With the price of gas over two bucks a gallon, pulling my 7,500 pound camping trailer with a thirsty full size Dodge didn't make much sense. So I left my trailer at home and roughed it for a few nights in the bed of the truck. This made me realize a few things.
First was, by morning my sleeping bag and everything in the bed of the truck was wet from the overnight moisture. Also noted was that there was very little protection from the wind.
Finally, there was no privacy as you are in clear view of whoever walks by the truck. An upside to sleeping in the truck - it's just the right size for my full size air mattress and I didn't have to sleep on the ground with the creepy critters. This experience left me looking for an economical way to utilize my truck for camping more efficiently.
After much debate and research the quest for shelter was
narrowed down to a truck tent that offered the best features,
Adventure - I by ENEL (http://www.adventuretrucktent.com/AdventureTruckTent.ivnu)
Features that far exceed other truck tents:
5 feet of head room throughout the
tent
Covers entire bed of truck utilizing the extra
2 feet with the tailgate down
Access to the inside of the truck through the
rear window. My 7 year old son really likes this since he can crawl
into the back seat to sleep.
Nice ventilation for warmer nights
No floor so you don't have to remove gear from
the truck bed to set it up
After a quick purchase on-line the tent showed up
a few days later. It was surprising how small and lightweight the
tent bag was and how well everything went back into the bag.
Instructions that came with the tent said it takes 10 minutes to
set up. The first set up took around 15 minutes but the second time
was closer to 10 minutes. The quality of the materials used is top
notch and seem likely to last a long time. ENEL recommends that the
tent should only be put back inside the bag when it's completely
dry to avoid mildew, and this needs to be done to make it last.
Zippers work smoothly and so far we've not experienced any of them
hanging up. All of the sewn areas were free from defects. Wind
protection seems good but we've only used it in a light breeze. For
windy conditions there are loops to attach anchors to. Stakes and
line are not included with the tent but as of yet we've not needed
them.
Once set up there's enough room for
two adults and a kid or two. Take a look at ENEL's website for some
interesting configurations that might accommodate more. There's
plenty of leg room for a 6 foot person to sleep with space for
gear. This truck tent met all of the needs I was looking for and at
$199 it's a bargain! In two trips pulling my trailer I'll save that
in gas alone.
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