me the convoluted bed of the truck is mighty uncomfortable!
I really liked sleeping off the ground, but (and I really didn't think it would be an issue until we used it a couple of times) you have to unload the entire bed of the truck to use it. Everything.
And then, if you want to tour a trail, tent has to come down and your recovery kit and any other accessories you unloaded the night before have to go back in.
It's not bad to use it as a basecamp for hiking one area, but if your doing a multiday, multiple location trip it's a pain.
As for the air mattress....with the truck tents it's great. A nice comfy nights sleep. One caveat however, keep your cats away from it. You'll wake up at 2 in the morning in the woods somewhere and have to fire up the old air compressor! Believe me the convoluted bed of the truck is mighty uncomfortable!
Dave Bennett
Adventurist
I agree with jim65wagon, total PITA on a multi day trip...
Maximus Ram
Expedition Leader
Yep, they are nice to get you off of the ground. Just don't plan on using your rig to do anything else. Had one I used on my Dodge. Plenty of room inside, just made the truck useless for anything else.
westexasrepublic
Observer
Ive been hearing nothing but complaints about this same issue of not being able to use the truck after set up....that being said, I sill baught one and am willing to give a try on my first campout of the year 2 weekends from now....I have a Nissan Frontier and was able to purchase the Factory tent for half the price advertised...Now once I use it, I can have more of an opinion, howver I always pack VERY light so packing and unpacking is literally no more than a 15 minute deal.
Now I have set it up only once and the conclusion I have come to is that the only thing in the tent is usually the matress and bedding (pillows,sheet, blanket) and with only those things in there I was able to unclip the side bungees and in 5 minutes the tent was on the ground like a regular tent.
Another idea I have yet to try is for traveling somewhere and not returning to that same campsite....Instead of taking it out of the bed and all the bedding inside, leave it. Leave it all in the bed just unhook the clips and undoe the poles and lay them down where they fall....Once you get to your new destination remove luggage on top and reassemble (should take less time since partially assembled allready).:camping:
Now I have set it up only once and the conclusion I have come to is that the only thing in the tent is usually the matress and bedding (pillows,sheet, blanket) and with only those things in there I was able to unclip the side bungees and in 5 minutes the tent was on the ground like a regular tent.
Another idea I have yet to try is for traveling somewhere and not returning to that same campsite....Instead of taking it out of the bed and all the bedding inside, leave it. Leave it all in the bed just unhook the clips and undoe the poles and lay them down where they fall....Once you get to your new destination remove luggage on top and reassemble (should take less time since partially assembled allready).:camping:
the dude
Adventurer
No idea on the truck tent. A couple guys in our club have used them in the past. They no longer do.
As for a traditional air mattresses, I personally don't like them for a couple reasons. They're cold. If you camp in anything but warm temps you will find them cold. They have no way of warming up that air that is under you and the ground (or truck). They will make you cold. The other reason, if you have two people sleeping on them, when one person moves, so does the other...I would roll my wife off the mattress half the time.
Our solution was to invest in a down filled mattress from Exped. We love these things. Way more comfortable then our therma rests. We use two attached so we can still cuddle but they are independent from one another. The keep us very warm for our winter camping. At -20C and below we will use a closed foam pad underneath to help them out. And they are very compactable. Filling them up can be a bit of a chore, but if there is two of you it makes it better. You use the bag they're stored in as a pump for the air..
We also looked at foam but found it too bulky and hard to store when you don't need it.
As for a traditional air mattresses, I personally don't like them for a couple reasons. They're cold. If you camp in anything but warm temps you will find them cold. They have no way of warming up that air that is under you and the ground (or truck). They will make you cold. The other reason, if you have two people sleeping on them, when one person moves, so does the other...I would roll my wife off the mattress half the time.
Our solution was to invest in a down filled mattress from Exped. We love these things. Way more comfortable then our therma rests. We use two attached so we can still cuddle but they are independent from one another. The keep us very warm for our winter camping. At -20C and below we will use a closed foam pad underneath to help them out. And they are very compactable. Filling them up can be a bit of a chore, but if there is two of you it makes it better. You use the bag they're stored in as a pump for the air..
We also looked at foam but found it too bulky and hard to store when you don't need it.
westexasrepublic
Observer
Heres a link to my first experience with my Truck tent this weekend, and let me say nothing but good things with this set up. I guess everyone packs a ton of stuff in there beds to not want one, but, I pack light.
enjoy :ylsmoke: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12599&page=2
enjoy :ylsmoke: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12599&page=2
Accrete
Explorer
we use the Sportz 83000
We recently got the Napier/Sportz Tent model 83000 with the screen room, this is a new model for 2008. It is awesome. We use the AirBedz in the truck inside the shell. This is a very comfortable setup for us.
a recent post in the Accrete TACO thread shows all the pix i uploaded.
We recently got the Napier/Sportz Tent model 83000 with the screen room, this is a new model for 2008. It is awesome. We use the AirBedz in the truck inside the shell. This is a very comfortable setup for us.
a recent post in the Accrete TACO thread shows all the pix i uploaded.