Sleeping in the back of your truck?

[Frank grimes]

How many do this when camping/hunting solo instead of pitching a tent? How do you do it? Pros and cons?
thinking about picking up something like a canvas cutter bedroll, or something and a thermarest MondoKing or Exped megamat 10. And just sleeping in the truck bed. If I put a lid on it I think I could even run a small buddy heater in the colder months if needed. Not sure though.

[weatherby_man]

I have used a truck bed tent, they work really well.

[Frank grimes]

I have used a truck bed tent, they work really well.

I was thinking of something like the Kodiak canvas swag tent. Or the canvas cutter. The idea of having a bedroll type setup seems nice. Just roll it out and get some sleep

[eastkoot]

Insulate the canopy with spray foam or glue indoor/outdoor carpet to the roof. It will prevent any natural condensation from forming on the roof.. other than that, foam mattress and a good bag, good to go!!

[warnniklz]

Worst part about sleeping in the back of a truck when you're 6' 2"... well you know how hard it is to find 6' boxes on pickups these days.

Slept across the back seat of more than one truck. From Dodge Dakotas to 2019 F250s... but for a night or two, it's pretty hard to beat this option.

I've played around with different canopy options when I had one on the Ol Dodge Turbo POS...

This was in deer camp hitting -30s. Made sure there was windows vented. It was turn propane heater on to warm up. Turn off heater and sleep. Repeat until morning.




This was in the kootenay's on a september hunt with a buddy. I also used this method on a November goat hunt. Except on the goat hunt I backed up to the fire and didn't have -30 temps like deer camp.




I've even pulled off bunk beds in the back of a pickup before

[warnniklz]

Also have backed in underneath one of those cheap pop-up gazebos. Then tarped off the side of the gazebo.





But make sure everything is properly anchored or when you get off the mountain in a rainstorm... you wont have a dry place to hide. Also make sure your canopy doesn't have any leaky seals because that makes for a bad day.


Although I do prefer the canopy method over a camper in wetter conditions. Because even with heat in a camper, it's still damp. You'll have the expectations of being dry and warm, but you're still damp. At least if you're partially exposed you expect to be a little uncomfortable and therefore... more comfortable.

[bighornbob]

My bed liner of my old truck had spots for 2X4s to lay across the wheel wells. Three boards and a couple pieces of plywood and you were raised above the wheel wells so you had room for two people easy. The space below was left for gear. I found the smaller 8” rubber maid containers slid under no problem.

when I started going by my self, I used two pieces of plywood about 2.5ft wide if I remember correctly. This left a 1ft space down the middle. Made getting into bed way easier as you could walk down the middle (obviously crouching). Also made it easier to grab gear as you could see where it was and you were lifting only one side at a time.

with the raised bed you can leave it there all weekend and still pull gear out and put it back without having to roll up your bag and mattress.

camped like this for years.

bhb

[chilko]

Depending on your cab configuration , take your back seat and the passenger bucket out and sleep front to back . Lots of room and less condesation issues. Room for dog behind drivers seat if you have one ,and can warm up truck without getting out of your sleeping bag.

[BRvalley]

I use either a single air mattress (cheap one from walmart) or will use my backpacking air pad with few layers of foam, taped together so it doesn't separate as you roll around.....both work well, I think the cheap air mattress is more comfortable, but not as durable with punctures

I keep my gear in a two large tupperware containers, 150L i think from costco...so they go on the ground beside the truck and i'm in bed in a few minutes

propane heater will cause a lot of condensation, even with the insulated/carpeted roof, condensation is still there just doesn't drip down, i've turned the roof carpet to ice in my last canopy.....i only use the buddy heater to heat for 10-15 mins at a time, usually going to bed or waking up

through the night I burn candles to help take the edge off, I like the double size tea candles and will burn 4-6 of them (always light 2 fresh ones just before I fall asleep so they will last almost to morning), space them out and prop up my boiling pot over them, so it helps radiate the heat a bit and cuts down the light while sleeping....the candles keep it just above zero, coffee water doesn't freeze....I can truck camp comfortably down to around -10, after that I'll take the time to setup the tent and wood stove

I have considered using a cot, or building a plywood platform, but I prefer to have the extra head room (my canopy is flush with cab height) and my system works well enough with the large tupperware, one for hunting gear, one for camping gear, quick and easy when I want to sleep

lots of ideas in the overland truck forums/groups if you are thinking of building a deck system of some sort

[mastercaster]

If you're hunting the same general area on your trip why not set up tent?? I find a 2-3 man tent perfect for one guy and all your gear. It takes LESS than 10 minutes to set one up and your truck box is pretty much empty for driving to where you're going to hunt. If you keep all the stuff in the back of your truck at all times where are you going to put a dead animal?

Now, if your truck is never going to move from it's spot the whole trip and you're doing all your hunting on foot away from it and will be back packing your animal out I could see that it may be easier for you to just sleep in the back.