Sort of OT: Anyone use a truck camper shell for travelling?

[Triggernosis]

I'm considering using my camper shell to sleep in while doing some hunting, fishing, shooting expeditions in the near future and wondering if anyone has any advice/experiences to share.

I've got to figure out a way to get some A/C in that sucker for the hot SE summer months. About the only feasible thing I can thing of is to just get a cheap window unit and sit it on a stand next to the truck blowing air into the side window. I'll probably need a portable generator to be fully self-contained.

[Blaine]

http://www.adventurerv.net/coleman-pola ... 8jfk54ge31

[2X22]

Shoot, I"ve spent 30 years in the back of my trucks with a camper shell Used to spend entire summers that way, up in the high country with rifle and fishing pole in hand!

The wife and I for many decades traveled throughout the Western States using a camper shell, eating out of coolers, taking baths in rivers.

The best way, most comfortable way, is to take a bed mattress and toss it in so your nights are comfortable. Just move things to the side to crawl into your sleeping bag. You'll wonder why you need to go home!

Just make sure you have screened windows in it to keep the mosquitos out

2x22

[Rusty]

I did when I was younger and dum... um, er, less experienced.

The wife and I stayed in quite a few campgrounds when we were younger. Just put a mattress on the floor and sacked out. I found out real soon that you need a sheet of plywood to cover those ribs on the floor or you'll feel them right through the mattress.

We actually found that camping in a tent kept in the shell was more comfy. Also more roomy. And usually cooler without A/C.

We're a little older, well a lot older now and find that our idea of roughing it, has now morphed into checking into a motel without room service.

[Hobie]

I'm considering using my camper shell to sleep in while doing some hunting, fishing, shooting expeditions in the near future and wondering if anyone has any advice/experiences to share.

I've got to figure out a way to get some A/C in that sucker for the hot SE summer months. About the only feasible thing I can thing of is to just get a cheap window unit and sit it on a stand next to the truck blowing air into the side window. I'll probably need a portable generator to be fully self-contained.

AC, ha! I've done it without AC. Something under you to give a flat and perhaps cushioned surface to sleep on. Stow everything every morning. Use a skeeter net. No tent to erect. All good. But if you want COMFORT check into a hotel. Still it is more comfortable than merely wrapping yourself in a poncho and lying on the ground.

[Ben_Rumson]

Never underestimate the efficiency of an 8" oscillating fan... Just having a slight breeze from a fan blowing over your body or just on your face will keep you comfortable enough to get off to sleep.. Battery powered ones are available...I always take one when I travel..Set it up in the Motel room too.. They really will circulate the air in a hot room as the AC works to get a room down to comfort level.. Or you can keep it aimed at your body till things get right..

[dr walker]

Sliding side windows with screens and a lil fan makes a huge difference. Much more comfortable with plywood down on the floor. For me parking on a level surface make s a huge difference in comfort.

[Larsen E. Whipsnade]

I did quite a bit of this over the years. Never had AC, but my cap had sliding windows with screens, so I could get a breeze most nights. The battery-powered fan sounds like a good idea if you're going to be in hot humid areas. One thing that I found helpful, especially when my future ex-wife was along, was to build a plywood platform that went over the wheel wells. Then i had plenty of room to spread out on top, and stowed all my gear underneath. I put it in plastic storage trays (the kind that they sell to store stuff under your bed) and attached a length of parachute cord to each. When I wanted something I could just pull the tray out by the cord. I took along a broom handle to push 'em back in. I could store most of my gear in 4 trays, which took up most of the truck bed with some room left on the end for other gear. Still had to put bulky stuff like water jugs up top, but things were a lot roomier & it saved always having to rearrange everything every time I wanted something or was ready to sack out. I also had a triangular pillow of fairly hard foam rubber that was good for laying up reading. The one I had was made for video gamers to lay on the floor propped up while playing. Don't know if you could find one like it today, but it shouldn't be too hard to make something similar.

Happy trails!

[BwanaDave]

I have been using a little teardrop camper I made a few months back. I am in TN so I know about the heat and humidity. I go back and forth to my place in NM every couple of months. I welded up a mini wood burning stove for the winter and that works great. I don't have any AC so I am going to add a small hatch on top. Right now I have a bronze port hole in the door for ventilation but I need more. If I figure out how to post pictures I will. It was really easy to build.

dave

[gak]

+1 to the fan and plywood floor ideas. Regarding side storage, the area behind the wheelwells are good places to stow gear either with aftwermarket or D-I-Y bins/shelving. Remember the area ahead of the wheelwells (on the floor level at least) you'll want for elbow room while sleeping, something inherently missing in the step-side type pickups BTW. You'll never think about that space until you don't have it! Put up some velcro strips (or other securement) over the top edge of the side (and back) windows so you can hang drapes/shades (with their own male/female strips as well of course). Not only for camping privacy, but to keep that dang sun out if you're not camped in a shady area (rule #1 of course WRT the a/c issue)...as well as keep prying eyes away when on the road parked somewhere. One word of caution, if you run a comppressor for an a/c unit or other purpose, run it a long ways away from your truck/campsite. CO kills too many every year. Tragedies involving hunters in places like Arizona's remote (and cold) Kaibab country--and I'm sure all over the country--are legion. A pair of strapping young horsemen died camping in their shell in a parking lot at a rodeo here in the Phoenix last year--compressor running all night on their tailgate (or some such). Sounds like common sense to avoid that, but it happens all too regularly.

For those contemplating buying a truck for this kind of duty, something lost on almost everybody--buyers, sellers and media alike--is the fact that even the mid-size (aka light) 1/2 and light 3/4 ton (Silverado 1500/light 2500, F-150/light 250, Tundra, etc) trucks no longer have a "regular" (formerly "short") bed--i.e., 6'+--in combo with the popular quad or crew cabs--precluding this type of camping for a lot of us. That is, no--or very few--6'+ beds out there with this configuration. I'm talking about the full-sized four doors, not the slightly shorter "extended" cabs.

Chevy/GM, Ford and Toyota I'm sure for chassis/cross-model efficiencies has gone to the shorties pretty much across the board on their light 4-door trucks. They each have a bed that--at first glance--looks ok (you'll swear is long enough), as it is not just a "trunklet" (my term) like some of the minis have,..but the spec sheet or your own measurement will reveal something well shy of 6'. Ditto Ford (look at the Raptor/crew) and Toyota Tundra. Not sure about Dodge, but probably same situation. This is critical if you actually want to use your truck as a "truck" as in the good ol' days--either to sleep in or have better bed storage/hauling space generally.

The Ford, Chevy/GMC and Toyota--and probably Dodge--DO have 6.5'+ "regular" (not talking 8' long) beds you can get with their extended (aka super) cabs. Tundra ironically used to have a 6'+ bed with its full quad cab. Now that they've super-sized their truck ('07 on), it's only available with the shortie bed. Even if you say "I'm going to tent camp anyway, so don't care," these shorter beds can't even accommodate--except some with tube-type bed extenders (which are problematic with a shell anyway)--a lot of the personal off-road rec vehicles so popular. Buyer beware! If you don't absolutely need the luxury full four doors, get the extended cab. You'll end up with "more truck." It's the big industry secret (for a lot of unwitting buyers). $30-45k is a lot of money on a truck that doesn't even give you the flexibility to "comfortably" sleep in back any more. Again, for those who still might say they don't care (apparently a lot of folk, especially in urban areas), these shortie beds also limit the capaciousness of regular (cab-over, etc) camper units as well.

Fuel for thought. After you get the truck you *thought* was the bees knees, it's too late. My .02 and about worth that!

[Hobie]

I have been using a little teardrop camper I made a few months back. I am in TN so I know about the heat and humidity. I go back and forth to my place in NM every couple of months. I welded up a mini wood burning stove for the winter and that works great. I don't have any AC so I am going to add a small hatch on top. Right now I have a bronze port hole in the door for ventilation but I need more. If I figure out how to post pictures I will. It was really easy to build.

dave

Dave,

I think those things are NEAT. We've got a Trail Manor that we'll be selling. I'd like to get something to sleep in when hunting (since I don't have a camper shell ).

[1894cfan]

Glad I've got a Mazda/Ford B3000/Ranger long bed (7 footer) with cab height camper shell!

BTW, camper shell is a Leer with liner.

[Griff]

1-ton Chevy with cab-high shell (fiberglass) with sliding, screened windows. I had a carpeted kit in the bed, the floor was covered with plywood, and thick carpeting... then two side boxes that are hinged on top, also completely carpet covered. Each has a rail down the length of the bed to set a piece of plywood, padded and carpet covered on. You can set the shelf up to be in the breeze from the windows, or down to be a little more protected. With the shelf in the "up" position, you have a great place to keep ammo, guns and all the little stuff that you need for camping out-of-sight.

Wife preferred I pull the trailer and carried the generator; but for those solo trips, the above setup was great.

[Mac in Mo]

I would add that the cab high campers do not have much head room. I have spent many nights in various shells and liked my last one the best. It had the shell that was cab high at the front and went upwards the farther back it went. In humid areas be ready to wake up to heavy dew on everything. I second the curtains, an absolute must. Another thing to consider is one of the shells that has the full back to it, with a smaller door inset into it. You can open the entire thing like a giant hatchback or just use the smaller door for entrance/exit.The tailgate is removed to install the shell. Went on an elk hunt to Colorado with a guy who had one. It's much easier than climbing back and forth over the tailgate.

I am now on my second truck camper and really love these things. Beats the heck out of the shells.

[adirondakjack]

I've done it plenty. First INSULATE. At a minimum, use 1/2" or 1" blue or pink styrofoam board on the inside, then cover with either panelling or FRP fiberglass panel (like the stuff they put on restroom walls, bumpy, shiny fiberglass-reinforced plastic). Then yes, windows with screens, I'd opt for one or two solar powdered roof vent fans that can run all day and use no battery. If ya keep keep heat from building up in the day, nights are much better. NO AIR MATTRESS for me. I'd get a couple of those dense foam sleeping pads and put down a sheet of 1/4" underlayment ply first, then the sleeping pads, then make it up like yer bed at home... One alternative to AC is to instead install a lightweight roof rack (tubular kind that sticks up maybe 4" above the topper), use a lengthwise stick on top that, down the middle, and bungee a 6X8 tarp over that, creating a "flow through" air space above the roof and a sun shade. It works in the caribbean (that's how their houses are made, air flows freely under the roof).

[gak]

Adirondakjack said:
I've done it plenty. First INSULATE. At a minimum, use 1/2" or 1" blue or pink styrofoam board on the inside, then cover with either panelling or FRP fiberglass panel (like the stuff they put on restroom walls, bumpy, shiny fiberglass-reinforced plastic)

---
+1 to the insulation. Most shell companies sell insulated units as well (some with a "carpet" effect--if you've got the jingle, well worth it. Adds useful weight in back (as does the floor plywood) for better on-the-road ride. My first few shells were without insulation. My next had it: night 'n day.

[Triggernosis]

Thanks for the responses, gentlemen.
I've already got the truck - a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 with full-size bed - and the shell, a Leer with sliding windows with screens.
Sorry, but a fan ain't gonna work. I can't even sleep in my house with 10' ceilings with a fan anytime past June 1. I'm thinking a window unit A/C sitting on a stand next to one of the windows would work well enough.
I'm thinking that a Honda eu2000 generator may be in my future.

I'll try to take some pix and post them.