Camping And Boating

Companies such as Napier Outdoors and Pittman Outdoors have been making recreational camping a more enjoyable experience, long before the current pandemic altered how we spend our vacation time. Boating and camping together is a winning combination, but of course having the right products increases your odds for success.

For most boaters the pandemic hasn’t slowed down summer plans, only altered them slightly instead of being cancelled altogether. In fact, being able to call the outdoors our “work-from-home offices” has many boaters on the water even more.

Choosing to spend more time camping this summer ourselves, we went in search of a combination of products to help make our experience better. Since campers love to boat and boaters love to camp, often we see these big one-ton diesel pickup trucks towing a camp trailer, followed by a boat in tow. It looks like a mini train going down the highway and good luck trying to pass it on a one-lane road. With a RAM 1500 pickup we don’t have the option of creating a “tow train” with multiple trailers, but we did find an alternative solution.

Napier Outdoors
When it comes to truck tents, Napier Outdoors offers quite a selection. Tents specifically engineered to fit truck beds in a variety of different sizes is what they’re best known for, but for our needs we decided to order the top-of-the-line Napier Sportz Truck Tent. Napier does offer a Rooftop tent for cars, but our focus is just on tents designed for the bed of your truck.

With the Sportz Truck Tent it means no more searching for a clean, dry and level campsite. It assembles right in the back of your open-bed pickup, creating the perfect campsite no matter where you park. We chose this one because it’s the only tent on the market with an exclusive full floor design so you stay warmer and drier, no matter the weather or environment.

Setting It Up
It comes in its own case and the good news is when you’re done it actually fits back in the bag it came in, unlike some tents we’ve owned where you can never get them back into the original packaging. Plus because it was set up in the bed of your truck, it’s still clean because it wasn’t on the ground. 

Anyone who has ever set up a regular tent can figure this one out with ease. You start by spreading the tent out in your truck with the door facing out the back of your bed. Then using the six hook straps, three on each side of the bed, you loosely clip the hooks on. There is even additional padding for those hooks so you don’t need to worry about scratching the side of your truck.

The poles are all color-coordinated and the instructions even tell you which ones to insert first. The only real difference compared to other tents is the quality. The material feels extra thick so you don’t have to worry about the poles tearing out while setting it up.   

After I got all the exterior poles set up and inserted, I came to one long one that I figured would be a pain to go over the top because of the height of the now fully-standing tent in the back of the truck. But that’s the neat part: this skinny pole actually goes on the inside so for anyone concerned about the height, don’t be. I climbed inside the tent and easily added the last pole that runs from front to back. Worth noting, inside the tent it’s huge and feels very spacious! The Sportz Truck Tent retails for $279 and is worth every penny.

AirBedz Original
With the tent now fully opened and ready for use, how could it possibly get any better? Well thanks to Truck Airbeds from Pittman Outdoors, it can actually get a whole lot better. Again, this is one of those great products that you’re just not sure why you didn’t think of it first. The Original Truck AirBedz air mattress is designed specifically for your truck and includes the wheel well cutouts. But what impressed me most is the built-in pump. After charging the removable battery for 10 hours the first time I got it, the pump was ready when I was. I simply rolled out the air mattress, turned the dial to inflate and stood back and watched it perfectly form to my truck bed inside the tent. I also saw this product at an auto show years ago and after they had 16 people stand on it, I knew it would easily support me. It’s the perfect complement to the Napier Sportz Truck Tent and it’s the ideal setup for anyone who likes to camp. I love being off the ground when I camp and this combination is just right for my needs.

For just $10 more we opted for the AirBedz RealTree CAMO air mattress because we like the look of it over the traditional all-blue version. For $259 the air mattress comes with a built-in rechargeable air pump, plus a tailgate extension mattress to really get the most out of your truck’s full bed.

Final Thoughts
For those looking to get out this summer and do some camping you still have plenty of time and I highly recommend this combination.