I've found one way to really have a comfortable mattress is to buy some mattress foam from a place like Home depot, you can cut it to fit where its to be used. Then use one of the vacume storage bags once its rolled up tight to squish the air out and make it small for packing, my air mattress inflator/deflator works pretty good. I am finding as I get older that having a really good pad to keep me off the hard surfaces matters.. But 300 a night for a hotel tweeks me ... LOL

 

I've been following this thread for a while. I'm glad there's still interest for camping in the Fit. Good timing, since I just bought a new 2018 EX this month and I plan on sleeping in it in a wide variety of situations. Earlier today I spent a lot of time messing around with the seating configurations to see what my options were. I'm pretty big, 6'0' and 270 lbs. I found that I was still able to use the car for camping, sleeping, and resting how I imagined I could. I made some extra discoveries, too.

Eventually I plan on building a small sleeping platform, just tall enough to be level with the center console. I'm thinking it better to do it out of PVC pipe, which might be lighter than plywood, more easily collapsible, and less of a mess. I have a twin-size air mattress that I've been using to sleep in the bed of my old pickup truck and will be looking to see what the best way of using that in the back of the Fit while in cargo mode.

Even without a platform I realized that I could just use the air mattress straight on the cargo floor and I could lie on it mostly comfortably. The head of the mattress gets propped up on the back of the center console but the mattress is thick enough to basically absorb it. It's nice to know I can do this, but in the next few months I'll be looking to make a platform solution.

I verified that I was able to lie diagonally on the flat cargo floor, with my head in the back corner under the hatch and my feet behind the opposite front seat. I figured I would be able to do this, but it's definitely not recommended to do (or even test out) without soft material under you. The bare floor of the cargo area is extremely uneven and painfully uncomfortable! I plan on having a pillow and blanket in the car at all times, but it might not be a bad idea to get a thick mat or foam to check out how viable this option may be as an on-the-road Plan B.

I was astonished to see that someone of my size could lie down completely flat with the passenger side seats in comfort mode. I have to use a thick pillow to prop my head up off the rear bucket seats and need to bend my knees some to get my feet (mostly) under the glove box, but I fit! And it was actually comfortable! I've done this a few times already to take some extreme naps during my lunch breaks. I could totally see myself sleeping overnight like this if I needed to.

Finally, an unexpected sleeping option. There are situations when I'm out in Los Angeles where I spend the night away from home (in the suburbs outside the county) to get the most out of my time and money. About once every 4-6 weeks, I stealth-sleep in one of many possible locations around town—legally or otherwise respectfully—which was easy to do in my old pickup. It had a shell over the bed with blacked-out windows so I could just crawl in and rest overnight in relative safety and comfort. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to do this easily with the Fit, but…

It turns out that with both rear seats in tall mode, and with some pillows or other padding on the floor of the car, I can slot in behind the front seats and sprawl out across the car and get into an acceptably comfortable seated/leaning position. There's quite distance between the floor and the bottom of the rear window keeping all but the top of my head out of view. The car is wide enough to where I can just get my legs stretched out. I plan on tinting the rear and back windows within the first few years of owning the car, and once that happens I can see myself being completely invisible to anyone that might peer towards the car. Heck, I might even be able to stealth-sleep in cargo mode! There is definite potential here to be able to rest stealthily.

These are all just my initial impressions as a first-time Fit owner and long-time car-sleeper. Even with just a little exploratory mission, I'm extremely excited about the possibilities of how I can fill this car to best aid me on my adventures. I don't anticipate getting into a sleeping or camping situation with my Fit for at least a few months, but when I come up with some solutions for all of the above I'll be back in the thread with photos and updates of what I came up with!

 

I took inspiration from this thread and joined the club! I do a lot of mountaineering/skiing/climbing trips that require an "alpine start" (aka start hiking before dawn), so I sleep in the car somewhat regularly.

The length is about 5'11" from the front seats to the hatch - I had a 6' friend try it out and he has to use the gap between the front seats to stretch out.

I wanted the design to work with the back seats in or out, as I usually keep the '60%' back seat out for extra space. So there's only a single support point in the front that fits in between the front seats and the folded-down back seats. With 5/8" plywood and no other bracing, it seems to work fine.

 

Couple shots with a mattress (3" memory foam topper) inside. The topper is a tad too thin by itself as I can feel the plywood a bit through it, but combined with a comforter on top it's pretty comfortable.

 

I like your curtains

 

Does anyone have some kind of a setup for opening up the hatch and covering it with a tent-like covering? It would be nice to be able to stand up while dressing and getting ready for bed. The Pontiac Aztec had something like this.

I'd love to try this, I'm only into week three of owning my Fit, but I'm 6'2", so I might not be able to stretch out in the back. I'll have to check out all the configuration options.

 

Dicks sporting goods sells something like what you are talking about, but mainly for larger vehicles like SUV's

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p...ping-tents.jsp

 

Was anybody able to get the Sketchup file from trebory6? I sent him a message but it doesn't look like he's been active on here for a while.

 

reminds me of this Top Gear Special...I love the creativity in this group!

 

Hello ErikwithaK,

Not sure where you've gotten on your quest here, but thought I'd reply. First of all I'm also 6'2", so I feel for you if you are finding things kinda tight sleeping in the cargo area. I have gotten a good size one person blow up mattress and plan on using it in the cargo area. Things will be pretty tight, but I'll mostly want to use it for overnight stuff for one person.

Anything bigger and I might want to go this route;


(hope this works!)

Here's something you're thinking of - https://www.autoanything.com/truck-t...ReviewsSection

What I like about my idea is that it can be easily sold to someone else if you get it. Yeah there's an argument that your idea can be sold too to someone else. Also on my idea, I've seen people complain about the lack insulation on the bottom. Something to consider there.

I'm looking to eventually get started on my idea to take the two rear seats out and using the space for storage after I find if the mattress idea is found to work.

BTW this is my favorite thread here!

 

This is great! I was thinking of getting a rooftop tent, but it's too much $$$ and storage would be a pain when not in use.... This platform however.......

 

I got back from my inaugural FIT camping trip last week and have decided that I absolutely have to figure out some sort of platform to go on top of the "floor" in the back.....EVERYTIME I moved the floor creaked and consequently it wasn't the best nights sleep I've ever had. Maybe I am mistaken, but I thought if front seats were moved all the way forward and then tilted back, they would be even with the back seats down....I had a slight tilt so there was the question of "head up or feet up?" I started with my head elevated and then scooted around to feet elevated.....for a first time it was a C- ......my key fob panic button decided to work at 4:45am and things just went a bit south from there......HOWEVER....I'm game to make adjustments and try again.....

fittobedrived.blogspot.com

 

My understanding (and experimentation) is that our generation of Fit does not have the "relax mode" (lounge seats with front and rear seats). The 1st generation and 3rd generation offer it.

 

Hey Vidmom,

I really wouldn't build any kind of "floor" in the back of the Fit. Basically cause you don't have the room and you have to leave in what you build. You haven't mentioned what Gen Fit you have, but I have the 1st Gen Fit and I have VERY limited experience with Camping with the Fit. With that in mind, what I would try is to get a air mattress from Walmart;

Intex Twin 8.75" Classic Downy Inflatable Airbed Mattress

It's less than $10 and is something that can be folded up or moved somewhere else. I got a cheap pump for blowing this up at my local outdoor store too. What's nice with the mattress is it's quiet and also you'll get some insulation with it too.

 

 

Oh, sounds like you have this creaking with a mattress. I'm thinking this noise can be eliminated with a good thick mattress. Well I just ran across this instruct-able. Gonna take some work, but looks nice. Oh also I was considering; floor = platform. Also I just posted a question building a platform after the backseats get removed.

 

Here is my version of a Jazz camper. I stole some ideas off the ones posted on here. I removed the rear seats as I wanted storage there and also wanted my platform low so I could still sit up inside.

 

Bump wondering if anyone else has done anything? I recently moved to Australia on a working holiday visa and bought a 2006 Honda Jazz and plan on doing something like this and traveling with my girlfriend when she gets here in a couple months so if no one else has done anything I guess I will be posting up what I build.

 

This picture is proof of why I bought this car in the first place:



I can just flip down the left rear passenger seat and put the mattress down there and sleep there still with my bike inside the car. Very easy. Only special thing I made was a block of wood and an old front bike wheel axle attached to it. Then I could replace the front wheel on the bike with this thing and it would not put any mark on the rear of the right passenger seat. And it would also be easier to stand up when unloading it in/out of the car. It is strapped down when traveling though.

The picture is from 2007 and I still today use the car a lot for this. I now have a different bike, and I have to lower the seat to get it in the car, but since it has a quick release it is no hassle with that bike either.
My electric bike on the other hand has a larger frame and does not fit that easy... but I still transport it inside the car when I need to

 

Great to see this thread bumped up! I've been dabbing with a few things. Currently figuring out how to best run a wire from the battery to area at the back of the console. Got a small, 6 pack size frig that runs on USB/12v/120v that I want to power and finish up my setup.

One thing I was wondering about is if anyone has made some kind of fold out table from the platform over the spare? I'm thinking I could use this and make something. It wouldn't be big, but having something would be nice. What's nice about the strut is that it's light, small and adjustable.