truck bed camping--bug netting for open tailgate?

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Macintosh

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Yeah, that nomad one seems well thought out, but you can get really nice pretty good quality tents for less—price seems excessive for what it is. Initial impression is the low headroom for entry/exit would also be a real annoyance. I’ll look forward to user reviews from you guys!
 

CAVEboy

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I've spent a lot of time in the back of my truck bed. For me the answer is a simple easy up 10x10 with bug netting sides. It may not be quite as easy to set up as you want, but you just can't beat it. I love how you can lower one side to block wind or driving rain. I actually camped in the bed under the easy up before I got a canopy. Now I have the canopy for bed and gear storage, but the easy up for living space. Plus, you can leave camp to go hunting without tearing down the living space. Then just back under the edge when you get home at night. Just my take.
 

Voyageur

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I've spent a lot of time in the back of my truck bed. For me the answer is a simple easy up 10x10 with bug netting sides. It may not be quite as easy to set up as you want, but you just can't beat it. I love how you can lower one side to block wind or driving rain. I actually camped in the bed under the easy up before I got a canopy. Now I have the canopy for bed and gear storage, but the easy up for living space. Plus, you can leave camp to go hunting without tearing down the living space. Then just back under the edge when you get home at night. Just my take.
Sounds convenient. Any pics?
 
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Macintosh

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Easy-up is just a brand of collapsible canopy. I have a cheapie no-name brand I got from Dicks for car-camping, but it doesn't have bug netting sides, would need a new canopy top with a decent way to secure the netting sides. Does your netting sides attach with velcro strips? It's not clear from the easy-up website if their netting will fit into another brands frame or canopy?
 
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2ski

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There are some people I met training this summer that have a setup that goes out from the truck so it's bug netting and there's enough room for a sitting area too. Not sure if they made it or bought it but it was nice.
 

CAVEboy

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Sounds convenient. Any pics?
Sorry, no I don't have any photos. It's really simple though and looks just like it sounds. I used to hunt with a guy who only brought a cot his sleeping stuff and an easy up. At night he would drop the easy up down to the ground and sleep under it on his cot, during the day he would raise it and live under it. He would come and go in his truck. I learned from him. He was a lot tougher than me and didn't use big netting.
 
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Macintosh

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Sounds like he's a lot tougher than me, too. I'm many years past trying to be tough. After a couple summers camping in central Alaska, I still have nightmares 20 years later about waking up to the sound of mosquitos packed between tent and fly. I have never shat so quickly in my life. We dont have the bugs quite like a gazillion square miles of muskeg will produce, but black fly season in northern new england is still something to be reckoned with, at least for me. I'll stick with the bug netting these days, thankyouverymuch!
 
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