A hardshell topper is great until you actually need your truck bed. That's the problem one reviewer at Outside Online set out to solve after more than a decade of driving pickups crowned with heavy fiberglass caps. Hers weighed over 150 pounds, so it never came off — fine for a dirtbag climber bouncing between New Mexico and Colorado, less fine once weekend nursery runs, bikes, and strollers entered the picture.

Her fix: the Flated Cap56, an inflatable truck topper that weighs under 60 pounds. She inflated it with the electric pump she uses for her stand-up paddleboard, in just a few minutes, then lifted it onto the bed solo and secured it with tie-downs. Total setup ran about 30 minutes first time around, with no tools required.

The specs are more serious than "inflatable tent for your truck" might suggest. The Cap56 is fully waterproof, with a built-in rain skirt to channel water away from the bed. There are two tinted windows, screened side windows, a rear window, and a pass-through window at the cab end so you can reach into the bed from the backseat. Window shades zip and Velcro in place, and interior mesh pockets give you a home for phones and headlamps on camping nights.

Price is the sticking point: $1,600 isn't pocket change. The counterargument is that traditional hardshell caps typically run several thousand dollars more, so the Flated actually undercuts the conventional option. The reviewer has driven with it for about a month in the high-elevation, full-sun conditions of northern New Mexico with no visible wear — though long-term durability against UV and altitude weather remains the open question.

The real selling point is flexibility. One weekend she kept bike gear dry under the cap, then pulled it off the next day to haul trees home. For road-trippers who sleep in their truck beds on climbing or hiking trips but also use the vehicle as, well, a truck, that on-off ability is the whole point.

Who should care: vanlife-adjacent travellers, overlanders, and anyone who camps out of a pickup but resents committing their bed to permanent storage. If you've ever wished a camper shell came with an off switch, this is the niche it fills. Watch the long-term reviews before dropping the cash, but as a lighter, removable alternative to fibreglass, the idea holds up.