Camping Tents (Fitted) for Truck Beds

victoryformsu · January 26, 2015

Does anyone on this website use truck tents?

Has anyone purchased any of these three below?

I am having a hard time deciding which one might be the best functionally, most durable, and the best value for the money ...

http://www.autoanything.com/truck-tents ... -57-series

http://www.autoanything.com/truck-tents ... truck-tent

http://www.autoanything.com/truck-tents ... truck-tent

Dropsix · March 3, 2015

Does anyone on this website use truck tents?

Has anyone purchased any of these three below?

I am having a hard time deciding which one might be the best functionally, most durable, and the best value for the money ...

http://www.autoanything.com/truck-tents ... -57-series

http://www.autoanything.com/truck-tents ... truck-tent

http://www.autoanything.com/truck-tents ... truck-tent

Hi! Too bad no one else replied to you post. I am also looking and I've decided on the Napier 57 series. Your first link. My neighbour has it and likes it.

That's my only reasoning.

victoryformsu · March 4, 2015

Yeah, I think I am going to get that one as well in the near future.

- I found out a friend has one and they have used it for camping in, weekend long concert festivals, etc.

- I also saw that it generally had better reviews in durability over the various retailers.

-

Dropsix · March 4, 2015

Yeah, I think I am going to get that one as well in the near future.

- I found out a friend has one and they have used it for camping in, weekend long concert festivals, etc.

- I also saw that it generally had better reviews in durability over the various retailers.

-

I wonder if it'll be less humid than sleeping in a tent on the ground. Hope so.

CoasterCOG · March 5, 2015

I've slept in mine under the tonneau cover. Works fine as long as you're not someplace with tons of bugs. With the bed side openings and the tailgate edges shaped to let air go through it was actually well ventilated.

Didi freak a guy out in the morning when I dropped the tailgate to get out as he happened to be walking past.

[email protected] · September 20, 2015

The original Post was Jan. 2015 - - - wonder if anyone bought and used a truck bed tent in the mean time?

I'm leaning toward the third link above the Rightline Gear Truck Tent - mostly because I don't want to have to take everything out of the bed - to put the Tent up. {floor-less design}. Plus it is supposed to work with a roll up Tonneau Cover. Based only on Reviews - I do wish someone made one with better quality.. but so far haven't found one.

http://www.autoanything.com/truck-tents/rightline-gear-truck-tent

Truck Bed Tents, Pop-up Tents, Truck Tents,

[email protected] · September 29, 2015

Time for a follow-up Post.

I received the Ridgeline Gear Truck Tent 22Sept2015 - via Amazon. Free shipping, but Florida Sales Tax. Wanted to learn how to to it up and take it down - before camping out the following week-end. So took it out of the box - and after watching a couple of YouTube videos, and flowing the instructions - started to install it on the truck bed.

Among the first steps is to secure the front of the tent to the tail gate and sides of the truck. As I pulled the tent material over the tail gate - an improperly and poorly sewn seam overlap and tie-down strap allowed the material to tear. The material is fairly strong - but once the edge of the material is allowed to start to tear - the material tears very easily. I was attempting to attach the tie-down strap to the bottom edge of the truck - pulling lightly to take up the slack - when the material tore away from the stitching..

Stopped right there - rolled the tent up and put it back in the bag/box - logged into Amazon and ask for a replacement - due to defective product. No hassle at all - had the replacement by Thursday. Started over Thursday - and all went well. Took about 25 minutes to put it up the first time. A lot of that time was spent checking every step of the instructions - intentionally going slow. Then took it back down, rolled it up and put it in the supplied tent bad.

Went to the SCCA National Championship Run-Off’s at Daytona International Speedway this past week-end. Camped out over night Saturday in the infield. It was fairly windy when I put the tent up - some cloud cover - so thought I’d better put the rain fly on. Not so easy to do in the wind !! Especially when the wind kept changing directions. After about six unsuccessful attempts - - a kind man came over to offer some help!! Which I gladly accepted.. with two people it was pretty easy!

One of the problems with the Rain Fly is that it isn’t well marked as to which end goes where. Wound up putting it on backward the first time - actually inside out too. Now that I know where what goes - should be easier the next time. I may mark the edge that goes over the tent door - so it is easy to find the next time.

The downside is that the Rain Fly also shuts off all most all the air flow though the tent. Wind from either side of the tent, just blows the Rain Fly material down on the rear side vents in the tent - and covers them up.

Over-all - the tent does pretty much what it is suppose to do. Past that - I would have to say that the over-all quality is very poor. The seam overlaps and stitching are poorly done. The tent material isn’t particularly good either. Given you can buy on ground tents of the same size or larger - that use the same structure of flexible fiberglass poles etc for around between $39.00 and $49.00 dollars {with actually higher quality assembly/construction}… at $179.00, four times the price - you should expect to get a higher quality product. The design is good - but a couple extra inches in the length of material along the length of the bed would also be an improvement. The seam overlaps, stitching quality and tie-down strap attachment point all need to be much stronger/better. If it was $40.00 you could accept it for what it is - a cheap tent. At $179.00 is should be a far better tent.

Wish I could recommend it - but I can’t. I used it once - and I may be able to use it a couple more times - but I’ll be doing so in constant fear of it busting apart at its seams each time… With Amazon’s Satisfaction Guarantee - I may just return it.

Just my experience and opinion

FWIW,

Carl B.

jjkukla · September 29, 2015

^ Thanks for the review. I've been looking at these myself, just to take down to the beach for days with the family and the occasional overnighter with my son. I think I'll try a DIY solution with PVC pipe and a tarp first.

Thanks again.