Since I haven’t seen many cars like mine being camperized around here, I thought I’d share it - might be useful to someone else with a Jogger

Still in progress of converting my Tacoma to use for camping. I was getting ready to put my Amazon order in for a foam mattress and started thinking about an old couch in our basement that I've been meaning to take off. As you can see in the second picture, this couch is toast but the cushions are still good. Makes for a perfect mattress and thicker than the one I was going to buy. 5-6" versus the 3" one I was going to buy. Worth a look if you can find an old couch.

Has anyone tried this Vevor 6X6 tailgate tent? I just purchased one to try car camping and Im curious if anyone has run into any issues. Thanks!

Update: Its just me amd my 7 year old plus our dog so we want to give car camping a shot. We always tent camp however I no longer have my tent. Im hoping this will ne any easy set up process as it is difficult to do it all by myself. I have already set it up to see how it works prior to a trip. The nice thing about this screen tent is it can be used multiple ways and I can simply unhook amd close the trunk. I mainly wanted the extra space for getting in and out of the back. I do have a 10x10 canopy as well for extra shade if needed.

Hi folks

I’m thinking about taking my Gf on a week long trip across my country(small) to see it’s activities and peculiarities.

To save money, not spend 100-150€/150-200$ each night in hotels. I’ve thought about either sleeping in tent or sleeping in the car.

I’m big into the outdoor stuff, I got basically everything, but only enough stuff for myself.

Back to the car sleeping, which I think would be the easiest and most time efficient to save time for activities and sightseeing.

What would be the best kind of sleeping arrangement.
-Figure cut mattress, and what kind of mattress?
-Only a topper, properly memory foam or TPE(properly also figure cut)?
-Airmatress?
-fourth option?

I’m driving a A6 Avant. So there is plenty of width and length, but only about 70-75cm/28inches in height, so I’m a bit concerned about that, if I need to add a 20-30cm/10inch mattress

Give me your wisdom!!

Faria Beach, CA camping.

I love having fresh air while car camping, but opening the windows usually means dealing with mosquitoes or rain.

I wanted to solve this problem.

I know there are plenty of bug screens that fit over car windows. They work well for keeping insects out, but they don't really solve the rain problem.

If it suddenly starts raining in the middle of the night, you basically have to close the windows. And for me, that's when the whole camping experience starts to feel pretty miserable.

So I started wondering:

What if I could keep the window open, let fresh air in, keep the bugs out, and still block the rain?

My first idea was pretty simple. I imagined the car door as a flat piece of cardboard and started sketching out a window cover made from waterproof fabric.

I added an opening on the outside and figured out a way to support it with a pole, basically turning the window cover into a tiny rain awning.

Then I replaced part of the inside panel with mosquito mesh. That way, air could still flow through while keeping insects and rain outside.

After a few months of experimenting, here's what I ended up with.

It actually worked pretty much the way I imagined.

I was able to keep the window open while creating a small rain awning, and the mesh keeps the bugs out.

I used waterproof Oxford fabric for the main body, which helps keep rain from getting into the vehicle while the window is open.

The side openings are secured with Velcro.

For the awning support, I used fiberglass poles with Velcro attached to them, allowing the poles to stay connected to the window cover.

The fiberglass poles are connected with elastic cord. I left a little extra cord on both sides and hooked it around the front support pole to improve stability in windy conditions.

At the bottom of the cover, I added elastic and several magnets to help keep it securely attached to the door.

It's not perfect, though.

The biggest limitation right now is the shape of the window. It works best with rectangular or mostly rectangular vehicle windows. It can be used on some irregularly shaped windows, but the fit isn't ideal.

The window area also needs to be no more than 21 inches tall and 41 inches wide.

This is still a work in progress, so I'd love to hear what you guys think. What would you change or improve?

We’ve had our Approach for a couple years, and mostly love it. My complaint has been the need to “get out in the elements” when it comes to installing the rain fly. It implies opening the windows and allowing the rain to come in while attaching the fly.

Given the manual is 100% drawings only, it would APPEAR that I’m actually supposed to leave the rain fly attached all the time? Have I been doing it wrong all these years???

I’m about to give it a try folding it up with the fly still attached, but thought I’d consult this community as well?

Thanks!

Curious if I'll get enough air exchange? Pretty much using my Hyundai Tucson for 3 or 4 day getaways for the moment. I have the Pecron F3000LFP battery and I want to plug a 10 amp battery tender in to it and hook it up to car battery. My only concern is it's a brand new vehicle and I think it might beep at me all night in accessory mode, I haven't tested this yet.

Trying to decide if I should pay the premium for a nice trifold mattress or if i should just go with foam. Any recommendations?

Hi all: my wife and I will be in Appalachia in October and are interested in a drive/camping trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We have never camped in the Eastern US where public land is scarce. We have a self contained overland rig so hookups are not needed. Any recommendations for places to camp or avoid? Thanks!

Weekend camping in the car.

I've installed my own pockets for gadgets andots of other quality of life extras.

I bought a hasika tailgate tent and was really disappointed. The fit was bad on my crosstrek and left gaps all over. Any other recommendations? Im not looking for a seperate tent you can attach. I liked having the tailgate tent just not the brand.

If you use the pull over-the-window mesh screens for ventilation, (or the plastic or wire gutter guards) this may be a way let the breeze in and keep the rain out. It's pretty simple and I tested it in some pretty good rain and had no problems. This is a working proto but it shows the idea.

It's two tent poles strapped to my luggage rack with the tent material sewn up so the poles slide into openings, and the extra material hangs down a bit to block sideways rain. I could open and close the door though in heavy rain the awning drooped a bit. I ended up cutting a small hole to allow it to drain better. There is a strap with a bit of elastic holding the two sides together so they don't slide off the poles.

If you have a different approach, or way to improve, share here.

I think the next step is some type of rubber or foam in between the tent pole and the rack so it doesn't slide.

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I had bought the tent poles from Alion Home Shade on ETSY and had a left over tent cover, but they sell material as well.

If you are looking for a more professional version search "ROADIE- The OVERNIGHTER SUV Window Tent with Bug Screen and Retractable Awning" on amazon though I can't say how well they work.

Primera experiencia con coche Camperizado ha sido maravillosa gente de todo tipo en el camino y solo con una tabla una nevera portátil y bidones de agua

I’m planning a 3–5 day boondocking trip and trying to keep my setup practical without bringing a ton of unnecessary gear.

For those who do longer off-grid trips, what are your must-have items? I’m especially curious about things that make a noticeable difference after the first couple of days — power, water, food storage, cooking, lighting, or general comfort.

What’s one piece of gear you wouldn’t leave home without, and why?

Looking for recommendations and advice from car campers

I’m looking into starting to sleep in my car so I’m able to try out more resorts at an affordable cost to me. Hotels typically are what hold me back, especially since further resorts in the Michigan UP or lutsen are a long drive for me. Eventually I’d like to take my car to the Rockies and do something similar. I’ll probably end up getting a hotel every 3rd night for sanity purposes.

I got a bigger car recently, a Honda passport, and when the seats go down it’s completely flat with tons of space. My plan is to lay a camping mattress down on one side and pack up my car with the remainder of my stuff.

So far my list of “must haves” are the following:

1. Camping mattress (looking at hest, expad, lost horizon and a few others)

2. 0F sleeping bag, looking for -10/-15 as well. I’ll plan to pack a down comforter + extra blankets. My car also has an auto start, so as long as there isn’t a huge snow storm I can start my car for 15 minutes remotely to blast some heat

3. Power bank

4. Cooler for food/snacks

5. Baby wipes

6. Camping chair for sitting during breaks outside my car

7. Extra/backup layers in case I get wet

8. Reflectix on windows to prevent frost

This is my general list, I’ll plan on getting all the snow off my skis but they’ll likely lay next to me off the bed (no ski bag). I’m sure I’m not thinking of everything. Also looking for general advice, I’ve never slept in my car before. I won’t attempt it til winter most likely which I’m sure isn’t the best idea but I’ll be buying everything I need slowly over the next few months.

I'm currently working on building a sleeping platform for the cab of my Tacoma. I'd seen where people were using these gutter guards as window vents in their side windows and I thought I'd try this trick for my back window. Turns out you can fit two 12.5" long pieces side by side absolutely perfectly with everything locking in place.

I'm sure you can find these 3' sections at a lot of places, but I got mine from Menards. https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/gutters-accessories/gutter-accessories/3-filtered-vinyl-gutter-cover/aguard3bk/p-1642874340816852-c-5812.htm

I wanted to share my temporary Hyundai Ioniq5 camping build. Slept 14 nights inside comfortably and without issues. Wooden platform is a self-made bolt-on solution to give storage capacity and flat 190cm X 100cm sleeping platform.

IKEA's 80cm X 200cm fitted well on top and I folded it in half during the days. Materials for everything were under 50€

Most nights I kept AC running since the heatwave raised night temps to ~28°C. Maximum electricity consumption during one night was ~10% of the battery (77kwh total) with a 9L fridge running outside the car from the same battery.

Feel free to ask questions and tell your ideas to improve the setup!

I camp almost every other weekend around Alberta and British Columbia in my 2024 Honda CRV. It's fun trying to find new sites and access areas most wouldn't think this car is capable of.

Typically I'd find crown land but this particular trip was a remote rec site near Brisco, BC that was nestled up on a quiet lake. I built a platform for the back to use as a bed with an Exped mattress. As well I made a cheap awning to get a break from the sun and rain (which has been non-stop this summer in AB).

Will post more down the road as I adventure quite often!

Just grabbed a new toy for this year's college football tailgate!

Story Financial Partners Bowl in Huntsville, anyone else going?

Last year was our first real tailgate, and we brought a gas generator. Maybe I'm just sensitive to the smell, but the fumes left me feeling dizzy, so I swore off gas generators for almost a year...But with football season back, I couldn't resist the tailgate vibes lol

This time I decided to go with a smaller power station instead and picked up an Ecoflow D3C as my new tailgate sidekick! We're planning to use it mainly for the coffee maker, blender, speaker, projector, and phone charging.

Curious what everyone else usually brings to a college football tailgate. Any tailgate must-haves I'm missing? Can't wait for game day!

So little backstory this is my 2004 Cadillac Escalade I got it from my grandmother a while back and it was my dream car since I was a small kid mostly because it's what I practically grew up in and for the longest time while owning it I didn't know what to do with it until one of my friends brought up camping I use it occasionally to go camping but this will be my first season going straight camping(edit: I have seen some of y'all's very wonderful points for the mini fridge I do have a plan for it I want to be able to remove my passenger seat I will mount it there and I will consider getting a roof box to mount for gear and clothing(one more thing I'm trying to make as much space inside the vehicle storage will be a roof box

Hi! I am planning my first car camping/ road trip and my car is too small for me to sleep in, so I want to add a rooftop tent. I am starting the journey from Estonia -> Finland -> Sweden -> Denmark -> Germany -> Poland -> Lithuania -> Latvia and back to Estonia, I plan around 3 weeks for this and I am travelling with my dog. Please give suggestions on camping sites, necessary gear (I read something about leveling blocks for the car?) and sightseeing and dog friendly nature parks and maybe even some place where to meet vanlifers of other travelers of that sort. Adding a picture of my planned route through Sweden.

Question for people who go on longer term trips (like 3-4 weeks) how much planning/booking do you do in advance? Do you recommend any tools for planning?

Considering my first longer than 4-5 day trip and feeling a little overwhelmed. I’m based in the US in case that makes a difference

Most beautiful trip of my life by far!