Best Truck Bed Tents for Trail Camping

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When a roof tent just does not fit

A rooftop tent is still a good call for full-time camp. But the roof rack has limits. It adds weight up high, it raises your center of gravity in crosswind, and on a half-ton or a midsize the payload math gets tense the minute you load a full tank plus gear. Some trips I just want a dry bed that packs away in ten minutes and does not care about roof load.

That is where a truck bed tent earns its spot. It sits flat, it keeps the bed usable in the off season, and most of them are so light that two people set the whole thing up before the camp coffee is on. The trade-off is clear: you are sleeping at bed height, not elevated, and your comfort depends entirely on how the tent fits your specific bed. Get the length wrong and you are bending over or dragging a leg outside. So before anything else, measure your bed on the ground, not in the brochure.

Quick picks

All four are for two people and all four are in stock at the time we wrote this. Prices move daily, so treat these as a snapshot. If you only want one number on the bed length, that is the column to read first.

Fit and waterproofing: check these two things first

Length is the only spec that can make or break the whole thing. These tents are sold by the bed length they cover. A tent cut for a 5.5-6 foot bed will not sit right on a 5.0 foot bed, and a shorter cut on a longer bed leaves your feet overhang. Pull the bed measurement from the cab wall to the tailgate on the floor, then buy for that range. If you are between two sizes, go with the one that matches your actual bed rather than the larger one, because an oversized tent flops and traps condensation.

Waterproofing is where the numbers matter less than people think. A PU2000mm rating means the fabric holds 2000mm of head of pressure before the first leak, which is plenty for a dry season camp in most of the West. The Umburato below steps up to PU3000mm if you camp a lot in heavy, sustained rain. The real water leaks in these tents come from the seams and the door zipper, not the face of the fabric, so the seams getting taped and the door getting a proper rainfly are what keep you dry. Every tent here ships with at least a door fly; the JOYTUTUS models and the Napier carry a full rainfly, which is the one to pick for a wet weekend.

Two fit notes everyone asks about. Wheel wells: a bed tent does not care about wheel wells the way a mattress does, because it raises you up and spans the bed. Keep your feet and head off the very ends and you are clear. Tonneau covers: if you run a hard or soft tonneau, the tent needs the bed clear, so expect to take the cover off on camping days. That is the honest cost of a bed tent over a mattress.

Umburato 5.5-6ft, the best all-round for a short-to-mid bed

Check the Umburato 5.5-6ft price on Amazon

At $79.95 the Umburato is my default for a 5.5 to 6 foot bed. It is the only one in this group that lists a PU3000mm canopy, so in a proper downpour it is the one I would trust overnight. It sleeps two comfortably, and the green canopy is the practical choice. The color does not burn off in the sun and it hides the dust that settles on every bed tent after a week on dirt roads.

What I like about the fit story here is that it spans the two most common short and mid bed lengths, 5.5 and 6 foot, so it is the one that fits the widest range of people reading this. The quick-set claim holds up in practice: the poles go in, the canopy pops, and you are under the fly. The one thing to know is that it is a canopy tent, so you are leaning slightly in, not standing full height. That is the nature of a bed tent, and it is not a deal breaker if you are used to low cots. If your bed is in that range and your budget is around $80, this is where I would start.

JOYTUTUS Pickup Truck Tent 2.0, the wet-weather value

Check the JOYTUTUS 2.0 price on Amazon

The JOYTUTUS 2.0 at $78.99 is a cent under the Umburato here, and it is the pick for anyone whose main concern is rain rather than raw fabric rating. It is a PU2000mm double-layer build, but it does the smart thing and ships with a real rainfly. In practice the fly plus the double layer is what keeps a 2000mm tent dry in a sideways storm, so on a wet weekend I would often reach for this over a higher-numbered canopy that has no full fly.

The 5.5 to 5.8 foot cut fits the same crowd the Umburato does, so if you are in that range treat these two as the finalists and let your typical weather pick. The double layer also means less condensation on the inside on a cold morning, which is the quiet thing that gets you out of a bed tent. The green coloring matches the Umburato and for the same reason: it keeps the sun and the dust off. Rain being the more likely weather at your camps, start here.

JOYTUTUS 5.0-5.2ft with aluminum pole, the short-bed option

Check the JOYTUTUS short-bed price on Amazon

This is the tent for the shorter bed, the 5.0 to 5.2 foot range that the two above will not fit. If your bed is in that band and you buy the 5.5 foot cut you will be sleeping with your feet out the door, so this is not a lower-tier version, it is the correct one for your truck. At $79.99 it carries the same PU2000mm double layer and a rainfly as the 2.0, so the weather story is identical. The one upgrade here is the aluminum pole instead of the standard plastic sleeve, which flexes less in wind and lasts longer across seasons. Aluminum is also lighter, so the whole pack is a touch easier to carry out of the cab.

Same fit philosophy: span the bed, keep your head and feet a hand off the ends, and you are clear of the wheel wells. The blue coloring is a little harder to find in the dust than green, but it is the color this cut ships in and it is a fine tent. If you have a short bed and you are reading a bed tent guide, this is probably the one your truck actually wants.

Napier Backroadz, the step up when budget stops mattering

Check the Napier Backroadz price on Amazon

The Napier Backroadz at $185.13 is roughly double the others, and that price buys you a tent that is built and finished a step above rather than a different fabric number. It is a two-person bed tent with a rainfly, and where it pulls ahead is the fit and the hardware. The poles, doors, and corners are put together more carefully, and it sets up in about ten minutes, which is the number they claim and a number I would believe. The gray and green coloring is the muted, trail-worn look that photographs well and does not scream.

Where I would justify this price is durability over time. The cheaper tents are fine for a handful of trips a year and most people will be happy with them. But if you camp every weekend and you want a bed tent that still zips, seals, and stands up in wind after two or three seasons, this is the one you stop worrying about. It is the buy-it-once option in a category that is mostly buy-and-replace. If the others get you 90 percent of the way and it is a weekend toy, skip it. If this is your primary way to sleep on the road and you are tired of tent repair, spend the difference here.

Bed tent versus rooftop tent

These are genuinely different tools and the honest answer is that most rigs run one or the other, not both. A rooftop tent gives you a raised, flat, always-ready platform at the cost of permanent roof load and weight up high. A bed tent gives you a light, flat-packed, low-profile bed at the cost of sleeping lower and taking the cover off. I would run the rooftop tent for long trips and for when you want the camp built the second you pull in, and the bed tent for short trips, for a midsize truck, or for a second sleeping spot for kids or a dog. If you are on the fence on which one to buy at all, read our rooftop tent guide, because that is where the real decision lives and the bed tent often loses that argument to the roof. If you want to lift the tent and your gear above bed level instead of living in it, our bed rack guide covers how high a deck can sit.

Making the bed actually comfortable

A bed tent fixes the dry problem. It does not fix the hard problem. The metal bed and any rails under you are unforgiving after the first night, and this is where a bed tent starts to feel like the wrong tool if you have not solved the surface. A dedicated truck bed mattress with wheel-well cutouts is the clean fix, and it is cheap compared to a tent, so I would not put a bed tent in the truck without one. Our truck bed mattress guide covers the air and foam options that fit under these tents. Pair that with an overland awning off the cab or the rack and you have a full base camp that folds down to almost nothing, which is the whole point of the bed over the roof.

Clearing the bed for the tent means moving gear somewhere, and our hitch cargo carrier guide covers rear baskets.

Quick FAQ

How do I know which length to buy? Measure the floor of your bed from the cab wall to the tailgate and buy the tent for that range. If you fall between sizes, match your actual bed instead of buying up, because an oversized tent traps condensation and flops.

Can I sleep two? All four tents here are two-person. Two people fit comfortably; three is a shoulder-to-shoulder squeeze and the door is not going to stay zipped. For a family, plan a second bed or a rooftop tent in the mix.

Are they all waterproof? All of them hold up in normal rain. The Umburato carries the highest fabric rating at PU3000mm, the other three are PU2000mm, and the JOYTUTUS and Napier models ship a full rainfly so they are the picks for sustained wet. Watch the seams and keep the door fly on in the rain and you will stay dry with any of them.

Bottom line

For a 5.5 to 6 foot bed, the Umburato at $79.95 is the default and the JOYTUTUS 2.0 is the wet-weather value a cent under it. For a short 5.0 to 5.2 foot bed, the JOYTUTUS aluminum-pole model is the one that fits and is the one to buy. If budget is not the constraint and you want a bed tent you will not be repairing, the Napier Backroadz is the buy-it-once choice. Measure your bed first, get a mattress to match, and you have a dry, light, fast-closing bed for under $100 in most cases.

Prices on the gear we cover move constantly. We track current discounts on truck bed tents and the rest of the gear we cover and refresh them every morning.

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This guide was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our team.

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