Truck Camping Photo Thread

Loaded up the kayak and made a quick trip to the Allegheny National Forest. One of the nice things about being off on Sunday/Monday instead of Saturday is that you can miss some crowds.



Explored a few forest roads and enjoyed some glamping.



I'm used to backpacking where you try to keep it as light as possible because you are carrying everything you need. I may still be using dehydrated meals and a Jetboil but having a tent, thick sleeping pad, axe, cooler, table, chair, etc means glamping to me.



Checked out some more unpaved roads on the way out, saw some MTB trails for next time, and took a quick hike before enjoying a cold downpour most of the way home.

 

Nice pics(and the truck as well)! I'm thinking of heading that direction on the way to Acadia NP next year. Being a NF, I'm guessing you can just camp wherever or will the Forestry Office have specific details where you can? Looks beautiful- where was that last pic taken? Thanks!

 

Thanks! I know NF land usually means you can camp anywhere as long as you're far enough from roads or water, but I think it would have been way more work than it's worth here. There are a ton of designated campsites along the forest roads and there is also a lot of gas company land interspersed that you can't go on, depending on the road. It can also be really thick vegetation if it's not cleared for a campsite, and I only saw a handful of sites I wouldn't be interested in. The site I ended up at on FR259 had nobody anywhere near me and I might have seen two cars go by all night.

I used this site to figure out where I was going to go (https://andyarthur.org/pennsylvania-dncr-motor-vehicle-and-dispersed-camping-opportunities-🏕.html), but I drove around for a while checking out the area and saw lots of side roads with other opportunities that aren't on this map. If you get there early enough in the day I'm sure you can tool around and find some great sites to choose from.

The last picture is from a lookout at Jakes Rocks I think it was called, all the way at the tip of where FR160 runs out.

 

I call it church

 

Those MTB Trails are some of the best in PA (and surrounding) Definitely worth another trip out to ride them. I'm 3 hours away and try and make it up there as much as possible.

 

Week and a half ago here in Idaho.

 

Which 270 awning is that? Looks great.

What size tires? Those look huge

 

Wraptor 4K from Overland pros. It’s great.

 

That's great to know! I'm about the same distance, it's a bit of a schlep but not unreasonable. I'll definitely try to get back out there before the end of the year. I bet it's amazing in the fall.

 

Up overlooking Rainier

 

Huron Manistee National Forest along the Ausable river.

 

Living in eastern Pa I'm accustomed to having to drive at least 3 hours to do or see anything worthwhile. Jake's rocks is no exception. Check out their facebook page for events (they host an enduro race) and people often post dates they are going to be shuttling. Both definitely worth checking out.

Back to pictures of camping...

 

Fall camping last weekend with fam just south of Laramie WY.

Happy with where the build is at finally - 1.5 years in.
Dig the new FSR 270 I picked up at OEMW Loveland a couple of weeks back. Big upgrade from finagling with the rectangular/ezOut style. Pretty much a Bush Company rip off/copy but I bit due to the weight at 37lbs.

We like to run the Gazelle T4+ without a floor in the front (when base camping) so it essentially functions as a screen room attached to a T4. We can operate the heater in that portion of the tent and have a hang out/muck area if we need to get out of the elements.

Also, haven't seen any other folks running this water system but we've used a few times now and really like it. Provides a more usable/useful (aka sensible) pressure and flow control vs. WaterPort (or similar) AND its filtration as well providing a safety factor to draw from lakes/streams as needed. And at less weight and not yet 'overland tax' pricing lol.

Water Purification Jerrycan - Water Purifier Survival Filtration System - Portable Camping Water Filter - Hiking, Backpacking, Emergency - Cast Master Elite

https://www.amazon.com/Water-Purification-Jerrycan-Filtration-Backpacking/dp/B09RQWM49M


Caveats

Step ladder: Wife is 4' and change so I caved on this one boys lol
Dog: Free range, ours it at home

 

Not really into off road camping but here is my weekend camping pictures

 

Any issue with the Smartcap doors being open with the canopy deployed? Nice setup!

 

What kind of camper is that it looks cool. Is it old or new and made to look retro?

 

Thanks its been quite the journey during covid/supply chain as you gents already know.

The load bars are Front Runner's RSI kit. Nice and low and full door clearance.
https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/rsi-dc-smart-canopy-load-bar-kit-1165mm.html

The awning brackets I am using are these from UpTop. Likely a little taller than most so that's also a factor.
https://www.uptopoverland.com/products/straight-up-side-mount

With this set up, the driver side RSI door (the one with tools on the molle) just barely kisses the underside of the extruded aluminum arm of the FSR 270. And by barely I mean to the point there is literally zero noticeable limitation to door articulation i.e. it feels and functions as if its fully open equivalent to the one on pass side. So I just have a small foam self stick pad on the awning arm in that spot to prevent that minimal metal on metal contact.

The rear windoor does not touch at all. Both doors can be opened with the RSI door locks unlocked (these peak up a few inches when unlocked adding to door height). I mention this because with my previous ezOut rectangular-style awning I would have to close the RSI door locks with the RSI driver door open to prevent the open locks from creating stress marks in the awning fabric because they touched.

Assume you have a smart cap or are strongly considering.
As a family of 4 we love the slide out table tucked away into the top of RSI Cap. Super helpful especially if my wife wants to set something up while I am working in the back/business end of the truck. Perfect for family meals or games. On the passenger side of RSI molle I made last winters off-season mission to eliminate all alkaline batteries. So now we have a USB hub wired to the Tacos 110 outlet and only carry rechargeable lanterns and flashlights and such mounted on the RSI Passenger molle panel. This has been a huge quality of life improvement to just travel stress-free and not have to worry about where the powered gear is or if it is topped off - totally eliminated carrying any spare batteries.

Not trying to up sell you just some sharing some ideas that worked out for what we like to do.
Good luck with yours, hope this helps.

 

Thanks, it's a 73 13 ft boler

 

Thank you for the detailed feedback! That helps me a lot.

 

On my brother’s farm in the late summer, earlier this year…