I really need to get better at posting here. This summer we’ve been busy building, camping, and adjusting our new Tune Outdoors camper. We’ve camped over 30 nights this year (and hopefully aren’t done yet!) and I just wanted to post a quick summary of our set up.
First, the camper. I built a simple U-shaped frame out of 1010 extrusion and 1/2 and 1/4” plywood. This is both for storage, seating, and for the kids to sleep on (I’m still working on a simple method of bed railings so they don’t fall onto the dog in the middle of the night…). At the front of the truck bed I keep our battery and a fuse panel, along with any clothes bags. On the left side I keep sleeping bags and camp chairs. On the right side I keep the stove, food, and water jug. At the back (tailgate) of the truck I have a couple of gear bins and our cooler for easy access with the tailgate down. We’ve got a couple of simple shelves on the wall and a table on a swivel mount in the middle. This setup has been great - but we still need to adjust a couple of things (such as the aforementioned railings). We still don’t love the clothing storage since it be hard to access in morning, and the cooler / bins aren’t really accessible when the tailgate is closed.
Camping this year has been great. We tried to keep the travel time at a minimum this year and focused on short trips around New England. I even took it on a work trip… much nicer than some cheap hotel. Next year I’d like to try a couple of longer trips (possibly into Canada). We’ve also had great weather. We got an awning for the back of the truck earlier in the season but barely needed it because we didn’t have much rain. We don’t have a heater, but are hoping to try some colder weather camping before we pack up the gear for the season…
