Lets talk all things camping........I've got questions

[2kwik4u]

So the wife and I used to camp. A LOT. Like 2-3 times a month for 8mo a year. All by the colded months we would be camping. Just the two of us, and it wasn't bad. We would take the boat, rent a small campsite and pitch a tent. It was easy. Then we got older, had kids, and well, haven't camped in a little over 8 years. We want back into that, but we're very conflicted on which direction to head.

Idea #1 - Slide in camper on my pickup, and pull the boat.
This has some positives that we like. A/C'd place to sleep, porta-potty INSIDE the sleeping area, so no more walking down to the both house at O-Dark-Thirty. We thought, "That's IT!, It'll work great. We can find a campsite, slide the camper out, then still have the truck to "run around" and launch the boat and all that. Then I started looking into what size slide-in I could really fit.....Basically, I can't. 1,573 of payload allowed on the truck. 300lbs tongue weight, 500lbs people+dog, 300-350lbs "cargo" of coolers, and cornhole boards, and whatever else we happen to want to take along, and I'm down to 478lbs of usable payload remaining......CRAP, this isn't going to work.

Idea #2 (this one was doomed from the begining)
I'll build a custom 5th wheel chassis from aluminum. Holds a boat on the back and a slide in on the front. I have enough capacity left for something like this, no problem. Just have to design the chassis to be modular, so I can still take the boat separate from the camper. I made up designs in my head, had conversations with all kinds of people, and well......it's more to bite off than I want to chew really. This was a neat idea, I think there is a market for these out there, but I just don't have to time and resources right now to make that happen.

Idea #3 (This one is VERY plausible, and might be the route we take)
Get a root top tent mounted on the back of the truck. We can still tow the boat everywhere. They collapse easily and quickly, so we can still have the truck to run around and launch/retrieve the boat, and things like that. No A/C sleeping area, and no bathroom indoors. So this is somewhat of a compromise for us. The benefits are that it's relatively inexpensive ($3k for a REALLY nice and large unit). I don't have to get a larger truck, and it's somewhat of a "logical next step" from our previous camping. With the boys (8 and 2 now) I think we can put the older one in his own tent, and the younger one isn't far behind. This keeps us as "portable" as we can be, still lets the truck I have do the work, and also keeps us all in the same vehicle for trips. We like this tent from Cascadia. The idea would be the would fold it down anytime we wanted to take the truck.......Also have the thought of possibly fabricating some sort of "stand" that would integrate into the mounting so that we could drive the truck out from under it once setup.

Idea #4 (This one also has a good chance)
Get a 1/2 ton towable 5th wheel or bumper pull (we like the 5th wheels for the extended head height once inside), and park in the same campground as our friends. This would give us an easy "home base" that is near a lake, and doesn't require a lot of work. We can drive up (~45min away from home) for a quick night away, and we have friends there. For the couple times a year we would want to wander to other lakes we could take the camper out, and just have two tow vehicles. This requires upgrading the wifes Rogue to something that would tow the AR190 (She's thinking 4dr Jeep, or SQ5 would fit the bill for her), and is easily the most expensive option. It has a ton of upsides, but locks us to a single location more often than not. We're not SUPER excited about this lake in general, and not sure if we really want to tie ourselves to it semi-permanently. Also, moving to other locations would require either two trips by me (one to setup camper, one to take the boat), or Shelly towing something as well. We're not convinced this is for us, but would like to hear from some others who might be doing this.

SO.......I pose the question to those with both campers and boats, or those who camp a lot and have a boat. What is your setup? Whats your equipment and routine look like? How often do you really take it out each year?

Thanks in advance, and stay safe out there in these uncertain times!

 

[ctyke]

My $0.02.... We hit the easy button! We have a permanent spot at a campground on a lake that we go to every weekend from May-Oct. We have lots of friends there now and so do the kids. I tow my boat twice a year (ok with high water a few more times last year), so usually from the winter storage spot to the lake and at the end of the season from the lake to the storage spot. After 7 seasons of not towing the camper, we got a more "permanent" trailer. It's about 1.5 hour drive, I turn on the heat/air before we leave home. Show up, unlock, unpack, drinking a beer in under 10 mins. I walk down to the dock, crank the lift down and we're boating. We did this over a cabin, because we don't have to do anything else, no taxes, no maintenance, no mowing, super easy which makes us use it all the time. 6 more years until the youngest graduates, then we will sell our house along with this camper and buy a house on a lake and live there full time (our school district doesn't have any lakes). So I vote for [HASH=432]#4,[/HASH] but think about if you are going to really pull the camper that much. The thought of ever towing a camper around is lost on us now. All the work, preparation, etc.... I get that it allows you to see the country, but we leave that for vacations now.

Here is a shot from my security cam before the WiFI went down, (my neigbors boat). I walk down the hill to find the dock with my lift/boat.

 

[BigAbe75]

In the next few years, I think I can see myself getting a 5th wheel or travel trailer.

Right now, we borrow my grandparents motorhome a few times a year. Then the wife pulls the boat with the truck or Tahoe. The price is definitely right, but the floor plan is not conducive to a family of 5.

I think we would go more often if:

1. it was ours and we could load everything we wanted and leave it. As it is, we spend a week repacking it every time we want to use it.

2. it was a more convenient floor plan. The fold out couch is directly in front of the door. 2 kids end up sleeping on it and a 3rd on the floor next to it. If the adults want to stay up, we have to crawl over the bed and 3 kids without falling over or waking them up to get back to our bed at the rear of the coach. And, I’m a big guy and just can’t use the bathroom - I always go to the bathhouse for showers and any serious business.

When I was a kid we did the motorhome trek as a family out west to the badlands, Mt Rushmore, devils tower, etc. I’d love to be able to do that with my family now before they get too old. (Oldest in 7th grade now)

My number 1 above would be a big deterrent to your bed top solution. All that packing, unpacking, repacking, etc... geez makes me not want to go just thinking about it. Lol

I know some tow their boat with the motorhome, and I wouldn’t mind that. But, there’s no way I’m going to trust the brakes enough to be willing to launch and retrieve with the motorhome, even if I found a ramp with enough space to maneuver. And, I just hate to be dependent on asking neighbors to launch it for me. I know boaters and campers are all generally helpful folk and plenty would offer to assist, but I hate to impose... so we take a separate tow vehicle.

 

[Scuba_ref]

We did the bumper pull camper for 15 years and mostly loved it. The camper was always stocked and ready to go - just add food and drinks. When we added a boat to the mix we already had 2 tow vehicles so we just pulled both. Rarely did we ever pull them both more that 3 hours from home. Our favorite spots were about 1.5 hours.

Having said that I never made it to some of the more distant lakes before we sold the camper and moved!

 

[Wayloncle]

We have a nice travel trailer. We’ve been lucky so far, when we lived in TX our go to lake was 35 minutes or so away, so I’d take the camper up there and run home and get the boat. My wife had a minivan so she couldn’t pull the boat.
We are about to move to Oklahoma this summer, I’m hoping to find a long term campsite on a good lake within 1.5 hours of Enid/OKC so I can park the camper for the summer on a site and just pull the boat up there every weekend that we go....that’s my daydream anyway.

I like having a travel trailer because everything stays packed in it, to go camping we only have to grab food and a few clothes. Toiletries, kitchenware, towels, wife has all her makeup and junk that stays, We even have several sets of clothes that stays in the camper in case we forgot someone’s swimsuit or something. The part i hated about tent camping or renting a camper was packing/unpacking EVERYTHING!

 

[anmut]

Another option: Airbnb lake cabins and pull the boat. More expensive, but a lot less maintenance.

 

[2kwik4u]

Thanks for the feedback guys. We were talking some more last night, and we're REALLY on the fence about how "portable" we want to be.

Our "home" lake is Patoka, but it's shallow, and wide, so wind makes watersports almost impossible (due to choppy water during the peak of the day) unless you're out there at daybreak, or dusk. We'll have to be REALLY close by to make that happen, and even then we've only done it once. I would need to know that is a more common occurrence before I really committed to the permanent lake property. If we had our real choice of location, we would setup on Cumberland or Dale Hollow, but those are all 4+hrs from here, and would be weekend only trips. Don't really want to setup that far away from home. Patoka is pretty good at ~1hr to be on the water for us. Any more and it starts feeling too far for a "quick" trip for us.

We are somewhat leaning towards the Roof Top Tent for a few seasons to see how much we really travel with the boat and the boys. If it's only a few times a year, then there is no reason to NOT have a permanent spot at Patoka. If we find we're out and about every other weekend, and Patoka only gets 50% of our time over the summer, then that will point us down the right path. We got pretty effecient at "packing and unpacking" for the trips years ago. Aside from clothes, all the supplies were in about 4-5 totes, toss those in the truck, toss in the tent and sleeping bags, grab some clothes and away we went. Well, pack coolers as well, but I don't think we'll ever get away from that even if we have a house with a fridge in it. Not going to leave milk, bread, things like that for weeks on end I don't think.

Overall, when I say somewhat leaning, it's like 55% RTT and 45% get a camper I can tow and park it near Patoka. We're still pretty split.

Keep the input coming. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[jcyamaharider]

When we started into the Yamaha life we did a couple of events with the small Xr1800 and we ( Wife and 2 daughters plus myself ) would just pack our tent and supplies. We eventually graduated to a bumper pull camper and now a fifth wheel. I told my wife she needed to learn to pull the boat so I could pull the camper. We did a annual spot at a lake of our choosing ( lake Shelbyville ) for a year and really enjoyed it. Left the camper there all summer and just towed the boat, or left both of them there if we were doing back to back weekends. This year we are doing the same thing but at Table rock lake. Both lakes are 4 hours from us but for an extended weekend it is great!

 

[marcham]

We're in the process our selling our Travel Trailer as I got tired of the upkeep and now that my daughter is 11, everyone is enjoying tent camping and hiking again.

I have been considering one of these for longer trips:

Tuff Stuff Rooftop Tent Truck Bed Rack, Adjustable, Powder Coated, Black, 40″

** Available Now - Next Restocking Date - late September ** The Tuff Stuff universal bed rack is ideal for use with any roof top tent or truck bed. Their bed rack is designed to universally install directly on top of any truck bed rail using our provided pinch plates. Due to this rack being...

rooftopoverland.com

 

[2kwik4u]

We're in the process our selling our Travel Trailer as I got tired of the upkeep and now that my daughter is 11, everyone is enjoying tent camping and hiking again.

I have been considering one of these for longer trips:

Tuff Stuff Rooftop Tent Truck Bed Rack, Adjustable, Powder Coated, Black, 40″

** Available Now - Next Restocking Date - late September ** The Tuff Stuff universal bed rack is ideal for use with any roof top tent or truck bed. Their bed rack is designed to universally install directly on top of any truck bed rail using our provided pinch plates. Due to this rack being...

rooftopoverland.com

View attachment 114778

Thanks for that link. That is almost exactly what I had in mind to build. I want to be able to roll up the bed cover underneath it. I would have to modify those feet a little bit to make it work with my bed cover, but that is a helluva starting point. Thank you!

 

[svana]

Not sure what your plan was for the RTT during non-use time, but those things are a bear to mount/dismount. I’ve got a 4Runner and we were in a similar boat (no pun intended) in regards to our camping frequency. We started out with a baby Coleman and when it started to show it’s age we debated on going the RTT route or not. We decided that not wanting it on 100% of the time, the difficulty of getting the dog up the thing, having to climb down in the middle of the night to get pretty much anything and garage clearance was enough of a dealbreaker for us so we went with a nice ground tent instead. This was before the boat was even factored in. Obviously they’re not light and I unfortunately know of more than one story of guys having handling issues with the weight propped up, figure towing the boat would compound it. Not trying to dissuade you, just sharing my 2 cents on our thought process with it.

 

[2kwik4u]

Not sure what your plan was for the RTT during non-use time, but those things are a bear to mount/dismount. I’ve got a 4Runner and we were in a similar boat (no pun intended) in regards to our camping frequency. We started out with a baby Coleman and when it started to show it’s age we debated on going the RTT route or not. We decided that not wanting it on 100% of the time, the difficulty of getting the dog up the thing, having to climb down in the middle of the night to get pretty much anything and garage clearance was enough of a dealbreaker for us so we went with a nice ground tent instead. This was before the boat was even factored in. Obviously they’re not light and I unfortunately know of more than one story of guys having handling issues with the weight propped up, figure towing the boat would compound it. Not trying to dissuade you, just sharing my 2 cents on our thought process with it.

This is good feedback, and we've considered most of this at least once.

Current thinking was a 4-pulley system in the garage to remove it from the truck, and hoist it to the ceiling. We have 12ft ceilings once we get in past the 7ft opening (Why they didn't put an 8ft opening I'll never understand, cheap bastages). The weight wouldn't be "quite" as bad as a full on roof top, since the plan would be to mount it over the bed, and have the top of the RTT when closed be the same as the top of the cab or lower. I really just want the tent slightly above the height of the bed cover when rolled up. Most likely will be fabricating my own set of "towers" to make that happen. Overall, the hope would be that I could mount it "sideways" so that it opened up over the tailgate of the truck. This would allow our bikes to go on the same racks outboard of the tent during travel. That is kind of a "long term" plan, but is in the back of our head.

I have zero plan for getting the dog in/out of the the thing. She's ~40lbs so not unmanageable, but still heavy. Also no real plan for dealing with getting down in the middle of the night. Again, not quite as many steps to go with the floor of the tent at ~5ft off the ground, but still stairs, I'm not jumping in/out of the thing. I think we can get past those issues.....maybe.

We've debated renting a Cascadia tent for a weekend to see how it works out. They have a location in Chattanooga, which is about a 3.5-4hr drive from us. Thought was to run down there on a Friday morning, get it mounted up, then camp Fri-Sat-Sun night, and drop it off on Monday morning. It's kinda pricey at like $150/night (I mean, that's a pretty nice hotel in that area), but it's still cheaper than buying one and hating it. We could at least give it a try before we signed on 100%.

We've considered getting a good canvas tent, and some cots. We absolutely despise inflatable anything (yes inflatable boat toys are a PIA too), so an air mattress is out for us. I camped in military surplus canvas wall tents when I was in the scouts as a kid. My troop had about 6-7 of those that we used for many years. Had to get them out and "treat" them once a year, and make sure they were always dry when stored. No really big deals there. I remember them being absurdly heavy (like 2-3 boys to move), and taking up a TON of space in the trailer. Since then I've always had the thin, lightweight nylon style tents, and honestly, I kinda hate those. They ALWAYS leak, even just getting dew on you in the morning. They are loud if there is any wind, and they never seem to last more than a season or two of what I would call "casual" camping. One of the appeals of the RTT was that the fabric was heavier, the poles "self set", and that the fabric was drawn tightly during setup on it's own. I think somewhere between the surplus tent and the nylon tent might be an ideal middle ground.......I have no idea where to look for those though. Any help?

 

[svana]

This is good feedback, and we've considered most of this at least once.

Current thinking was a 4-pulley system in the garage to remove it from the truck, and hoist it to the ceiling. We have 12ft ceilings once we get in past the 7ft opening (Why they didn't put an 8ft opening I'll never understand, cheap bastages). The weight wouldn't be "quite" as bad as a full on roof top, since the plan would be to mount it over the bed, and have the top of the RTT when closed be the same as the top of the cab or lower. I really just want the tent slightly above the height of the bed cover when rolled up. Most likely will be fabricating my own set of "towers" to make that happen. Overall, the hope would be that I could mount it "sideways" so that it opened up over the tailgate of the truck. This would allow our bikes to go on the same racks outboard of the tent during travel. That is kind of a "long term" plan, but is in the back of our head.

I have zero plan for getting the dog in/out of the the thing. She's ~40lbs so not unmanageable, but still heavy. Also no real plan for dealing with getting down in the middle of the night. Again, not quite as many steps to go with the floor of the tent at ~5ft off the ground, but still stairs, I'm not jumping in/out of the thing. I think we can get past those issues.....maybe.

We've debated renting a Cascadia tent for a weekend to see how it works out. They have a location in Chattanooga, which is about a 3.5-4hr drive from us. Thought was to run down there on a Friday morning, get it mounted up, then camp Fri-Sat-Sun night, and drop it off on Monday morning. It's kinda pricey at like $150/night (I mean, that's a pretty nice hotel in that area), but it's still cheaper than buying one and hating it. We could at least give it a try before we signed on 100%.

We've considered getting a good canvas tent, and some cots. We absolutely despise inflatable anything (yes inflatable boat toys are a PIA too), so an air mattress is out for us. I camped in military surplus canvas wall tents when I was in the scouts as a kid. My troop had about 6-7 of those that we used for many years. Had to get them out and "treat" them once a year, and make sure they were always dry when stored. No really big deals there. I remember them being absurdly heavy (like 2-3 boys to move), and taking up a TON of space in the trailer. Since then I've always had the thin, lightweight nylon style tents, and honestly, I kinda hate those. They ALWAYS leak, even just getting dew on you in the morning. They are loud if there is any wind, and they never seem to last more than a season or two of what I would call "casual" camping. One of the appeals of the RTT was that the fabric was heavier, the poles "self set", and that the fabric was drawn tightly during setup on it's own. I think somewhere between the surplus tent and the nylon tent might be an ideal middle ground.......I have no idea where to look for those though. Any help?

We splurged on a kodiak canvas tent. Definitely not “portable”, but obviously it’s not a primary factor in this situation. It withstood a good number of storms and big boy gusts out on the outer banks and anywhere else we took it. It’s got 1” steel poles that lock into place very easily, but wouldn’t be as easy as just flipping the 2 wings out on a Cascadia or the like. A pulley system would’ve been required in our situation and isn’t too uncommon for most setups. One of the deciding factors for us was that we did a lot of off roading with the 4R and preferred to have a base camp to go back to rather than trying to get through some technical spots with a big honkin tent on the top of us. Obviously not the same situation for you, but we saw our fair share of limbs straight ripping the tents off of racks and one guy who even tipped from being off balance (obviously more factors there than just the RTT).

 

[meaningreen]

I don't have one, but will likely be my next cover when it comes time. They can hold rooftop tents and multiple other racks.

Undercover Ridgelander

 

[2kwik4u]

I don't have one, but will likely be my next cover when it comes time. They can hold rooftop tents and multiple other racks.

Undercover Ridgelander

I've seen that one, and there is another one that is all aluminum construction.

This has me wondering how accessible the bed will really be with a RTT only a few inches over it. I'm guessing not very accessible at all. Will still be nice with the bikes on there instead of the RTT though (a secondary consideration for the custom mounts)

 

[2kwik4u]

We splurged on a kodiak canvas tent. Definitely not “portable”, but obviously it’s not a primary factor in this situation. It withstood a good number of storms and big boy gusts out on the outer banks and anywhere else we took it. It’s got 1” steel poles that lock into place very easily, but wouldn’t be as easy as just flipping the 2 wings out on a Cascadia or the like. A pulley system would’ve been required in our situation and isn’t too uncommon for most setups. One of the deciding factors for us was that we did a lot of off roading with the 4R and preferred to have a base camp to go back to rather than trying to get through some technical spots with a big honkin tent on the top of us. Obviously not the same situation for you, but we saw our fair share of limbs straight ripping the tents off of racks and one guy who even tipped from being off balance (obviously more factors there than just the RTT).

Thanks for the response and info. I'll be looking into some canvas "regular" tents today. Might be the intermediate step we need instead of the RTT.

I definitely want something heavier than nylon, with a floor, and preferably "stretched tight" panels to keep them from flapping in the breeze/wind.

 

[2kwik4u]

I also found this product the other day and forgot to post. It's rather pricey though.

Hitch Tent Rack System

Ultra-tough steel & lightweight aluminum construction Easy in-&-out 2” hitch installation Centralized load for greater vehicle stability Improved vehicle dynamics & efficiency Reclaim your roof space for other items Fully detach from your vehicle for easy basecamp setup Effortless leveling -...

rubiconep.com

Looks like I could possibly adapt this to live on the back of the truck. Between the truck and the boat, then deploy at the campsite. Would only have to fabricate a hitch extender of some sort so that the boat went into the standard truck hitch, and this had an auxiliary spot to slide into just above it.

 

[meaningreen]

I've seen that one, and there is another one that is all aluminum construction.

This has me wondering how accessible the bed will really be with a RTT only a few inches over it. I'm guessing not very accessible at all. Will still be nice with the bikes on there instead of the RTT though (a secondary consideration for the custom mounts)

That's the nice part of it, the whole cover opens, I suppose it depends on the weight of the tent and how close to the cab it is.

 

[meaningreen]

Thanks for the response and info. I'll be looking into some canvas "regular" tents today. Might be the intermediate step we need instead of the RTT.

I definitely want something heavier than nylon, with a floor, and preferably "stretched tight" panels to keep them from flapping in the breeze/wind.

I use this site a lot for their reviews on outdoor equipment. They have done some extensive testing on RTT.

Expedition Portal

Comparison Test

 

[2kwik4u]

WOW, the articles on Expedition Portal are really well done. Iv'e been pretty fed up lately with the quality of articles coming from online sources. Thy're poorly written, and terribly edited. Extra words, missing punctuation, missing words, poor conjugation. You can tell they are written in a hurry, and not proofread very well. I've already read a couple over on Expedition Portal, and they are MUCH higher quality than you find elsewhere. Thanks for the link @meaningreen