When you’re the form of person who takes their truck tenting however is sick of placing up a tent each night time, you then’ve received a couple of choices to make your life simpler. You can purchase a ready-made camper shell that matches snugly into the mattress and offers you a kitchen and sleeping house, or you might strap a rooftop tent to your truck and be in your approach. Fortunately, the GFC Camper gives a 3rd possibility that’s a lot better than each

Full disclosure: GFC lent me a Jeep Gladiator fitted with considered one of its campers for every week to drive across the nationwide parks of the Pacific Northwest. It then put me up in a lodge in Montana for an evening, confirmed me round its manufacturing unit and flew me dwelling.

What Is It The GFC Camper?

Launched in 2017, GFC Engineering is a Montana-based firm that builds truck toppers, rooftop tents and this, the GFC Platform Camper. For $7,700, the corporate will promote you a bespoke camper that’s made particularly to your truck and contains a truck topper portion that matches over the mattress of your automobile and a pop-up tent part that’s hooked up up prime.

The truck-topping part comes with three panels that may open out to disclose your truck mattress. They may also be locked to maintain any possessions you retailer again there protected. Then, there’s the pop-up portion on the roof, which isn’t like an everyday rooftop tent because it features a detachable flooring that GFC calls the “transform-a-floor.” This lets you combine up the best way you employ the higher portion, with choices to maintain it coated for sleeping or you possibly can open it as much as create a nine-foot-tall standing house.

The entire thing is strong, with joints comprised of milled aluminum, and reinforcement throughout the construction holding your truck inflexible as soon as the camper is hooked up. What’s extra, every camper that leaves the manufacturing unit in Bozeman is made to order particularly for the truck you’re becoming it to. So as to do that, GFC has 3D scanned each truck that it builds a camper for, and can even scan your truck if it’s one which it hasn’t made a topper for up to now (the group assures me there’s no additional price if that is so). On prime of that, consumers may customise their camper by selecting the colour of the material on the tent, the sleeping space’s width, the variety of home windows on the tent and even the colour of the panels that make up the truck topper.

That Positive Sounds Like A Tent?

I’ll admit, it does sound so much like a elaborate tent, and earlier than I received my fingers on a Jeep Gladiator with a GFC Camper strapped to the again, I assumed it was like a each different rooftop tent. However GFC has considered so many little tweaks and particulars that make this way more.

The largest distinction is that the GFC Camper gives direct entry to your truck mattress, making it really feel a bit like a two-story camper. There are three segments of the topper’s transform-a-floor that may be eliminated – two small squares and one bigger rectangle, which equates to roughly two-thirds of the 90″ x 50″ flooring space. This implies you can strip out a lot of the flooring and use the entire house as a standing room if you must get modified, you possibly can take out a number of the panels and create a standing desk space, or cowl the entire house over.

This technique is nice, and implies that each time you get cozy up prime and bear in mind you’ve forgotten your e book or snacks within the mattress under, you don’t need to clamber down the ladder, open up the trunk, get your bits then climb again up. You may simply come out one of many squares, soar down and hop up once more. It actually could be very useful.

What’s extra, that flooring is additionally fitted with a mattress. The built-in mattress covers the entire sleeping space, which on my commonplace camper provided ample house for 2 adults. However, if you would like extra room and have a much bigger truck, GFC gives a barely bigger 90″ x 56″ camper. The mattress within the tent is about 4 inches thick, and gives a pleasant quantity of help to your sleep. My companion discovered it actually cozy, however I believe me and my bony shoulders would admire a bit of extra padding, so if I used to be to have a camper like this of my very own I’d positively put money into an additional mattress topper.

The opposite massive benefit over rooftop tents I’ve used is the best way this factor opens as much as the weather. There’s an enormous opening on the prime, in addition to two openings on both sides of the camper – one which acts as an entrypoint and one other as a small vent. This implies you possibly can depart a niche open for air flow when you sleep, or you possibly can throw open the entire camper to the world and, when you’re tenting someplace with a whole lot of critters, there are layers of mesh on every opening to maintain the wildlife firmly outdoors.

Is It Straightforward To Use?

All of these options would possibly make this sound like an advanced camper to function, however it actually isn’t. Once you attain camp, it takes a matter of seconds to get the roof popped up as there are simply two latches to undo earlier than you push the tent up. It hinges from the entrance and opens up actually large. When you decide to spec your camper with a ladder, which provides $250 to the worth, it’s a telescopic one which latches securely to both facet of the camper. I’d advocate getting the ladder because it’s good having the choice to hop out the facet of the camper, or exit via the ground like a magician’s assistant.

With the highest opened up and the ladder fitted, you then have the choice to open up the facet panels on the topper, which GFC calls “Cabana Mode.” This offers you quick access to all the pieces saved within the mattress, and gives a bit of little bit of shelter if the rain units in. Nevertheless, on my one wet night with the camper, I did notice that the facet panels aren’t fairly large enough to supply actual shelter from the weather. Whereas cooking dinner on the Jeep’s tailgate, I discovered that the panel coated my cooking however left me uncovered to the rain.

One intelligent characteristic I preferred about these panels, although, was that they are often locked from the surface and unlocked from the within. Because of this when you lock the camper up for the night time and climb into the highest by way of the ladder however then resolve you must exit via the truck mattress, you aren’t caught inside. Two latches contained in the panels permit you to unlock them and push them open, then it’s only a case of unlocking the tailgate and hopping out. Very useful.

Having two areas to make use of and a definite divide between the sleeping house and the truck mattress was a very nice characteristic, and positively a spotlight of the camper. It meant that we might maintain our muddy mountain climbing gear away from our sleeping space, and made organizing our tools a breeze.

When the camper was absolutely arrange and the truck loaded with our gear, I began to note the potential of a camper like this. Sure, you might maintain all the pieces commonplace and depart the truck mattress with sufficient house for all of the hopes and goals you carry round with you. Or you might additionally use this as a clean canvas to create the off-road camper of your goals. In reality, GFC instructed me about prospects who’ve completed simply that, with some even constructing kitchens into the beds of their truck, and others which have added loos again there.

So How Would You Set Yours Up?

All these choices for personalisation received me pondering that if this was the topper to my truck I’d positively make some modifications.

First, I’d add an awning to the facet of the truck for certain, some additional safety from the rain or the relentless warmth of the solar could be good to have at camp. I’d additionally set up a set of devoted storage bins within the mattress of the truck, which might be a great place to retailer garments, a cooking equipment and perhaps even a small cooler to maintain your drinks chilly. My evaluate camper additionally got here with a small fold out prep space on the again of the spare wheel, this was a very nice contact and is certainly one thing I’d need on my truck.

Contained in the sleeping house, the usual camper is comfy however sparse, so I believe some form of storage pouch to maintain my keys, pockets or cellphone whereas sleeping could be an enormous enchancment. Additionally, whereas there are loops to hold flashlights and lamps in the usual camper, that strong roof could be an incredible place to stay a strip of lights to maintain the place illuminated when the solar goes down. Modifications like this may be fairly simple to make, particularly because the GFC Camper has an avid following of makers who’re ready to 3D print all method of equipment to your camper.

This, in fact, isn’t to say that the GFC Camper is in want of enchancment. It’s able to serve no matter function you’ve gotten for it, that means that if you would like a light-weight topper that’s not going to influence your truck’s practicalities or efficiency, it’s there for you. Or if you wish to get to work constructing the last word overlanding rig, then it’s a begin in establishing the house for all of your creature comforts.

Would You Purchase One?

All in all, I used to be pleasantly shocked by the GFC Camper. It was ridiculously simple to arrange, and simply as easy to pack away – with a fellow camper even popping over to inform me how impressed they have been that we’d packed up faster than he’d brushed his enamel. The sleeping house was good and comfortable, and with the ability to open up the entire space to see the views round you as you’re drifting off is a beautiful contact.

What’s extra, the best way the topper retains the practicality of your truck will likely be an enormous promoting level to many. Once you’re not tenting, you possibly can nonetheless throw your gear again there, or full a dump run. And the camper even comes with a set of roof rails put in, that are able to carrying as much as 500 lbs. On an identical notice, the best way it’s going to completely suit your private truck is an enormous plus, with GFC even displaying me a camper constructed for the tiny Ford Maverick whereas I used to be at its base.

So, in my thoughts, once you have a look at the fiberglass campers and rudimentary rooftop tents the GFC Camper is competing in opposition to, it’s a simple promote. It’s only a disgrace I’m nonetheless not a truck man.