Solutions for sleeping in a 5ft short-bed!

Please post pictures of your system/set-up for sleeping in a short bed!

I'm trying to figure out how to set my truck up for occasional sleeping in the bed. Usually the wife and I will just set up the tent on the ground, but occasionally it'd be nice to sleep in the bed (when it's cold, not flat, etc.). I'm 6ft, so I need to find some way to "extend" the bed so my wife and I can both fit in there.

I was looking at a couple different options. I was considering a topper, but I'm not sure I want to go this route due to expense and the fact that I really don't need it other than a few times a year when we sleep in it. With the topper, we could leave the tailgate open and use one of those "half-tents" or tailgate tents that are genius:


This looks like a great solution, but if I don't get a topper it won't really work. However, I'm also looking at a softopper. I wonder if one of these would work with the Softopper? It probably would since there's a rigid frame under the Softopper.

As for the Softopper, I really don't like the looks of them, so I'd probably remove it entirely from the truck and only install it when we're heading up to the mountains to camp. Does anyone know how easy these are to remove/re-install? I'm not talking about folding it down, but removing it entirely.

An ideal solution for me, would be something like a 6ft Softopper in my 5ft bed that could just be extended to cover the area to the end of the tailgate. Of course, a 6ft Softopper wouldn't work because it wouldn't cover that gap created by the open tailgate (and it probably wouldn't fit anyway). But it'd be awesome to have like a "pre-assembled" tent that just collapses against the cab kind of like a Softopper that could be extended out and create a sealed shelter over the opened tailgate! If Softopper made something like this I bet it'd be a huge seller! Do you think a 6ft Softopper could be installed in a 5ft bed and modified (sew some additional fabric/netting) to create an enclosed shelter over the opened tailgate?

These dedicated bed tents look OK, but they require more setup than I'd like:


Although these seem like they'd be a hassle to set up. These would work without a topper, but not sure this is the solution for me. Part of the reason I want to sleep in the bed is to avoid the tent set-up. We often arrive at a trailhead at 11PM and just want to go to sleep immediately. With this kind of tent, I might as well just set up my ground tent.

I guess another option would be to just jury-rig some kind of homemade "tent". Really, it could almost be something as simple as a tarp and bug net stretch from the top backside of the cab, over the bed, to the end of the opened tailgate. I'd just need to find a good way to secure the tarp/net to the truck.

Does anybody have any homemade tents or shelters as suggested above? Please share any ideas or solutions you have for camping in a short bed!!

 

The tents that mount in the bed aren't all that convenient. They aren't as easy to set-up and take down as they look, and they hold your truck hostage the whole weekend.

If you want to cruise out to the lake or something, you have to break down your little house.

At least an RTT pops up a little quicker.

 

j/k... going to keep an eye on this as I'm interested on a solution, too.

 

Ive just used an an air mattress with the tailgate put down but then again it was warm during the summer and I didn't need anything else but that to lie on. The stars where great to!

 

Given the option of sleeping in the bed and just reclining the front seat and sleeping in the cab, I'd rather sleep in the drivers seat. This is a full size tent, but I've used a much smaller backpacking tent many times for just one night if by my self

 

I've done a lot of research on this; you have three viable options I've found apart from just sleeping in a tent on the ground. My criteria were: fast to set up and tear down, waterproof if raining, don't have to unload the bed to set up.

Here are the choices I've come up with:

RTT
RTTs are great but they're expensive and you need a heavy duty rack to put them on. They're also heavy, which isn't so great for taking off and putting on every weekend.

Softopper
I reached out to softopper a couple months ago and they are in the prototype stage for an extension that goes over the tailgate when it's laying flat. So far they can't tell me when it will be production ready, but they've hinted that it wont be too long. This may or may not be awesome. Cons to softopper is there's no real security, pros are that you can still use your truck like a truck whenever you want.

This thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3IRYRyjIzo
This is the route I'll be going unless the softopper thing comes out soon. I like the security/utility of a hard top but I hate the looks of that blue and white tent that wraps around your truck. I plan to sew this myself, leaving access to the window so you can still see what the sky is doing while laying down. Until I see what softopper does, this seems to be the most economical/best way to camp in a 5ft bed.

If anyone has any other ideas please let me know! Getting the 6ft bed would not have helped me much as I'm 6'5. I do fit the 5ft bed just about perfect if the tailgate is down, though.

 

I also need a tent that sets up with one hand, because my beer doesn't leave my grasp once I get to camp.

 

I do prefer a tent on the ground most of the time, but mine is for climbing not camping. The last thing I want to do at 2am is tear down my tent before heading out. I can handle closing my tailgate though.

 

This was me in my 6 foot bed last night. My feet hang over the end of my 6 foot air mattress and I think they would hit the end of the tent in a short bed....

 

Bump for more ideas hopefully

 

Screw sleeping in the bed. I'm getting a tent cot.

 

Im building this "camper" for trips when its wet/cold or bears are a concern. Hard to tell by pic, they are 2 ARE aluminum toppers I got for $240. Its a bit of work and a lot of thought but actually simple when you think about it. Want to keep ot under $500 and under 300lb. They are 7 ft long, will be secure, insulated and be able to carry 2 mtn bikes. Maybe some inspiration for ya.



edit: ended up taking 2 years to finish, cost about $1000, and has a 5’ slideout.

 

My wife asked me what we are going to do now that I got rid of the 4buggy so I need to keep an eye on this thread. We would always have the 4buggy as a backup at festivals when it rained or was too cold.

 

I bought a napier bed tent for my 5ft bed. Also have a sleeping platform to lay an air mattress over. Tent sets up in 15-20 minutes, not difficult at all.

 

I almost went this route. Only like $300-400. I'm interested to see what softopper comes up with. That'd be the perfect solution if they found a way to do an extension on the 5ft topper to cover the open tailgate!

 

Trade it in for a Long Bed...

 

Mount said tent cot x2 on KB Voodoo bed rack? boom. Pseudo RTT

 

what about bed ideas too?

 

That's the one thing I'd change. Went back and forth before purchase and decided on the SB since it's my daily driver in the city. Should've just started taking the bus and had a more comfortable backcountry vehicle.