It'll be hard to pin down in official data – RVIA figures paint a bleak picture for 2023 RV sales in general, deliveries down just over 40 percent year-over-year through October – but 2023 felt to us like the year the van life craze ceded some real ground to truck campers. Our first Overland Expo in a few years seemed far less preoccupied with 4x4 camper vans than in the past, the vacated space filled in with more adventure trucks and truck camper products. The year also saw more than one well-established camper van specialist turn attention to launching an adventure camper truck or two, welcomed a few innovative electric truck campers into the fold, and added a few new styles and brands of pickup topper. Here are a dozen truck camper launches and builds that moved the needle.
But first, some trends:
Hard siders
This year wasn't the first time we saw a lightweight camping topper with a hard-walled pop-up roof area, but it did see more of those debuts than past years, making us wonder if hard-wall models will present a more formidable challenge to traditional fabric-sided toppers in the future. On the plus side, fully extended hard walls provide better protection from weather, wildlife and noise. On the downside, they can be heavier and more expensive than designs with fabric pop-up walls.
Electrics
Twenty-twenty two was all about the electric camper van, but 2023 saw the emergence of the electric truck camper. Surprisingly, we didn't see much in the way of Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T camper products, but the GMC Hummer EV got itself a particularly nice pop-up option and the venerable Toyota Hilux got specially converted into an e-pickup for the purpose of roaming rugged parts of Australia. And who can forget the long-awaited entrance of the Tesla Cybertruck? Tesla's own camping solution is all truck tent, not truck camper, but the aftermarket has been hard at work for years, with at least one option just waiting for the delivery of a Cybertruck on which to test it.
Splitters
Possibly the most interesting new innovation in truck camping in 2023 was the splittable camping topper that separates into individual rack/cap and pop-up rooftop tent components. This two-part design can work as a security shell and/or a roof rack on non-camping trips without lugging around an unneeded rooftop tent. On camping trips, the two pieces merge into one, offering pop-top area access from inside the truck bed. One design is specifically for the Jeep Gladiator while the second is aimed at a much broader chunk of the pickup market.
Ultralights
While hard-sided pop-tops were making pickup toppers heavier, full-floored pickup campers were getting lighter and smaller, in some cases sized to fit the little Ford Maverick. In fact, we saw three of the lightest campers we've ever covered in the TC Truck Camper, Enduro SuperTourer and Scout Tuktut, all of which dropped down into the 600-lb (272-kg) range.
We linked back to those trendsetting products that didn't make the list; the rest can be found below, along with several other compelling designs.