Truck Camping
OK, some people emailed me about truck camping, so I'm just going to make a new post on that rather than send 4x copies of the same email.
This really is more along the lines of "truck sleeping" instead of true "truck camping". The goal is to let me sleep comfortably in the back of my Ranger pickup on short camping trips and visits-to-friends-without-crash-space. This is all solo. If my husband is along, we're getting a hotel room. I've done this many a time in the past in my Explorer, and learned from the bits that didn't work all that well.
This is all designed to be 1) installable and removable by a single older person with bad knees; 2) allow boondocking for short periods of time; 3) usable on falconry trips so will have to still be capable of housing hawks and their gear as well as me; and 4) frugal (within reason).
Things not in scope at this time: inverters and power, heating/cooling, refrigeration (other than coolers), showers, bed extension, insulation, true curtains, screening/mosquito-proofing the windoor, and actual campers like the slide-ins.
I've got a basic Jason-brand topper, with driver-side full windoor, passenger-side half-slider, and front pass-through/flip-down. It is not an extended-height, which now I wish I had gotten since headroom is so tight even 3" would be a major major difference.
The window covering will be black cloth stapled to Reflectix. This is light enough that it can be hung with simple clips or velcro, and Reflectix can be folded or rolled up easily.
The existing air mattress fits - just barely - in the truck bed (6' long). It will go on a platform that is built on one side taking up 1/2 to 2/3rds of the width of the bed and elevated above the wheelwells. Underneath the platform will be used for storage. The 'side' not occupied by the bed will be holding tall things such as the mini Big Green Egg and hawk travel box.
Sleeping platform - I'm working on a sort of hybrid of this fancy thing http://www.yotatech.com/f116/sleeping-platform-finished-many-pix-83757/ and this basic thing http://www.yotatech.com/f2/sleeping-platform-blueprints-96324/ ... I want the open framing for ease of storage and reducing the platform weight, but with my weight I need supports that are more like the former. My design is modular open-frame that makes a "C" around the wheelwell and then plywood goes on top.
My design has the plywood sheet top as several pieces simply lying on top of the support frame. Being able to move the plywood sections jigsaw-puzzle-style independently of the framing will make installation and removal go much faster. I may end up bolting the tops to the frame in order to prevent shuffling around, but ease of removal is still important.
Condensation prevention is still TBD: whether the small battery-powered fan will 1) last all night on batteries recharged during the day; 2) move enough air to prevent condensation; and 3) will actually fit in a place where it can push/pull air without letting in lots of mosquitoes. Since I will not be sleeping in the vehicle itself, condensation is more of a comfort issue than the major "crap every window is coated and I can't drive until I squeegee them" inconvenience that it was the first time in the Explorer.
Other than some kind of portable toilet, there's not going to be much difference from regular camping. Since I'm going to be mostly at regular campsites anyhow, the in-truck toilet is expected to get used only at 3am when it's too rainy/cold to get dressed and walk to the facilities. I'm on the lookout for a small cheap popup privacy shelter or Kelty Carport style privacy screen.
I have not done any real research online because my needs are minor at this time, but I have found two useful places: There is a Toyota forum with several great threads on sleeping platforms and cargo boxes (and cargo boxes doubling as sleeping platforms): www.yotatech.com. Another one I found, but didn't bookmark, was a very active forum for spelunkers. The spelunking site had more talk specific to pickup-beds as opposed to the yotatech which has more SUV-ish diagrams and was pretty much Toyota-only (makes sense). But both were far more supportive atmosphere-wise than the Ford Ranger forums I visited, ugh.
The camping that is not visiting-friends type is expected to be mostly falconry related activities (field meet or trapping), fishing, playing-tourist, and birding.
This really is more along the lines of "truck sleeping" instead of true "truck camping". The goal is to let me sleep comfortably in the back of my Ranger pickup on short camping trips and visits-to-friends-without-crash-space. This is all solo. If my husband is along, we're getting a hotel room. I've done this many a time in the past in my Explorer, and learned from the bits that didn't work all that well.
This is all designed to be 1) installable and removable by a single older person with bad knees; 2) allow boondocking for short periods of time; 3) usable on falconry trips so will have to still be capable of housing hawks and their gear as well as me; and 4) frugal (within reason).
Things not in scope at this time: inverters and power, heating/cooling, refrigeration (other than coolers), showers, bed extension, insulation, true curtains, screening/mosquito-proofing the windoor, and actual campers like the slide-ins.
I've got a basic Jason-brand topper, with driver-side full windoor, passenger-side half-slider, and front pass-through/flip-down. It is not an extended-height, which now I wish I had gotten since headroom is so tight even 3" would be a major major difference.
The window covering will be black cloth stapled to Reflectix. This is light enough that it can be hung with simple clips or velcro, and Reflectix can be folded or rolled up easily.
The existing air mattress fits - just barely - in the truck bed (6' long). It will go on a platform that is built on one side taking up 1/2 to 2/3rds of the width of the bed and elevated above the wheelwells. Underneath the platform will be used for storage. The 'side' not occupied by the bed will be holding tall things such as the mini Big Green Egg and hawk travel box.
Sleeping platform - I'm working on a sort of hybrid of this fancy thing http://www.yotatech.com/f116/sleeping-platform-finished-many-pix-83757/ and this basic thing http://www.yotatech.com/f2/sleeping-platform-blueprints-96324/ ... I want the open framing for ease of storage and reducing the platform weight, but with my weight I need supports that are more like the former. My design is modular open-frame that makes a "C" around the wheelwell and then plywood goes on top.
My design has the plywood sheet top as several pieces simply lying on top of the support frame. Being able to move the plywood sections jigsaw-puzzle-style independently of the framing will make installation and removal go much faster. I may end up bolting the tops to the frame in order to prevent shuffling around, but ease of removal is still important.
Condensation prevention is still TBD: whether the small battery-powered fan will 1) last all night on batteries recharged during the day; 2) move enough air to prevent condensation; and 3) will actually fit in a place where it can push/pull air without letting in lots of mosquitoes. Since I will not be sleeping in the vehicle itself, condensation is more of a comfort issue than the major "crap every window is coated and I can't drive until I squeegee them" inconvenience that it was the first time in the Explorer.
Other than some kind of portable toilet, there's not going to be much difference from regular camping. Since I'm going to be mostly at regular campsites anyhow, the in-truck toilet is expected to get used only at 3am when it's too rainy/cold to get dressed and walk to the facilities. I'm on the lookout for a small cheap popup privacy shelter or Kelty Carport style privacy screen.
I have not done any real research online because my needs are minor at this time, but I have found two useful places: There is a Toyota forum with several great threads on sleeping platforms and cargo boxes (and cargo boxes doubling as sleeping platforms): www.yotatech.com. Another one I found, but didn't bookmark, was a very active forum for spelunkers. The spelunking site had more talk specific to pickup-beds as opposed to the yotatech which has more SUV-ish diagrams and was pretty much Toyota-only (makes sense). But both were far more supportive atmosphere-wise than the Ford Ranger forums I visited, ugh.
The camping that is not visiting-friends type is expected to be mostly falconry related activities (field meet or trapping), fishing, playing-tourist, and birding.