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Whether ultralight backpacking to a remote alpine campsite or renting lavish glamping accommodations at a luxury resort, there’s no singular right way to enjoy sleeping in the great outdoors. That said, car camping is the most popular method, due to its simplicity and accessibility. And we love it here at FM HQ.
In it's purest form, car camping is exactly what it sounds like: loading camping gear into a car and driving it to a location where you’ll hopefully be able to experience some solitude under the trees and stars.
In it's most convoluted (and currently trending) form, car camping becomes overlanding, by way of specially outfitted 4x4 rig or Mercedes Sprinter van. With overlanding, one drives a distance over rugged terrain (most often National Forest or BLM land) to access remote camping destinations that may be out of reach for a regular daily driver.
My personal approach lands somewhere in between—I’ve outfitted my little Subaru Crosstrek hatchback with enough specialty gear to turn a head or two in town, but havne't gone full Land Cruiser Apocoloypse. And yet, I routinely counted myself a neighbor to some lavishly decked-out vehicles after navigating lightly jagged terrain to reach the less-populated camping locales in state forests and on various plots of public land.
Below are six of my favorite car camping gear upgrades, workable for pretty much all my fellow car campers—whether you call it that or not. No shade to the campers getting after it in lifted trucks with enough extra headlights to light a baseball field, but at the end of the day, we’re both just car camping.
6 Gear Upgrades for Better Car Camping
Shelter: Thule Foothill Rooftop Tent
I’ve never had an issue with sleeping on the ground, but when the Swedish kings of carry at Thule came out with their Foothill Rooftop Tent, my interest was immediately piqued by its comparably compact footprint. Nearly every rooftop tent on the market hogs the entire roof of the automobile they rest on, but the Foothill’s narrow-packed size frees up enough real estate to fit a small cargo bin, bike rack, or kayak rack. But, let’s not also ignore the undeniably child-like joy that comes from sleeping in a little elevated fortress in the woods (or at least at a tree line’s edge).
Setup times are longer than their quick-deploying, hard case relatives, but the increased airflow, wide rain fly, and relatively low 122-pound weight work hard to make up for the penalty of slower setup speed. The comfort of the included mattress ranks high in my opinion; most nights, I won’t even bother inflating the air pad at all. Two average-sized adults will find the 84” by 47” sleep area to offer comparable space as the average two-person backpacking tent and a generous perch for solo campers. I’ll still be sleeping in tents on the ground, but likely only if it’s arriving by backpack, bike, or watercraft.
Price: $1,700
Organization: Gregory Alpaca Gear Boxes and Bins
A chaotic pile of assorted duffle bags, backpacks, and overflowing totes instantly became a fuzzy memory when Gregory’s Alpaca system of gear boxes, bins, and organizers entered my life. Although there are many superb camp gear storage bins of varying sizes, bombability, and price, the Alpaca pieces earn marks for offering an unfussy lightweight system with great build quality.
The 45-liter capacity Alpaca Gear Box features a clear top that removes completely by freeing up all four latches or hinged access with two latches still in contact. By no accident, five and ten-liter Gear Pods rest neatly in both the floors of the bin and 70-liter Gear Basket–though I prefer to stow more awkward-shaped objects like fishing nets and life jackets in the high-volume open-top bins.
Price: $60-80
The Cooler: Yeti Roadie 24 Hard Cooler
In previously owned vehicles, I didn’t hesitate to pack the big dawg Tundra 45 cooler to keep fresh food fresh and cold ones with their Rockies still blue. Alas, my gear fixation dictates that I bring all the crap I need to enjoy various outdoor activities while away from camp in the smallest car I’ve ever owned. The compact Roadie 24 provides plenty of cooler space traveling solo and usually 2-3+ days’ worth of rations for a couple mixing in dry-stored foods.
Yeti’s seasonal colors mix in a rotating palette of statement colors that really go off when you’ve got more than one piece from the brand–the matching Yeti Gobox 15 housing fly boxes and fly fishing tchotchkes looks just precious with its cooler friend.
Price: $250
Other Odds and Ends
While not quite essential, these little add-ons have made my home on the gravel road much more pleasurable by adding some creature comforts and conveniences.
Radius Outfitters Seatback Trash Tube
I’ve got this nifty trash receptacle mounted behind the passenger seat so that I can easily reach across while behind the wheel. Overland accessory brand Radius Outfitters also produces a large trash tube that doubles the small model’s volume to a mighty eight gallons. The bamboo lid is sold separately, but it’s certainly a nice extra touch of style and functionality.
Price: $89
Rumpl Camp Pillow
Inflatable pillows are wonderfully compact, but the trade-off in comfort isn’t worthwhile when you’ve got extra room in the whip. The included stuff sack provides more protection to its soft surface than any meaningful amount of compression, but its comfort closely rivals the pillows that live on my bed at home.
Price: $49
Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station
Unless you’re trying to power a mobile office for days at a time, this little power station will sufficiently cover any reasonably offline mode needs for many days by recharging camp lanterns, digital camera batteries, and even inflating a two-person watercraft without losing more than a few percentages of its total power per inflation cycle.
Price: $279
Published 09-18-2024
Updated 09-24-2024
