A Better Way to Sleep in Your Car: Hele Outdoors Hele Box Review

I’ve slept in the bed of every car and truck I’ve ever owned and a few that belonged to other people. And I’ll tell you from experience: some vehicles are more comfortable than others. I’ve had to hang my feet out of open hatches or curl up into a half-fetal position to fit with the door closed. I’ve slept in back seats and passenger seats, and on just a few luxe occasions, I’ve had access to a bed in a van.

You can make most vehicular sleep situations a little more plush with things like EXPED’s MegaMat AUTO. Memory foam is another cheaper and much less packable option.

Truck bed platforms make things more livable, too, but building one is a beast of a project. They are not packable or transportable, and they usually only fit into one vehicle — the truck they’re made for. You also can’t use them in a variety of vehicle types.

The Hele Outdoors Hele Box is a sleep platform that turns all of that on its head, though. It popped onto my Instagram feed, and I immediately thought the concept was pretty clever. It’s semi-compact. It works in the majority of SUVs and trucks right out of the box. And when you aren’t using it, the Hele Box breaks down for storage. On top of that, the brand claims it also doubles as a table and storage system.

The Hele Box seemed ripe for some GearJunkie testing. So I got ahold of one and took it for a spin this summer out on the open road.

In short: The Hele Box is a modular platform design that breaks down for storage and sets up easily in different makes and models of trucks and SUVs. It’s sturdy, allows for greater storage when you’re sleeping in your vehicle, and elevates car camping to a new level of comfort.

Hele Outdoors Hele Box Solo Review

The Hele Box ($400) comes in a black carrying case that doubles as a storage container. Inside there’s a sleeping pad, the interconnecting pieces of the aluminum frame, and the wooden slat platform. An included hex key is the only tool you need for assembly.

Putting it together is straightforward. The first time I set it up, it took maybe 15 minutes and a couple of glances at the instructions. Hele Outdoors has a video assembly guide on YouTube. But I didn’t need to use that. It was pretty intuitive once I saw how it came together.

The frame does have a “front” and “back,” though, so double-check that those are correct when you’re building it. Aside from that, it’s uncomplicated. This is definitely not Ikea furniture.

Now that I’ve set it up a couple of times, it takes me about 10 minutes. The aluminum frame tube pieces fit snugly together and lock into position with snap buttons. The wooden slats that make up the platform’s actual surface are connected via elastic strips that stretch, and holes at either end secure it onto the frame.

Typically, when I go camping, there is so much stuff in my car that I’ve found that the Hele Box needs to go in first. It’s a lot easier to pack around it than to try and rearrange things so it can fit.

The two short legs go at the rear of your car, and the long legs go in the back seat’s leg space.

The only car that requires an extra step to install the Hele Box are Toyota 4Runners. They have a particular seat design that requires the user to remove one of the back seats in order to fit the Hele Box in. The Hele Box Solo fitment test sheet has simple instructions for how to do this at the bottom.

Breaking the Hele Box down is even easier than putting it together. It comes apart in minutes and packs easily back into its storage container. That 25-pound rectangular box has similar dimensions to a medium-sized duffel bag. It stores easily in a gear closet, garage, or even in the back of your vehicle.

Sleeping on the Hele Box

I slept well on the Hele Box. It provided a level, even surface in my car. I didn’t feel cramped by coolers, duffel bags, biking and hiking gear, and other camping equipment. All that was stored under and all around me. But it didn’t interfere with my sleep space.

I chose to set the Hele Box up in the back of my partner’s 2023 Subaru Outback. The custom wooden platform I built for my Toyota Tacoma is a pain to remove and isn’t easy to store.

Luckily, the Hele Box fits most Subarus, Toyotas, Jeeps, Mazdas, Chevrolets, Fords, VWs, Volvos, and some Chevy vans and pickup trucks. Here is the complete list of vehicles, models, and years that the Hele Box Solo will work with. It’s pretty comprehensive.

Unfortunately, in the Outback, sleeping on the Hele Box was more than a little cramped. I’m a 5’11” male, and sitting up was not an option. I had to roll off the platform and then climb out of the car. That would have been a lot less of an issue if I’d set the Hele Box up in my truck bed or in an SUV with more headroom.

The comfort of the Hele Outdoors sleeping pad surprised me. The 3-inch foam and air hybrid mattress has a 50D poly fabric on top (for comfort) and a non-slip fabric on the bottom (for grip). I was impressed by how comfortable it was for such a new brand.

The sleeping pad is an add-on to the Hele Box package. With the sleeping pad, the full Hele Box Solo package is $500. You can use almost any appropriately sized sleeping pad with this platform, though. So, if you already have one, you do not need to spend the extra $100.

I sleep mostly on my back, so I never had any issues rolling off of the Hele Box platform. It’s 2 feet wide, though, so if you roll around a lot or need room to spread out, you might struggle to adjust to the Hele Box Solo.

Hele Outdoors does offer a Hele Box Duo. However, it doesn’t come with a sleeping pad, and the list of vehicles the Duo fits in is shorter than the Solo’s. So, if you decide to go that route, double-check that yours is on it.

I found the best way to sleep in the Outback with the Hele Box was to remove the headrest of the passenger seat so my feet weren’t straddling it, and lie with my head toward the back window. Lying the other way, with my feet at the back, was a little more cramped. This would be less of an issue for smaller people or inside larger SUVs and trucks.

Storage Space

Hele Outdoors designed the Hele Box to have its own storage system, too. The carrying case is box-shaped and comes with a Velcro divider you can move around. It fits neatly under the platform like a sliding drawer.

I stored gear and clothes in there to clear up some room inside the vehicle. But it wasn’t big enough to fit all of my car camping equipment. So there was still a lot of stuff floating around, which just made things feel more cramped and cluttered. This setup rewards the minimalist.

Again, this would have been less of an issue if I’d used the Hele Box in a truck bed or larger SUV. I think the Subaru Outback is about as small of a car as it would be comfortable to use the Hele Box in.

A Table Too?

Hele Outdoors calls the Hele Box a “3-in-1” system: (1) You can sleep on it; (2) It doubles as a storage system; and (3) it’s also a camp table if you need it.

This is where I kind of fall off board. You can use the Hele Box as a table if you need to. But I’d prefer to use almost anything else.

I pulled it out of the car for some table-mode photos and quickly realized what a process it was. I had to disrupt my whole sleep setup, and then when I was done, I had to reassemble it inside. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze, in my opinion. I’d rather just bring a separate table.

However, if you were really going for the minimalist approach, or if you forgot to bring a camp table to the campsite altogether, this would be a functional option. It works as a table. More convenient alternatives exist, though.

Room for Improvement

I built my own sleep and storage platform for my truck, and I didn’t put nearly as much thought and attention to detail into it as Hele Outdoors did with its Hele Box. So, I don’t really have any significant holes to poke in this design.

That said, I noticed on several occasions that if I was driving on a particularly rocky section of a dirt road or hit a big bump on the interstate, the Hele Box would bounce a little bit. It shifted only slightly out of position, and I easily set it back when the car was stopped. But that’s not something that happens with more permanent sleep platforms.

It’s also heavy at 25 pounds. A lot of that weight comes from the wooden slats that make up the actual platform. If Hele Outdoors chose to use a lighter material to provide that support, it could bring the weight down.

But, then, it also wouldn’t have that nice real wood look and feel. Considering that weight isn’t that important (since this is strictly for car camping), I understand why Hele Outdoors chose real wood. Nice aesthetics can sometimes be worth a weight penalty.

The Hele Outdoors Hele Box Solo: Who Is It For?

The Hele Box could have made my life a lot more comfortable had it been around a decade ago. I could have used it in my last car, and I probably could have fit it in my first car. It would fit in my current truck if I didn’t already have a platform in there.

This is a piece of gear that car campers who want a better way to sleep in their vehicle could enjoy over many years — even if they get a new SUV or truck, as long as it’s on the Hele Box list.

It’s also great for anyone who wants to sleep comfortably in their vehicle but can’t permanently modify it for camping. The fact this platform breaks down so easily — and sets up quickly when you need it — means more people can enjoy the freedom of van life-style car camping without owning a van.

The storage system is useful, and the table function is worth trying and seeing if it’s for you. But the Hele Box sleep platform does what it’s designed for well enough, I don’t think it even needs those extra selling points to be worth buying.

The Hele Box levels up your car camping and road trip setup — both literally and figuratively speaking.