You will if there's a foot of snow on the ground...I've done it. then you'll need a tent heater of some sort, extra blankets, pillows, fuel for the tent heater, your lady won't want to stay with you then....you will get tired of eating fish...you'll get tired of swatting mosquitoes, you'll get tired of putting another log on the fire......

 

I have never been camping with a foot of snow on the ground and have mosquitoes flying around me.
Must be an Ohio thing, sure don't happen in the North country.


What's a tent heater ?
I've camped at 20 below zero and never had one, or is that what I should call my dog , who sleeps at my feet ?

 

a bit harsh IMO... but it works... i enjoy camping, and want to try using my truck as a "tent"...

 

I camped under a bridge once when I was a kid.
Then the flooding rains came.
Lost my favorite cooking pan.
Pi$$ed me off , I spent 5.99 for that pan.
I don't camp near bridges anymore.

 

Check out this guys site. He did some SERIOUS work on his.
http://safaripacific.com/vehicles.php
http://safaripacific.com/vehicles_mx2.php

He is also a member on here, check out his latest build thread. (a lot of the pics are missing though, see second page.

https://www.ranger-forums.com/fabrication-tool-tech-42/safari-pacific-xt1-expedition-trailer-129155/

Wayne, you don't seem to get that some people ENJOY camping. Don't act like we're all morons who have never tried this before, and just watched Into the Wild and think it would be a neat thing to do. many of us have camped quite a bit and know what it entails.

 

I have one of these too. I can't wait to try it out. Only crappy thing I encountered is every morn im gonna have to tear down to go play in the sand then every night put it back up.

 

Hey. Debbie downer, GTFO. It's the experience. Relaxing and catching the sights of nature. I went last year and got rained out but we saw critters we wouldn't normally see. It's even better when there is a number of people going and you share a couple sites.

 

that's true... it's all about the experience... last time i went, we got flooded in the area we were camping in, but it was still fun

 

I'd like to keep the name calling to a minimum gentlemen, I understand some of you may not want to camp, but please agree to disagree. lets not have a pissing competition in this thread.

When we go to the dunes, I'm pitching a tent in the back of the truck.
Well, maybe not a tent, but an air matress and my sleeping bag. If it rains, then i'll throw a real tent out there. But i figure it could work.
My advice, If you get a camper shell, get something thats tall enough for you to sit up in, while on an air mattress or something. you don't want to wake up in the middle of the night and bump your head on the shell top.

 

"bump your head on the shell top."

"we got flooded in the area we were camping in"

Don't bother me with this nonsense, I'm too old to put up with this kind of baloney anymore. Camping is for Indians and homeless people.

 

i have also been looking at a truck bed tent. if you really look at it you wont be spending that much time in the tent, unless it rains. you would take a folding table some chairs and a tarp or a ez up and sit under that or around the camp fire during the day and night. i would much rather sleep in th bed of my truck than on the ground. get a nice air mattress and you will be fine. i backpack and am used to only having whats on my back for a week at a time. so having a nice place to sleep while in the woods is huge plus. i met my girlfriend while sleeping in a ranger, a fiberlass lid doesnt give you alot of head room.

 

I got a roof rack that I will be putting on my topper when I get started on my project as it warms up. Give me a place to put some cargo, if I need the inside space. I actually have a thread somewhere on a similar subject for my build but I never made much progress during the winter months.

I actually think they make air mattresses made to fit truck beds, with cutouta for the wheel wells.

 

they do... i forget who makes it, but i've seen it...

 

I have that, made buy airbedz http://www.truckairbedz.com/ . It fits perfectly in the back of the truck, It actually goes over the wheel wells also so the whole area is a bed, you dont have to dodge the wheel wells at all. The only problem i have is that it sits high- the bed is even with the top of the bedrails which makes climbing in at night tricky. But it is super comfortable and sleeps me, the girlfriend, and the dog fine. they offer puncture resistant material also.

 

SteelDirigible, I found your thread and I will be interested to see your project take shape.

I'm a little shy of air mattresses.

 

I thought I would start back on it soon, since it's been warming up here... then i looked out my window this morning and saw snow.

 

I just signed up over at Expedition Portal. There seems to be lots of great info for people who are interested in this sort of thing. Not much Ranger specific tech that I've seen. Lots of Toyotas, but the stuff I'm interested in is pretty universal.

 

http://slo.craigslist.org/pts/2787922763.html

 

I camp out of the back of my truck with a fiberglass cap at LEAST 3 times a year. I've weathered some pretty nasty rain storms on the shore of lake superior, temps in the 20's with inadequate blankets, 90 plus degree weather... Never had a problem. I've also never had problems with hitting my head on the roof of the cap either. I can sleep comfortably with my girlfriend and a twin air mattress between the wheel wells. I wish I had pictures of my simple set up but I have never taken any. All I have to do is park, put the cooler and supply tub under the rear of the truck (or on the roof rack if theres a possibility of theft), blow up the mattress, roll out blankets/sleeping bags, throw a pillow in there for her and we're good to go. If it isnt supposed to rain you can leave the side windows open and have fresh air all night without bugs entering and if you need to take a leak just open the rear glass and drop the tailgate and whiz. It really is an awesome way to camp and can be a lot of fun for wheeling purposes. You can pretty much sleep anywhere!

 

That is a great site! I browse there frequently.

 

Air mattress are good in such kind of rescue activities.But there quality does matter a lot.





skin protection products

 

I have a leer camper cap with sliding windows that open quite wide and have bug screens so its nice and breezy on hot nights. I bought a truck bedz mattress that fits the contour of my bed, i think it was 200 at bass pro shops or something like that. i'm 5'8 170 and me and my gf at the time had lots of room, its very comfortable and way better than a tent.

 

That looks very comfy. I just had a customer buy one of those tents that get installed in the pickup box for his new 2013 F150. Price on it was $289 which I though wasn't too bad. Alot cheaper than a regular topper.

 

A bit of an update. I purchased a nice used topper, in the correct color, in the configuration I wanted. Saved many times the purchase price versus buying new!

I purchased a trailer that will comfortably fit 2 ATVs, or possibly 3 depending on size and arrangement. It will easily haul extra gear too!

Speaking of gear, I am still on the hunt for a suitable mattress or sleeping pad. I will likely be building a removable sleeping platform for some storage capacity.

I'll have to get a pic or two up for those interested.

 

Well, for anyone interested: I use a truck bed tent frequently and while it is hot always the perfect solution, it often is. DO NOT buy a truck bed mattress, as they are a total rip-off. A standard twin-size air mattress fits perfectly in the back of a ranger. Do you really need the corners to be filled in? They cost about 5x as much.

I camp regularly using my truck bed tent, and use a standard twin sized inflatable mattress. I got it off Amazon for about $60.