“2013 Subaru Forester – First Drive” by The National Roads and Motorists’ Association is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Depending on the type of terrain you are on, overlanding and camping can be done in any vehicle.
A soft-roader like the Subaru Forester has the capability to take you off-grid but remains economical and comfortable on-road.
In this article, we will be going over some mods that make Subaru Forester car camping a breeze.
Table of Contents
- Keep the Trunk of Your Forester Tidy
- Increase Storage Space with a Roof Rack
- Have Easy Access to Your Roof Rack
- Have Reliable Navigation
- Subaru Forester Car Camping – Final Thoughts
- Recommended Camping Gear
Keep the Trunk of Your Forester Tidy
We have featured the Aiden James Customs Gear Plate plenty of times – especially for the Toyota 4Runner – and that’s for good reason.
This gear plate enables you to mount accessories such as a Dometic 35/40 fridge, TemboTusk 28 and 30, IceCo JP 30/40/50 slides, and Pro Eagle 1.5-ton jack mounts.
It also provides tie-down points for other gear and comes with T-Nuts inserted in every hole for simple installation of all your gear.
The mounting plate is constructed from the highest quality Baltic Birch and comes with black 3mm-thick Rhino Lining, and all the hardware needed to install.
No extensive removal of carpet or sound deadening is needed, so installing the gear plate is a breeze!
This is the perfect gear organizer for any Subaru Forester car camping adventure. You can neatly store your gear, keep it organized, and maintain your sanity by being able to quickly find what you need rather than digging through a mess in the truck.
If this isn’t the ideal Subaru Forester camping gadget, I don’t know what is!
Increase Storage Space with a Roof Rack
The Subaru Forester offers a decent amount of storage space; however, for a large family, it may not be enough.
The rear seats cannot be removed as you need them for the little ones; therefore, you are only left with the trunk.
For a family of three or four this can be an issue and here is where a roof rack comes in handy.
Large items that take up a lot of space like tents, water jerry cans, and storage boxes can go on top leaving space in the trunk for things that are valuable or that need to stay away from the weather.
Our roof rack of choice is the Arksen 64-inch universal rack. It can hold up to 150lbs and is made from steel with a powder-coated finish for protection against the elements.
To protect items from wind, and to reduce wind noise in general the roof rack is equipped with a steel wind fairing.
Installation is easy thanks to four U-bolts that mount on your Forester’s cross bars.
It is worth mentioning that this roof rack also comes in other sizes ranging from 43” to 84”.
The Arksen roof rack is the perfect storage solution for any Subaru Forester car camping trip.
It offers space without many compromises and that is exactly what we love as overlanders.
Have Easy Access to Your Roof Rack
Accessing a roof rack can be a pain – especially when you own a taller vehicle like the Forester.
Thankfully, there is a simple and cheap solution to this and it comes in the form of a door latch step.
This is a hook that clamps onto the latch of your door and acts as a step that provides easier access to your roof rack.
It is foldable to minimize the space it takes when stored and features a textured surface to increase grip during wet conditions.
The step is made from aluminum and can hold 400lbs. It won’t scratch your vehicle as it features a rubber backing that protects your paint.
In many cases, it is the little stuff that can get annoying when living out of a truck.
Struggling to reach your gear on top of your vehicle is one of them and this simple and cheap accessory will fix that.
As far as Subaru Forester camping mods go, this is a simple one; however, it can have a big impact on usability.
Have Reliable Navigation
When it comes to navigation, humans aren’t the best species out there. In remote areas, we tend to get lost easily.
However, this is why navigation devices exist and one of the best ones is the Garmin overlander.
This device will provide both on and off-road navigation instructions and is the perfect addition for any Subaru Forester car camping build
It features a 7” color touchscreen, turn-by-turn directions for on-road navigation, and topography maps with public land boundaries and 4×4 roads for off-road guidance both for north and south America.
You can also use the Garmin explore app to download additional maps on 64GB of storage.
It comes preloaded with iOverlander points of interest and ultimate public campgrounds; therefore, you don’t need phone signal to find the best camp spots in the area.
The best feature of the Garmin Overlander is the fact that it can be used to reach help via interactive SOS.
This is great as it provides peace of mind even in the most remote of areas.
It mounts on your windscreen or dashboard easily and is the perfect device to use in your Subaru Forester car camping build or any other vehicle you happen to use as an overlander.
Subaru Forester Car Camping – Final Thoughts
“2011 Subaru Forester – S Edition” by The National Roads and Motorists’ Association is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
The Subaru Forester is a comfortable, reliable, economical, and relatively capable adventure vehicle. It is used by thousands of people all over the world and that is for good reason.
With a few simple mods like the ones featured above, you can have the ultimate camping setup capable of taking you to some unique places on a budget and in comfort.
If you have any further questions regarding Subaru Forester car camping accessories or for anything else off-road or overland related, head over to the forum section of our page.