Video Transcript for A Closer Look at the Fas-top Solo Collapsible Soft Truck Topper

Hi, everyone, I'm Evangeline here at etrailer, and today, we have our Fas-Top Solo collapsible truck topper. Now, I've been able to use this topper a fair bit here at etrailer, and I've really started to learn the things that I really like about it, but other things that I struggled a bit with. And if you're curious about all that 'cause you're trying to figure out what is the best topper for you, stick around. The main perk of a soft truck topper like this is that it's lightweight, is also very easy to install. It's not a permanent thing, so you can always take it off if you feel like it. And also, it doesn't cost you thousands and thousands of dollars.

It's a really easy investment when you know you wanna keep your truck bed covered, but also give you a little extra room compared to a tonneau cover. And with the Fas-Top Solo, you also have different adjustability options, so you can really match the look of your truck. And since it's available in different custom fits, you can make sure you get the one for your specific truck. Now, here at etrailer, we have plenty of resources from the start to the end of the journey. If you're still trying to figure out which configuration of truck topper you want for your truck.

Simply 'cause this is available as kits with a tonneau cover, or maybe you just want the topper, we have a fit guide where you put your year, make, and model of your truck and we do the fitment work for you. But if you're looking for inspiration, maybe someone out there has this really cool setup or you found one that works best for your next rock crawling trip, we'd love to hear about it. We have pictures and videos of people on different adventures and different journeys with their own custom setup that works best for them and for their adventure. So, here, we'd love to help you get sorted with the right things for your journey, but also help you get inspired for your next adventure. Now the Fas-Top Solo topper is simply that.

It's just the topper. So, you can see here how we have all these struts that secure to these rails, and everything got put together very quickly. You have plenty of clamps all throughout to give you a really secure fit. Whether you're driving down the highway or traveling to your next adventure, this will stay in place. But then, it also keeps all this room open for all of your gear.

And here I am behind the truck. So, that's nice to know, that the view from the rear-view mirror or from the cab, you'll still be able to see if there's people or cars behind you. This will be ideal if, maybe you're carrying around gear that you want protected from the rain and the snow, but it's little too tall for your regular tonneau cover. This will keep that all enclosed. Or maybe you like to truck bed camp, and instead of figuring something out and setting up a tent somewhere, you can just stay inside your truck topper, and you get a very similar experience. Whichever reason you may have for a soft topper, this will be something that you could set up. You have windows on the front and the back, but then, along the sides, you have that dark fabric that gives you a little bit more privacy. You have a good play of three different types of fabric working together to give you that weather resistance. Up top, you have this waterproof, almost tarpaulin material, which is staying pretty cool here in the direct sunshine, but giving you that waterproofness. Along the sides, you have this canvas. This is gonna be a thick canvas, very heavy-duty stitching, and this will be your side panels. You will also have that tarpaulin material underneath. And then, finally, you have your plastic back. Now, this isn't just any old plastic. This is also very durable and holds strong with a slight reflective, but also dark tint. So, while you can see in through the plastic, this still gives an illusion of privacy, to some extent, if you are truck camping. As awesome as this all sounds, and it is pretty much top tier from what you could get from a soft truck topper, that's really gonna be the max that you get. It's not gonna ever give you the same amount of security or weather protection that you would get from a fully-enclosed, custom-fit metal truck topper. For example, when you close your tailgate, everything is mostly sealed, but it won't fully protect you from if someone wants to get into your stuff. They can still just rip open all that fabric. Now, what you do trade off in terms of full security, you do get accessibility. So, if you needed to get something from inside your truck bed, you can always lower your tailgate or you can utilize these zippers throughout the cover to get access in there. And speaking of accessibility, this is how I will usually see this truck topper at campsites. They have all the windows or side panels open for full fresh air. In fact, you can continue to open up side panels like this, or in the back. And these will roll up and secure with straps to be completely out of the way. So, full access to your truck bed, great way to spend the day at the campsite. And then, you just roll things down during inclement weather or when you're ready to camp for night. Something that I noticed that really helps with all this is how they designed their struts, or what they call their X-frames, as well as their straps that add that tension. So, everything works together to create this whole setup. I do appreciate the intention with design with these struts, because something that I've noticed with other people with truck toppers is there's commonly a complaint with the clamps. They always say that they don't have enough clamps included, or not enough stability. That's not the case for Fas-Top. You get six or 10 clamps, more than enough for making sure everything is stable. The length of your rails, the number of your clamps, and even the positioning of where you install your X-frame is specific to your truck. The pack-up is pretty simple, too. Now, what most people will do is they'll just do a simple pack-up, which is when they only take off the topper. You can leave the rails on. And that just involves first loosening the rear straps and then start folding things forward. And we'll just walk through this together, like that. And from here, I then just go over to remove the front straps, and then the front beam. You do get a cover that just helps hold everything together. And if you don't wanna go through the work of removing your struts just yet, which only involves pressing some little push tabs, then you can store your cover in your truck bed looking like this. So, you can see that your entire truck topper compacted down (fingers snapping) just like that, into something a lot more manageable for just driving around and transporting other things. Now, once everything is assembled for your truck, you just slide that plate onto its tab. Secure both sides with your washer and clips. Get that plate attached near the top. Notice how it all just snaps in. Both sides get their carabiner secured. And from here, it's simply a matter of lifting up and then out. Now, I'm not the strongest, nor the tallest person here at etrailer, so setting up a enclosed truck topper all by myself was a little bit of an intimidating thought at first. But that took not long at all. Super simple once you get the rails and the struts set up for your specific truck, and that will change a little bit depending on your different truck styles. So, check out our installation videos here at etrailer to see what matches yours specifically. But all the Fas-Top Solo truck toppers are gonna work on this exact concept, being lightweight, compact, easy to set up, but also easy to tear down when you want full access to your truck bed. Those are all things that I like about this truck topper. But at the beginning of this video, I promised I talk about things that I struggled with. And in all honesty, I struggled with getting the fitment that I liked right off the bat. I had to figure things out, like how tight to pull on the straps to get the height that I wanted all throughout the topper, or how to adjust the tension so that the side panels fit nice and flush on those hook-and-loop patches. Things like that we inchesre things that I had to work through to get the look and the fitment that I personally wanted. But that's not at all a dealbreaker. It really is about, is this the right fit for you and your adventures In fact, this is actually something that I'm considering getting for my father-in-law for Father's Day, because he has a truck, and every now and then, he likes to go hunting, or maybe to the farm and just stay there overnight. And truck bed camping is something that he likes to do, but he doesn't want an enclosed, permanent truck bed camper 'cause he carries a lot of things in his truck and he wants the versatility of that height. So, something like this that is easy for him to set up, but also easy him for him to take off whenever he wants to, is perfect for that situation. And if that's the case for you, I'd love to hear about it, and I could tell my father-in-law about that, too. But if you find that maybe you need something that's, hmm, maybe has a little bit more coverage or a little bit more functionality, maybe you wanna add a ladder rack or a tonneau cover setup, well, we have those solutions for you right here at etrailer as well. It's really all about finding the best fit for you and your journey. So, if you have any questions, well, my name is Evangeline here at etrailer, and what you saw today was a look at the Fas-Top Solo collapsible truck bed topper right here at etrailer. Hopefully, you enjoyed this journey.