Newbies

[Roaming Bear]

My wife and I are in our mid 70s and in reasonably good health. We recently sold our RV and would like to try to get out and see some of the beautiful country around us without all of the crowds that we had with RV camping. We have a 2021 Gladiator Mojave wilt Molle Panels on the side of the beds. and no bed cap on it. My question is, what do you recommend that we get for sleeping accomodations. I am not sure that a roof top tent is good for us due to the height and have been thinking about just sleeping in the bed of the truck and adding a topper to the bed or getting some sort of overlanding trailer without spending a lot of money. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also are there any groups in our area

 

[Roaming Bear]

A roof top tent with ladder can also be very comfortable to get in!

Guess you have to try some models! Is the space in the rear enough for sleeping space?

trippin

It would be tight I would imagine

 

[El-Dracho]

Hi Bret!

Welcome here to Overland Bound! Glad you found your way here! There are so many possibilities in the overlanding area, also regarding sleeping in or on the car. You will find a lot of suggestions here, for example - since you mentioned a trailer - here in the subforum Overland Trailers or in the Overland Vehicle Built subforum. Have a look around! In the end it's your personal decision what you like best... because the important thing is that you are satisfied and oh, the vehicle doesn't matter anyway, the important thing is to go out and experience something!!!!

Then you asked about groups of overlanders in your area. Look around on the Map, please, there you can see the members. Also check the Rally Points in your region, maybe there is an event that interests you. Overland Bound surely has a representative also in your region. I don't know the exact segmentation of responsibilities in North America. @Kent R can you please help here? Thank you!

So, have a look around here, you will find many ideas and useful information! I wish you much fun exploring!

Cheers, Björn

 

[Roaming Bear]

Hi Bret!

Welcome here to Overland Bound! Glad you found your way here! There are so many possibilities in the overlanding area, also regarding sleeping in or on the car. You will find a lot of suggestions here, for example - since you mentioned a trailer - here in the subforum Overland Trailers or in the Overland Vehicle Built subforum. Have a look around! In the end it's your personal decision what you like best... because the important thing is that you are satisfied and oh, the vehicle doesn't matter anyway, the important thing is to go out and experience something!!!!

Then you asked about groups of overlanders in your area. Look around on the Map, please, there you can see the members. Also check the Rally Points in your region, maybe there is an event that interests you. Overland Bound surely has a representative also in your region. I don't know the exact segmentation of responsibilities in North America. @Kent R can you please help here? Thank you!

So, have a look around here, you will find many ideas and useful information! I wish you much fun exploring!

Cheers, Björn

Thanks much for your input

 

[Kent R]

My wife and I are in our mid 70s and in reasonably good health. We recently sold our RV and would like to try to get out and see some of the beautiful country around us without all of the crowds that we had with RV camping. We have a 2021 Gladiator Mojave wilt Molle Panels on the side of the beds. and no bed cap on it. My question is, what do you recommend that we get for sleeping accomodations. I am not sure that a roof top tent is good for us due to the height and have been thinking about just sleeping in the bed of the truck and adding a topper to the bed or getting some sort of overlanding trailer without spending a lot of money. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also are there any groups in our area

Welcome to Overland Bound
I will PM you about the Gladiator and sleeping. I am starting my Gladiator build and can give you my suggestions.
Don't hesitate to contact your Regional Director @Narbob for help or information.
The closest Member Representative to you for local information is @Barclay (LA) @FrankRoams (OC/SD) & www.Riggedfordirt.com @Dominic OB0158 (Inland Empire)
Check the forum calendar and Meet-Up page for events, and the Trip Planning page for trips being planned by members. These pages can be filtered by region.
Overland Bound Meetups
Overland Trip Planning
Quick adult & youthTread Lightly online awareness course.
Online Courses - Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! Youth Online Course
Overland Expo West
About WEST — Overland Expo®

 

[Roaming Bear]

Welcome to Overland Bound
I will PM you about the Gladiator and sleeping. I am starting my Gladiator build and can give you my suggestions.
Don't hesitate to contact your Regional Director @Narbob for help or information.
The closest Member Representative to you for local information is @Barclay (LA) @FrankRoams (OC/SD) & www.Riggedfordirt.com @Dominic OB0158 (Inland Empire)
Check the forum calendar and Meet-Up page for events, and the Trip Planning page for trips being planned by members. These pages can be filtered by region.
Overland Bound Meetups
Overland Trip Planning
Quick adult & youthTread Lightly online awareness course.
Online Courses - Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly! Youth Online Course
Overland Expo West
About WEST — Overland Expo®

Thanks for your info

 

[roots66]

Hello Bret, welcome to the OB family.

When deciding on what type of accommodations to use, my wife (50s) and I (60s) decided getting up/down the ladder of a RTT was not going to be the most convenient of tasks. Plus, even though they may roomy enough to sleep comfortably, there is not enough room to stand up in. Thus, things like changing clothes, eating dinner, and other tasks requiring more head space would be a bit more difficult for us. Another big issue would be needing to climb down/up the ladder to use the toilet at zero-dark-30 in the morning. There were other considerations for us as well like cost, weight, storage when not in use, setup/teardown every time we need to use the vehicle, etc. But, if your Jeep is a dedicated overland rig, these might not be an issue for you.

We also considered a bed cap, but quickly realized all the gear we carried in the bed would have to come out whenever we wanted to sleep in it and that just seemed like too much hassle. Another option is a teardrop camper. They are small, yet very nicely set up and you have everything available at a moment's notice. Plus, you can park it at the site and go exploring without the need to close up the RTT first.

We finally went with a large Kodiak Canvas tent since we can fit 2 queen size air mattresses in it and still have room to walk around. It works great when one (or more) of our kids goes camping with us. When it's just the two of us, one side is bedroom and the other is living room. Plus, we can always bring in the portable toilet and never have to leave the tent to use it in the middle of the night.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure you both will have a great time.

 

[Roaming Bear]

Thanks for the great ideas

 

[Roaming Bear]

I am a retired Navy pecker checel lol with the Diving community. I was stationed in Sardinia onboard the Gilmore in the 70s. Thats a sub tender. Were you on Fast attacks or L A class Where do you live now. I am in So Cal. Thks for the info

 

[rgallant]

I think a ground tent would be the place to start as others have noted. It is not much more work to setup and take down that a roof top. Trailers are great but tend to be pricey

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

@Roaming Bear,

Welcome to OB! Great suggestions in this thread so far but I'll throw out a few more; all photos are taken from a Google Images search and are not mine.

1) You could look into the variety of "Wedge Campers" available for mid-sized trucks. GFC, Alucab, and others make them. These are kind of like a truck cap and RTT built in together. They have the same ladder-climbing disadvantages as the RTTs, but some can also be accessed from inside and there are some pretty amazing Wedge Camper builds that might meet your needs. Here's an example of a wedge camper on a Gladiator:



2) You could do a 4-wheel popup Camper. This is going to be laid out more like a traditional RV in some ways. Might be too heavy for the Gladiator though -- check out Grizzly'n'Bear Overland on YouTube as they have a lot of content showcasing this truck + camper combo. These are a little bit easier to get in and out of and since they are full Pop Tops, there's a lot more space to "live" inside of them as compared to many of the wedge campers. And, 100% proven in all sorts of conditions (G&B are driving around the world in theirs)

Here's Grizzly n Bear's setup; I don't know if there is one for the Gladiator specifically yet but it's an option:



Here is a 4-wheel camper closed up on a Taco; not sure about weights and payload implications but if it fits a Taco they should have one that fits a Gladiator.


3) In Alaska, we used our ARB awning and awning room for sleeping accommodations for my brother and his partner who joined us on the trip (we were in our RTT). You could do the same if you wanted vehicle-attached living but not up in the air. The awning and room combo was pretty comfortable for them, and because it was attached to the vehicle, it was easy to unzip a wall and grab stuff from the interior from time to time. You'd need to figure out what you were sleeping one (they used foam mattresses and a sleeping bag) but as far as a shelter goes, this might be a good option as it avoids the need to climb up on anything and also keeps your truck bed free for cargo.




I hope this is helpful - if you let us know what you like/dislike about some of the options pitched so far I'm sure folks can give you even more detail and resources.

Happy adventuring!

 

[Roaming Bear]

Well I think that I am going to do the ground tent and use cots to sleep on. Any ideas of a decent tent setup that can sleep 3 people using cots to sleep on

 

[ptgarcia]

I put (3) cots in my Kodiak Canvas 10'x10' Flex-Bow tent. They seem to fit best side by side with leftover space adjacent to the door.

 

[Roaming Bear]

thks

 

[rgallant]

@Roaming Bear see if any of your local sporting goods places have tents setup - it would give you the best idea

 

[Roaming Bear]

thks for the help

 

[M Rose]

Well I think that I am going to do the ground tent and use cots to sleep on. Any ideas of a decent tent setup that can sleep 3 people using cots to sleep on

The Gazelle T4 sets up fast (under 90 seconds) has enough room for 4 cots without much gear, or 3 cots with gear. I have the Gazelle T4 Plus and is the best tent I have ever owned, including my canvas guide tents, military tents, and other tents.

 

[KillerClown]

You know... I think, that right now I know what I am going to buy as a gift for my grandfather.

Thank you all for your contribution :3