anyhow, that condor looks awesome! personally, I didn’t want to deal with fiddling with a RTT in addition to a topper. and as toppers go, I like the GFC more. I don’t often do it, but being able to STAND in the tent/truck can be a gamechanger in some conditions.
ideally, check each style out in-person and crawl on up in there. you’ll likely be fine with either option–don’t overthink it! (I mean, it sounds like a sprinter or small RV would be best…)
She feels safer from animals, bears, her imagination. Haha. We’ve been disperse camping for years and she convinces herself she’ll stay in the tent and ends up in our car every night.
Yea I’d like to crawl up in one both and see. I think a travel trailer would be cool for longer trips. I love going out with my son for one nighters and my wife would join if she knew she wasn’t going to sleep on the ground. Happy wife happy life. So I’ve been looking for options to make that easier. I’m going to get a topper regardless of getting a roof top tent or not. But seems like getting a gofast would solve all the issues. Just as long as I could make the truck bed sleeping situation work, which seems like people are doing no problem.
Thanks! We are excited to have our little addition. And over thinking it is my way of life. Haha
Ah, I see. Yes, sleeping in the bed/cab is still a very viable option, but requires a little planning/organization. Typing that sounds ridiculous, but it is more a statement of how easy it is to pop the tent.
The GFC is simply wonderful for me and my daughter to go out to some random campsite for a night. It sounds like it would suit you and your son perfectly. Two kids will be difficult for all three of you to fit up top (comfortably). I am too tall to sleep downstairs, but my daughter has (to sleep with the dog) and also has slept in the cab when she was throwing a tantrum. So you can make it work.
I get the indecision paralysis. I had lists of pros/cons of multiple options, trailers and even a new truck/van. The GFC isn’t perfect for every mission, but it is good enough for all of them. I couldn’t say the same for a trailer or RV.
As I wrote before, I think either option will suit you perfectly.
GFC is super cool! That said I hate not being able to access the bed where my kids will be sleeping without moving cushions. We slept all 4 up top last season. It was tight. Luckily we are short so we will be moving the squares down to live in the truck bed (kid bed) and adding a half size rectangle with cushion to our platform to allow access to bed without moving cushions and allow for ventilation down to the kids using a fan. I definitely wouldn’t choose a rooftop tent over the GFC but I have considered one of the other wedge toppers with screened windows below and a longer cab over to allow access to the bed.
We got our GFC in 2018 and have been on many long trips with kids. Sleeping two up top and two down below, with the dog below works great for us. It’s easy to lift a cushion and talk to the crew downstairs. and I like the option for separation between the top and bottom if needed.
For long trips, we always play a book on tape and that keeps the kids, and parents, happy on the long trips.
In looking at the topper + RTT vs. the GFC, I love being able to go up and down without going outside and as someone pointed out, being able to stand up, inside, to change or get out of the weather is just great. Also, I had a topper before the GFC and the opening in the back was much smaller. The GFC is big inside and I find that I’m able to use my truck as more of a truck (hauling things) that I did with the topper. Plus, the topper didn’t have fully opening sides, which of course isn’t even comparable - no more crawling into the back of my truck bed to get something.
Funny how i do the same with a small burner stove and freeze dried camp foods, stored in my vnclr triangular storage bags, amazing how handy that has been on road trips or even long days on location at work for me. Bust out a hot meal or granola and milk with just a bottle of water lol.
Finally got everyone out for the first full camp in the camper. It’s usually just been me, or me and the boys. Finally my wife had time to join us. There was definitely a learning curve for comfort. First night the eldest and I slept up top with one 28” panel removed. That seemed ok, but the next night the kids wanted to sleep downstairs. So tried the same set up, but my wife didn’t like the firmer side of the mattresses (That side only has a 1” topper on the stock, when the other big panel has a 2” topper with the super firm stock one removed.)
So finally the solution is a fully closed top section with the kinds below. BOYO! You can just faintly hear them down there. So will definitely be looking at some of the mods to make communication easier.
The big thing was I got the heater piped to both the lower and upper section. But I just need to find someone to 3D print a vent that will fit in the zipper like this one:
I have worked with a lot of Sprinter 4x4 owners, most of whom are great people. That said, the more Sprinters I work on, the less I see myself wanting to own one. Just way too big, too heavy, and once filled with furniture…too little actual usable space inside. For getting truly off-grid, it’s tough to beat a capable truck, a GFC, and an efficient overlanding build.
As for family camping with the GFC, I recently met an owner that tows a Turtleback with a RTT installed. Parents sleep in the Turtleback RTT and the kids sleep in the GFC. The Turtleback also has their camp kitchen…it can pretty much go anywhere.
That’s great insight - reminds me of the DeHaven family - they’ve got that same setup you’re talking about with their Tundra / GFC / turtleback trailers. They live on the road full time.
Great pic! I believe it was Mrs. DeHaven that I met while she was getting coffee at my local Starbucks…I recognize that tilting fridge mount. Super nice lady and a fantastic rig.
Another great thing about the Turtleback is that you can leave it at camp while exploring in the truck and not worry about losing your site to another camper.
Wanted to revive this and see if anyone else has come go up with creative solutions? We have a 3 months old, but he’ll be 5 months when we are wanting to go on our first camp trip.
My wife has been eyeing 4 wheel campers and I’m trying to make her comfortable using this for a while longer so I need to make it wildly comfortable and convenient.
Camper is an XL on an ‘18 Power Wagon.
My thoughts are doing a full bed rug for warmth/comfort/insulation etc. Adding some insulation to the side doors and back door along with tinting the back window.
Upgrading to a better diesel heater for nights that may get cold and keeping some fans on hand in case it’s a bit warm.
Not sure we can fit both of us up top with a baby in a pack and play so I’m thinking I’ll sleep down below on an air mattress with our little buddy in a pack and play next to me, and wifey can sleep up top with a panel removed so she can look down and see buddy any time she wants. With a panel removed it would also help with heat dispersion between the top and bottom with the diesel heater going.
Another option is to rent a trailer on outdoorsy for longer trips until he’s a bit older but that doesn’t seem as ideal.
Any thoughts or solutions you all have found to go with infants?
@Jaco11b all that sounds like the right stuff to be doing! Bedrug is amazing. We sleep a family of 4 in a short bed tacoma so I envy the space you have, lol. One thing to consider if wife is nursing at night is easy baby access, which probably means you waking up and helping hand baby to wife upstairs then back down. I’m not familiar with heater set ups but be mindful of Carbon Monoxide. There’s a company that sells teeny sleep safe sleeping bag sacks which I wish we’d done with our babies (in retrospec we over layered). Camping with kids is a blast, start young and keep it up, will get easier!! Our big celebration this summer is no more diapers after nearly 6 years between 2 kids.
Thanks for the insight! Yes handing baby to momma is one reason I’d like to have baby down below with me as well as leaving a panel off so it’s easy to hand him to mom! If it’s colder out, would y’all put a beanie on a baby while they’re sleeping or a good sleep sack and call it good?
In my experience, we never needed anything more than a sleep sack or swaddle at that age. But, my daughter runs warm like me and she typically sleeps in minimal PJs now when we camp (age 5).
We never co-slept with her at that age while at home, but did when we camped. At that age, we didn’t have the GFC and slept like commoners in a ground tent.
This summer we have done a few dedicated camping trips and a few overnights in the GFC while traveling with our 8 now 10-month-old son and our smaller (35lb) dog. The way we slept always depended on the weather and bugs. Side note: Queso (our son) has been a really good sleeper let’s hope that continues
1st trip (end of May) little Queso was able to sleep in his pack-n-play alone in the truck bed while we slept up top with the dog. No humidity or bugs, a slight breeze, and temps at night in the low 60s this is how we envisioned using the GFC every time, but found out quickly that this will probably be more of a shoulder season setup rather than summer.
Next trip we had the plan to do the same thing, but it was too hot out and the bugs were just starting to come out. We bought this pack-n-play cover for times when we are sleeping in the same room as Queso when visiting family or in hotels but found out it worked really good for camping too. We were able to rock him and put him in his pack-n-play outside with this covering him and not worry about bugs. We stayed up for a while longer and the temps didn’t come down so we decided to transfer him up into the tent with us for the night to sleep.
All of our following trips have been too buggy to feel comfortable leaving Queso in the truck bed even with the pack-n-play cover so he has been co-sleeping with us. We aren’t fans of this sleep setup, even though the morning snuggles are wonderful, but we are both on board to make it work for now knowing as Queso gets older we will have more options for sleep setups.
We do have a diesel heater for Fall through Spring camping and the next steps are to finish researching bug screen options to make a more livable area in the truck bed during the summer months.
