A good number of the truck camper owners we know were tent campers first. As kids, their families went tent camping. Then they tent camped as Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. Later they went tent camping on their own in high school and college. Along the way they went tent camping with their future spouse. Finally, in the great cycle of tent camping, they took their kids tent camping.
Many of these folks might still be tent campers if the ground wasn’t so hard. By far the number one reason tent campers buy a truck camper is, “To get off the ground”. In a way, the ground may be the biggest marketing competitor to Truck Camper Magazine.
The second reason tent campers quit tenting and buy a truck camper goes something like this:
“We were camping in a tent when the temperature dropped into the 30s and it rained so hard our flip flops floated away. When the rain finally stopped, we wiped the mud from our eyes, poked our heads from of our soaked canvass contraption, and saw a couple next door in a truck camper. They were warm, dry, and generally having a good time. That was the last time we went tent camping, and the reason we bought a truck camper.”
Versions of that story have been told in Truck Camper Magazine many times. What hasn’t been told is how many truck campers continue to go tent camping or have tents for other purposes. Once a tent camper, always a tent camper? We have seen enough tents packed in truck camper rigs to make us wonder.
This week’s Question of the Week is, “Do you bring a tent along with your truck camper?” If you do, tell us what kind of tent you pack, and why.
Perhaps you have a tent in your truck camper rig for extended backpacking hikes. Or maybe you have a tent for the grandkids. If you have a tent in your truck camper rig, we want to know about it.
Is it true that once a tent camper, always a tent camper? Or are your tent camping days behind you?
This QOTW is closed. To read about how readers view tent camping and if they still go tent camping, click here.
