Cinch Outdoors has taken the rooftop tent trend to its logical (and considerably taller) conclusion with the Wingman, a two-storey camping system designed for pickup trucks.
Developed with tent manufacturer Wild Land, the Wingman is mounted on the truck’s bed rails and collapses into a relatively streamlined box for travel.
Once parked, an electrically powered mechanism raises two separate levels, turning the pickup into something resembling a compact camper van with a penthouse.
The truck bed forms the lower floor, providing a sheltered area for storing equipment, preparing food or escaping bad weather.
It includes built-in MOLLE panels, detachable magnetic LED lights and a foldaway bamboo utility table.
Crucially, the system mounts above the cargo floor, allowing owners to continue using the truck bed to carry equipment while the Wingman is collapsed.
The room upstairs
The upper level is the sleeping area, with space for two (or three with a push) people on an approximately 225 x 146cm high-density foam mattress.
It also features thermal flooring, ambient lighting, mesh panels that provide panoramic views, as well as a transparent skylight.
That skylight doubles as a roof hatch, allowing campers to stand up and look across the surrounding landscape.
It could prove particularly useful for wildlife watching and outdoor photography, or simply recreating the tank-commander pose at every available opportunity.
Deployment, lighting, and the integrated Bluetooth 5.0 speaker system can be operated via a remote control or a connected smartphone app.
Cinch says the Wingman uses an all-metal construction, blackout insulation and 190g/m² polycotton fabric with a PU2000mm water-resistance rating.
The system measures 181 x 161 x 63.5cm when packed and weighs a substantial 250 kg (~551 lbs).
Cinch claims compatibility with more than 80% of pickups, including the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Ford F-150, Toyota Tacoma and Jeep Gladiator.
The Wingman launched in the US at an early-bird price of $6,999 (~£5,196 / €6,118 / AU$9,999), although Cinch Outdoors currently lists it at $7,999 (~£5,939 / €6,992 / AU$11,428).
The available batches have sold out, with priority registration open for the next shipment. UK, EU and AU pricing and availability have not been confirmed.
[via HiConsumption]
