Crazy truck camper—is anything like this available in the States?

[biggestjosh]

I've never seen a truck camper like this before, seems like a great idea:

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[paval3]

I haven't seen anything like it yet, but then I stopped going to the cap industry trade shows years ago.

Interesting because we just a conversation with a customer the other day saying he and his buddies and people on the truck forum he participates in are more going into rigging a set up to sleep in their truck beds rather than haul a trailer or tent camp. If it was like back in the 70's & 80's where there were only a few truck bed sizes and caps were interchangeable across truck brands and span of years, a unit we used to make would be ideal. It was called a "camperette". Went nice with any cap we made 36" high or higher so you had head room to sit at the table which converted down to make the bed.

If you had an 8' bed truck, there was almost 2' of space beyond the seats. Some times people put a little porta-potty. There were lift up panels under the seat cushions that provided storage.

 

[Grumpaw]

Nope, not for a mid-size like the Ranger. Some are available with slide-outs, but for full size pick up's.
Northstar, Overland, Phoenix make slide-in's for mid-size, but they have an expandable roof, but no side slide-outs.

 

[subquark]

I've never seen a truck camper like this before, seems like a great idea:

I'd need some form of side step to reach high enough to deploy this thing. But it is wicked cool.

 

[Wes Siler]

All I can see there is weight and failure points.

If you want something that compresses into a reasonable footprint while driving, then expands for camping, and offers completely unnecessary levels of comfort, then you need a 4Wheel Camper. But that company doesn't make any products light enough to safely carry in the back of a Ranger...

 

[Msfitoy]

I see $60,000...

 

[lazynorse]

Fun to see new ideas, but this design takes many, many steps to deploy the bed on both sides.

Also, our trucks, sad to say are not great candidates for slide ins. Too heavy. Four Wheel Camper Project M and OVLND make popup bedrail mounted systems that do away with the lower sides and floor of a slide in and weigh less than 400 pounds.

My hesitation will always be around comparing the speed of deployment, spaciousness and cost of a 10' x 10' Gazelle tent (~$400) to things well north of $10,000 or $15,000 at the cheap end (Project M, OVLND or any of the wedge campers).

I can deploy and stake my Gazelle in 3 - 5 minutes and have standing room to change, ample space to sleep on 30" wide pads with a dog stretched out in the middle. Plus, if the weather turns, we can plop our camp chairs in there and hang out. It is larger than any camper, period. Can also leave camp with my truck and keep the tent where I left it.

It takes a whole lot for me, an ultralight backpacker btw, to get over the cost hurdle for a camper situation that offers less sleeping and living room than a $400 fast-deploy tent like the Gazelle.

If I could snap my fingers, I'd take an OVLND pop up. There is zero chance I'd spend the likely $30,000 on a transformer like the one in the video above. That said, I love that folks are designing new things for small trucks.

 

[LaBalbe]

The idea of making slide-outs so that it's like a pop-up tent is neat, but what bugs me about this design is that they say that you can't take it off; also, was there something in there about having to remove the floor of the bed to fit this thing into place? If you can't ever take it out, then you have to dedicate the truck to this full-time and you'd need a second vehicle for all other uses. In that case, I'd rather just have my truck and a small camping trailer/pop-up tent. I think the only time I might actually consider this particular set-up is if I was taking a gap year to go touring; then, yeah, I might see this being an option, but I'd still probably go for the trailer.

 

[Msfitoy]

Having experienced RTT and Gazelle, I'd say Gazelle has one advantage that I prefer...and that is it's quick deployment and stand alone setup...I've never like the idea of being tethered to the camp spot once the RTT has been deployed without closing up...not to mention that an emergency escape will tear the RTT apart..also, the RTT is going for the ride where ever I go and the MPG impact that goes with it...same with any back of bed camper...Gazelle is nice but it's back to ground tenting...I'm more and more inclined to sell the RTT in favor of a small off road capable camper/toy hauler...suitable to take my mower in for service or hit the camp ground when the time is right...if only someone could make something like an Intech Explore for $15K...

In 2000, I bought a brand new 21' Casita fiberglass trailer with full bath and galley for around $13K...today they go for $42K...you know I'm bashing my head against the wall every time I think about having sold it...RV prices are F'n INSANE these days...

 

[Canadian Ranger]

All I can see there is weight and failure points.

If you want something that compresses into a reasonable footprint while driving, then expands for camping, and offers completely unnecessary levels of comfort, then you need a 4Wheel Camper. But that company doesn't make any products light enough to safely carry in the back of a Ranger...

Re failure points....This particular one even sounds cheap when he's opening doors and sliders on it. The quality ranks up there with a Barbie play house.

 

[oldnslow]

A few things were lost in translation, like the bed is 50 meters wide - um, that would be around 150 feet! Given that, I don't think the bed floor has to be removed. But it is not a slide-in either, so yes, the truck would be dedicated as a camper.

I don't see the usefulness of a camper that sleeps up to 6 on a truck that can only carry 4, and seems to be able to seat 0 for meals. Maybe their idea of camping is different than mine.

I also see so many ways for this to leak. Too many seams, each one a leak waiting to happen. I lived a year in Thailand in the military, and it is a fairly wet place.

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