Ideas to make INTERNAL hammock work? (1 Viewer)

[zcostilla]

So I want to camp inside my LX, but the platform/air mattress isn’t going to work for a couple reasons:

• Not enough room for ventilation. I’m not claustrophobic at all, but the air mattress takes up so much space with my wife and I on it that the air won’t get through the windows without strong breeze to gusts.
• The Doberman won’t get up there because HE IS claustrophobic, and he hates trying to curl up in the front seat. Our dogs are inside dogs, and the Dobie make look tough, but he is a pansy about not sleeping near us, and whines all night. And when he’s upset, he is so loud he sounds like a donkey. And I don’t like not sleeping or the thought that it might invite a predator.
• We store more stuff outside than I’d like. The cooler makes sense, as does the kitchen action camper. But I have to keep our bags on top of the air mattress and it makes it cramped.

Since the rooftop tent is also big dog-prohibitive our options are a ground tent or some way to make a hammock work. I think I can get it to work on the tailgate end if I run it over the top of the tailgate and use the trailer hitch to tie to. But securing the other end of the hammock near the front seats is my conundrum… I’m wondering if a bar from the front handles would hold the weight, and wrap the rope back towards the seat mounts.

Obviously making it work means taking out the middle row of seats, or maybe just the smaller split to get to the back. But I’m ok with that because it would give the Dobie a better place to lay down while trail riding. As we are now he refuses to get on the platform and lays across the entire middle row seating while we’re level. But he freaks out and stands and leans hard into the seat back for stability when we go off camber at all, no matter how slight. He’s young and getting better, but I hate stressing him out, and leaving him behind is not an option.

So any ideas? I’m open to suggestions.

 

[excessive]

interesting idea. i've never seen an internal hammock in an overlanding setup. i woudl suggest building a platform and getting a minimal thickness foam mattress and cutting it down to exactly what size you need

 

[RKRUGER]

Have you thought about an awning with an awning room? This is the ARB 2500x2500 with the Gen 1 room, and what I like over a ground tent is the straight walls and the multi purpose nature of the awning. What I don’t like is how it acts in the wind. This can be mitigated to some extent by using the vehicle as a wind block and situating the tent on the leeward side. It works well as you can access the cab of the vehicle from the tent.

 

[krice118]

How thick is your air mattress?? Use a camp pad that’s 4” thick

I once used a double air mattress for a house and it was not great…

 

[Trapper50cal]

I can see a hammock getting properly mounted, but I can't see getting in and out of it. Some circus moves to get that done...
I got an RTT for my wife and son, but I'm too broken and busted up (and fat) to get up there so I went with a quick deploy
Glamping tent....

Amazon product ASIN B0BWPK6KG2
An Awning w/ vestibule walls is also a great and versatile solve.

 

[krice118]

Paging @wngrog pretty sure he has done this

(Eno inside the 100)

 

[bucfl]

I was going to suggest a slim air mattress as well. Thule now has a folding tent that may work for you...

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[Sean9421]

I've seen in the 40 series section that people have made an internal hammock work, so it's possible. I would be careful about running it over the your hatch and to the hitch, as it may not hold the weight well and may make a spot for water to come in if it's raining.

Another option would be ditch the platform and rear seats and set up a flat floor like the goose gear seat delete set up. You could run a thick mattress on the floor of the truck, and still have plenty of room to sit up or move around, but I think that awning room is your best bet due to the amount of people and size of dogs. Plenty of room and ventilation, plus you could set up a real nice sleeping area without crawling over each other.

 

[zcostilla]

So after some serious consideration and trial and error… well, a LOT of error, my wife finally relented and suggested a tent. When I showed her the KampRite cot tent double, she fell in love. Which is odd, because it was what I suggested months ago and she rejected it and encouraged me to build the rear platform. I think she sometimes forgets that she’s 4’9”. But I love her!

At this point I am not going to pursue it any more and this thread can be considered closed.