Bluegrass,
We just purchased a 3124kb as well. We have an 05 Tundra DC. I have a Fold-a-cover tonneau which has been on the truck for the last 2 years.
I don't think you need a shell to provide more storage for a 2 week or so trip. You should base your decision though on what your everyday needs are. As with most things there are compromises. There is no perfect solution.
I don't use a shell because it takes away from some of the things that I use the truck for. Gardening is one of my hobbies and I haul dirt, gravel and the such. I also use it for all kinds of other truck things like hauling lumber, brush, firewood, and equipment. The tonneau I have folds in 4 sections so I can open it 3/4 open and have a front loader load dirt in the back. I need this ability to be able to use the bed open. The best tonneaus for this are the foldable kinds and the retractable ones. Most tonneaus are lockable. If you don't need to have the bed open and want to have more lockable stacking height then maybe a shell is the answer.
We are about to leave on a 6 month trip with said truck and TM. We toyed with getting a shell for this trip but in the end we stayed with the tonneau. (I would have taken it off after the trip anyway.) With the storage that is available in the TM, I am not worried about not having enough room in the back of the truck. We have tent camped on our last two 2-3 week trips (Everglades and Yellowstone) and we filled up the back but we made it. Now we don't have to carry the cots, sleeping bags,tent, clothes, food, and a large ice chest in the back. We do carry fishing equipment (if we'll be within 500 miles of water
), biking, and or kayak equipment, as well as various other things for the kids. We have a 5 and an 8 year old.
Hope this helps. I'll let you know after we leave if we have enough room!
