Truck topper pop-top/canopy camper

[406flyfish]

GFC is coming out with a new model next week. Quite a bit of new accessories and options in the near future as well. Should narrow the gap between SP and GFC.

 

[sndmn11]

GFC is coming out with a new model next week. Quite a bit of new accessories and options in the near future as well. Should narrow the gap between SP and GFC.

re you going to switch back?!!

 

[406flyfish]

re you going to switch back?!!

Haha I keep going back and forth. It is nice that GFC is right down the road from me if any problems were to arise. When stopping in, he had stated he had a demo v2 Pro that would fit my truck and would offer 30% off that particular unit. With that offer, it’s a 7k price difference between the GFC and SP.

I do believe SP is more thought out and perhaps better quality. However, I don’t think I can swallow a 7k price difference with that offer.

Looking at homemade diesel heaters right now.

A

 

[sndmn11]

Haha I keep going back and forth. It is nice that GFC is right down the road from me if any problems were to arise. When stopping in, he had stated he had a demo v2 Pro that would fit my truck and would offer 30% off that particular unit. With that offer, it’s a 7k price difference between the GFC and SP.

I do believe SP is more thought out and perhaps better quality. However, I don’t think I can swallow a 7k price difference with that offer.

Looking at homemade diesel heaters right now.

A

$7k is a good bit of difference.

 

[Wrongside]

I’ve been wanting something like the GFC or SP for quite awhile. Mostly for camping, fishing, hunting, traveling to matches, and just traveling with the wife and dog.

We take delivery of an AllTerra Tech OV1 (they’re based relatively near us) later this month. And leave immediately after for a 10 day moose hunt up north. Hopefully there aren’t too many glitches with the new cap. Really pumped to get it.

I also have a diesel heater and power station on the way. Little nervous about taking so much unproven gear- not really my style- but we will roll with whatever happens.

 

[sndmn11]

I also have a diesel heater and power station on the way. Little nervous about taking so much unproven gear- not really my style- but we will roll with whatever happens.

Detail your power and heater for us?

 

[Wrongside]

Detail your power and heater for us?

Pretty basic so far. A LF Bros Plateau heater and the Bluetti Elite 200 V2. Time will tell how long the Bluetti can run the heater.

This winter, after hunting season, I’ll look at adding solar on the roof and possibly additional battery power storage. But whatever it ends up looking like, the power and buildout will need to be fairly streamlined and removable. I don’t want to lose the use of my truck for truck things.

 

[Extrapale]

I've had a Super Pacific since '22. Ram 2500 Power Wagon. I have not built out the bed.

Spent nights in the 20s with no heater. I was plenty warm. I have a Lil buddy, but have never needed it.

I am very happy with it.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

42x12 Side Slider Window - Driver
42x12 Side Slider Window - Passenger

Pros/cons, the height of the windows is low on these setups so you don't really look through them much, they are less secure, and leak heat. If you want privacy they will be covered most of the time. For ventalation purposes the one under the cab is shielded and can be used in crappy weather.

All that said I framed out a spot for a driver side window on the FWC inspired camper I am building SO I get the appeal. Just devils advocate thoughts.

 

[sndmn11]

Pros/cons, the height of the windows is low on these setups so you don't really look through them much, they are less secure, and leak heat. If you want privacy they will be covered most of the time. For ventalation purposes the one under the cab is shielded and can be used in crappy weather.

All that said I framed out a spot for a driver side window on the FWC inspired camper I am building SO I get the appeal. Just devils advocate thoughts.

We ordered these with a half cut out interior molle panel; I was thinking about security also. All my toppers have had side windows and have never had any break inside, so likely overthinking.

THey make these in two halves, so we can mix and match to stay as both sides with half cut outs, or swap them around to do full/none of we ever desire.

 

[Dendragapus]

I got an AT Overland Summit back in February. Been happy with it so far for my purposes.

apologize in advance for the essay!

I would say you'll be well served if you can describe to yourself your 90% use case and select features that best support that.

For instance: the wedge works well for me as I do a lot of 1-night trips close to home and a lot of whitewater kayaking. The wedge allows me to leave my bed fully made up and the sleeping platform is on a second set of gas springs to push it up against the roof where many straight pop-ups require disassembling the bed platform for standing space or dropping the roof. Very fast from parking to sleeping. Also pops a a fair bit easier with 100# of kayaks on top.
On the other hand I'm making some fairly significant interior livability sacrifices as far as lounging & hangout space especially with 2 people inside.

The walls on the AT popups are slanted so the walls match the cab of the truck. I chose this somewhat intentionally because I live in WA state where many forest roads are very tight with brush, timber etc and I wanted a relatively compact profile. Again I'm sacrificing livability though compared to something like the project M that has straight vertical sides.

I picked AT overland because the walls are a honeycomb panel rather than just sheet metal and I figured any available insulation is good. No specific experience with any of the competitors to know if it makes a difference though. Have an insulated liner for the pop-up too. I got a solar panel & their propane heater (with thermostat) as well. Have probably 6 nights in the 15-25F range so far with ski hill parking lots and the like and I've been pretty happy with it.

My biggest annoyances so far are small things related to accessories:
- the roof vent fan has an LCD display with a fan speed and temprature readout that is very bright, enough that I've taped over it to get a good nights sleep
- bed platform overlaps the lights in the vent fan and LED's can overheat and melt things if it accidentally gets left on
- I wish I had had some more ambient 'string light' style lights put in during the install for overall interior brightness
- 2nd battery was a last minute decision so it's just sitting strapped in to the truck bed. In the long run I'd like to mount the battery underneath the back seat or maybe in the undercarriage somewhere and then put the control panel for it up on the camper wall so that I don't have to schlep it in and out for truck stuff.

View attachment 922122

Howdy, I appreciate you taking the time to share some info about your experience. One question for you: when you’re camping up at the ski hill, how many pounds of propane are you burning through in a night? And for how long each night/morning are you using the heater?

I’m interested in a similar setup for extended hunting trips and up at the local ski hill, but have zero idea what propane consumption rates might look like. I know there’s a lot of variability depending on outside temp/insulation/etc, but even a rough idea would be really helpful. Thanks!

 

[elsb0048]

Howdy, I appreciate you taking the time to share some info about your experience. One question for you: when you’re camping up at the ski hill, how many pounds of propane are you burning through in a night? And for how long each night/morning are you using the heater?

I’m interested in a similar setup for extended hunting trips and up at the local ski hill, but have zero idea what propane consumption rates might look like. I know there’s a lot of variability depending on outside temp/insulation/etc, but even a rough idea would be really helpful. Thanks!

Hi there I'm sorry but I don't know that I have too specific of data for you on that front as we've done a poor job of tracking our propane consumption. I think I refilled our 20lb tank some time after those 6 cold weather nights but I don't even recall if it was full when we started or how much cooking we did with it.

I have a 4-5day trip coming up for opening weekend of rifle elk around Oct 10 though and I can try to track temps, run times, and tank weights for you if that'd be helpful.

Regarding usage: because my heater has a thermostat we tend to set it to ~50-55F and then sleep with an old duvet from the house + a wool blanket on top rather than sleeping bags. The thermostat is probably 18" lowere than the sleeping platform though and hot air rises so it's likely a little warmer up top than the thermostat reads.
We tend to run the heater whenever we're inside but so far that tends to be essentially only sleeping hours. We'll sometimes crank it up to 65F or so for 20mins in the AM to get dressed in a cushy environment because we're soft lol!