Small Truck Campers

When did small truck campers first come into existence? Well, the concept probably started before there were trucks. In the 1800's, Pioneers came across the country in covered wagons, which carried their personal belongings and provided them with shelter from the elements as well as a place to sleep. This is much the same idea for which we use small truck campers today. The difference is, we have trucks, not horses. And, of course, we have a lot more creature comforts! The origin of small truck campers as we know them, goes back to the early 20th century and the Volkswagen camper van. Designed by the German company, this van was one of the first vehicles designed with the idea of "built in" sleeping quarters. Then, during the 1950's and 1960's the industry grew to include motorized campers. An example of the fully equipped, slide-in pickup truck campers that were popular for family camping in the late 1960s is an 11’ camper that was designed to sit in an 8’ pickup bed and extend 3 feet beyond the rear bumper and things are pretty much the same today. There are many small truck camper manufacturing companies and all of them make basically the same thing. Sure, small truck campers come in varying sizes, such as 9' or 10', but they are basically the same, although there have been significant improvements. These improvements have been made possible by the fact that pickup trucks, the foundation for small truck campers, are bigger and stronger.

More recently, the biggest improvement in small truck campers has been the idea of "slide outs". This is a section in the small truck camper that slides out, allowing for more interior space. Small truck campers, today, can come with either one or two slide outs. Some even have what one might call a drop down. When the small truck camper is not sitting in the pickup truck bed, there is a drop down from that area which would normally be over the cab. This creates twice the sleeping area. One sleeping area that would normally be over the cab and another sleeping area that drops down below. You might be wondering how this is accomplished. Well, small truck campers are pretty versatile these days. Unlike their ancestors, today's small truck campers do not have to be sitting in the pickup truck bed all the time. When you arrive at a location where you wish to stay for a while, there are hydraulic lift systems, which makes loading and unloading your small truck camper from the truck bed easy. And now that you are at a place where you would like to be for a while, you can drive off in your pickup truck to do sightseeing and go off on other adventures. Now that is pretty convenient. The most common areas for the slide outs are the dining area and the cooking area. This simply allows for more walking around room inside the truck camper. Now don't take this the wrong way, you are not going to want to live in one of these small truck campers for any extended period of time. In addition to slide outs, some small truck campers have an additional sleeping area that electronically rolls down from the rear of the unit and looks like a tent attached to the rear. It gives an additional queen size bed sleeping area.

SMALL TRUCK CAMPERS are great for the use for which they were intended. When you consider their early origins, a small truck camper was really best suited for a guy who was going on a hunting or fishing trip for the weekend. At best, it was great for a couple who wanted to go camping for the weekend just to get away from it all or, perhaps, taking that week or two week vacation and going traveling. You have to admit there is nothing like being able to stop whenever you want to and where ever you want to. Although the accommodations are not as good as home, you can cook, eat, clean up, kick back and watch some TV or just sit outside and enjoy the great outdoors. After all, this is why you bought that small truck camper in the first place, isn't it? And when it's time for bed, no problem, as it turns out you have your bedroom with you.

Another great feature of having a small truck camperis the ability to tow something behind the pickup truck the truck camper is sitting in. Since the truck camper itself is on the bed of the pickup truck, you can haul your truck camper and still tow your boat, snowmobiles or whatever. Your only concern will be that you stay within the carrying capacity limits of your pickup truck. This makes small truck campers a solid idea for sports enthusiasts. Imagine setting off for a week of fishing with you truck camper in the back of your pickup truck and towing your boat. When you get where you are going, you unhook the boat, set the truck camper on the ground, hook up the boat and your off to the nearest lake, river or stream for some relaxing fishing.

So why buy a small truck camper? If you already own a pickup truck, you're half way there to owning your very ow