Outdoors

Topper Tent gives Tacoma-back campers more sleeping room

Topper Tent gives Tacoma-back campers more sleeping room
The Topper Tent is currently on Kickstarter
The Topper Tent is currently on Kickstarter
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The Topper Tent's door flap can be unzipped and tied off
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The Topper Tent's door flap can be unzipped and tied off
The Topper Tent is currently on Kickstarter
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The Topper Tent is currently on Kickstarter

Perhaps you've got a Toyota Tacoma pickup with a cap on the back, and you'd like to sleep in there when camping, but the truck's cargo bed is just too short. Should that be the case, the Topper Tent may be for you.

Designed by Colorado-based camper/entrepreneur Kim Sandefur, the Topper Tent is basically a polyurethane-coated ripstop nylon rainfly that gets attached to the open back end of a cap-equipped 1st-, 2nd- or 3rd-generation Tacoma. The clever part is, it allows the truck's tailgate to be left down, lengthening the sleeping space by over 1 foot (30.5 cm).

It can reportedly be installed in about one minute, utilizing a combination of sewn-in and adhesive hook-and-loop strips to attach to the inside of the cap's top and sides, and three powerful sewn-in magnets to stick to the underside of the tailgate. A couple of adjustable retaining straps are also run beneath the tailgate, to help keep everything in place.

The Topper Tent's door flap can be unzipped and tied off
The Topper Tent's door flap can be unzipped and tied off

The truck-bed space can then be accessed via a zippered door flap in the Topper Tent – that flap can be rolled up and tied off at the top to keep it out of the way, as needed. It is claimed that the setup ought to work with caps of any height.

Should you be interested, the Topper Tent is presently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. Assuming it reaches production, a pledge of US$150 will get you one – the planned retail price is $180. It's demonstrated in the video below.

And if you drive a Subaru Outback … well, you might want to check out the sort-of-similar but larger Post Up tent.

Topper Tent

Sources: Kickstarter, Topper Tent

3 comments
3 comments
Babaghan
Good idea. I have a Tacoma with a 5 foot bed and this would be handy for me. It's bizarre that the promotional video shows a truck with the Decked cargo system. So a 6 foot tall person is supposed to sleep with his feet dangling over the edge? Oh well, not everyone thinks things through, but we still get the idea.
Username
There's a reason tents aren't black.
Uncle Anonymous
What a great idea and the price point isn't outrageous too. I wonder if one of these would fit other small pickups.