Today there are plenty of different truck campers to choose from and even several plans you can buy to build your own from scratch too. All things in this life are compromises to some extent. To choose one thing excludes another thing. With truck campers one example of this would be choosing a very large camper with slides and all the bells and whistles too – and giving up affordability (it will be very expensive) and also giving up light weight – because it will surely be very heavy too.

So choosing the best truck camper for you is going to be a very personal thing. What I choose and what you would choose may be very different things entirely, or may be very similar. So what do you want to do with your camper and what do you want it to be able to do for you? Make a list of what you want and see what you can come up with.

Here is a list of some of the things I want in my own truck camper;

Very Afordable – I never do loans and I HATE any and all debt, So it will not be financed in anyway shape or form. So that means it has to be something I can afford to pay for.

Relatively Light – I’m not after it being extremely light but it has to be light enough for my existing 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 to carry it easily. In my case I plan to leave it on the truck almost all the time and that means it really has to be something the truck can handle with no problem.

Place to keep, prepare and eat food that can accommodate at least one weeks worth of food onboard.

Comfortable place to sleep for one in normal conditions and capable of sleeping two if needed.

Place for personal hygiene – specifically a toilette, shower and sink.

Power – capable of providing adequate power to run lights, a laptop, cooking equipment, fans, etc. regardless of where it is. That means having a shore power connection, batteries with an inverter, solar and a small generator.

Water system – hot and cold running water at least 20 gallons and a grey water tank so it can be used anywhere

Inconspicuous appearance – at a glance I don’t want the casual observer to be able to tell if it is a camper or just a work truck cap of some kind. That means it is capable of stealth/covert camping whenever needed or desired.

Adequate ventilation – vents, fans, windows and hatches as well as a heater of some kind and an air conditioner

Low Profile – I do not want or need standing headroom. If I want to do jumping jacks I will go outside. Since 99% of the time I will be sitting down or laying down I see no need to have  full standing height. That will allow me to have comfortable sitting height only and that means less weight, less material, less costs and less conspicuous. It also means it will be more aerodynamic and catch a lot less wind from the front and the sides going down the highway.

Buildable – I looked at every camper I could find and have yet to find exactly what I want. A few are close – but not close enough, and they are way too expensive for me. So I am going to build my own Micro Truck Camper from the ground up.

If you really want some detailed information on practically every existing manufactured truck camper there is then check out http://www.truckcampermagazine.com

Then if you still don’t find what you are looking for take a look at http://www.glen-l,com and then search under their camper section. Many people know they designed a lot of boats but not so many realize they designed several different campers too.

If you are really interested in seeing what I come up with then please check back often. It will probably be June or July of this year (2017) before I actually start building it – but it is going to be a lot of fun and I plan to share as much of the process of building it and using it as I can, so stay tuned.