Heavy fiberglass shells keep gear secure on mountain trips, but they make routine hauling a headache. A lightweight, air-filled setup gave me my pickup bed back.
The Flated Cap56 (Photo: Abigail Wise)
Published November 1, 2026 03:12AM
For more than a decade, I’ve driven trucks, and always with a fiberglass hardshell topper. The cap transformed the bed of my pickup into a gear shed for all of my outdoor equipment and a tiny cabin for me to crash in on climbing trips and before alpine starts. But, as my hard shell weighed north of 150 pounds, I never—and I mean that literally—took it off.
That’s all fine and dandy for the dirtbag climber and runner, jaunting around New Mexico and Colorado without a care in the world in her twenties. But at this stage of life, as a mom of three kids with a house to maintain, a farm to care for, and loads of bikes and strollers to haul to and fro on the weekends, my truck needs to be a little more versatile.
Enter: the Flated Cap56.
As its name suggests, Flated shells are inflatable. I blew it up using the plug-in pump reserved for my SUP in just a few minutes. Installation required no further tools. At under 60 pounds, installation is not only simple, but easy to do by myself. I just inflate the cap and lift it onto my truck. Then, I attach it with a handful of tie-downs. In total, installation takes about 30 minutes, but I bet I’ll get faster with practice.
Flated doesn’t skimp on features, either. It’s fully waterproof with a rain skirt built in to repel water from the truck bed. There are two tinted windows, two screens on the side windows, and one rear window. The part of the topper that connects to the truck cab also features a pass-through window, so you can easily access the truck bed from the backseat. Sturdy zippers and Velcro secure window shades while you drive, and a couple of interior mesh pockets on the cab end help sort smaller gear and gadgets. I have yet to camp with the Flated Cap56, but when I do, that’s where I’ll stash my phone and headlamp for safekeeping.
At $1,600, it’s not cheap, but it does cost several thousand dollars less than a traditional hardshell.
I live at high elevation and full sun in northern New Mexico, so time will tell how the new topper stands up against the elements, but so far, I’ve driven it for about a month without any signs of wear.
Last weekend, I had it on for transporting bike gear and keeping it safe from the rain, but I pulled it off the next day to haul home some new trees from the local nursery. This, in a nutshell, is the beauty of the Flated Cap56: it’s versatile and goes with the flow of life, no matter how chaotic my days may get.
