This post will be on the shorter side and I’ll explain why towards the end. For now, I wanted to gush over a new gear item that I’ve added to the already embarrassingly large collection of outdoor equipment. I bought a truck tent! While the backpacker side of me is screaming about how it’s more practical to carry everything I need on my back when I go on trips, I have to say, I’m really stoked about this purchase. I still plan to rough it on the trail and go on multi-day treks with my trusty Gossamer Gear G4-20 pack, but I thought it might also be fun to have more of a car camping set up for different occasions. Of course, I can use this tent in campgrounds and for basic overnight trips, but I also thought it would be really neat to use as a nice basecamp option for multiple day hiking excursions around the area I park. This setup would also be a good option for camping out overnight at trailheads the day before a big hike or vice versa as well. Needless to say, I’m excited! Here are the details.
My new obsession
I got this bad boy discounted at REI’s anniversary sale; that was initially the reason why I jumped on buying it so quickly. The tent is brought to you by Rightline Gear and comes in various sizes depending on the type of truck being used. I have a Nissan Frontier with a crew cab so my bed size is right at 5ft. The tent sleeps two people, only has one opening, and doesn’t have a floor (this allows you to set up the tent without having to remove anything from the bed). It’s also 3-4 season, but I most likely will not be using it during the winter. The rainfly is included as well and it comes with color-coded poles for an easy setup.
Speaking of setup, the first go-around of getting this tent secured on my truck was anything but graceful. I brought the tent to work at the Alpine Shop and had a coworker help with the setup when we weren’t busy. It took us about an hour and a half to figure it out despite the clear directions provided. The tent has a series of straps that hook on various parts of the truck and if anything is out of alignment, the whole tent is off-centered. Eventually, I would like to be able to set the tent up by myself, but for now, it will have to be a two-person job. When we finally got it up, it didn’t look too bad! There surprisingly was a lot of room on the inside. At some point I see myself investing in a few more luxuries like a camp stove, air mattress, cooler, and lantern. Now, I just have to find a time to test it out.
Quick dump truck life update
I thought I would take some time to explain an unexpected thing that has occurred in my life lately. A doctor at an urgent care I went to a few months back for something unrelated found a lump (later called a nodule) on my neck and advised me to see a specialist about it. So I went to a local ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor who ran a few tests and after blood work, an ultrasound, and a biopsy, it was discovered that I have a 50% chance of having thyroid cancer. From my understanding, while thyroid cancer is uncommon, it is also highly treatable. It was recommended that I have surgery to remove the half of my thyroid that has the nodule. If they test it and it comes back as cancer, I should have my entire thyroid taken out. I recently just had the surgery and unfortunately, the pathologist was unable to determine if the nodule was benign or malignant right then.
So, the samples have to be tested further and I have to wait a few more days to get the results. It’s nerve-wracking and aggravating that all of this is happening now, but at this point, I just want to get to the bottom of things. My hope is that this is just a bump in the road and I can soon look forward to the summer trips I have planned. But for now, all I can do is wait.
Thanks so much for reading and hopeful things will get back to normal soon!
See you out on the trail…but not for a week or two!