Pickup camping toppers are a great lightweight RV solution that'll get you up out of the ground tent and into a more stable, better-protected vehicle. But they typically lack any amenities beyond a basic mattress to sleep on. Nevada-based Catapult Adventure Vehicle Outfitter has a more comprehensive solution that makes the pickup bed as versatile and comfortable as a small modular camper van. Its camping system pairs the standard wedge pop-top with a custom-fit panel designed to support a full camper floor plan's worth of furniture and equipment inside the truck bed.
Catapult AV's system starts with a familiar-looking wedge topper. Made from laser-cut aluminum, it attaches to the bed rails to turn the pickup truck into a mobile living space with a strut-assisted pop-up roof and a mattress platform that lifts away to provide standing room in the pickup bed below.
While quite similar to a dozen or two other pickup toppers, the Launch does have a few distinguishing characteristics, including a four-season design with Havelock wool insulation and insulated fabric sidewalls, optional Tern Overland windows, a 52 x 78 x 4-in (132 x 198 x 10-cm) Nemo Roamer inflatable mattress, and two strips of L-track running the length of each sidewall for accessory mounting.
The really unique part of the Catapult system, however, comes courtesy of the available composite floor plate – the Launch Pad – custom-fit to the pickup bed floor. It brings along multiple rows of embedded L-track that essentially give the camper-topped space the flexibility of modular RV, not so different from a Terracamper van.
Catapult hasn't been in the game as long as Terracamper, so it doesn't have the same ecosystem of interior components, but it has designed a few things to help turn the bare pickup bed into a cozy camper, without the weight of the independent floor and base of a fully enclosed pickup camper.
The company's photos and renderings show that a slide-mounted refrigerator just inside the tailgate is a staple feature and also depict an aluminum storage box/bench over the driver-side wheel well and an aluminum sink unit over the passenger-side wheel well. The company also says it offers sleeping platform panels that can be used atop left and right storage benches to create a lower bed.
The L-track can also be used for tie-down rings, hooks, specific mounts for gear like bicycles, and other mounting solutions.
Creating a modular camper directly in the pickup bed is a fairly natural transition for Catapult, which also has a history of converting Ford Transit and Mercedes Sprinter camper vans. It's transferred some of the same van strategies over to the Launch system, such as L-track mounting and over-wheel-well consoles.
While Catapult is rare in offering both its own topper and a modular floor plan system to go along with it – most builders seem to do one or the other – the Launch Pad floor and modular components can also be used in conjunction with other topper models. So drivers who already own a different topper can still benefit from Catapult's in-bed camping system.
Catapult tells us that the Launch Pad floor starts at US$1,025 and weighs 28 lb (12.7 kg) for the version that fits the Toyota Tacoma with 6-ft bed. The company has also created a Launch Pad for the Jeep Gladiator and GMC Canyon AT4. It plans to add variants for other truck models as demand dictates.
As for the Launch topper, it starts at $12,300 and has a base weight of 345 lb (156.5 kg).
Source: Catapult AV
