If you are carrying items in your open pick up truck, and you need to protect them from weather conditions and theft, maybe it is time you invested in what is known as a tonneau cover. When selecting a tonneau cover, you need to decide on your budget and the style of cover that you want - whether solid bed covers or soft covers. The solid covers are usually made of fiberglass, and the soft covers are made of vinyl, and are the least expensive. There are different kinds of mounts to choose from, and your selection will be based on what you carry and how much you use the bed to carry items. Do ensure that the cover is easy to install, as well as easy to open and remove, as there are different ways to lock and unlock covers. Additionally, check if the cover has features that will keep rainwater and snow away from it. Most importantly, the cover has to fit properly over the bed of your truck. There are many different types of tonneau covers available, such as aluminum tonneau covers, retractable, fiberglass, folding, roll-up and drop down tonneau covers. The aluminum covers are highly engineered, and the design process is patented. It is designed for security, style and increases your gas mileage. The retractable gives you the flexibility of having a hard cover, while at the same time the ability to haul large items without removing the cover from the bed. The fiberglass covers are secure and usually painted to match your truck, and they are mostly weather-friendly. However, they are fairly heavy, and it takes quite a bit of effort to remove if required. With the folding covers, they are prone to getting the truck bed a little wet at times due to leakage, but are great value especially since they are cheaper than the others. Roll-up covers are ideal for people who live in high crime areas, as they are attached via a clamp, and if you should keep some of your belongings there, the clamps tend it keep it secure. Drop down covers literally drop into your truck bed when you want to haul something large. The advantage of these is that it allows access to the truck bed without actually having to remove the cover. Once you have decided which one you want to buy, shop around as there are a good assortment of tonneau covers to choose from. You would certainly want to check out the styles and mounts available, before streamlining your choice to a final purchase.