Kodiak Canvas Truck Bed Tent

This is an excellent tent and I do not believe there are any other truck tents quite as good for strength and durability as is found in a canvas tent. I am a believer in canvas having spent a career in the military and have spent a lot of time in tents and having lived in a canvas tent for as long as one year at the time. Military tents are of course heavier but canvas make great tents for longer life and structurally more sound. Let me be clear about the setup. I agree with the many reviews that state the difficulty of trying to set the tent up using only one person. I am both a hunter, fisherman and an avid RVer. I am retired and I purchased this tent to be used primarily in the late fall and winter months when weather permitting here in Maryland. I plan to use primarily for one or two overnighters when hunting or fishing at that time of the year. While my spouse loves RVing and fishing in summer and early fall during the colder months I am away by myself. Therefore, the need to be able to set the tent up without help. I have now set the tent up by myself for a total of 6 times. I must admit that the first four times were extremely difficult because as soon as I would get the poles mounted on top of the hooks or pins on the rail and then try and place the tent across them they would start falling over and it was simply a nightmare. The first time it took me perhaps an hour and a half and the following 3 times at least an hour. It was just a plain hassle to get the tent aligned and stable on the poles without a second pair of hands. So I agree with the many reviews that say it is extremely difficult for one person, not that it cannot be done but it is difficult and takes a lot of time. I have now solved this fundamental problem with the setup and the 5th and 6th time it was possible to set the tent up completely in just over 20 minutes without rush. I believe the problem for one person lies in stabilizing the primary three rail poles across the truck for the tent and for this reason I decided to use two pressure treated 2x4's and drill three 1/2" diameter holes in each 2x4 to be able to insert the poles. I mounted a 1 1/2" PVC pipe across the length of each of the treated 2x4"s for extra stability. In the PVC pipe I drilled a 3/4" hole in line with 1/2" hole in the 2x4. The reason the hole in the PVC is larger is because the pole begins to curve as it come up and across the truck bed. This make a very rigid structure on which you can simply place the tent across and not have the poles falling over or coming loose and scratching the truck finish or causing a tear in the canvas. I simply place tent across the three primary poles, line it up, hop down from the truck bed, raise the tailgate and insert the tent around the tailgate, insert the truck cab canopy rail in place, insert the tailgate canopy rail across the tailgate, tighten the straps around the truck and I am done. This works very well because the primary poles have been stabilized and allows an easy setup. This can be easily set up in very low light such as what you have during late evening when coming back from a day of fishing, hunting or anything else. The bottom line is it requires only one person and no hassle. As you can see from the photos I did use the metal rail and bolted to the top of the 2x4 because I have them and they eliminate having to dent the 2x4 but this is not necessary. It just that over time you would have a lot of dents in the 2x4 from each set up. Mounting the C-clamps on the metal surface eliminates this from happening. Forgot to mention I replaced the C-clamps that came with tent to larger ones which are 3" which are necessary because of the 2x4 used as rails. A word about weather. Here in Maryland we have had rain and intermittent rain for some two weeks during the latter part of December so the 6th time I put the tent up it stayed up for two days in the rain. It does not leak. I am truly impressed with quality and with the long bed truck you have the equivalent of ten feet of space which makes it more than ample for at least two people. A final word is the new modified railing is still one piece because the 2x4, PVC pipe and the metal rail are all bolted together making them always ready to set up. There are probably other ideas about how to make it a one person set up but this does work well and makes the process simple. The tent fabric is very strong and appears to be well stitched for pulling around the poles and especially for the cab and tailgate canopies. I am impressed. Kodiak Canvas Long Truck Bed Full-size Tent

First off- I'm putting this on a 2014 Dodge 1500 with the 6'4" box.I have a 4 section folding bed cover, so I had to work out my own method of mounting the rails- in my case the rails are painted and permanently mounted.Day 1 review, (additional review comments added at the bottom) the day it arrived the wife and I spent a bit of time putting it up. Initially it is not quite as easy as we'd imagined it would be, but with a few more practice runs and I can do it by myself.After much fussing about, following the directions as closely as anyone would, we got it set up- along the way we realized a few things:Tip #1 DONT bother with the straps (Step 2-3) until the bows are in. We did and they caused us more headache than they saved. Once the bows were in, we pulled the front bow towards the front and set the front straps. then the back straps. easy-peasy.Tip #2: Run the front and rear awning bows through the sleeves (Step 3-2), but DON'T fit the ends through the grommets until the other bows are up. This wasn't obvious until later in the instructions (Step 3-7)... reminds me of the episode of MASH when Hawkeye and Trapper try to diffuse a bomb: First cut the green wire... after cutting the red wire.Tip #3: (Steps 3) Set the forward most bow onto the pins and lean it on the cab. Unzip the door and roll it back and secure it. Slip the back end of the tent over the tailgate.Then pull the canvas forward over the bed and over the front-most bow. Now return to the open door and crawl in. Pop up the front bow and secure it with the internal straps. Once the front bow is up the other two are fairly painless.Okay, quality seems outstanding. Design is good. I sure wish the height was maybe just 6 inches taller- and it seems that the canvas is big enough, but the bows aren't. I'm not quite 6 feet tall, the tent is not.I also wish the front most wall sat a bit more vertical and closer to the rear window. I followed the instructions setting the rails at approximately 9 inches from the end of the bed- this seems to work... which also means it can't be adjusted to allow the front wall to sit closer to the back of the cab- just in case you were wondering.It has a lamp hook in the center of the ceiling, Handy.The lip of the tent door is low- flat with the tailgate really, so tailgate steps will probably work okay- but you wont be able to zip the bottom of the door.The tent fits in the canvas bag (same material as the tent iteself), but just barely if you fold it in thirds lengthwise, then roll it up. The poles fit in a separate bag that is made of a very heavy fiber reinforced nylon bag. Probably a good call since the poles are steel, they would wear out the canvas bag. I think I'm okay that it is two bags, it could all fit in one big bag- but it would be a bit heavy.Day 2 update:I made 6 inch extensions out of 3/4 inch PVC and 3/4 inch oak dowel.Cut the PVC to 10 inch lengths and the dowel to 6 inch lengths.Drill a hole in the center of the end of the dowel for the bow pins.Wet the dowels and coat them in Gorilla glue, then slide them into the PVC until the ends are flush.There is a gap between the inside diameter of the PVC and the outside diameter of the dowel, Gorilla glue's foaming expanding nature will fill the gap and cement the dowels in placeThe bows socket securely into the PVC and raise the ceiling height nicely.For installation I fit the extensions onto the pins first, then set the bows into the extensions- I felt it was easier to set up using the extensions- the extensions are more Fisher Price sized- rather than trying to fiddle around getting that little pin into the hole at the end of the bow- all while fussing about under the canvas.Now that I've set it up a few times- I can do it by myself, right around 10 minutes so don't let that first try beat you.I've set mine up so that my folding bed cover works as a sleeping platform- Like I mentioned, I'm just under 6 feet, and I can lay crosswise on top of the bed cover. My wife and I can both fit- but she is small. We also have the option of setting up the tent with the bed cover completely closed (meaning the bed is covered) our queen-size air mattress and sleeping bag work fine this way, and all of our stuff can be under us.

After a lot of research the Kodiak Canvas Truck Tent came out on top for customer satisfaction and durability. Shipping time was good, it took less than a week to arrive at my door. As I expected after reading many reviews, the c-clamps that came with the tent would not work with my vehicle. I have an F150 Supercrew with a BakFlip tonneau cover, the 2” clamps would not fit over the rails. I picked up 4 Bessey 3 Inch Drop Forged c-clamps with 4-1/2 Inch throat depth which work quite well.On to the first setup. First thing I did was to clean all of the poles, they had a layer of grime that was leaving residue on my hands and I didn’t want that the stain the Canvas. As per the instructions from the website regarding full size short box trucks, I clamped the rails right at the end of the box. This turned out to be the right way because the rest of the installation proceeded without any issues. I did have the straps a bit too tight so had to loosen them off a bit when standing up the poles. Many reviewers have said that the first setup takes two people, I have to tell you that my lovely assistant was waiting for something to do almost the entire time. She did hand me the poles as I needed them and also helped with the awning poles but really it was an easy one person job. I was thankful for her support none the less.Once it was up we were quite shocked on how roomy it was inside. With all of the windows open there was a nice cool breeze flowing through as well. I closed it all up and lightly sprayed it with the hose to help seal the seams. The water beaded up and ran off the tent. After the hosing I opened it back up to find that it was still completely dry inside.I’ve left it up for the weekend to stretch and air out so will now be packing it away to wait for it’s first camping adventure. Very happy with this product, the only downfall was having to buy the c-clamps but I expected that before I purchased the tent.

Amazing. We absolutely love the tent. We took it out to Saskatchewan a couple weekends ago and the temperatures got to about -1*C at night and we were nice and toasty warm. No condensation on the inside of the tent. We bought the 8ft one and used it on our GMC Sierra 1500 truck and it worked perfectly. Very well made the zippers are very high quality. The bugs stayed out without any extra tie downs. We sprayed bug repellent around the opening to keep them from getting in when we opened the door. One night it was about 0*C and we opened the windows to let air flow through and it was perfect. We would highly recommend the tent as it will last a lifetime. We also loved the fact that there is no floor to trip over or accidentally rip. Great tent. Great value.

You are paying for durability with this tent. It isn't that flimsy nylon that the competitors sell. If you want something for the occasional long weekend trip the other options might be enough for you. But if you are a serious camper this is the tent that you want. It is a little heavy and the clamps that come with it should be immediately replaced. With a bit of practice it can be set up by yourself - but a helper is nice. DO set it up at home a couple times before heading out. In the dark at some remote campsite is not where you want to try and fumble through the set-up instructions.

The first set up was a bit tricky, but after that it's a total breeze. Canvas is very thick and sturdy. Had the most comfortable sleep in the back of my truck. I live in mosquito and black fly country - none made it into the tent. Now I can camp and sleep in comfort wherever my truck can go. Highly recommend this!

This is a very durable product and okay to assemble. My husband can assemble anything and it takes a bit of time. The only thing it could improve on is along the sides of the truck bugs can still get in, so not buy proof. Other than that, arrived on time, as described and is durable. I like it.