Pickup Truck

Getting Back to Nature in a Pickup Truck

I'm one of those elitist campers. You might have a relative like me. We're the kinds who think the minimalist approach is the only approach when it comes to enjoying the great outdoors. We like to rough it. We like our food caught in the wild. We like immerse ourselves into the wild like God intended. But no matter how macho we may act, sometimes we like to be pampered a little bit too.

The difference between us and your average yuppie is really just a matter of degrees. One man's pampering is another man's sissy stuff. For us, some overhead shelter that keeps most of the rain off us is fine. It doesn't have to be a $700 tent. In fact, a lean-to made of brush may be all the civilization we need. Where others pack in a quarter ton of home-prepared meals, we'll be content with the fish or crayfish we caught in a local stream - the only real luxury being that we bothered to cook it.

We tend to contentedly go about our manly-man lives until we actually experience how the other half lives. That's usually the result of bringing along the family or a city-dwelling friend. Though we might spend the entire trip poo-pooing them for being sissies we all too often find their ways aren't all that bad. Fortunately there's a way we can continue to massage our egos while enjoying a bit of the good life through pickup truck camping.

It sounds a bit like a Jeff Foxworthy nock-off, but you might be a manly man if you own a pickup truck. Should you own one you might find yourself in a love-hate relationship. They are great vehicles for all kinds of manly activities but they fall a bit short in the convenience department outside of that. All that empty space in the back begins to feel wasted if you aren't hauling something. But that's why God invented accessories, right?

To turn your truck from a full time utilitarian workhorse into a part time luxury home away from home you need just two things; a truck tent and a truck air mattress bed. Go camping with these two items and you'll spark a brand new love affair with your trusty pickup.

Truck tents are designed to cover the entire bed of your truck. They turn that wasted space into a convenient place to sleep. By using the bed of your pickup as your sleeping quarters you manage to stay off the ground which can be a tremendous comfort when an unexpected storm rolls through.

A close cousin to the truck tent is the SUV tent. As the back of an SUV is already covered, these tents simply extend the useful living area by attaching to the back of the truck. You can then use the back of your truck for sleeping and the extended tent section attached to it as living and changing quarters.

Air mattress beds for trucks are also custom fitted to the bed of particular makes and models of pickups. They are designed in an "I" shape to mold around the vehicle's wheel wells. While you could use any old rectangular air mattress, those made specifically for trucks and SUVs maximize the area covered by the mattress for superior comfort.

In combination, truck air mattress beds and tents make the best use of your vehicle as an alternative to sleeping on the ground. It's simply a fantastic way to enjoy the great outdoors in comfort and style without sacrificing that manly image you've worked so hard to maintain. Try it once and you might never go back to sleeping on the ground again!