Travis Burke, Robert Riddle, and Chris Janeway share their Bowen Custom Beds and the real impact these all-aluminum builds have made on their truck camping lifestyles. Are custom beds worth the investment? Let’s find out.
When we introduced Bowen Customs in the fall of 2025, readership interest was undeniable. We followed up a few months later with a Bowen Customs factory tour showcasing how these high-end storage beds are designed and manufactured. Once again, reader response was powerful, but one repeated question emerged.
Where the majority of readers reacted favorably to the modern and purposeful aesthetic, some questioned the value of Bowen Custom’s undeniably premium products. Could a custom storage bed possibly impact one’s truck camping lifestyle enough to be worth the outlay? There’s only one way to find out: ask actual Bowen Customs owners.
To get firsthand accounts, we talked to three Bowen owners: an industrial contractor destined for the Arctic Ocean, a full-time photographer driving to Patagonia, and an overland shop owner traveling with a family of four. They each have different trucks, different truck campers, and different needs. Our focus remained fixed on one question: does the extra exterior storage actually change how they camp?
Special thanks to Stu Turner of Bowen Customs for providing technical insights into the design, and to Michael Cuske for connecting us with the owners featured in this story.
Travis Burke
2015 Toyota Tacoma
2024 Four Wheel Camper Fleet
Bowen Customs: Camper Bed
I’ve lived on the road full-time for nearly a decade, using my truck camper as both my home and my mobile production platform. My work often requires staying in one place for days or weeks at a time, waiting for the right light, the right swell, or clear skies for the Milky Way. Because of that, how I store and access my gear isn’t a small detail—it directly affects how I work and live.
In 2024, I began planning a two-year drive along the Pan-American Highway. The scale of that trip forced me to rethink my setup. I needed something compact, capable, and reliable.
For more than five years, I ran a Four Wheel Camper Fleet Flatbed on a Toyota Tacoma. For the Pan-American journey, I stayed with my 2015 Tacoma and a Four Wheel Camper Fleet, but switched to a slide-in configuration to keep the overall footprint more compact. The trade-off was reduced integrated storage, so I added a Bowen replacement bed to regain exterior cargo capacity. It was a significant investment, and not one I took lightly. But for a trip of this length and complexity, the added storage, access, and organization made practical sense. I wouldn’t have chosen this truck and camper combination without it.
One of the practical benefits for me has been access during loading and unloading. The fold-down exterior doors allow me to reach the tie-down points from outside the camper, so I can tighten the turnbuckles without climbing inside. I also added rear access doors for longer gear like fishing rods and camera tripods, and I use the fold-down side doors as temporary work surfaces when I’m outside.
I keep tools, recovery gear, chairs, skateboards, and other equipment in the exterior compartments to keep my living space uncluttered. I think of it as my garage—separate from where I sleep and edit photos.
On a long international route with varied terrain and frequent border crossings, organization and security matter. Running this bed setup has allowed me to keep a compact midsize platform while still carrying the equipment I need to support both my daily life and my photography for the long haul.
Robert Riddle
Truck: 2017 Ford F-250
Camper: 2024 Cirrus 620
Bowen Customs: Camper Bed
I built my rig knowing it had to handle everything a trip to the Arctic Ocean demands—the gear, the weight, the terrain, and the isolation. After years of working out of utility trucks as an industrial contractor, I’ve developed strong opinions about storage and organization. For me, this project didn’t begin with the camper. It began with the bed.
I’ve always viewed storage as a necessity, not a luxury. There are items I simply won’t put inside the camper or in the back seat of the cab. Dirty shovels, muddy leveling blocks, recovery gear, tools, and spare parts need to be accessible, but they also need to stay out of the living space. An exterior bed system gave me a way to separate work gear from where we eat and sleep.
I chose an all-aluminum Bowen bed for my short-bed F-250 because I wanted durability without unnecessary weight. It wasn’t an inexpensive decision. In fact, it was one of the more substantial investments in the build. But given how central storage is to the way I travel and work, the added organization, capacity, and utility justified the cost over the long term. For the camper, my wife and I selected a Cirrus 620 with four-season construction, an Alde heating system, and a cassette toilet—features that fit how and where we travel.
Beyond general storage, I also wanted to expand our water capacity for extended off-grid stays. We added a fifteen-gallon gravity-fed water tank at the front of the bed and incorporated bulkhead storage above it to maximize the available space.
When we’re off-grid, self-sufficiency is the goal. For me, the increased water capacity and dedicated exterior storage aren’t upgrades for appearance. They solve practical constraints that come with a short-bed truck camper and allow us to carry what we need while keeping the interior clean, organized, and functional.
Chris Janeway
Truck: 2021 Ram 3500
Camper: 2024 Scout Kenai
Bowen Customs: Camper Bed with Garage
For my family, truck camping happens in bursts. My wife, our two sons (ages eight and ten), and I take weekend trips around Colorado throughout the year, but it’s our big summer trip that we all look forward to most. Last year, we spent twenty-eight days traveling across the West.
We left Colorado for the California Redwoods, drove up Highway 101, crossed through the Cascades in Washington, and then headed east for a family reunion in Whitefish, Montana. We plan many of our stops around water because we all enjoy paddleboarding. Four people, four large inflatable paddleboards, and the rest of our camping gear add up quickly in any truck camper.
You can fit a family of four in a long-bed crew-cab truck with the right camper, but storage quickly becomes the limiting factor.
I’ve spent more than fifteen years building and testing truck camping and overland rigs through my Denver shop, Juniper Overland. I’ve run just about every combination, including flatbeds. As my family grew, I found myself returning to a slide-in camper for the way we travel now. We needed a way to manage gear without overwhelming the interior. Tossing items on the floor while driving isn’t a solution. You still have to deal with it when you reach camp. Not having camp turn into a yard sale changes everything.
Fitment was important to me. A typical flatbed tray can raise the camper several inches. With the Bowen replacement bed, the Scout Kenai sits at factory height, preserving the truck’s center of gravity and keeping the overall profile tight. On my Ram 3500 long bed, the eight-foot bed and garage storage make the overall length slightly longer than stock because of the way Bowen accounts for the curvature of the bed against the cab and rear bumper. Once completed, you have an 8-foot bed and deep garage storage that doesn’t interfere with the hitch. That’s another Bowen advantage. Camp chairs, inflatable paddleboards, and bulkier gear stay organized outside the living area.
The bed system was not an inexpensive addition to the build. As someone who does this professionally, I evaluated it the same way I would for a client—by weighing cost against function. For our family’s travel style and volume of gear, the added organization, fitment, and usable space justified the investment. It ultimately completed the rig in a way that matched how we actually camp.
On a twenty-eight-day trip with four people, small efficiencies matter. Spending less time digging for gear reduces friction at camp and makes the experience smoother for everyone. Nearly four years into this configuration, I haven’t felt the need to change it, which, given my profession and tendency to experiment with setups, says something.
For more information on Bowen Customs, visit their website at bowencustoms.com. To request information on a Bowen Customs bed for your truck camper rig, click here.
