While most of us don’t have a dedicated RV, there are plenty of truck-based tents and accessories to make it easy, comfortable and entirely enjoyable to drive into the great outdoors.
But before you set off here’s what you need to know to outfit your pickup for the campsite.
Do Your Research
Get to know different truck-friendly camping gear and what they need to work efficiently. Your needs for drive-up campsites versus extended time off-grid will vary greatly. How you intend to camp makes a huge difference to everything from what food you bring to how much extra water and fuel you want to keep handy.
While a cooler packed with food should easily take you through a weekend if you plan to brave the great outdoors, plan on simple meals that don’t spoil quickly and lots of water. Understanding how best to pack your truck is an essential part of a successful trip.
Checklists
Well before the morning of your trip, write down an extensive checklist of everything you think you will need to do. Use the next few days to pare down that expensive list but don’t skimp on the essentials to keep you going – food, water, protection from the elements, first aid and gear for any activities you plan to do. Also consider creating a tentative itinerary to mark fuel, food and bathroom stops you’ll need along the way.
Cargo Capacity
Before you load up your truck with cargo and accessories, refer to a vehicle’s owner’s manual or manufacturers website for specific weights and capacities. Your payload capacity is the maximum weight your truck can carry and it includes everything – even the fuel in the tank helps you understand how much you can bring along and what kind of fuel efficiency you can expect.
Where You’ll Sleep
Your sleeping arrangement will usually depend on several things, including where you stop, how many people are traveling with you, your personal preferences and your budget. You can choose from options like a ground tent, a rooftop tent, a truck bed tent or a travel trailer depending on your destination and how much cargo you are carrying. Travel trailers can prove to be a versatile option with more living and sleeping space. But you must know how to operate your truck with a trailer attached before you decide to get one.
Remember To Take…
While most people will add a cooler, camp chair and extra sleeping bag to their gear list, here are a few that could significantly improve your trip without adding too much weight.
Spare battery – Save your truck battery from the added stress of powering electric coolers and charging smartphones and invest in a portable power option instead. High capacity stations can power several appliances and keep your phone, camera and laptop charged while eliminating the risk of killing your truck’s battery.
Suitable storage – Use a mix and match set of interlocking plastic bins for food, tools and gear. This helps you maximize cargo space and makes packing and unpacking so much easier.
Hitch-mounted add-ons – Gear such as high-mounted tables, baskets and grills can provide additional storage space or make life on the road a whole lot easier.
While even the most experienced campers will inadvertently forget something, having a standard checklist that you can reuse for every trip can be extremely useful and will make you more efficient with every new adventure.