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By Averi Melcher - January 27, 2020
Nothing beats sleeping under the stars. You might find yourself drawn out to the backcountry to zip yourself into an insulated cloth bag to shiver to sleep, listening to the wolves howl in the distance, and maybe even a black bear slowly walk between you and your vehicle. Your vehicle which is your only source of safety, might we add. Sounds fun, right? Still, you can count yourselves among the hundreds of thousands of campers who visit national parks across the nation every year. You’ve tricked your truck, SUV, or car out to thrive in situations of total isolation. You have the perfect set of seat covers to bring Fido along for the week and you’ve stacked your stuff high on one of the best roof racks for camping. Even though you’ve done your absolute best to be prepared with car camping essentials like a tonneau cover for your truck, have you thought about floor mats? That’s right. There’s more to being prepared for camping than just the gear you bring. If you’ve already installed car seat covers, why wouldn’t you want your carpets to be just as protected?
For anyone who’s ever braved the Great Outdoors (or seen the brilliant John Candy flick from ‘88), nothing ever goes 100% as planned on a camping trip. Honestly, Murphy’s Law is in full effect the moment you leave your driveway with a tent or pop-up trailer on your way to the campground. There’s mud. Without fail, the weather will throw you a curveball. An insane wall of rain will pound the ground into a sloppy mudhole as you’re trying to weave tentpoles through impossibly small spaces in sopping fabric. Your boots become caked in wet dirt. Mud. It’s mud. And when you finally decide to sit in the car while the rain passes, your 10-pound boots track mud all over the carpeted mats.
But it’s not just mud. Sometimes, it’s the fun stuff that requires the best all-weather floor liners or floor mats for protection. After a Kumbaya moment at the campfire, ashes can float down through your open sunroof. And when you’re just returned from a bike ride through Joshua Tree National Park, the fine sandy-brown soil tracks tire tread prints all over the cargo area.
Adventures in camping don’t require the best all-weather floor mats. But if you have them, you’re going to thank your lucky stars that you do.
Factory carpeted floor mats show wear and tear quickly. After even a year or two, the carpet fibers have worn away where you pivot your heel, like a middle-aged dude whose scalp is rubbed bald by a baseball cap. And if you get mud, off-color dirt, or any kind of spill on the mat, it’s a headache and a half to get it clean – if it ever comes out completely.
Just any set of floor mats is better than nothing, but there are certain characteristics that will make your choice so much better yet.
The best all-weather floor mats are durable. Rubber floor mats are probably the most common, and derivatives include materials like polymers and thermoplastics. No matter what you put on them, they’re going to last. While everything else on your car eventually breaks down and deteriorates, your floor mats will probably look good as new as long as you own your car.
Some floor mats are made of a woven material or thick carpet. They might be an awesome choice for a daily driver, but for camping you definitely want something that’s impermeable to the elements. Deep ridges are awesome, and the raised edges on floor liners make them a popular choice.
Floor mats need to stay in place. It’s important when you’re driving and for all those jittery passengers with restless legs. If your floor mat starts sliding around underfoot while you’re hammering the gas or brake pedal, it can be dangerous. Even more problematic are the four-letter words that leave your mouth when the crud on the mat flings all over the tidy carpet around the mat. Floor mats should have nibs or something else on the backside to grip the floor or use factory floor mat anchors to secure them.
Floor mats WILL get messy when you’re camping. That’s a fact. You may be someone who cleans your car as soon as you’ve unloaded your wiley children and your campstove – or you might wait weeks until you get around to it. Either way, the best floor mats for camping will keep their contents neat and tidy until you can wash them off. Rubber floor mats and liners – not to mention cargo mats and liners – can be hosed off with mild soap and water for super simple cleanup.
Which floor mats should you pick from AmericanTrucks for your next camping trip? If you’re asking us, here are our top six choices camping enthusiasts will love, and we might even have a bonus cargo mat to think about.
For serious floor protection, no matter how far you’re going off the beaten path, 3D Maxpider Kagu Floor Mats have you covered. Rather, they have your car’s floors covered. They’re laser measured to precisely fit your vehicle’s footwells and have a tall lip along the edge to keep your muddy bootprints from contaminating your carpets. 3D Maxpider Kagu floor mats are a three-material sandwich: thermoplastic top layer for durability, XPE foam core for sound deadening and cushioning, and a velcro-like bottom layer to keep them from sliding around. Pull them out, dump them off, and hose them down to clean up. Maxpider Kagu floor mats are covered by a three-year warranty against defects, which is mostly for your peace of mind because they’re likely never to crack or wear.
Laser measured and computer-cut for a precise fit, AmericanTrucks SELECT All-Weather Floor Liners make an excellent choice for activities of all kinds, and we think that goes especially for camping. Molded out of thermoplastic olefin, these are some of the most rugged and durable floor liners your money can buy. Deep ridges keep all the muck and slop away from the cuffs of your milsurp cargo pants. They’re non-slip on both sides – the top gives good grip for your feet while you’re driving while the bottom has cleats to hold it firmly in place. And unlike the walls of Jericho, the wall around the edge of these floor liners will never fall, keeping the sloppiest of gunk from leaking onto your carpets. Made in the USA, you can rest assured these AmericanTrucks SELECT floor liners will last. They’re backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty to prove it.
Supreme protection for the serious outdoorsperson often bears the brand WeatherTech. Even in the jaws of an angry grizzly, WeatherTech DigitalFit Floor Liners hold up. But don’t get that close to a grizzly to test it out… Tri-extruded material gives WeatherTech DigitalFit floor liners their rigidity, holding the shape of your footwell perfectly. It helps that they’re laser measured for an exact fit on your car, too. Each floor liner holds in debris and fluid, and channels molded into the surface carry that junk away from your shoes and clothing. Each set is specially designed to stay in place with retention systems to prevent sliding around. With a Limited Lifetime Warranty against defects in material and workmanship, these will probably be the last set of floor liners you buy for your vehicle.
The most popular choice for floor mats at AmericanTrucks is probably this set. HuskyLiners Classic Floor Liners roll out the door non-stop, and it’s no secret why. They simply do exactly what you want them to do, and that’s protect your floors and keep your feet and leg cuffs clean. Durable patented thermoplastic material is used to custom-mold HuskyLiners Classic floor liners to your make and model. There’s no extra bulk and they stay firmly in place with StayPut Cleats on the bottom, not to mention they use factory fasteners, too. To clean up, pull the whole tray out of your vehicle, dump it off, and wash it down with water and a bit of soap. Easy peasy. They’re available for one, two, or all three rows, depending on your model so the trail mix you’ve dumped on the rearseat floor cleans up as easy as front-seat spills. They’re warrantied against cracking or breaking for life.
Perhaps you’re not the type to get knee-deep in mud. If your idea of camping includes a 40-foot luxury trailer, more than one air conditioner, faux hardwood floors, and a fireplace, then the down-and-dirty style floor mats could be overkill. Still, a high-quality set of rubber floor mats should be part of your car’s camping setup, and Lloyd Mats Northridge Floor Mats are a great option. Made of a synthetic rubber formula and computer designed for a meticulous fit in your vehicle, this set of Lloyd Mats Northridge floor mats offers edge-to-edge coverage. The woven pattern is great at catching spills and gathering dirt, and they’re super simple to pull out and wash down after. Nibs are molded into the bottom side to hold them securely on the carpet, and the driver’s mat also has a spot for the factory anchor. Northridge mats are available in eight colors and have a five-year warranty for your peace of mind.
Mud, water, coffee, gravel, dirt, MREs- no matter what accidentally finds its way onto your floor, Rugged Ridge All Terrain Floor Mats will catch it. More suited to being called floor liners, these Rugged Ridge mats are injection-molded from thermoplastic to be more rugged and durable than the competition. We’ll let you make that call, but the argument holds water as well as the high perimeter walls on these mats. The chevron pattern your feet rest on offer grip, but also are deep channels to whisk away camping crud. They stay in place with nibs on the bottom and a self-sealing hook attachment so you can put your factory mat retainer to use. They wash down quickly with a hose, and you can trust they’ll last a long time backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty.
You’ve packed the back of your SUV to the roof, but what’s under all that camping junk? The MAXLINER MAXTRAY Cargo Liner keeps your cargo area neat and tidy. Whether you miss the cooler with the rainbow trout you just caught or your SunnyD spilled all over your dried goods, the polyethylene cargo liner will save you heartache and hours of cleanup. A precise fit for your make and model means no wasted space along the edges, and its bottom holds fast with rubbery nubs. Gallons of sand, mud, water, or fake orange juice fit into MAXLINER MAXTRAY, and it’s easy to clean. Pull it out, shake it off, and wash it with plain old water. With a Lifetime Warranty, you can trust they’ve made it to last.
If your active lifestyle means you’re occasionally (or often) getting your vehicle messy, these seven floor mats and liners are great options to make cleaning up faster and easier. You’ll find them at a competitive price right here on AmericanTrucks.
I am a writer and adventure travel blogger. I enjoy slow travel and going where there aren't roads - be it overlanding with my 1986 Ford Econoline campervan or my Surly Disc Trucker touring bike. Heck, sometimes, I'll even grab a backpack and hike. I'm more of a DIY person and spend way too many hours YouTubing videos about campervan renovations.