Excellent & very innovative! Approximately 10-12 years ago my wife & I were pick-up truck camping at a different spot each night during a 15 day Liivng History that moved from town to town. On several occasions we had unexpected heavy rain which initiated various efforts to rig tarp configurations to prevent getting soaked when getting in & out of the camper shell and/or moving to & from the cab of the truck. Eventually, we purchased an E-Z-Up Tent shelter which facilitated our purpose; but we had to unload it & set it up, & then take it down & relaod it. Your idea of using the adjustable painter poles is ingenious & economical. I might use this for truck & ground camping. Thanks a million & may God bless you. By the way, we are not youngsters; I am in my 82 & my wife is younger, but we remain young-at-heart when it comes to camping.
Excellent info drew, I never used a canopy on my vehicle, but I've used one for many many other situations. I say, don't leave home without a few of them, they can be a trip saver. Thanks for sharing 👍.
Maybe a stupid question - but @1:55 , did you just cut a hole in the corner of the rainfly to make it fit over the painter pole screw threads? I can't seem to find anything that'll fit thru the grommets of the tarp without having to buy tarp poles. Awesome video as always - Thanks again!
Nope, mine had a small opening I used. But if it didn't I just make a small loop from para cord at the corner and use that. The tension of the 2 tie downs will keep it tight.
Drew, you have mentioned several times in this and other videos that you leave your tarp to secure your campsite. Have you ever had anyone push back on that? I have heard that there is no place holding of campsites when boondocking on public lands. At least two other youtubers have mentioned that people have taken down (or moved) the placeholder tent, even tho they had been gone for less than a day. I figure it is respectful to leave someone else"s place holder tent and move on to another site. But.... there are many, many people that are putting up placeholders and leaving them so they can have a campsite for later in the week, or even worse later in the month.
I have not but I also come back every night. I wouldn't save a spot to use a few days later. In my case, my home is in the truck bed so when I leave for a day trip, I don't have anything (tent/camping gear) to let someone passing know I'll return. It bothers me also to see people leave campers, tents, gear for weeks at a time and only using them on weekends...so I wouldn't do that myself.
Super cool! I couldn’t believe the cost of “tarp poles” on Amazon- people capitalize on anything! I have a CRV I sleep in & the back door open out instead of up, so I’m trying to figure out the best way to do this but get some height like most ppl get from tailgates and trunks opening vertically. Any ideas? You seem to be the person to ask! Ty for the video!
My buddy did the same thing with his Nissan murano which seems similar to a crv and he seemed to like it. If I wanted more height I'd probably get 2 more extendable painters poles for next to the rear wheels.
Question: On your last out west trip, how many times did you need to use the 4 wheel drive on your truck? Would a medium size camper van make most of the forest roads you had to travel on to get away from the crowds? Thanks!
That's always a tough question b/c many roads under good conditions are fine in 2wd but turn quickly with just a moderate rain. Ex, this year I only needed it once/week but last year every few days and got stuck once. For me, clearance is what you need most....I've put in several clips that show the roads I drove. For me 4wd is nice to have jic you get 4hrs down a road or worse...trying to get out after it rains all night and the roads turn bad which happened a few times this trip!
I second Drew's comment. I've found high clearance to be more critical than 4WD and while I've relied on 4WD to get me through some muddy, slippery spots, I've found it more useful for rock crawling on Colorado's backcountry roads.
