I'm thinking about getting one of those tents that fit in a truck bed.

Anyone ever use one or have any advice as to why I should or shouldn't get one?

Your sleeping quarters are attached to your transportation, kinda sucky for anything other than staying at camp.

I considered that. It seems like they could be broken down pretty quick though.

Also, the one I was looking at doesn't have a floor, meaning your gear/stuff can stay in the bed while you set it up/break it down. 

ETA: Like this one

Roof top tent is what you seek. Put a rack in the truck and the tent on top of the rack.

+1

There are no wheel wells on top.

Like this?

The ones without the floor are even dumber.  A buddy bought one with the same idea in mind then he went on a trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway and it rained for a couple of days so everything got wet and stayed wet.  He came home with a camper trailer.  For occasional use when you know the weather is going to be clear I guess they'd be OK but for anything else I'd rather have a ground tent than a truck tent.  


Disclaimer- I have an ARE shell on the back of my Tacoma and sleep back there quite a lot.

I used one to go to motorcycle races. Works well most of the time. In the warmer months I used an air mattress to sleep on because the bed was bumpy. In the winter I would cover the air mattress with a 4 inch foam pad and a couple of quilts for insulation. With all that open air space under the truck it's cold as fuck.

I thought about one for my old truck.  But I can't really see any real benefit Vs. the tents I already own.

I can set those tents up or down, and I am free to leave and come back with the truck without having to strike down the tent & all the gear inside.

To set up the tent in the bed, I have to unload everything I brought out including coolers, camp chairs, back packs, firewood, ect...

Tent on the ground means I can leave the items in the truck until I decide I want them off.

It gets you off the ground by a few feet, but if you get enough rain to really flood a proper placed camp site, you should be in your truck anyway moving out of the flood zone.

Are you worried about water, or reptiles or what as the reason you don't want to sleep on a tent on the ground?

As mentioned, in the winter with the air gap under the bed, you will be pretty cold too.

It's a free country and you can spend your money as you please, but I'm not seeing the benefit to it...

Except as humor - former member Napoleon Dynamite (famed for the "Throw the rifle down the driveway for the battleworn look") wanted to go on a trip with his girlfriend.  He was going to put up one of those tents inthe back of his pick up and imagined his girlfriend riding back there in the 70mph winds...   napping or resting...  

I'm pretty sure the high speed highway "winds" would have either broken the poles around and on her in the back,, or pulled the tent out of the truck at speed making a ...  Big Mess...

BIGGER_HAMMER

First Post and all that...

Thanks for all the feedback.

You have all convinced me. I've decided against a truck bed tent.

Cheapest, bestest i used for hunting years ago was a 10 x 12 walmart tarp. Truck had a 6' bed with 3 pairs of side board post holes in the bed. Stick fiberglass tent sticks in post holes (3), drape wallyworld tarp over poles and cab, drape tarp over cab an outside of bed, bungee tarp to truck. Foam mat or air matress in bed, lights out.

Truck looked like a redneck version of a conastoga wagon, but i didn't care...high and dry and could take some wind.