A new take on the overland truck camper is coming. The AT Overland Aterra flatbed truck camper is a no-nonsense, full-featured, go-anywhere overland home.

For years now, I’ve had campfire discussions about this new camper design with AT Overland’s owner/designer Mario Donovan. Ever since I designed and helped build my own custom truck camper, the EEXP, which I lived out of for many years, I’ve dreamed about camper design.

I’m acutely aware of the many design and construction deficiencies common among today’s truck campers. And so is Donovan, who has dealt with these deficiencies for over 20 years now. The Aterra marks his latest camper solution.

While rugged off-road trailers launched AT Overland into the limelight, the brand now stakes its name on a full line of pop-top truck topper campers. And though the Aterra camper isn’t a pop-top, it’s likely to achieve similar market success.

AT Overland Aterra XL

Donovan is always on the hunt for a better way to do things. So it’s no surprise he stands as one of the overland industry founders here in North America.

His latest concept, the AT Overland Aterra XL, is a hard-sided flatbed truck camper he designed for weekend warriors and multi-continent overlanders alike. The name comes from a combination of the company name “AT Overland” and the Latin word for earth, “terra.”

The Aterra XL looks perfect for two adults and a pet on long-term overlanding excursions. And it can work for up to three adults for shorter adventures. Donovan designed it to fit on any full-size pickup that can be outfitted with an 80 x 80-inch flatbed (most half- to one-ton trucks on the market today).

Why choose this over other campers? Because of its durability, light weight, and impressive use of space, which offers tons of storage and all the comforts of home.

Durable & Lightweight

Tern Overland took more than 2 years to engineer the unique shell construction that AT Overland will debut on the Aterra XL camper. The brand claims it’s the “world’s first fiber-reinforced thermoplastic honeycomb composite shell.”

That means the panels that constitute the shell of the camper are made of a fiberglass-reinforced plastic honeycomb with fiberglass skin on each side. The panels are then bonded together and the entire camper, inside and out (minus the inside of the roof) is PU-coated (in Stone Gray color).

The interior roof also gets additional insulation and a carpeted headliner, both for noise deadening and optimal indoor climate control.

This super-strong, lightweight shell construction creates a camper that can handle the abuses of long-term adventures across extremely rough terrain. So it is a true four-season camper and only weighs 1,100 pounds fully outfitted.

Inside, you have just over 6 feet 3 inches of headroom. The interior cabinetry attaches without any fasteners, which keeps any holes out of the shell. To attach the cabinetry and systems, aluminum extrusions are bonded to the interior of the shell. For the countertops and table, the Aterra XL sports Plyboo, an excellent material for strength, weight, and durability. It’s also sustainable and looks fresh and modern.

Efficient Use of Space

While this camper isn’t small, it isn’t all that big either. The key here is a balancing act between fitting off-road trails and offering comfortable living space. AT Overland worked to optimize every square inch of this camper’s interior for functionality, comfort, and storage.

It’s impressive how many systems are in the camper while still providing lots of storage and room to move around. The camper even comes with 12 perfectly fit storage cubes from STEP 22 Gear to add easy storage and organization.

The main queen-size bed has a 3-inch-thick upholstered foam mattress on a Froli Travel spring system. I’ve slept on a Froli system a few times and can attest they are very comfortable. The secondary bed, meanwhile, converts with the rear-dinette. The dinette table sits on a pivot arm that allows it to move out of the way for access to either seat. This is vitally important, as the built-in toilet rests under the passenger-side seat.

This area also serves as an indoor shower. A shower pan sits on the floor between the dinette seats, with a curtain that Velcros to the carpeted headliner to keep water contained. Sagiv shower hookup points are found both inside the dinette and out, for indoor or outdoor showering experiences.

To make this camper feel roomy, five Arctic Tern double-pane acrylic windows and an electric roof hatch skylight — all with built-in reflective privacy curtains and bug screens — bring in sunlight and fresh air. An Arctic Tern double-bolt entrance door with window and security/bug screen also comes standard. But a Maxxair Ventilation Fan provides the real vital fresh air component.

Creature Comforts

With the shell and furniture in place, AT Overland installs a ton of quality systems to provide all the comforts of home. You get a Wrappon Trekker waterless toilet system — one of the most impressive no-smell, easy-to-use camper toilets I’ve tried. You also get a top-tier 90L National Luna dual-zone fridge/freezer. So not only can you keep your beer cold, but you’ll also have ice for your cocktails.

Don’t worry, AT Overland didn’t forget to include the kitchen sink. The Aterra XL has a Dometic flush-mount two-burner sink-and-stove combo with a glass top. Feeding that sink, and the aforementioned shower system, is a 30-gallon freshwater tank and Truma propane AquaGo on-demand water heater.

A standard 20-pound propane tank fuels this system and the Truma Vario Comfort air heater. Customers can access the propane tank and all mechanicals through a single exterior door on the camper.

Meanwhile, the electrical system consists of a 105Ah lithium battery, a National Luna 40A DC-to-DC charging system with an integrated solar controller, and automatic vehicle charging disconnect. With this system and 400 W of solar on the roof, it’s unlikely you’ll need more power, especially since the interior uses all dimmable LED lighting and has lots of USB and 12V outlets to charge personal electronics.

No Substitutions, Some Upgrades

AT doesn’t offer alterations/substitutions to this camper system at this time. This allows the brand to optimize build efficiencies and offer what it believes to be the best possible combination of systems and packaging. In the long run, this will also make it much easier to diagnose and service any issues with these campers, as they will all be the same.

With that said, a few optional upgrades will become available on the Aterra XL. These include up to 315 Ah of lithium batteries, up to 800 W of solar, an awning, mechanical camper jacks, a fresh air replenishment system, and a rear accessory rack for fuel/water cans and Maxtrax.

Matching the camper paint to the vehicle is also an option.

Flatbed Options

A flatbed is required for the Aterra camper. The AT Aterra XL will fit on just about any flatbed with an 80 x 80-inch minimum size. AT Overland sells and suggests flatbeds made by FiftyTen, Lite Aluma Tray, UTE, and Norweld, with even more options on offer soon.

The brand said it can also customize the flatbed to meet your needs (depending on the flatbed) with storage lockers, spare tire holders, accessory mounts, and more.

AT Aterra XL Camper Pricing & Availablity

The standard AT Overland Aterra XL will cost about $55,000 when it goes on sale in May. At that time, the first production-quality final prototypes will roll out of the AT Overland factory in Prescott, Arizona. Hopping in line for one of these campers requires a 50% deposit, with the balance due upon completion.

The brand said it expects lead times at launch will be 25-30 weeks.

Though there will only be one size at launch, the “XL” in the name implies there might be future campers of various sizes.

Aterra XL Flatbed Camper Conclusions

I have no doubt that not only will AT Overland build many of these campers but that it will also live up to the quality standards and reputation it has established over the past 20-plus years. Sure, $55,000 plus a flatbed isn’t inexpensive, but it’s very competitive when you look at what else is on the market.

There are some downsides to the Aterra XL camper. It has no roof rack availability (where am I going to carry my kayaks!?), a snug interior standing height for tall people, and a long lead time (although that is an industry-wide issue at the moment).

Some might also see the lack of both customization or a shell version as negatives. But for those who think this camper spec meets their needs, the single option makes everything easy.

Is the AT Overland Aterra XL flatbed truck camper your dream adventure home away from home? Stay up to date on all things Aterra camper or get your place in line for one at ATOverland.com. You can also check out Scout Campers and 4-Wheel Campers for more truck camper ideas!

Looking for a travel trailer with 21st-century tech in a ’30s-era package? The Bowlus Terra Firma has its eyes on style and performance.

For most people, a road trip or camping getaway is about being out in nature and enjoying the simple things. Many of us are happy to sleep in a tent next to a creek after sitting around a fire, have a drink or two, and share stories with friends.

These trips cost a tank of gas and a couple of bucks at the grocery store for a few nights’ worth of beans and hot dogs.

But the folks at Bowlus have a different idea of getting away. Specifically, the brand offers a travel trailer setup for those who can spend on an excursion what most people would shell out for a house.

This week, Bowlus released its latest limited-edition lightweight aluminum tow-behind: the luxury Terra Firma. Brace yourself — the price for this unique recreational vehicle starts at $265,000. And the brand is accepting orders for 2022.

Bowlus Terra Firma: Retro Luxury Travel Trailer

The party piece of this luxury trailer is its 8kWh lithium-powered battery pack. Bowlus claims it will last up to 2 weeks off the grid without recharging.

And the brand says its power management system easily allows owners to remotely monitor and adjust the power settings of features — like heated floors and ambient temperature — from an app on their smartphones.

The lightweight aluminum design — 3,200 pounds (towable by some cars) — is made possible by 80 high-strength aluminum panels fastened together by more than 5,000 aircraft-grade rivets. And Bowlus notes that its team “spends more than 100 hours polishing the exterior so the shell can get its iconic, mirror-bright reflection.”

Based on the success of its previous models, Bowlus included two skylights in the main cabin and an outdoor-ready kitchen setup. Electric and propane outlets can also provide an emergency micro-charge (about 16 miles) to your electric vehicle.

And Bowlus even emblemizes customers’ preferred names on the fender skirt before delivery.

21st-Century Tech, Pet-Friendly

This limited-edition Terra Firma has plenty of fresh technological features to allow owners to set up and drive down the road safely. A 60-second hitch and a  smart brake-controller come standard.

As for life in a socially distanced pandemic, the Terra Firma addresses that as well. This luxury trailer comes with HEPA air filters, UVC lighting, and a freshwater filtration system.

Bowlus created 56 million different interior design combinations for everyone’s personalized style.

The brand even tossed in a few style combinations for man’s best friends to stay as comfortable as their owners. Slide-out, temperature-controlled feeding dishes and a personalized bed let owners know their pets feel comfortable while they enjoy the outdoors.

All Bowlus models include a “hotel-style” bathroom and spacious bedroom. The bed also converts from two twin beds into a king, for all sleeping situations.

Learn more — and if you’re feeling frisky, reserve your own — on Bowlus’ website.

The Airstream Flying Cloud 30FB Office travel trailer targets remote workers who want a portable work-life balance.

If 2020 showed us anything, it’s that many jobs can be done from almost anywhere. Classrooms went remote. Offices found a new workspace through Zoom. And workers rapidly evolved to meet the needs of a post-COVID-19 workforce.

We all hope the pandemic will end soon. And when it does, we can keep some of our remote-working habits for the future. At least, RV-maker Airstream is banking on plenty of customers doing so with its latest creation. The home on wheels is complete with office space, wherever you park it.

Meet the Flying Cloud 30FB Office travel trailer, an RV for the wandering worker.

Flying Cloud 30FB: Home Office

Spurred by the shifting travel landscape during the pandemic, and feedback from owners already working from the comfort of their RV, Airstream redesigned the rear corner of its popular Flying Cloud 30FB Corner Bunk travel trailer. It replaced the sleeping area with a generously sized, work-from-anywhere office space.

The dedicated workspace includes a comfortable office chair that slides into a recessed groove in the edge of the desk, giving owners the freedom to easily convert the space into a sleeping or relaxing area for one.

Sliding drawers and storage cubbies provide organization, while a privacy divider and blackout curtains provide a measure of privacy while making video calls on the road.

“The pandemic has permanently changed the traditional work landscape, and we’re thrilled to offer a travel trailer that meets the needs of our times without compromise,” said Bob Wheeler, Airstream CEO.

“Airstream has always provided the freedom of a mobile living, playing, and working space, but the Flying Cloud 30FB Office takes that promise to the next level, with flexibility and comfort in a design inspired by real-world experience.”

Travel Trailer First, Office Second

The Flying Cloud 30FB Office retains the amenities and comforts that make it one of the most popular travel trailers in Airstream’s lineup. Even with the opposite sleeping area converted into an “office,” it sleeps up to six on its queen bed, bench, and convertible dinette. And it has a full bathroom.

Three windows give the office space a nearly panoramic view. But if you need to focus or host a video call, blackout curtains allow you to control or eliminate outside light. Standard options like Airstream Connected are pre-wired in for easy bundling of dealer-installed upgrades, like Airstream’s Solar Package.

In addition to standard Flying Cloud features, the 30FB Office floor plan includes the following improvements:

• Dedicated desk with sliding drawer storage and additional storage cubbies
• Comfortable office chair secured with a strap during travel
• Several USB ports located throughout the desk area
• Pop-up USB/AC outlet supported by a 1,000W power inverter
• Pull-out table that slides out of sight when not in use
• Access to the satellite TV/HDMI outlets from the onboard Blu-ray DVD player
• Privacy divider
• Two desk grommets for organizing cables or mounting monitors
• Overhead storage cabinets with dry-erase surfaces and under-mount LED lights
• Three windows with blackout curtains

The Flying Cloud 30FB Office has a base weight of 6,757 pounds and a max trailer capacity (GVWR) of 8,800 pounds. That puts it squarely in the towing range of many SUVs and trucks. It has an MSRP of $107,500.

Airstream dealers around the country are now taking orders and will begin receiving inventory in the coming weeks.

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Somewhere between a classic Sunrader and an EarthRoamer lies the latest overland truck camper to hit the market, the Tacoma-based TruckHouse BCT.

TruckHouse, a new overland vehicle company based out of Sparks, Nev., worked for 2 years to bring its midsize backcountry vehicle vision to life. This new overland camper builds on the much loved Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro to create a compact luxury home on wheels.

Taking cues from the very best expedition vehicles in the world, the TruckHouse BCT offers a cab to camper pass-through, four-season capability, and all the amenities you would expect in a modern home.

“We were inspired by the idea of bringing the beloved 1980’s Sunrader 4×4 into the 21st century,” TruckHouse CEO and co-founder Matt Linder told us. “The BCT is built for those who desire a similar footprint of a van, the living space of a Class C RV, the capability of a purpose-built 4×4, and the fit, finish, and dependability of a high-end yacht.”

So what’s the TruckHouse BCT all about? Here’s everything you need to know.

Composite Luxury House on Wheels

The TruckHouse BCT starts by building a one-piece, carbon fiber-reinforced, foam-core composite shell, using a vacuum infusion process. The whole idea here is light and strong. TruckHouse hasn’t calculated the final numbers yet, as it’s finishing up the first prototype now, but the naked shell will likely weigh just over 500 pounds.

Double-pane windows throughout (seven total) and a big skylight will help bring in natural light and make the relatively small camper feel much bigger than it is.

Inside, you’ll find a floor plan designed to maximize space while providing every living amenity you would expect in a modern house. A tried-and-true setup for small campers, the layout is very similar to what you find in Sunrader, Four Wheel Campers, Nimble Vehicles, and others.

An over-cab, queen-size bed and convertible U-shaped rear dinette (full-size bed when converted) offer sleeping for up to four. Of course, it also has a full galley kitchen and a wet bath with a cassette toilet.

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TruckHouse BCT: Built for Rugged Getaways

This Tacoma overland camper craves off-grid adventures way off the beaten path. The TruckHouse BCT offers up a 30-gallon freshwater tank, a 20-gallon gray-water tank, and a powerful electrical system. Battle Born lithium-ion batteries — up to 500 Ah, along with up to a 600W rooftop solar array — will keep your electronics powered up for quite a while in the backcountry.

Luxury touches on offer include an optional 32-inch LED TV on an articulated arm, heated floors, 12V AC, outdoor speakers, awning, and more. Each camper is custom built to order, which allows each owner to customize the look and feel to their preferences.

But the highlight of this camper, to me, is the pass-through from truck cab to camper. This means you don’t have to exit the vehicle to go to bed or move the vehicle when you wake. Think all the benefits of a van layout with the factory off-road capabilities of a 4×4 truck.

Tacoma Truck Upgrades

Of course, my first question was, “How in the world will a Tacoma handle such a camper setup?” A stock Tacoma TRD Pro only has a carrying capacity of 1,155 pounds, and that’s before you factor in fuel, people, or gear.

If you figure about 126 pounds of fuel (21.1 gallons at 6 pounds per gallon), two adults at about 350 pounds total, and some basic camping gear and recovery gear at 150 pounds (126 + 350 + 150 = 626 total load), you’ve only got about 529 pounds left over for the camper, camper systems, water, and other truck upgrades.

This means it will prove impossible to come in under the manufacturer GVWR with this vehicle.

TruckHouse said it will address this issue on a number of fronts. First, it plans to reinforce the frame in key locations. It will swap out the rear axle for a custom Currie S9, which is basically a beefy Ford 9-inch.

And it upgraded the brakes to drilled and slotted rotors at all four corners of the truck. The suspension is a combination of Total Chaos long-travel up front, custom leaf packs in the rear, and custom-valved FOX 2.5 Series shocks all around.

The Tacoma will also be re-geared to provide better low-end torque. This will help move the extra weight and get over off-road obstacles easily. That’s a necessity, as the Tacoma’s V6 isn’t known as a powerhouse to begin with.

The only upgrade planned for the engine at this time is a high-output alternator to more quickly charge the house batteries while on the move.

Other Add-Ons

There will be lots of other truck upgrades available as well: up to 35-inch tires, off-road wheels, front and rear WARN ZEON 12-S Platinum winches, auxiliary lighting, sand ladders, high-clearance front bumper, Safari Snorkel, larger fuel tank, and even secondary external bypass front shocks.

Out back, you can option a rear swing-away bumper with a spare tire carrier, storage box, and 1UP bike racks. Another big upgrade to the truck cabin will be the available quad captains chairs setup, which will make the camper pass-through that much easier to access.

Of course, looking at the renderings of this impressive machine, one key issue comes to light: the need for extended side mirrors. From what I can tell, there’s little chance you can see past the camper with the factory mirrors.

TruckHouse BCT Overland Tacoma Camper

There will be very limited build slots available in 2021, with production starting in February on the first customer build. Be aware — it takes a $50,000 non-refundable deposit to reserve your production spot. And full camper pricing starts at $285,000 and goes up to $380,000! Yep, lightweight, custom, fully featured off-road campers don’t come cheap!

The TruckHouse BCT carries with it a limited 36,000-mile, 3-year warranty. That is important, as it remains unclear exactly what the over-GVWR final build weight and vehicle modifications will do to the factory Toyota warranty.

To find out more, or to get your deposit in, be sure to check out TruckHouse’s website.

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Yellowstone National Park is a true bucket-list destination for all types of travelers and is the perfect stop for an RV road trip.

Averaging 4 million visitors each year, the majesty of the world’s first national park is no secret. Nestled high in the northern Rocky Mountains and stretching into three states, this 2.2 million-acre park has something for everyone.

While initially protected for its unique geology, Yellowstone also has some of the best wildlife in North America, incredible hiking and fishing, impressive educational ranger programs, and ample opportunities to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature.

Because so many visitors make their way to this park each year, some prior knowledge helps ensure you make the most of your Yellowstone RV camping adventure.

Yellowstone RV Campgrounds

There are 12 campgrounds within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, each with something special to offer campers. Five of the 12 campgrounds take reservations, and, while there are over 2,000 sites within the park, it’s not always easy to find a vacancy to set up camp — especially in the peak summer months.

Campgrounds With Reservations

Bridge Bay

With 432 sites, Bridge Bay is one of the largest campgrounds in the park. This campground is located near the shores of Yellowstone Lake, and campers will enjoy stunning views of the lake and the Absaroka Range as well as easy access to the water.

Fishing Bridge

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Fishing Bridge is located where the Yellowstone River exits the Yellowstone Lake on its way north. This campground is the only one in the park to have water, sewer, and electrical hookups. Plus, it’s not open to tent campers due to the abundance of grizzly bears in the area.

Canyon

Canyon Campground is the nearest option for folks looking to spend significant time around the impressive Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. There are some excellent hikes nearby, as well as plenty of services if you’re not so keen on “roughing it.”

Grant Village

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Grant Village is the southernmost campground in Yellowstone that accepts reservations. It’s nestled on the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, is ADA-accessible, has plenty of services nearby, and has convenient access to the shores of one of the world’s largest high-elevation freshwater lakes.

Madison

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Madison is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful campgrounds in the park, and one of the most popular. Centrally located with sweeping views of the Madison River and surrounding mountains, this campground is an excellent jumping-off point for many of the other world-class destinations in the park.

Walk-In Campgrounds

There are seven campgrounds in Yellowstone National Park that don’t take reservations and depend on when you visit. Because of that, it may take a bit of luck to secure a spot. If you’re set on camping in one of these spots, arrive very early in the morning and plan to hang out and wait for another camper to leave.

If you can secure a first-come, first-served site, each of these campgrounds is well worth it:

• Lewis Lake is the southernmost campground in Yellowstone and is a short walk from the shores of its namesake body of water.
• Norris is an excellent central option in the park and has excellent access to Norris Geyser Basin and many other nearby geothermal features.

The final five walk-in campgrounds stretch east to west across the park’s miraculous Northern Range:

• Indian Creek is one of the quieter options in the park.
• Mammoth is excellent for wildlife and access to Gardiner, Montana.
• Tower Fall is excellent for big-mountain hikes and views of the eponymous waterfall.
• Slough Creek is close to some of the best wildlife viewing and stargazing in the park.
• Pebble Creek offers unmatched peace and quiet.

Best Time to Visit

There is no wrong answer when it comes to your Yellowstone RV camping adventure. Summer weather is generally the most pleasant. However, those months see far more visitors than at any other time of year.

Of the average 4 million visitors that the park sees each year, over 60% of them come in June, July, and August. If you’re trying to avoid the crowds, consider planning your Yellowstone RV camping trip in the spring when the park opens or in the fall as temperatures are dropping.

As a bonus, these shoulder seasons provide ample opportunities to view wildlife and migrations, budding trees, and changing leaves. And you’ll have an easier time navigating the waters of first-come, first-served camping.

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Wildlife & Geothermal Features

Viewing wildlife and observing geothermal features are two of the main attractions in Yellowstone National Park. There are a few things you can do to make the most of these experiences.

In general, early mornings and evenings provide the best opportunities to see wildlife and enjoy uncrowded boardwalks around geothermal features. If you can, tow a standard vehicle with your RV or unhitch the camper from your truck on days you plan to spend exploring the park.

A smaller vehicle will make navigating tight parking lots and pullouts, as well as driving over mountain passes, much easier. When possible, avoid the park’s major features during the middle of the day and seek less-traveled trails and destinations.

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Wildlife Jams

Yellowstone is notorious for its “wildlife jams” — traffic caused by wildlife near the road. If you come across these situations, be patient and respectful of both the wildlife and other humans.

Be sure to leave plenty of space between you and any wild animals you see, and practice safe food storage both on day trips and while at your campground. Park rangers are always eager to answer any questions regarding animal behavior and human-animal interaction. Education is the best tool we have to keep Yellowstone wild, and it’s our collective responsibility to do just that.

The EarthCruiser Terranova overland camper perfectly suits North American travel, with systems that users have fully tested around the globe.

Pick out your favorite 2020 one-ton American pickup, write a check for $275,000 or more, and drop them both off at EarthCruiser. A few months later, you’ll have a seriously capable and comfortable home on wheels.

Terranova fills the void in the overland camper/RV market between the pricey and huge EarthRoamer and more traditional full-featured truck campers like Four Wheel Campers. This is a space that’s getting more attention lately, with EarthCruiser’s EXD camper and vehicle camper systems like those from Nimbl Vehicles.

EarthCruiser

EarthCruiser started its Bend, Oregon, operations in 2009 just offering the EXP FUSO-based pop-up overland camper. Since then, it has built up a portfolio of adventure camper offerings, which are now created by a team of 25.

In the past year, EarthCruiser has been hard at work bringing to market its V8 FUSO-based Dual Cab FX and EXP campers. It even recently started offering its proprietary FUSO 4×4 conversion without a camper system on the vehicle as part of a new CORE Vehicles commercial division.

The EarthCruiser Terranova will be the lastest overland camper to roll out of the Bend factory. It’s a perfect melding of the high-end, world-capable features found on the EarthCruiser FUSO-based campers and the smaller, more nimble EarthCruiser domestic pickup-based truck campers.

EarthCruiser Terranova

With a prototype rolling out of the factory before the end of the year and production units soon after in early 2021, EarthCruiser is moving full steam ahead on this impressive camper. We have full faith they’ll hit that ambitious timeline. That’s in part because the Terranova is not all that dissimilar to the rest of its top-of-the-line campers.

The big thing that sets the Terranova apart is the cab-over bed. EarthCruiser has dabbled in cab-over designs in its smaller slide-in truck campers. It has never brought this design element to the more full-featured and chassis-integrated camper projects, however.

The whole idea with this truck camper is to offer comfort, agility, ease of maintenance, and parts availability of a one-ton pickup chassis with the extreme durability, comfort, and ergonomic design that buyers expect from EarthCruiser campers.

Attach the foam-core composite camper to your choice of 2020-plus Ford F350, RAM 3500, or Silverado 3500 with EarthCruiser’s tried-and-true kinetic mount system. This system not only securely fastens the camper to the truck but also allows the truck frame to appropriately flex under the camper when tackling off-road terrain.

“The EC Terranova Expedition Camper meets customer demand for a cab-over with a choice of domestic chassis. We know many customers feel more comfortable behind the wheel of a consumer-class truck versus commercial and have strong brand preferences. We want to be able to honor that,” said Chad Knight, GM of EarthCruiser.

Terranova Features

Because the Terranova has a cab-over bed and a dinette that turns into a bed, it can comfortably sleep four when the roof is raised. Speaking of raising the roof, the same pop-top design EarthCruiser has already been perfected over more than a decade on the EXP.

A key feature of this pop-top design is that it raises and lowers with just the touch of a button — no removing locks or popping latches required. The pop-up tent material is made of three layers for insulation and includes eight windows for an immersive panoramic view. The windows include insect screens, privacy screens, and a clear vinyl layer for the ultimate in all-season versatility.

The smooth, contoured shape of the camper not only looks more appealing than some of the box truck-looking overland campers out there but is also more aerodynamic. On the outside of this camper, you get a whole host of great features. Think shower, purified drinking water faucet, big storage compartments, and more.

Inside, you get everything including the kitchen sink. A full bathroom, kitchen with induction cooktop and fridge/freezer, and more come standard. There are tons of storage areas throughout the camper that ensure all your gear is secure and stowed. This is especially important when bouncing down a rough trail.

Of course, in today’s digitized and electrified world, the Terranova is fully powered up. A 108W roof-mounted solar panel feeds a 400Ah lithium house battery. A central digital command panel monitors and allows you to control all camper electronics on board. Of course, there are plenty of 12V outlets, in a variety of styles, to charge up all your portable electronics.

Another Option: EarthCruiser EXD

Just about 2 years ago, EarthCruiser offered the EXD. Think of the EarthCruiser EXD as the non-cab-over Terranova. I’ve personally spent some time crawling around the EXD. I can assure you the brand constructed it well, thought out the details, and packed it with top-quality components.

The EXD requires a 2017 or newer one-ton pickup chassis and about $220,000 to $265,000 of your hard-earned greenbacks. It’s a serious adventure machine. We think it’s a great option if you don’t need the extra cab-over sleeping area of the Terranova. The EXD sleeps two in the dinette/bed combo area at the back.

Buy Into Life on the Road

EarthCruiser has been a global leader in the overland vehicle space. But the new Terranova Camper is sure to appeal to an even wider audience.

To learn more about this new camper and the rest of the EarthCruiser family of campers, check out EarthCruiser.com. The Terranova is available now for preorder. We expect production vehicles to hit the road in early 2021.

The DECKED truck bed organizer provides secure, dry storage and organization in a pickup truck bed. We have been testing the system in two trucks for more than a year, and we have some opinions!

If you own a pickup truck, you own a versatile vehicle right off the lot. With a large bed, lots of towing capacity, and often four-wheel drive, pickups are among the most popular adventure vehicles in North America for good reason.

But add a few accessories, and your pickup launches to a whole new level. One of those accessories is a truck-bed storage system like DECKED.

Two years ago, I added a DECKED drawer system to my 2010 Ford F-150 FX4 adventure vehicle. I put a topper over the bed and drawers, and I haven’t looked back.

Recently, another GearJunkie employee added a DECKED system to his 2011 Nissan Frontier SL. We combined our (old and new) knowledge and experience in this review.

In short: The DECKED drawer system is durable, solid, and reliable. After an extensive but logical assembly process, they result in a great-fitting, perfectly functional drawer bed system that will hold up to serious abuse.

DECKED Drawers Review

I’m going to start out with my impressions after using the system for 2 rough-and-tumble years.

Most importantly, the DECKED system is really tough. I’ve used my truck as both a work truck and a camper — I store lots of emergency equipment and camping gear in the drawers while sleeping on the DECKED system under a camper roof. I’ve hauled all kinds of lumber, appliances, and landscaping materials on the DECKED drawers, sometimes after removing the topper.

It just plain holds up to the abuse. Two years of adventure have left lots of scratches on the hard plastic drawers. But beyond a few surface scratches, it functions as well as the day it was new.

The drawers function darned near flawlessly. Just grab the heavy handle and pull to unlatch. The drawers roll smoothly open.

This does bring up one minor problem though. Some items, like fishing rods, can catch on ridges in the top of the drawers. This can make them a little tricky to open and could put unwanted pressure on fragile items like fishing rods. This is a minor problem and something that’s pretty easy to avoid if you’re careful when loading drawers. But it’s worth noting.

For me, the drawers are a great size for storing all kinds of camping and outdoor gear. Most items fit easily short of my compound bow, which is a little too wide. But overall, I’ve used it for everything from camp stoves to axes to tents to recovery boards. I love the system and expect to keep it installed as long as I have the truck.

Another Perspective: DECKED Drawers First Impressions

My co-worker Zach Burton installed his drawer system about 3 months ago. With less time since his installation, he has a different perspective, shared below.

The DECKED drawer systems are really solid. They live up to their advertised expectations and bring a ton of organization to a bed that is otherwise a big mess.

I am really impressed with the fit in my truck. It feels like it was custom made specifically for my Frontier. So far it has been watertight, and I love that I can stand on it or load whatever I want on top without worrying I will wreck it or that it will collapse.

Everything feels tight, down to the opening and closing of the drawers. The slow-close-like feature of the drawers really gives it a nice touch. The system has made organizing and reorganizing for camping, climbing, hunting, and fly fishing a breeze while keeping my important gear out of sight and out of mind for passersby.

I recently went through the process of installation, and it wasn’t super difficult. However, it took more than the 2 hours DECKED advertises, and I needed many more tools that weren’t specifically called out in the directions.

That being said, the installation is pretty straightforward, and even someone like me who isn’t super handy can get the job done with a little help and an open afternoon. I’d recommend having a Red Bull or two on standby for when you need a break during installation.

(Note: Some GearJunkie editors would recommend Coors Light instead of Red Bull.)

Pros

• Super durable, weatherproof, up for nearly any task
• 200-pound storage capacity in each drawer
• 2,000-pound payload on top of the drawer system
• Fits my truck bed like a glove
• Multiple options to customize the drawers to make them work for you
• Smooth operation of drawers
• Solid warranty
• Easy to lock and keep valuables safe (out of sight, out of mind)

Cons

• Expensive (but you get what you pay for)
• You can’t pull the drawers all the way out without lots of disassembly; I really want to be able to pull the drawers all the way out to wipe down or hose out
• Not a great option for a small or midsize truck unless you have a topper, as it takes up the majority of the height of the bed

Parting Thoughts

There are lots of great ways to customize and make these drawers work for you. The locks, drain plugs, Core Trax, and other interior organization features are icing on the cake.

One downside is the DECKED system takes up most of the standard vertical bed space, leaving things in the bed of the truck exposed unless you have a topper. Similarly, you’ll lose a lot of vertical space in full-size beds (though not as dramatically) and may need to remove your topper to haul larger items. That being said, the 2,000-pound payload on the Decked Drawer System allows for you to haul just about anything you need without worry. You simply have to be aware of the height factor of items that are now sitting on top of the drawers.

Money aside, if you use your truck for multiple hobbies and want to stay organized while keeping your valuable safe, these are hard to beat. With a few added accessories, you can be ready to use your truck for weeks of off-grid camping and climbing, or cruising out to hunt in the backcountry, all while keeping your gear safe and organized.

Whether you’re supplying power to the family RV, providing your phone with some much-needed juice, or contacting first responders in the midst of a backcountry emergency, a generator is a useful piece of outdoor equipment. Here’s how to use one.

For many of us, camping is a pastime that can only be enjoyed by disconnecting from our busy, scheduled, tumultuous world. To disconnect means turning down the music, shutting off the phone, and cutting the cord on everyday electronics. Though disengaging from the world is often a peaceful enterprise, there are times when a portable camping generator is necessary.

From powering outdoor lighting at the campground to staying connected with loved ones far away, a camping generator can serve you in a variety of ways. If you’re considering the nomadic life that requires a home on wheels, a generator will quickly become a fundamental piece of everyday equipment.

Regardless of how your generator will serve you, the first thing you’ll need to know is how exactly to use one. In this how-to for generators, we’ll guide you through the main factors to focus on after purchasing this powerful appliance.

Generator Types: Gasoline vs. Battery Pack

Before we jump into using your generator, let’s consider the various types of “generators” you may own. Historically, a generator has been a gas or diesel motor that powers an electrical generator. These portable generators will run as long as they have fuel and can produce enough power to run home appliances (or even industrial sites if they are big enough).

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But in recent years, some brands have begun to refer to large lithium-ion battery banks as “generators” as well. These power banks are much larger than the small phone chargers that you would drop in your backpack. Most weigh in the 15- to 30-pound range.

They contain powerful batteries that can run technology like computers, power tools, or small refrigerators off the grid. As a major plus, they’re silent. On the downside, they require a power source — a wall outlet, a solar panel, or a 12-volt outlet in a vehicle — to recharge.

Below, we discuss how you can use a gas generator safely and effectively. For those using electric generators, here’s an example of the user guide for Goal Zero’s Yeti 150 Portable Power Station.

Gas Generator Preparation

Consult the Owner’s Manual

Before firing up your generator, begin by consulting the owner’s manual. Though it may seem like a tedious effort, every generator has its own quirks and operating procedures that will require proper assembly.

Move Your Generator Outside

It may seem like common knowledge, but a generator will produce fumes as it burns through fuel. For this reason, it’s recommended that you run your generator outside, at least 15 feet away from any structure or vehicle.

Never operate your generator in a confined space such as a tent, camper, or garage where deadly carbon monoxide gas may collect.

Remove Any Connected Cords

Before starting up your generator, disconnect any cords that may run to your home, camper, or other electronics that need juice. Avoid producing any load during the startup that’s attached to your home.

After the generator has been started successfully, feel free to plug in the corresponding cords as needed.

Turning on Your Generator

Turning on your generator will be a hassle-free process once you’ve done so a few times, but the steps involved can be tricky to remember. Follow these effortless steps to successfully turn on your generator each and every time.

Turn on the Fuel Valve

Think of the fuel valve as the primary component of the generator that allows it to start. Once you’ve located the fuel valve, turn it to the “on” position. This will release fuel into the carburetor that will help the engine start successfully.

Turn on the Choke

When working with internal combustion engines, a choke valve comes into play that modifies the air pressure in the intake manifold. This will alter the ratio of fuel and air quantity entering the engine.

After locating the choke rod, move it from left to right or bottom to top, depending on its original orientation. This will make it much easier for the engine to start running, especially if you’re starting the engine cold after a bout of time without use.

Turn on the Ignition

To actually fire up your generator, you’ll often need to locate the ignition or engine switch somewhere on the side of the device. This will essentially be a small switch that flips on before the device is started.

If your generator happens to have an electric start button or a turnkey ignition, you can turn on the generator far easier than you would by using the recoil-cord option outlined below. If the engine doesn’t start after pressing and holding the electric start button, your battery may be out of juice. Should this occur, charge the battery on a trickle charge as you would a car battery.

Pull the Recoil Cord

Pulling the recoil cord will actually start the engine. Pull the cord until you feel resistance on the other end, then release. This may take 2-3 attempts, as fuel is injected into the engine with each pull.

If the engine doesn’t start after multiple pulls, stop and let the equipment sit for a few minutes to ensure the engine isn’t flooded with fuel.

If the engine doesn’t start, move the choke into the halfway position and pull the cord again.

Move the Choke Into the ‘Run’ Position

Once the engine has been successfully started, slowly move the choke back into the “run” position that you found it in before preparing the generator for use. Do this after the generator has been running for a few minutes.

Harnessing Power From Your Generator

Once your generator is turned on, let it run for a few minutes to warm up, then follow the steps below.

Gather the Cords

Your generator will transfer energy by way of a power cord, but the cord you need depends on the device you’re looking to power. For instance, campfire lights that are strung up to set the mood will require only a light-duty, 16-gauge extension cord.

When powering major appliances, you’ll want a heavy-duty, 12-gauge extension cord or 10-gauge extension cord. For instance, a 10-gauge extension cord would be ideal for an RV refrigerator.

Refuel

When the time comes to refuel your generator, simply unplug the power cords from any external devices or buildings and allow the generator to run for a few minutes to stabilize it. Turn it off and let it cool before adding more fuel, then repeat the process described above to turn the generator back on.

Generators are an essential piece of equipment whether you’re camping in the backcountry or returning power to your home after a storm. To get the most out of your generator, follow the owner’s manual and treat your generator with care for extended use.

Tired of driving dirt roads into oblivion with no luck finding a camping spot? Or ‘camping’ in a parking lot? Consider joining Harvest Hosts.

I love most things about van life. But something I’ve come to dread about living on the road is the endless driving along rocky Forest Service roads in search of a campsite, only to come up short and seek out the nearest flood-lit Walmart parking lot for the night instead.

Some might call that adventure, but for me, it means dinner is late and bedtime is even later.

Planning Our Trip

When my husband, Steve, and I set off in our converted ProMaster van in June, we wanted to have more than one camping backup plan. We knew that finding a spot each night would be even more uncertain with campgrounds and national parks closed during the pandemic.

Along with downloading and bookmarking all the dispersed camping apps and websites, we paid $79 to join Harvest Hosts, an annual membership program that connects RVers and van lifers with more than 1,200 breweries, wineries, farms, museums, and other businesses around the country.

The deal is you can stay overnight in the businesses’ parking lots for free, and you’re strongly encouraged to make a purchase — fresh veggies, wine tastings, etc. — to show your appreciation. That way, it’s mutually beneficial.

“The heart of our program is to support small businesses,” reads the June member newsletter. “Many businesses took hard hits economically because of being closed during the pandemic. Please consider the camping fees you saved by parking at a Host location.” Just imagine waking up in a field of lavender or to the cluck of an alpaca. That’s what Harvest Hosts is all about.

The Harvest Hosts Program

The program has been around since 2010, but the company started reporting record numbers in its monthly newsletters this summer. In June, the program added a record of 110 new Hosts. In July, it added 100 more. The Hosts we stayed with said that the program has helped buoy business, especially during the pandemic.

“It brings in people that wouldn’t otherwise be coming here,” said Max Vogelman, the master distiller at Stoneyard Distillery off I-70 in Dotsero, Colorado. We spent a night there and sampled beet sugar spirits, which we’d never tried before. Vogelman even shared a pre-market chocolate product. His business has been a Host for three summers, and he says that each year keeps getting busier.

“People aren’t going out as much locally, so it’s been great to have [Harvest Hosts members] to keep us going and keep us in business,” he said.

Our Harvest Hosts Experience

Dark Star Cellars

Our first stay and first real night on the road were spent at Dark Star Cellars in Paso Robles, California, on June 6. It’s notoriously challenging to camp along the California coast unless you’ve made a $100 beach-side reservation a year in advance.

So, rather than take our chances, we ventured 2 miles off Highway 101 into wine country for a restful night. At the vineyard, we were greeted by a gaggle of chickens and one of the owners, who directed us to a flat and quiet parking spot behind their barn with a view of the grapevines.

Before tucking in for the night, we tasted the winery’s best red wines on the patio with only one other couple nearby, and we even bought a $30 bottle — much less than the price of a campground along the bluff. When the phone rang, the owner said before answering, “It feels like we’re more of an Airbnb than a winery these days.” It was another Harvest Hosts member.

Idaho & Lindsay Creek Vineyards

In July, we made arrangements to stay at a Host on our way from Coeur d’Alene to Boise, Idaho. The night before, we drove up a dirt road for 2 hours until we decided to turn around. It was almost dark, the trees were thickening, and the path narrowed.

We made the 10-point turn over bushes and rock outcroppings to go back the way we came and pay $22 to sleep in a parking lot at a campground. So much for waking up to a meadow of wildflowers glistening in the morning sun. Instead, we slid open our door to a man filling his water jugs and a whiff of the outhouse. Ah, van life.

The owner of Lindsay Creek Vineyards in Lewiston, Idaho, was happy to have us. The business was closed for the day, but the owner gave us an exclusive tour of the facility, a full tasting, and a history of the area. We spent the evening reading on the patio and caught a vibrant pink-to-orange-to-purple sunset over the vineyard and blonde hills. That alone was worth all the money we spent on the membership.

It may not be the rugged camping we expected when we got into van life, but it’s certainly better than parking in a chain store parking lot, with speakers blaring pop music all night and the hustle of city traffic greeting us in the morning.

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Since its launch in fall 2017, the Winnebago Revel has seen only small upgrades here and there. But for 2021, it sees some big upgrades that are sure to make van life even easier. While the new Revel is worth consideration, just know that full-featured, ready-to-go van life doesn’t come cheap.

Let’s get the elephant out of the room right upfront. A 4×4 Sprinter with every creature comfort you have at home is not an inexpensive machine. Pricing of the 2021 Winnebago Revel went up about $12,000 over the outgoing model and now starts at $175,000.

While it’s common in the RV industry to see up to 20% discounts regularly on new campers, with low supply and high demand, we expect the new Revel to hold its price for some time.

The 2021 Winnebago Revel is in production right now and will hit dealer lots across the country over the next few weeks. Global supply chains are slow at the moment, due to the pandemic and political unrest, but Winnebago expects to keep the new Revel rolling off the assembly line at a good pace.

Winnebago Revel: What’s New for 2021

More Power

The big news for the 2021 Revel is a hugely upgraded and impressive electrical system. A massive 3,125 Wh of usable power, through two 125Ah lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries, highlights the new system.

You can charge these batteries from shore power, but more important for remote off-grid travel is a dedicated second alternator and roof-mounted solar power. A 2,000W inverter lets you charge up all your electronics and power just about any gadget you might have. And you can monitor the electric system through the Xantrex iOS/Android app.

Better Kitchen

The galley area also receives a big upgrade for 2021, with a new layout and new lightweight cabinetry. Overhead cabinets are made of folded aluminum, which not only looks good but reduces weight while increasing durability. New cabinet latches are considerably smaller as well, providing more internal room for storage.

Designers also changed the galley layout by moving the sink toward the back and the fridge (now 20% larger) all the way to the front, at the door. The induction stove now also finds a home tucked in a drawer.

Climate Control

A new diesel-powered hydronic hot water and air system mean this Revel has no propane systems. It’s efficient, quiet, and offers an LED touchscreen interface to control.

The roof-mounted electric AC unit keeps things cool on hot summer days but isn’t a new addition. The big climate upgrade for 2021 is that the AC unit can be run for an hour or more off of the batteries alone. In the past, shore power was required to run the AC. Plus, a mobile app will allow you to control the AC functions from your smart device.

More Upgrades

Rolling with the app-controlled creature comforts, the powered awning also works off a Bluetooth app. With it, you can control the built-in lighting systems, including dimming functions, as well as deployment and retraction.

Inside the 2021 Winnebago Revel, you get lots of storage solutions, including a host of new RAM Tough-Track adjustable track mounts throughout the camper. One of the nicest examples of this system is in the dinette area. Here, you can attach tablets or a small TV to watch videos. And Winnebago upgraded the dinette with a three-point seat belt, more storage, and a redesigned, sturdier pedestal table.

The freshwater tank has also been moved inside the van, so it won’t freeze during winter use. Meanwhile, a new water management panel at the back of the van makes fill-up and water control easier. And the Revel also has a rear outdoor shower.

First Impressions: 2021 Winnebago Revel

At under 20 feet long and only 10 feet tall, the Revel should prove easy to drive places you might not expect to see full-featured RVs. This, of course, makes them great adventure vehicles for getting out into remote wilderness areas.

We gave our friend Peter Holcombe (seen in the video above) a call and asked him about his experience in the new 2021 Winnebago Revel so far. Holcombe is really the only one with extensive experience with this new RV and has lived in a Revel for a few years now. Peter has a few favorite upgrades he’s excited about.

Power

Of course, Holcombe loves the new big battery system. The biggest advantage for him so far was the ability to pull off the road for a Zoom meeting on a hot Wyoming day and run the AC off the house batteries. According to him, working from the road, anywhere, has never been so comfortable.

Kitchen

Holcombe also said he and his family enjoy the new kitchen/galley setup. The bigger fridge provides a big upgrade for them, and the new fridge location makes it easier to load up groceries from outside the van.

The induction stove being stashed in a drawer opened up a ton of counter space, Holcombe told us, and also allowed him to use it on the fold-down outdoor table to cook — keeping the heat out of the camper. The sink relocation and new design also has a taller faucet and bigger basin, which allowed him to much more easily use bigger pots to feed his family of three.

Look for a New App

Holcombe was also working on a big video project when we caught him on the phone. The project is for an app that will (probably) be called “How to Revel.” It will offer 42 different how-to videos for all the systems and features on the 2021 Winnebago Revel.

Designed for Revel owners, the app will serve as a quick resource on how to operate all systems when out in the field. The new app should be available in August.

More Van Life Info

You can find out more about the 2021 Winnebago Revel, find a dealer near you, or just check it out here. For more about RV life, be sure to check out our “Out of Office” section, for tips, gear, and stories from the road.

Airstream introduced the Basecamp back in 2007 and refreshed it with a major redesign in 2016. For 2021, Airstream gives us the Basecamp 20, which is a longer, wider, and taller version to pull with your midsize SUV or small truck.

The Airstream Basecamp 16 is the brand’s small pull-behind camp trailer that’s light enough to pull with a Subaru. But it is, well, a small trailer.

For those who drive a slightly more powerful midsize SUV or pickup truck (some of the most popular vehicles in North America), Airstream just launched an enticing option.

Weighing in at 3,400 pounds, you can pull the Basecamp 20 with most midsize SUVs and pickups like the Toyota Tacoma or Ford Ranger. It ticks the scale at 850 pounds heavier than the Basecamp 16, but with that weight, you get a lot more space.

While the Basecamp 16 sleeps two, the Basecamp 20 will sleep three adults, or two adults and two children. And it even comes in a ruggedized Basecamp 20X configuration.

Airstream Basecamp 20: Family-Size Tow-Behind

At 20 feet long and with two configurable sleeping areas, the Basecamp 20 hits a size suitable for a small family or a few friends.

Airstream pitches it as a camper meant for “adventurists.” And it offers design elements meant to haul gear and empower outdoor activity. For example, it has a rear hatch for loading toys like kayaks, bikes, and fishing gear. And it has a dedicated 126 inches of unobstructed cargo depth from the back hatch for loading this gear.

That cargo space converts to a dining room-style sitting space for up to five people. It also converts into the second sleeping area for two. Up front, a second seating area doubles as a bed for two children or one adult.

In between the two sleeping areas sit the kitchen and bathroom, allowing a fully enclosed living space for inclement weather. We haven’t seen this one in person yet, but the extra space in the Basecamp 20 does seem significant compared to the Basecamp 16, which is clearly designed with just two people in mind.

The Basecamp 20 comes with a deep well of available features. It has a 27-gallon freshwater tank, a 28-gallon gray-water tank, and a 21-gallon black-water tank. It has a 900-pound carrying capacity for gear and a 16,000-BTU ducted furnace. Air conditioning is optional, and it’s solar-ready.

Basecamp 20X

Much like the Basecamp 16, the Basecamp 20 also comes in an X version. This model is similar to the standard Basecamp but comes with bigger tires and other features meant for towing on rougher roads. These include:

• More ground clearance
• Larger Goodyear Off-Road DuraTrac Tires
• Larger stylized aluminum wheels
• Stainless steel front stone guard protection
• Tinted window guards
• Steel double step

Shopping around for a new tow-behind? Check out our article on the best rugged camping trailers here.

Airstream Basecamp 20 Pricing

Airstream trailers are expensive. With aluminum bodies and premium materials, the Basecamp models carry a higher price than many similar-size trailers. But Airstream contends that these will last for decades, and given the popularity of vintage Airstreams, it seems likely that they will.

The Basecamp 20 has an MSRP of $45,900, and the Basecamp 20X has an MSRP of $48,900. Airstream dealers are taking orders now and will begin receiving inventory in the coming weeks.

RV rentals are booming. This is what you need to know to rent an RV.

With many vacation options shelved due to COVID-19, RV rentals and purchases have skyrocketed in summer 2020. So there’s a fair chance that you, too, are new to the RV market and want to learn about this type of camping and road-tripping.

We talked with Paige Bouma, the vice president of RV Trader and an avid RVer herself. She shared some tips and tricks for a successful RV rental that will get you on the road to a great summer vacation.

RV Rentals and COVID-19

“Everyone wants to be in an RV right now. It’s such a hot topic,” Bouma said. “Our site traffic is the highest it has ever been. We are hitting record numbers on people searching for RVs, and our dealer inquiries are higher than ever.”

For anyone considering a vacation right now, that should come as no surprise. With international travel shut down and even airline travel unattractive for many, an RV vacation looks pretty appealing.

RVs and camping lend themselves naturally to social distancing. And as Bouma put it, “It is the perfect vacation for right now.”

Those hopping into the world of RVs have many things to consider. Should you buy an RV (a big commitment) or rent? And what style of RV do you want to try?

Rent or Buy an RV? Class A, B, C, or 5th Wheel?

For many new entrants into the world of RVs, a rental makes a lot of sense. Not only will you get a nice, modern vehicle in excellent condition, but you won’t be tied to it for the life of a loan.

Here are some things to consider when looking into rentals.

• Do you want something you can drive or a towable unit that you attach to your own vehicle? “When the driving is a big piece of the road trip, A, B, and C class drivers are great,” Bouma said. “But when you don’t go as far and you want to leave your basecamp and explore the area nearby, the detachable nature of a 5th wheel may make it more logical.”
• Unless you have a full-size pickup, it’s usually easier to rent the whole package in a single unit.
• How many people will be sleeping in the unit?
• What kinds of toys do you want to haul with you? (jetskis, golf cart, ATV, bikes)
• Where are you going? Will there be electricity and water? Or will you be remote camping, called “boondocking” by many RVers?

If you’re sure that buying is the way to go, check out our guide to choosing the best RV. Even for renters, that offers a good primer on the myriad options, from rooftop tents to full-size Winnebagos.

How Much Does an RV Rental Cost?

Bouma said that the price of renting an RV varies greatly, depending on the type of RV. But smart renters also consider ancillary prices that can add up quickly.

She explained that the average cost for a rental starts at about $75 per night for a popup camper. A camper van week’s fee on RV Trader is $119 a night. Prices jump up with a Class A running about $307 a night and a Class C around $228.

Then, consider what is included and not included in the rental rate. “When you’re looking at renting, you have to consider insurance (not usually covered by your general auto insurance).

A few other unexpected fees to consider:

• Roadside assistance
• Security deposits
• Charges for nondumped gray or black water
• Propane
• Nonrefundable booking deposit
• Can you do early pickup or late dropoff, and is there a fee?
• Cleaning fees
• Pet fees
• Generator fees
• Miles included per day

Does a Rental RV Include Bedding and Kitchen Supplies?

Finally, make sure to research your booking. Does it include things like bedding, towels, and pots and pans?

“You need to think through those things when you are packing,” Bouma added. “And these may be additional charges if you want them.”

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Camper Vans: A Smaller Rental Option

If you don’t need all the size of a large camper, a van rental may be worth considering. Built-out vans or cab-over truck campers give you the ability to sleep in your vehicle. They are also easier to drive and get into smaller places like parking lots in cities.

If you plan to spend a lot of time outdoors, this kind of rental, like those of Escape Camper Vans, can provide a turnkey option. With outfitted minivans, full-size vans, and even jeeps with rooftop tents, you can get outdoors with pricing from about $115 a day.

Off-Road RVs, Rugged RVs

For those who may want to get a little further off the beaten path, there is another alternative. There are many small rental companies currently offering fleets of outfitted “adventuremobiles” that offer four-wheel drive, aggressive tires, and camping setups.

Most of these are smaller outfits with just a few rigs for rent, so search regionally for “rugged RV rentals” or “off-road camper rentals” to find places like Rugged Van Rentals.

Sportsmobile also rents vans and outfitted trucks around several adventure destinations. For those looking for a little wilder adventure, an off-road-capable rental allows access to areas that larger RVs with less clearance can’t reach.

Check out nine rugged rental vehicle options here.

Peer-to-Peer RV Rental

A relatively new way to get an RV is to rent one that’s sitting idle in someone else’s driveway. Launched in 2015, Outdoorsy is among the world’s largest RV rental marketplaces. It has the mission to “mobilize the 20+ million idle RVs around the world to ensure everyone has the access, choice, and opportunity to safely enjoy outdoor experiences and empower RV owners to realize life-changing financial benefits.”

Beyond offering many options for RV rentals, Outdoorsy’s new Vehicle Purchase Program allows individual RV buyers, as well as rental fleet managers, to have factory-direct purchase, financing, and insurance access. You now get this in addition to the ability to rent out the RV within the Outdoorsy marketplace.

Read more in our in-depth article on Outdoorsy RV rentals here.

Competing with Outdoorsy is peer-to-peer rental marketplace RVShare. The business surpassed 1 million days of RV rentals in 2019 and is still going strong. So it’s certainly worth shopping RVShare while scoping out rentals in your region. One of the cool things about RVShare is that it has a lot of options, ranging from small tow-behind teardrop trailers to Airstream campers, that you may not find in other rental platforms.

Route Planning

Once you’ve booked an RV, the fun part starts. Plan the route!

Planning the route for an RV entails a little more than your typical road trip, she noted. Remember, it’s a lot harder to navigate parking lots, small roads and bridges, and underpasses.

And if you went for a more aggressive rental, consider a subscription to onX Off-Road Maps. We’ve tested the service and love what it can do for off-grid adventure-planning.

But you also have the freedom of avoiding restaurants if you wish. If you stock up your fridge and pantry, you can eat in the RV at most any roadside stop.

And this can leave more time for adventures along the way. So, check the tire gauges and hit the road. Book some campsites in advance, though. You won’t be alone out there.

Whether heading into the backcountry or lighting up the night car camping, we’ve found the best camping lanterns for every use and budget.

A good camping lantern is an outdoor essential. It’s a major help while cooking, is great for nightly camp games, and sets just the right outdoor ambiance.

Living off-grid, I personally rely on a lantern every single night. After months of testing and thousands of light hours logged, these are the top picks that will stand up to constant use and abuse.

While testing, we paid particular attention to light output, battery life, and ease of use. We also kept an eye on durability, packability, and overall value. And while there isn’t a single best lantern for every camper, we’ve broken the list into handy categories to help you identify the best lantern for your use.

The 10 Best Camping Lanterns of 2020

Best Car Camping: UCO Gear Sitka+ ($97)

This rechargeable camping lantern is the ultimate camp workhorse. The 500-lumen output is enough to comfortably light up the biggest camp space or an entire cabin room. And the frosted cover makes for a pleasant light that doesn’t hurt the eyes.

It will last about five hours on high and an impressive 70 hours on low. We’ve found that for general camp usage, a lower setting is completely adequate. This means you can get several nights of use out of a single charge.

The turn dial allows for an easily adjustable custom light output. On top of brightness settings, you can choose the Northern Lights mode, which continually rotates between four colors.

But what really makes this lantern stand out is the versatile extension arm. With the press of a button, you can quickly elevate the light source from 12.5 inches to 26 inches. It gives a focused, bright light that is endlessly useful for cooking, reading, or completing camp chores.

At 2.2 pounds, this lantern isn’t particularly light or heavy, but it does take up a fair bit of space. If you’re tight on room or looking for something more packable, continue on to our next pick. But for anyone looking for a rechargeable, hardworking, long-lasting, versatile lantern, the UCO Gear Sitka+ is an excellent choice.

Shop UCO Gear Sitka+

Runner Up: Lander Cairn XL Lantern ($80)

This palm-sized light has continually surprised and impressed us. It has reliably worked every single night for the past six months and pumps out a comfortably bright 350 lumens.

The bungee cord makes it easy to hang in any location. And the small size means you can quickly grab it to use as a flashlight when needed. Hold the button on the side to brighten or dim the light. You can also switch between a strobe setting and a colored-light option. It takes a few tries at first to move through its dimming and other settings, but it’s easy enough once you get the hang of it.

There is an app you can use to control the settings on the Cairn XL, but I honestly haven’t used it much. I’d rather not be on my phone while camping and much prefer the simple button on the side of the light.

You don’t have to worry about rain or dirt, as it has an IP65 waterproof rating, and it has proven very durable while testing. We’ve repeatedly dropped it and have seen no damage or loss in performance. It also doubles as a charging station, with a USB port and the ability to charge a phone up to four times.

All in all, this is a feature-rich lantern in a small package that’s great for car camping, van dwelling, or backyard hanging.

Shop Lander Cairn XL

Best Budget: Black Diamond Moji Lantern ($20)

This tiny lantern packs a big punch, yet goes surprisingly easy on the wallet. Weighing in at just 3 ounces and measuring 3 inches around, there’s no reason not to bring it along just in case. It runs on three AAA batteries, and the dimming switch allows you to make quick adjustments.

With a 100-lumen max, it’s not the brightest light on the list, but the Moji lantern gets the job done. It not only stands up to rain, but it also can be fully submersed and will keep on ticking. Per the manufacturer, it lasts up to 70 hours on low. But don’t expect to get that much out of a single battery supply, as you’ll surely want to use a higher setting in camp.

This little lantern is our top pick for hanging in the tent. Its lowest 4-lumen setting makes a good night-light, too. Whether backpacking, car camping, or looking for an ultrapackable emergency light, the Moji is a durable and useful bargain.

Shop Black Diamond Moji

Runner-Up Best Budget: LE LED Camping Lantern ($20)

With more than 5,600 reviews, it’s clear that this battery-powered lantern is a fan favorite. It runs on three D batteries and has a max output of 1,000 lumens. Plus, it has four lighting settings, and you can remove the cap to make it smaller or shine a more directed beam of light.

We’ve splashed water on it without any issues, but we don’t recommend letting it sit out in the rain or become submerged completely. At a little over 7 inches tall and about 3.5 inches wide, it won’t take up much room in the car or tent.

The nice thing about a battery-powered lantern is that you don’t need to worry about charging it up. The downside is it burns through batteries if used often. It ran anywhere from 10 to 14 hours during our testing before needing a fresh set of batteries.

If you plan to use it infrequently or use rechargeable D batteries, it’s a great option. But if you plan to use it every weekend, a rechargeable or solar lantern is probably a better pick.

Shop LE LED Camping Lantern

Best Solar Backpacking Lantern: Goal Zero Crush ($20)

Looking for a packable solar light that won’t break the bank? Then it’s time you met the Goal Zero Crush Light. At just 20 bucks, it’s a great value. The 60-lumen max output isn’t wildly bright, but it offers a pleasant, useful glow around your camp.

It weighs 3.2 ounces and collapses neatly to take up very little space in your pack. And you can recharge via USB or simply set it outside and let the sun work its magic.

It has a claimed max run time (on the lowest setting) of 35 hours, but the longest we’ve gotten is 28 hours. It’s never been a problem camping, though, as we just set it out each day to top off the charge. The Crush Light is a solid solar light and a great choice for backpacking.

Shop Goal Zero Crush

Best Lantern Flashlight Crossover: EJ Case XTorch ($60)

With humanitarian roots and a utilitarian design, the XTorch is a unique illumination option for use at home or a campsite. We have been testing it for about two years and are happy to report the product has held up to use and abuse. It’s a handy light that does double duty as a lantern and a phone charger.

The company, based in Minnesota, calls the product a “tough, reliable, solar-powered flashlight, lantern, and back-up cell phone charger for off-grid and just-in-case emergency use.” That’s a bit of a mouthful, but it sums up the hybrid product’s feature set.

The design is clean despite the bells and whistles. The manufacturing is high-quality, with smooth lines and strong materials like silicone USB covers and a polycarbonate case.

XTorch lights are used around the world with nonprofits and other organizations involved in disaster relief, refugee aid, and humanitarian outreach. The company donates 25% of its annual profits to help fund donations to international partners.

The LED flashlight has multiple modes, including a 400-lumen high beam that cuts a path into the night. Set the light on its end and you can use the side lantern, a small 100-lumen LED that brightens a room.

Rugged and water-resistant, the unit is 8.5 inches tall and weighs about 9 ounces. A solar panel on the side lets you charge it in the sun.

Check out the XTorch for a neat hybrid option. It’s a quality product that’s also involved in a good cause.

Shop EJ Case XTorch

Best Emergency Candle Lantern: UCO Original Candle Lantern Kit ($27)

This little candle-powered lantern is a must-have for your emergency kit, bugout bag, or go-to camp kit. It’s extremely easy to use — just slide the the glass down and light the candle for instant light. The included reflector clip directs the light where you need it most.

A single candle burns for nearly 9 hours, and the spring-loaded system keeps the flame at a consistent height. It does get hot, so use caution when extinguishing or moving. It packs down to 4.25 inches long and weighs just 7.2 ounces.

The neoprene case keeps everything protected during transport and makes it a convenient addition to your camp kit. We’ve used one exclusively at camp when desiring a classic, soft firelight. And it’s always in our chuck kit just in case.

It’s also a top pick for emergency preparedness. Whether you live in a hurricane zone or have frequent blizzard-induced power outages, it’s a good idea to have a backup light available. The UCO Candle Lantern is an affordable, easy-to-use, reliable option for both camping and emergencies.

Shop UCO Original Candle Kit

Best String Light: MPOWERD Luci String Lights ($45)

This has quickly become one of our favorite camping lights. Ten individual light pods are spread across 18 feet of braided nylon cord, allowing you to light up a large area. It charges fully in about 8 hours via USB or 16 hours via solar. We recommend charging it up prior to camping and then using solar to keep it topped off throughout.

We particularly like the way these lights store in themselves. Simply wrap the string lights into the solar base and twist closed. Pro tip: Be sure to avoid too many overlapping bulbs or it will become too bulky to close.

We’ve used these string lights nearly everyday for 6 months, and they’re still going strong. The color is a pleasing, warm light yellow, and we’ve been impressed with how bright it gets on the highest setting. A favorite option for adding a bit of camp ambience or brightening up the backyard.

Shop MPOWERD Luci String Lights

Portable Gas Lantern: Primus EasyLight Camping Lantern ($60)

This handy little lantern runs on isobutane (just like your favorite backpacking stove) and doesn’t take up much room. It weighs just 7.4 ounces and measures about 4.5 inches around.

We found the light output particularly pleasant, yet plenty bright to complete all our camp chores. It has a max output of 490 lumens and will run about 10 hours in warm conditions. Similar to stoves, the run time decreases in colder weather.

It began raining while we were using this lantern, but it never went out or had any issues. Being made of glass, it is susceptible to breaking if dropped. But the included hard carrying case will keep it safe when packed.

We used it for a week straight while renting camping gear and appreciated the easy light piezo ignition, warm light output, and easy packing design.

Shop Primus EasyLight

Classic Pick: Coleman Gas Lantern ($30)

No lantern review would be complete without this classic Coleman lantern. If you’ve never used a gas lantern, it’s important to make note of a few things. First, in lieu of light bulbs, it uses mantles that fill with fuel and burn brightly. The glass can become extremely hot, and caution should be used when handling.

That said, it’s a solid lantern that will last for years. And it clocks in at just $30. The dual-mantle design pumps out 1,000 lumens on high. It will run for nearly 7 hours on high before needing a new fuel canister. The green propane cylinders run $38 for a pack of four. While this isn’t outrageously expensive, it does add up and should be a consideration when lantern shopping.

We found it easy to thread the light onto the propane cylinder and appreciated the footed base that prevents tipping. It’s worth noting that you will need a match to light this lantern.

If you don’t mind paying a bit more for a version that comes with a carrying case and an autostart piezo igniter, check out the Coleman Deluxe PerfectFlow with Carrying Case ($48).

Shop Coleman Gas Lantern

Have a favorite camping lantern? Let us know in the comments and we’ll check it out for future updates to this article.

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Redtail Overland may have just created the ultimate vehicle rooftop bedroom.

Think of the Redtail Overland RT as a super-high-end rooftop camper (RTC). It’s basically a high-tech, carbon fiber, hard-sided rooftop tent with a full electrical system and heater. As a bonus, it offers access from the vehicle interior — if your vehicle has a sunroof, that is.

However, carbon fiber, machined aluminum, lithium batteries, a diesel heater, LED lighting, and more don’t come cheap! Initially, Redtail Overland will offer two models, the RT 90 and RT 110, which will cost $20,000 and $25,000, respectively. That’s a lot of adventure money!

“We took everything that is great about rooftop camping and enhanced it — adding heat, power, lighting, security, and next-level comfort,” the brand said. “We simplified the setup and breakdown process, making it easier to blaze more trail, and packaged everything in an elegant design we’re proud to keep on our vehicle year-round.”

Redtail Overland

Redtail Overland was founded in 2019 by Ty and Annie Tatro. The couple has more than 18 years of combined experience in the luxury overland industry, as they both worked at EarthRoamer until last year. For years they lived a double life, selling massive expensive luxury overland vehicles during the week and camping out of a basic rooftop tent on the weekends with their family.

These contrasting experiences sparked an idea. What if you could merge the high-end extravagant camping experience found in an EarthRoamer with the simplicity of rooftop tent camping? From this concept emerged the origami-like, carbon fiber wonder that is the Redtail Overland RTC.

Rooftop Camper (RTC)

The first question you have to ask yourself is why. Why offer hard sides instead of traditional soft tent material? The answer is four-fold.

The first reason, and the one you’ll appreciate every time you use this product, is the ease of setup and breakdown. Traditional soft-sided rooftop tents are pretty quick and easy to set up. When stowing them, however, they can take some work to make sure all the tent material is inside the shell.

This usually involves a lap or two around the vehicle tucking in the material. The hard-sided Redtail Overland RTC, on the other hand, instantly pops up and stows away without the fuss of tucking.

Another big drawback of traditional rooftop tents is the lack of insulation, which doesn’t necessarily make them ideal for four-season camping. The hard panels in the RTC, by contrast, have built-in insulation. This helps keep the cold out in the winter and the heat out in the summer.

Third, traditional rooftop tents can be noisy in windy conditions. Perched atop a vehicle and camped out in exposed areas, like the desert, the soft tent materials and zippers tend to flap in the breeze. This varies greatly from tent to tent, but it’s almost always an issue. If you park into the wind with the wedge shape of the Redtail Overland RTC, you should be able to get a restful night’s sleep protected inside its solid walls.

Finally, the hard-sided tent remains legal in grizzly country where tent camping isn’t allowed. This can also be true for campgrounds that don’t allow tent camping. It’s part of why Redtail Overland calls this a rooftop camper instead of a rooftop tent.

Redtail Overland Hard-Sided Rooftop Camper Features

Power

Besides the obvious high-quality materials and hard-sided walls, the Redtail Overland rooftop campers also offer up some other pretty features you don’t find in a traditional rooftop tent. Think full electrical system, diesel heater, access to the vehicle interior, integrated mounting solutions, full locked security, and more.

About that crazy, standalone electrical system in each RTC: The core of the system draws from solar on the roof and a lithium battery pack in the nose of the camper. You also get four exterior Baja Designs S1 area lights and fully dimmable LED interior lighting.

Controlling the whole system is a Switch Pros unit, which can also be controlled through a Bluetooth-enabled app on your phone. USB and 110-volt (through an inverter) outlets inside the camper power all your accessories and electronics. All this adds up to full functionality without any wiring to the vehicle or drain on your vehicle’s battery.

The other big luxury feature on this camper system is an integrated Webasto diesel heater unit. It’s built into the camper in the nose, alongside the battery pack. This particular diesel heater is rated to work well even at high altitude, up to 11,000 feet. The only real downside to the diesel heater is that you have to mount an external diesel tank somewhere or plumb a line into the tank on your diesel vehicle.

Accessibility

I, for one, like to travel in a camper that allows me to get to and from the driver’s seat of the vehicle without leaving the vehicle/living space. (Think van life — there’s a reason it’s so popular!) The Redtail RTC offers a hatch in the floor for just this purpose.

An expanding foam gasket seals off the area between the hatch in the floor of the tent and the sunroof on your vehicle. The only downside to this system is that if you wanted to drive away after a night’s sleep without exiting the vehicle, you’d have to leave the tent deployed, as it requires you to be outside to open and close.

Installation

Many people think they need to put their rooftop tents atop a full roof rack. All this does is add unnecessary height to the tent and weight to the top of your vehicle. Usually, all that is needed are a few crossbars. With the RTC, the crossbars are integrated into the structure of the camper, so no bars or rack are required.

Redtail will offer proprietary feet/towers that will connect the T-Track in the tent bottom to the vehicle roof. These feet will be lockable for security but also have a quick-release pin for easy removal.

Foot Room

Traditional wedge-style rooftop tents tend to have very little foot room. This is an issue for someone like me that is tall and has big feet, as it wakes me up when I roll over in my sleep and my feet are restricted by the roof.

Unlike a traditional hinge, the front hinge on the Redtail Overland RTC actually slides up about 3 inches. This helps give you vertical room for your feet and a more spacious feel to the tent. It’s not as much space as a full pop-top would offer, however.

How to Buy the Redtail Overland RTC

Redtail Overland will first offer two versions of its RTC product: the bigger Redtail RT 110 and the smaller Redtail RT 90.

The Redtail RT 110 will set you back $25,000, install included. It offers a 60Ah lithium battery pack, with 330 W of solar, in a 250-pound package. The exterior closed dimensions are 110 x 60 x 10 inches.

The Redtail RT 90 will set you back $20,000, install included. It offers a 40Ah lithium battery pack, with 210 W of solar, in a 190-pound package. The exterior closed dimensions are 90 x 56 x 10 inches.

Redtail Overland just recently leased a shop in Longmont, Colorado, where the brand is finishing up its first production-quality prototype in the next 2 months. You can preorder a Redtail RTC today. It takes a 10% deposit to get your spot in line.

Production is scheduled to start at the end of August, with a 4- to 6-week lead time to start with once production gets going. There are already several preorders in the queue, however, so the earliest delivery slots currently available are in December 2020.

Pros

• Hard-sided camper
• Super easy and quick setup and breakdown
• Can go where traditional RTTs can’t (bear country and hard-side-required campsites)
• Quiet in the wind
• Four-season comfort (insulated & heated)
• Fully integrated, self-contained electrical system (solar, lithium batteries, inverter, etc.)
• Vehicle access from inside the tent, and vice versa
• Lockable in both closed and open positions
• No roof rack or crossbars required
• Interior and exterior LED lighting
• Roof bent/Fan ventilation
• Full 80″ long mattress
• 3-year warranty

Cons

• Expensive
• Heavy
• Not a full pop, just a wedge-style pop-top
• Diesel heater requires an external diesel fuel source
• Waitlist to purchase

Future Products

Don’t expect Redtail Overland to be an RTC-only company for very long. Its founders have all sorts of ideas about how to bring high-tech and luxury overland vehicle features into more basic and nimble products for the adventurer.

The brand said, ” We plan to integrate our proprietary hinged wall and window system into future platforms.” It’s also thinking about complementary systems to the RTC product, like camp kitchens and the like, which would offer all the amenities traditional campers have.

The RTC is not just a camper, but a high-end experience in which every detail matters and serves a thoughtful purpose. It’s designed to be used as a vehicle for our customers to pursue their outdoor passions and intended to enhance their experience, not hinder it with the hassles of traditional camping setups. We’ve worked hard to design a product that is intuitive, functional, easy and inspiring, and believe our customers will find more joy while camping, and venture out farther and more often because of it.

For more information or to place your preorder, be sure to check out RedtailOverland.com.

The new Scout Campers line is all about versatility, value, and outdoor adventure. These new slide-in truck campers start at under $20,000 and are designed like a backpack. Every system and feature is multipurpose, removable, and the simplest-quality form possible.

Scout Campers are all about remote self-supported vehicle adventure. They’re lightweight units with components designed to be robust and usable both in and out of the camper.

Sure, we all love the shelter of a comfy camper, especially when the weather sets in or a swarm of mosquitoes descends on camp. Until that time, it’s usually better to enjoy the great outdoors.

Scout Campers

Adventure Manufacturing is based in Yakima, WA, and has over 50 years of truck camper building experience. This same facility and dealer network will create, sell, and service Scout Campers.

The main feature that sets these new Scout Campers apart from the wide range of other truck campers on the market is that every component can be taken out and used independently of the camper.

This, of course, works in reverse as well. You can integrate all the quality camping gear you already have into this camper. Why pay for and carry with you twice the gear on your next adventure?

So that means you can easily integrate that double-burner camp stove, cooler, or portable refrigerator you already own. And you can take them in and out of the camper to use in the campground or wherever needed.

The other feature that isn’t all that common, especially on U.S.-built RVs, is the construction used in Scout Campers. The build consists of an aluminum exoskeleton framing with foam-core composite panels. This creates a lightweight, insulated, four-season camper with longevity and durability.

Scout Campers Olympic Model

The first model on offer from Scout Campers is the Olympic, which will start at an impressively low $19,980. At 1,133 pounds dry and fully outfitted with standard features, the Olympic is a viable camper for 1- to 2-ton or larger pickups.

The Olympic camper will come standard with a door, two windows, a moon roof, and a roof vent/fan. It will also come with a 54 x 80-inch mattress in the cab-over and a dinette that turns into a 34 x 70-inch bed.

Besides those built-in features, you’ll also get a 160W Renergy solar panel, a Goal Zero Yeti portable lithium power station, a Lifesaver 4.9-gallon filtered jerry can with spray wand, a stainless steel sink, and Pendleton fabrics throughout.

The coolest feature available on the Scout Olympic camper is the ability to sleep six. That’s two in the cab-over, two in the dinette (best for kids), and two in the optional Roost rooftop tent.

The optional RTT addition is really cool because it has an integrated hatch into the inside of the camper. This allows access to the tent space from the interior by way of the dinette or an included ladder for use on the exterior.

Besides the awesome RTT option, there are also several other great features on offer from the start from Scout Campers. You can option your camper with a propane fireplace, a Dometic CFX3 75L fridge/freezer, hanging storage bags, a portable toilet, a portable gas cooktop, removable camper jacks, and a Rhino-Rack Batwing 270 awning.

Of course, you can also leave these boxes unchecked on your order form and use the great camping gear you already have to meet your needs and budget.

More Models Coming Soon

The Olympic is only the beginning for Scout Campers. Coming soon are the Yoho and Kenai models. The Yoho is the smallest of the three models and designed for midsize trucks. The Kenai is the largest and includes a bathroom, wardrobe, and even more exterior storage space.

Adventure Awaits!

Scout Campers is taking orders now for the Olympic model through its dealership network and its website. With prices starting below $20,000, we think you’ll start seeing Scout Campers at your local camp spots and trailheads soon.

Thor Industries — one of the world’s largest RV manufacturers and owner of numerous brands including Airstream — found nearly everyone with a camper still plans to get out this year. And those plans extend further than expected.

The post-pandemic world has, by in large, adapted to a life of social distancing and stay-at-home lifestyles. But that hasn’t shaken our commitment to enjoying the great outdoors again as summer nears. At least, that’s according to a recent survey of more than 19,000 current and prospective RV owners.

Commissioned by Thor Industries, parent company to well-known RV brands like Airstream, Dutchmen, Jayco, and more, the 2020 North American RV Consumer Survey Report found that 94% of respondents still plan to take a vacation this year.

What’s more, the survey found that nearly half of those surveyed (48%) still plan to go camping into October.

“We expect to see an extended season as consumers look to make up for perceived lost time,” the report concluded.

2020 North American RV Consumer Survey Report

The report also found that while 20% of people canceled air travel and hotel stays this year, nearly 35% have not yet canceled any vacation plans.

And when it comes to when those vacations will happen, the No. 1 response was the reopening of campgrounds. Notably, respondents listed campground reopenings as even more important in their plans than “greatly reduced” COVID-19 spread.

Of the survey’s RV-owning demographic — this includes lightweight pull-behinds, travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers, and class A, B, and C RVs — 79% said they will use their RV at least as much as last year, if not more.

As far as prospective RV owners, 78% intend to buy this year. Further, nearly half, 47%, plan to purchase a teardrop-style or travel trailer. Motorhomes and larger camper trailers split the remaining market.

Conversely, current RVers who indicated an interest in another purchase said they were most likely (33%) to buy a fifth-wheel trailer.

While this survey does not represent all forms of outdoor adventure or camping, the key takeaway provides a hopeful look ahead. People still intend to enjoy an outdoor getaway despite all the dire news and upended social norms.

Combine a yacht with private aviation design and technology. What do you have? The ultimate retro-cool camper trailer. Meet the Bowlus Road Chief Endless Highways Performance Edition.

Want a camper trailer that will look perfect behind your electrified Tesla Model X or sporty midsize Porsche Macan SUV? The classic looks of the Bowlus Road Chief camper trailer are perfect for the task.

Launched this month, the Endless Highways Performance Edition of this classic-looking RV will allow you to adventure farther off the beaten path and off the grid for even longer.

Bowlus Road Chief Camper Trailer

The shape of the Road Chief trailer is a patented design — the pointy silver bullet. It provides impressive aerodynamics and road manners behind a wide variety of tow vehicles. The new Endless Highways Performance Edition’s crazy-low weight, just 3,200 pounds, also opens up a lot of tow vehicle options.

However, this trailer isn’t small, standing 8’5″ tall and measuring 25’9″ long. The Road Chief seats five and sleeps four comfortably, the brand claims. The forward V-berth-style bedroom looks like you’d be sleeping on a high-end custom wooden yacht.

Huge skylights with wood blinds aim to bring in tons of light, perhaps making the trailer feel even bigger than it already is. While the outside oozes cool with its shiny aluminum skin, the inside looks warm and welcoming with natural colors and wood accents.

You should not be left wanting for much in this fully appointed camper trailer. It has a shower, toilet, fridge, sink, and even microwave. Plus, a built-in cell-booster will help you use this as your remote mobile office.

Hydronic-heated floors add comfort in this trailer, which has an 800-pound gear-hauling capacity and 19 gallons of onboard fresh water. This thing looks ready for adventure.

“We are incredibly intentional about what we weave into the Bowlus Road Chief,” said Geneva Long, Bowlus founder and CEO. “Technology only exists to better our owners’ experiences, to allow them to adventure in a way only a Road Chief can. The ease of operation of a Road Chief is incomparable to any other RV.”

Endless Roads Performance Edition Offers More Power

The electrical system on the Endless Highways Performance Edition of the Road Chief trailer is the thing that separates it from the competition even more. The system is based on a 600Ah/7,680Wh lithium iron phosphate battery system. This system can operate for up to 2 weeks of off-grid use and can fully recharge in under 4 hours.

Not only does it have a 3,000W pure sine inverter to charge all your electronics, but the trailer’s air conditioning system can even run off the batteries for up to 2 nights. And you can control the entire electrical system from an app via a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection.

This impressive integrated trailer electrical system has one more trick up its sleeve. It can actually extend the range of an electric tow vehicle. If you decide to tow this camper trailer with an electric SUV, then the trailer battery bank can actually extend the range of your tow vehicle up to 16 miles.

Off-Grid Luxury Does Not Come Cheap

The Bowlus Road Chief Endless Highways Performance Edition just launched this month. This high-end version of an already impressive camper trailer starts at a cool $225,000. The base model starts at $190,000 and goes up to $260,000 for a fully optioned version.

I guess home really can be wherever you park it!

What do you get when you combine a 1953 GMC chassis and a duffel bag? This camper.

Austin Smith, a snowboarder from Oregon, spent half of 2018 living out of his converted ’53 GMC firetruck. But this isn’t any old truck. Smith’s built-out campervan is made with duffel bag materials (i.e., waterproof ballistic nylon), giving it that signature soft shell. 

“Pretty much everyone I asked thought a softshell camper was a bad idea. I spent years rigorously testing the durability of duffel bags,” said Smith. (Specifically, The North Face’s Base Camp duffel, the same material Smith used for his truck.)

Cue footage of Smith dropping a duffel out a second-story window, dragging it across a pinecone-studded field, and spraying it with a high-pressure hose.

In addition to the soft shell, the camper is also equipped with 1,000 W of solar power and a few other cool features. And this short video is just a sneak peek. To get the full scoop, check out Smith’s Instagram for more behind-the-scenes footage of the softshell camper in action.

Who knows? It might inspire your own unique camper build.

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The Winnebago Hike is a unique gear-hauling platform to help get the whole family and all their gear out into the wilderness.

The Winnebago Hike debuted in September 2019 and just hit dealer lots this February. This new trailer comes in two lengths and five overall models. It will sleep three to four people depending on layout and has an interior height of 6’5″.

Although the Winnebago Hike might just look like just another RV trailer, it has some key features that outdoor adventure enthusiasts will really appreciate.

Winnebago Hike: A Camper for Outdoor Adventure

Key adventure-ready features are a wide, stable stance and narrow body, big ground clearance, and a big, durable tongue box.

But rolling down the trail, the first thing that stands out is the full exoskeleton rack system. This system allows for much greater and more diverse gear-hauling options, especially when compared to standard roof crossbars. These rails even offer protection from obstacles like brush and branches.

This is a very rare feature to find on RV trailers and a visual cue that this is not your normal camper.

The Hike only has a 6’6″ frame and body, which helps it fit down tight trails and have great visibility when towing. It also has offset wheels that provide added stability normally only found in larger camper trailers. The overall width is 7’9″.

Compared to most RV trailers in this class, ground clearance is also impressive. The Hike wears 15-inch all-terrain tires and has an axle lift.

On the tongue of the Hike, you’ll find a large, powder-coated steel gear/LP/battery box. Most trailers only offer a tiny plastic battery box. The Hike, on the other hand, offers this big durable gearbox as standard. The tongue box will fit two 20-pound propane tanks, a house battery, and still have room for gear storage.

Winnebago Hike RV, Uniquely Styled

Besides the obvious exoskeleton rack system, the Hike has some other unique styling cues. The overall design has a lot of teardrop trailer styling. The trailer, however, has a more standard travel trailer layout.

Inside the Hike, you’ll find a more contemporary European style with high-gloss, crank-style accent cabinets and marine-type woven flooring. Increased use of backsplash, under-mount SST sinks, and upgraded cabinet hardware give the Hike more of a residential feel.

More Tech in Your Trailer

Wi-Fi prep and roof mount solar prep aren’t uncommon in this type of trailer, but they’re standard on the Winnebago Hike. Also standard is an LED TV, full entertainment audio system, and plenty of USB charge ports.

A unique feature is a wireless cellphone charger built into every Hike trailer as standard equipment. It’s a wireless surface charger, which is mounted in the countertop or entertainment center depending on the trailer layout chosen.

Tow the Winnebago Hike With Your Vehicle

You’re going to max out the towing capacity of a Subaru Outback with the smallest of the five available Winnebago Hike models. The smallest Hike will have a hitch weight of around 400 pounds and an overall dry weight of 3,260 pounds. The largest Hike trailer will have a hitch weight of around 660 pounds and an overall dry weight of 4,360 pounds.

These numbers are towable by smaller SUVs like the Jeep Cherokee — but just barely. Bottom line is that if you want to tow the Hike any distance or over rough terrain, you’re probably going to want a truck or a larger SUV like a Toyota 4Runner.

Winnebago Hike Pricing

The Winnebago Hike starts at about $27,500 for the basic model without options. That price can easily go up to about $40,000 if you go with the top model and fully option it. Even then, this trailer comes in at a very competitive price for what you get.

Check out Winnebago’s dealer locator tool, where you can browse Hike inventory at a dealer near you.

Combine an overland vehicle with a cabin in the woods, and you get one heck of a cool adventure vehicle!

Start with a 1996 Ford F-350 pickup truck. Add a lot of lumber, creativity, and labor, and you wind up with an “overland truck cabin.” Tim Johnson is an Alaskan snowboarder and kayaker who travels in this sweet homemade truck cabin.

For those interested in pursuing this kind of project, his video addresses lots of DIY pointers. For example, Johnson waterproofed the wood structure with marine varnish. He overengineered the corners for durability but lightened the walls with two-by-two lumber. And the tips go on.

So if you’re looking for a major project to get productive during quarantine, check it out. This is one cool camper!

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The doctors and nurses on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic often need to self-isolate away from family and friends. And that’s where recreational vehicles can help.

RVs 4 MDs, a grassroots volunteer group, has built an over 10,000-person-strong Facebook group connecting RV owners and medical workers in need of temporary housing across the country.

One of the largest peer-to-peer RV rental marketplaces, RVshare, teamed up with RVs 4 MDs to quickly scale the initiative.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a great need for frontline medical workers to find temporary housing where they can self-isolate. For some, this means isolation from their own households locally. For others, it means isolation and temporary housing when traveling to assist in hot zones.

So the rental and general RV market has shifted from leisure travel to relief housing.

RVs 4 MDs

The idea for RVs 4 MDs came from Emily Phillips when searching for a self-isolation solution for her husband, a frontline doctor in Dallas, Texas. A friend offered up her RV that was sitting unused. Phillips quickly realized that healthcare workers across the country needed these idle temporary housing solutions.

RVs 4 MDs was born and has been doing an amazing job of connecting RV owners with medical personnel through its 10,000-plus-person Facebook group. But the group ran into hurdles trying to scale appropriately to fulfill the needs this pandemic has created.

“Since the Facebook page launched on March 24, RVs 4 MDs has matched hundreds of first responders with an RV,” said RVs 4 MDs co-founder Emily Phillips.

“We are overwhelmed by the generosity we have seen. There are hundreds of medical workers requesting temporary housing a day. When RVshare reached out to us about their supply of RVs, we knew this would be the right partnership to scale the effort quickly.”

RVshare Helps Healthcare Workers

This is where RVshare stepped up with resources and a more streamlined process to help the thousands of healthcare workers in need. This partnership is helping to scale the initiative to better meet high demands.

“RVs 4 MDs has started a strong movement across the country, and peer-to-peer RV rentals is our expertise. We want to support the cause in any way we can,” said RVshare CEO Jon Gray.

Started in 2013, the RVshare platform has over 60,000 RVs listed for rent. Since launching the RVshare Disaster Response Solution program in March, over 500 RV owners have stepped up to donate, or offer at a very reduced rate, their RVs to be used as temporary housing for frontline workers. RVshare has also committed to waiving all fees for donated rentals booked through its platform.

This partnership also brings with it contractual and legal protection for both RV owners and healthcare workers in need. Bookings made through the RVshare platform provide the structure of its terms of service and a customized rental agreement. RV owners can also add comprehensive insurance policies to the agreement.

Donate or Find Relief

If you’re interested in donating your RV or are a frontline medical worker in need of temporary housing, find more information here.

Which RV is right for you? Is it an SUV with a rooftop tent or a 40-foot-long motorhome? This guide to truck campers and motorhomes will help you decide.

After this pandemic, the drive to escape in the great outdoors will be stronger than ever. Let’s dive into a few of the options we have for a rolling home away from home. It’s healthy to daydream about adventures on the horizon!

With constant stress from the daily grind and endless email notifications demanding our attention, heading outdoors — when appropriate — is the perfect way to disconnect and recharge.

Whether it’s the thrill of an off-grid excursion or a road trip to a bucket-list national park, there are recreational vehicle options to fit virtually every budget, level of experience, and desired comfort.

You could choose a rooftop tent for your daily drive that costs as little as $1,000 or an ultra-luxurious custom motorhome that costs well into six figures (and up). Understandably, it’s hard to know where to begin. Our handy guide below provides a basic understanding of some popular options worth considering.

Rooftop Tents

If setting up a ground tent and sleeping on sometimes rocky, uneven terrain has lost its appeal — or if you were never a fan in the first place — then a rooftop tent might be a step in the right direction. Tents mounted on top of vehicles have been around for the better part of a century.

What is a rooftop tent?

Imagine a canvas tent atop a rugged Land Rover parked in the heart of the Serengeti, its intrepid campers perched safely above curious carnivores wandering into their campsite.

These days, thanks to escape-fantasy photos on Instagram and the growing popularity of overlanding, there’s a wide variety of modern rooftop tents that fit on everything from a Toyota Prius to an oversized 4×4 rig. Depending on the model, these tents can sleep up to six people.

There are two main types of rooftop tents: soft-side, fold-open tents as well as hard-clamshell/pop-up tents. Soft-side, flip-open rooftop tents are generally less expensive and take up less real estate on top of your vehicle.

Hardshell rooftop tents are generally super-easy and quick to deploy and stow, but they cost more and take up a lot of room on your roof rack.

Which rooftop tent should I choose?

Because you mount a rooftop tent on the roof of a car, pickup truck, SUV, or van, the vehicle typically needs a roof rack that’s sturdy enough to carry the weight of the tent as well as its occupants.

And because the vehicle carries it during transit, it also must be secure enough to withstand wind resistance at highway speeds. The drawback here is that a rooftop tent will adversely affect your vehicle’s fuel economy.

Prices start at around $1,000 and go way up from there. It’s hard to go wrong with established brands like iKamper, Tepui, AutoHome, Roofnest, and many others.

If you want to go down the rooftop tent rabbit hole even further, check out these GearJunkie stories: “Rooftop Tents: A Primer” and “Rooftop Tents and the Love-Hate Paradox.”

Pop-Up Truck Toppers

Between rooftop tents and slide-in truck campers, there’s an emerging class of lightweight pickup bed tent toppers. These units are basically pickup truck bed toppers with built-in rooftop tents. Pricing ranges from about $5,000 to $15,000.

The big advantage of these units is that they offer a standing-height living area within the truck bed while still retaining the full functionality of the truck bed for daily gear-hauling duties.

They are also extremely lightweight, most around 400 pounds. This helps retain the truck’s gear-hauling capabilities, ride, handling, and fuel economy. It also limits the need to remove the camper system if you use the truck as a daily driver.

Have a look at our in-depth guide to this type of versatile camper option: “The Lightweight Pop-Top Truck Camper Revolution.”

Slide-In/Truck Bed Camper

If you’re like millions of Americans who already own a pickup truck, then a slide-in or truck bed camper provides a ton of home comforts in a compact, flexible package.

Different configurations of slide-in campers are available for trucks with short or long beds as well as various payload capacities. Many have cab-over compartments that add space for additional sleepers or cargo.

What is a truck bed camper?

Stabilizer legs that you deploy to various terrain are an important feature of truck campers. They allow the camper to stand on its own without the vehicle supporting it. They also allow the camper to remain at the campsite, freeing up the truck for exploration. Also, when not in use, they allow you to store the camper in a driveway or yard.

You can order truck campers fully equipped or basic and stripped down. A typical fully equipped unit will have a dedicated bed, kitchen (including stove, sink, refrigerator, microwave, etc.), a convertible seating/dining/sleeping area, bathroom facilities, and more.

Which truck bed camper should I choose?

Keep in mind that the total weight of the camper and its contents should fall within the allowable load capacity of your pickup truck.

In some cases, the burdensome load requires a heavier-duty suspension. Things like beefed up sway bars, helper springs, and airbag systems are all worth considering when setting up your truck to haul a camper.

Hellwig Products is a great resource for these products and information on what you’ll need to get your truck set up properly.

Slide-in campers fit many needs and budgets. They range in size from 8 to 20 feet, sleep up to six adults, and can cost anywhere between $6,000 and north of $50,000. There are two basic types of slide-in truck campers: hard-sided and pop-up.

Companies like Lance Camper focus on hard-sided units whereas Four Wheel Campers focuses on pop-up units, with many other brands out there to choose from that span the spectrum.

To get a good picture of the full range of hard-sided, slide-in truck camper options out there, we can look at Lance’s camper offerings. They start with the Lance 650 short-bed model, with an interior floor length of nearly 7 feet and a dry weight of 1,700 pounds.

From there, it goes all the way up to the Lance 1172 long-bed model. It has a floor length of nearly 12 feet, a dry weight of 4,174 pounds, and two slide-outs that expand the usable interior space.

In the middle sits the versatile Lance 855s short-bed model with a single slide-out, which was used on Lance’s Altimeter concept camper project.

Travel Trailers

If you want more comfort than a rooftop tent, want to keep your truck bed for outdoor gear, and don’t want to own a dedicated vacation vehicle, then a travel trailer may be the solution for you.

Just as there are different classes of motorhomes, travel trailers come in dozens of shapes, sizes, and configurations to suit recreational users’ diverse needs.

What is a travel trailer?

Most travel trailers are portable living quarters towed behind a vehicle. Others, known as “toy-haulers,” combine living space with a garage for transporting ATVs, motorcycles, or side-by-sides.

Travel trailers offer the convenience of being parked at a campsite so the tow vehicle can be used for transportation to your favorite fishing hole or hiking trail.

Travel trailers come in a range of styles, from lightweight tent trailers that can be towed behind a car to enormous triple-axle trailers that require a heavy-duty tow vehicle.

Lengths range from 8 to 40-plus feet, sleeping accommodations range from one to 10, people and prices range from about $6,000 to $160,000-plus.

Which travel trailer should I choose?

An important consideration when looking at travel trailers is the towing capacity of your car, truck, or SUV. Keep in mind that driving a vehicle while towing a trailer requires skill and situational awareness, especially when backing up or maneuvering in tight spaces like gas stations, parking lots, and campgrounds.

The added weight of the trailer limits acceleration and the ability to brake or swerve quickly. But with an appropriate vehicle and some practice, you’ll become a trailer-towing pro in no time and have a convenient, comfortable base camp for your outdoor adventures.

You can get a good feel for the variety of travel trailers on the market by having a look at a couple of our guides: “The Best Off-Road Trailers & Teardrops Under $10,000” and “13 Rugged Campers to Pull Behind Your F-150.”

RVs and Motorhomes: Class A, B, C

The different classifications of motorhomes — self-contained, self-propelled vehicles with living quarters — are a little confusing. Class A is the largest, Class B is the smallest, and Class C is in between.

What is a Class B campervan?

Because they are built on a van chassis, Class B campervans are the lightest and most maneuverable type of motorhome, making them easy to drive and park.

As a dedicated recreational vehicle, a campervan can be kept stocked with gear and supplies so you can escape at a moment’s notice. Many vans are also extremely fuel-efficient and easy to drive, which makes them usable as daily drivers as well.

Most Class B campervans provide the comforts and conveniences of home, including dining and kitchen facilities, sleeping quarters, a bathroom, and ample storage.

Because of their compact size, they make efficient, multipurpose use of space. The camper can arrange cushions used for couches and dinettes by day to create sleeping areas at night. Refrigerators, microwave ovens, running water, flushing toilets, satellite TVs, and Wi-Fi are but a few of the features available on today’s campervans.

Class B campervans range from 15 to 25 feet in length, sleep up to four people, and cost anywhere from $60,000 to $150,000-plus.

A super-nice and well-equipped example of a Class B campervan is the Passage 144 Sprinter RV Camper Van. Midwest Automotive Designs built it on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van chassis with a diesel engine and fully equipped it with heat, air conditioning, a lithium-ion battery power system, a diesel generator, two LED HD TVs, and so much more.

The Passage 144 costs about $125,000 and is just under 25 feet long.

What is a Class C motorhome?

Like Class B motorhomes, those designated Class C are also built on a van chassis and retain the original cab section. The difference is that they have a wider body section and an over-the-cab sleeping/cargo area.

Because of their larger, purpose-built bodies, Class C motorhomes are typically larger, heavier, and more expensive than their Class B counterparts.

Remember, in the world of RVs, the largest motorhomes are Class A, followed by Class C then Class B. For those who want a dedicated recreational vehicle, Class C motorhomes offer more living space, more creature comforts, and a wider range of configurations than a Class B. They range in length from 20 to 35 feet, sleep as many as eight, and cost anywhere from $40,000 to $200,000-plus.

A luxury example of a Class C motorhome is the Renegade Vienna, which is built on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500 chassis with a turbo diesel engine.

Available in multiple configurations, the Vienna has a slide-out that expands both the dining and sleeping areas. It’s well-appointed for luxurious living on the road. The Renegade Vienna will set you back about $142,000 and comes in at just under 25 feet long.

What is a Class A RV?

Purpose-built from the ground up, Class A motorhomes are the ultimate in dedicated RVs. Distinguished by their boxy appearance, they most closely resemble a tour bus.

Ranging from 20 to 40-plus feet in length, Class A motorhomes may be the same length or even shorter than some Class C motorhomes, but they maximize living space to the fullest.

Some Class A motorhomes have multiple large slide-outs, greatly expanding the available interior space for cooking, dining, socializing, and sleeping. A full master’s suite and a bathroom with a tub/shower, a toilet, and a vanity area are common features.

Prices start around $60,000, but the sky truly is the limit. The most luxurious Class A motorhomes cost north of $1 million.

One of the primary distinctions among Class A motorhomes is whether it’s built on a specialized chassis and powered by a heavy-duty gas engine, or built on a bus chassis with a diesel engine mounted in the back. The industry calls these latter RVs “diesel pushers.” Class A motorhomes, especially those with high-torque diesel engines, can also tow an extra vehicle, boat, or trailer.

Fleetwood RV, a top volume RV manufacture, makes a full range of Class A motorhomes. Owners can fully customize them with a wide variety of interior materials, wood colors, appliance options, and layouts.

Its gas-powered Bounder model, which is one of the best-selling RVs of all time, is a good example of a typical Class A motorhome. Five floorplans and two slide-outs offer a king-size bed in the master suite, one or two bathrooms, and options such as bunk beds for the kids or a fold-down patio.

Home on the Road Awaits

Regardless of how comfortable or off the grid you want to be, there’s likely a tent, camper, or recreational vehicle to meet your needs. Figure out what your intended usage will be, how much you’re willing to spend, and how many people you’ll be traveling with.

Then decide whether you’ll use your existing vehicle, buy a pickup or tow vehicle, or invest in a dedicated recreational vehicle. Finally, make an honest assessment of your driving skills, the type of terrain you’ll be traveling, and where you’ll store the camper when not in use.

Before making any commitment, consider renting different types of recreational vehicles to figure out what you like and don’t like. Check out companies like Cruise America, Outdoorsy, RVshare, and others to try a range of camper options.

And if buying new is not within your budget, there’s a thriving used market for recreational vehicles and equipment.

Accomplishing 50 ski descents across North America takes a lot of gear, including a great vehicle to get you there. Check out Cody Townsend’s badass Ford Ranger overland build.

Cody Townsend’s The FIFTY Project involves a lot of climbing and skiing, but also a ton of driving. “This is my rig, the thing I live and drive in for the entirety of winter, all around North America,” announced Townsend matter-of-factly.

How does he do it? To help us keep up with Townsend on winter roads and up backcountry trailheads, he enlisted the assistance of a 2019 Ford Ranger.

But it’s not just any Ford Ranger. In this episode, get a behind-the-scenes tour of the truck that’s been almost everywhere — from the cab to the bed to the tires. (There’s even a guest appearance by van-lifer, ski bum, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin.)

Townsend’s Build

Townsend’s overland truck build starts with the Ford Ranger Lariat edition with Ford’s “Off-road” package, plus a GoFast camper and a bevy of storage and car-camping tools.

Over the years, he’s perfected the vehicle for his adventures.

He starts off with a 2.5-inch Radflow suspension lift. Townsend explained that he chose Radflow because the brand customizes the suspension for each order for a specific truck’s weight and needs.

“I can fly through potholes at like 60 [mph] and not even remotely feel them,” he said. On top of that, he runs Total Chaos Fabrication upper control arms. That all connects the truck to 34-inch BFGoodrich KO2 all-terrain tires.

“I don’t have any rubbing or any sort of issues with it,” he said of the tire size choice.

To make it livable for the entire winter, he added a GFC camper to his four-door Ranger with a 5-foot bed. Under that, he has a custom-built deck for organized storage. On top, he mounted a Thule rack and solar panels. Inside, you’ll find YETI coolers and storage bags, as well as other common products for car camping.

“It is the most utilitarian truck-bed living system I’ve found,” he said.

Whether or not you’re building out your own vehicle, this video is a rad watch.

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Turn the luggage area of your vehicle into a full-featured camper in under 5 minutes. The Egoe Nestbox is a camper system in a box.

The Nestbox is an all-in-one camper system that can easily be moved in and out of the cargo area of a wide range of SUVs, wagons, and vans. The system is made by the Czech company Egoe Nest and is about to make its North American debut.

Egoe Nestbox

The main components of the Nestbox system are the kitchen and the bed. The kitchen consists of a two-burner propane stove, a sink and water system, some organizer drawers, and a 12-volt fridge. All of these items stow neatly into the cabinet box and fold and slide out for use.

Atop the box is the Nestbed. This bed system consists of a three-panel design that folds out over the stowed rear seats of the vehicle. It not only stores neatly above the Nestbox for transport but can easily be removed for day trips.

Nestbox Models

Egoe offers the Nestbox in four models. The smallest version is the Nestbox Camper (about $3,000), and the Nestbox Hiker model (from about $3,500) is just a bit bigger. The Nestbox Supertramp (about $3,900) is a big, full-featured model designed for the rigors of off-road travel. The biggest Nestbox is the Roamer (about $3,900), which is most suited for compact van applications.

Along with the various Nestbox models, Egoe Nest also offers a full line of accessories to complement the camper-in-a-box system. Of course, it offers products to outfit the Nestbox, like 12-volt fridges, Fisker hatchets, and more. It also offers accessory bags for the rear windows of vehicles, called Nestbags, and even matching pillows to the Nestbed mattress called Nestpillows.

For van applications or SUVs with space, it even offers a folding table/storage box, called the Nestblock.

Vehicle Applications

Czech-based Egoe currently makes Nestbox systems for a wide range of vehicles, but most are European models not on offer here in North America. There are, however, Nestboxes for the Land Rover LR4, Subaru Forester, Subaru Tribeca, Volkswagen Passat, and Volvo XC60.

The big news is that the ever-popular Jeep Wrangler looks to be the next vehicle to get a Nestbox. By the pictures supplied, the Wrangler looks to be getting a full-featured Supertramp model. While specifications haven’t been released yet, we’d expect the Wrangler Nestbox Supertramp to weigh in at about 175 pounds and cost in the neighborhood of $4,000 based on European specifications.

We also think the Nestbox will fit in a wide range of SUVs, wagons, and vans on offer here in the U.S. Egoe will just have to test fit these models before updating its fit list.

Competition

If this sort of system is right for your adventuremobile, then also be sure to check out the Ququq camper-in-a-box system as well. The Ququq system is very similar to the Nextbox system, but it’s executed differently and fits different vehicles.

See It Yourself

Egoe was scheduled to debut its Nestbox system to the North American market at Overland Expo West in May. But the expo is postponed, as the COVID-19 epidemic has quickly shut down most events for the next few months. We might have to wait just a bit longer to get our eyes on these cool camper-in-a-box systems for ourselves.

Learn more about the Egoe Nestbox here.

Winnebago Industries will shut down its factories in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown will affect at least three factories in Indiana, one in Iowa, and a Chris-Craft factory in Sarasota, Florida.

Winnebago Industries is one of the largest manufacturers of recreational vehicles in the United States. It owns and produces Winnebago, Grand Design, and Newmar RVs, motorhomes, and trailers. It also owns Chris-Craft, a renowned powerboat manufacturer.

Today, the brand announced it will halt production at all its facilities due to COVID-19. “As this global situation continues to rapidly evolve, our top priority is the health and well-being of our employees, business partners, customers, and communities,” said Michael Happe, Winnebago Industries president and CEO.

“We are also seeing demand for our products shift dramatically as the nation takes appropriate action to curb the spread of the coronavirus.”

Winnebago 3-Week Closure

The closure will affect all its factories, which are based in Forest City, Iowa; Nappanee, Indiana; Middlebury, Indiana; and Sarasota, Florida. The temporary suspension of “most production activities at the company’s Winnebago, Grand Design RV, Newmar, and Chris-Craft facilities” will last through April 12.

The company also has facilities in Oregon and Minnesota. It’s unclear how the closure will affect non-production facilities at this time.

“These steps are designed to lower the probability of coronavirus exposure to employees and adjust future production output relative to a fast-changing demand landscape for the company’s products,” Winnebago Industries said in a press release.

The company will provide base pay and benefits for employees and their families for the first 2 weeks.

“As we take precautionary measures in the best interest of both our employees’ health and our long-term business prospects, we remain confident in the strength of our balance sheet and in our cash position to allow us to provide the appropriate pay and benefits to our employees and weather a period of business interruption from this health crisis,” Happe said.

Get off the beaten path and camp in comfort. This burly camper trailer from down under has everything you need.

Australians have a long history of overlanding, and it shows in their high-quality gear. Located on the Gold Coast, Patriot Campers has built a name for itself as a maker of badass, off-road trailers. And the new X3 is no exception.

Not only does this trailer excel off road, but it offers up nearly all the comforts of home. Completely new for 2020, Patriot Campers has designed the X3 to be just as light, capable, and durable as previous models, with the addition of all the live-in features you could possibly need.

And it’s already won Australia’s Camper Trailer of the Year award.

Burly Off-Road Capabilities

The X-Cruise independent suspension keeps the trailer balanced and stable no matter how gnarly the trail gets.

The galvanized steel chassis can take a beating, and the 5-ton-rated rear recovery points mean you can get out of any sticky situations. It has a dry weight of 1,120 kg and is available in five color options.

And anyone looking to carry extra gear or toys will be happy to know it comes standard with an integrated Exorack System. The crossbars are adjustable and fit a variety of third-party mounting systems. Strap on your kayak, bike, or extra jerry cans and hit the road.

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Live-In Luxury

But what really sets the X3 apart is the interior. This is the first time Patriot Campers has offered a fully live-in model. The pop-out bunks and bed can sleep up to four people.

And the sleeping area also comes equipped with a convenient zip-up cover, allowing you to leave your bed completely made as you set up and pack down.

With a Pop Up Cafe, Pop Up power station, and space-saving dining table, the X3 packs a lot into a small space. And with the awning-covered exterior space, the outdoor kitchen is equally as plush.

The L-shaped kitchen is complete with a sink, stove, and enough room for a 75L fridge. And everything stores away securely when it’s time to ride the trails.

And if all that wasn’t enough, there’s also diesel heater, an exterior hot-water shower, a large pantry drawer, slide-out porta-potty, and plenty of storage.

We haven’t had a chance to test the X3, but from the looks of it, it’s a luxurious, capable camper trailer the whole family will enjoy. At $51,990, it’s certainly an investment, but it offers up a chance to get away from it all while staying plenty comfortable.

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Off-road campers and trailers have come a long way in recent years. Hitch one of these behind your pickup and hit the rocky road less traveled.

While pop-up campers and teardrop pull-behinds are nothing new, more and more brands today offer off-road capable trailers. Unlike trailers of old, these rugged campers sport big all-terrain tires and plenty of clearance to get down logging roads and doubletrack.

We hit the Denver RV Show this winter to find some of the most rugged trailers of 2020.

Note: All prices listed below are MSRP.

2020 Into the Wild Overland Boreas XT: $33,596

This small trailer rocks 18 inches of clearance and Timbren independent suspension to get through the gnarliest of trails. And while it offers small interior sleeping space for two, it brings a lot of backwoods chops to the table.

It has a large awning, a CFX50 refrigerator, a pass-through toolbox, a roof rack with 500-pound capacity, and an instant hot shower. You also get a kitchen, furnace, and 100 W of solar power.

2020 Opus OP 15 Hybrid Caravan: $45,000

At 15 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 8.5 feet tall (pop-top closed), the Opus Caravan is not ideal for tight trails. But it does pack 265/75R/16 mud tires for decent clearance for fire roads and trails.

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Inside, you can pamper yourself with a king-size bed and twin bunks. Bamboo interior cabinets, a gas hot-water system, and Dometic reverse-cycle air conditioning round out this pull-behind.

Airstream Basecamp X Off-Road Trailer: $37,000+

The iconic silver camping trailer got a lot smaller and more trail-friendly with the introduction of the Basecamp in 2016. It offers a convertible rear space that adapts for eating, sleeping, lounging, or storing gear. It even has an indoor kitchen, toilet, and shower.

Today, you can get the Basecamp X edition fitted with a 3-inch lift, good off-road tires, and stainless steel rock guards for even rougher roads.

Bruder EXP-4: $37,000

The Bruder EXP-4 has a remarkably versatile air-suspension system that adjusts up to 12 inches. This allows the trailer to adapt to super-rough or rutted trails or steep side-hilling. It also permits instant leveling for setup on not-so-level ground. But while the suspension is slick, it’s the foundation of an otherwise amazing small trailer.

The EXP-4 chassis is airtight and completely sealed. The undercarriage has rear recovery points and an optional WARN recovery winch. The chassis joins forces with the fully engineered EXP-4 body cell, which is made from lightweight composite material up to 60 mm thick — engineered to handle up to 10 times its own weight. It even has an R-value of over 5.1.

It’s still a small trailer though, sleeping two with an outdoor kitchen built into the back.

2020 Opus Air 4 Sleeper: $31,290

Using an air frame and lots of fabric tenting, this 2,800-pound trailer pops open to sleep up to six people. But with a width of just 6’4″ and 12.4 inches of ground clearance, this independent coil-suspension trailer should go anywhere you want to drive most SUVs or trucks.

It rocks a 30-amp electrical system and is prewired for solar to power an included Dometic refrigerator. For cold weather, it has a 16,000-BTU propane heater. Add-ons include an instant hot shower, king bed extension, and awning annex.

2020 TAXA Mantis: $51,105

Creative design underpins the Mantis trailer from TAXA Outdoors. With expanding panels, a pop-top roof, and ground clearance of 12 inches, the Mantis fits the brand’s bill of unique, utilitarian portable homes.

The Mantis is 19 feet long and 7’6″ wide but still weighs in at a scant 2,882 pounds. It sleeps four adults and runs a propane furnace, cooking, and hot water systems. It’s also prewired for solar panels.

2020 inTech Sol Dawn: $28,950

The Sol Dawn has a simple, time-tested design. But its big windows and 12-inch ground clearance will make it appealing for those who want to drag it down rough roads.

At 16 feet long and with an interior height of 6’3″, it gives plenty of room for two adults on an extended adventure. And at a dry weight of 2,695 pounds, you can pull it easily even with a smaller pickup or SUV.

2020 inTech Explore: $17,986

If the Sol is a little too “soft” for your taste, check out the Explore. A burly offering from inTech, the Explore rocks off-road tires. It’s meant to sleep two to six people while functioning as a toy-hauler for things like motorcycles and ATVs.

And thanks to the tip-out bed, outdoor kitchen, and roof rack, it not only hauls a lot of gear, but it also offers a comfy place to call it a night.

2020 Black Series Classic 12: $40,000

The Classic 12 rocks and independent suspension and pop-up design at about 3,300 pounds for fairly easy towing. Black Series designed it with a family of three in mind. It carries a 16-gallon freshwater tank, a double bed and bunk, and a 5-year structural warranty.

Camp 365: $20,000+

One of the most innovative camper designs we’ve seen in years, the Camp 365 is basically a Transformer. As a trailer, it’s sleek, compact, and narrow. It easily fits behind the slipstream of even smaller tow vehicles like a Subaru Outback.

But you can unfold the aluminum-alloy shell panels to create a 700-cubic-foot “cabin” that sleeps six with a full kitchen. It’s a really clever design that you can upgrade with large tires to give nearly a foot of clearance.

Black Series HQ15: $60,000

The HQ15 starts out with a whopping 18 inches of ground clearance, so it should be able to go anywhere your full-size truck will make it. And at 4,722 pounds, you’ll definitely want a full-size truck.

But once you’re at the end of the trail, this rugged trailer gives comfortable accommodations. The two 150W solar panels power a 30-amp electrical system. It carries 66 gallons of general water, 16 gallons of drinking water, and a propane heater.

Depending on the weather, choose between inside and outside kitchens.

Colorado Teardrop Basedrop: $13,000

Colorado Teardrops builds high-quality teardrop trailers just down the road from our Denver office. We stopped in last year to check out the manufacturing.

The brand explained how it uses a strong, light cabin made with an aluminum frame. It designs these small campers around a queen-size mattress and outdoor galley on a 2,200-pound suspension.

While the teardrop is a smaller platform, it gives you a lot of storage and sleeping space for minimal weight. It’s also one of the more affordable options with a rugged suspension and burly tires.

2020 Braxton Creek Bushwhacker: $12,500

The Braxton Creek Bushwhacker is another rugged little teardrop trailer. With a dry weight of 1,300 pounds and just 13’2″ long, you can pull this with fairly small tow vehicles like Jeeps and small SUVs. It provides an air-conditioned interior space for two adults to sleep as well as an outdoor kitchen.

While one of the smaller trailers in the lineup, it performs big with space to carry gear on a roof rack and a Torsion-Flex 2,200-pound independent-suspension axle with electric brakes and “Maxi-Clearance” design.

This compact travel trailer is only about 3 feet long, but it expands to sleep two adults in a 7-foot camper light enough to tow behind any car.

A couple of years ago, we covered the Hitch Hotel. The unique camper design mounts a 240-pound, expandable camper shell right on the hitch of your car, no trailer needed.

Well, this week, the brand launched a new product, the Hitch Hotel Traveler. Basically, it’s the original Hitch Hotel mounted on a small wheeled trailer.

The point is that a lot of smaller cars don’t perform well with a 240-pound mass hanging off their hitch. So putting them on a small rolling trailer and eliminating the hitch weight results in a much-easier-to-pull abode with higher cargo capacity.

Hitch Hotel on a Trailer

The original Hitch Hotel can hold 100 pounds of cargo directly on your hitch. Expanded, the platform can hold more than 1,000 pounds. It sits on pedestals built into the side of the trailer.

When closed, there are more than 60 cubic feet of storage. Opened, the Hitch Hotel provides a 135-cubic-foot sleeping space. That’s larger than a queen-size bed.

The original model launched on Kickstarter. It cost $4,499 retail with substantial discounts for early backers.

The addition of the trailer means small sedans can pull the Hitch Hotel. You can park the trailer, disconnect it from the hitch, and expand it. Then it can stay put in your camping space while you use the car for other trips.

Beyond that, using a wheeled trailer kit, you can carry more cargo weight inside the trailer, as it doesn’t put all the weight on the hitch tongue.

It’s another clever addition to an otherwise interesting and unique product. Learn more about the brand, which is publicly fundraising now, here.

One British Columbia-based couple decided to scale back their lives in order to save money and chase adventure.

Marc and Jen downsized — a lot. In fact, the duo moved into a tiny box truck they named Tessa. Why? They work remotely and prioritize hiking, skiing, and outdoor adventure over where they live.

Thinking about tiny or remote living? Take some advice from the couple that lived in a box truck for 2 years.

In this video, Marc and Jen give a tiny home tour and talk about everything from decluttering the kitchen and building storage to engine mechanics and insulation.

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They built out their truck’s solar power, adapted it for wood and electric heat systems, and even managed to live in a ski parking lot for months in the dead of winter.

Sound like fun? Watch the full video to get some more off-grid living inspiration.

From protein to crash pads, here’s how climber Alex Honnold keeps van life simple and comfortable as a travel veteran.

Alex Honnold is most recognized as one of the greatest adventure rock climbers in the world and the star of the nation’s first-ever Oscar-winning, mainstream climbing documentary, “Free Solo.”

Less acknowledged, he’s also a pioneer of van life before today’s wild popularity of upscale campers and well before Instagram existed as a place to share rig beta.

Honnold now lives in a house with his partner, Sanni McCandless, in Nevada, but by 2017 he’d lived in a van for a decade.

First, a 2002 Ford Econoline E150 served as his bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, gym, and storage room for 9 years. That mobile dwelling racked up close to 200,000 miles. Honnold then moved into an upgraded 2016 Dodge RAM ProMaster, which he still uses for trips today.

“For the 3 years that I’ve owned the house, we’ve probably used the van about half that time. I still spend a lot of time in Yosemite and always in the van,” said Honnold.

“And if nothing else, when we’re at home, the van acts as an extra guest bedroom. I’ve also loaned it to friends a bit when they’re in Vegas.”

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Van Life Essentials According to Alex Honnold

It’s worth noting that Honnold is sponsored by The North Face, Black Diamond, La Sportiva, and Goal Zero, among other brands.

That said, an endurance athlete like Honnold — who spends half of each month on the road to access particular terrain or work opportunities — puts these products and services to the test. So they need to be sturdy and supportive.

Here’s what he always stocks for home on the road.

Cookware

“I feel obligated to say the Black Diamond Honnold Signature Spatula, which benefits the Honnold Foundation. But really I don’t have any favorite cookware items. They all double as camping gear — it’s a pretty fluid exchange between the house, the van, and the great outdoors.”

Food

“For sure, the van is always pretty stocked with non-perishable snacks, so that it’s always ready to go. There are always basics like pasta or rice, as well as cans of soup or beans. I always have a decent supply of what I call ‘technical snacks’: bars and gels that are good for hiking or climbing. I’m also sponsored by Momentous, so I always have a store of their plant-based protein powder for recovery.”

Sleep Kit

“I don’t have strong preferences about bedding. In my old van, I slept on a crash pad in a sleeping bag for many years (though, that was understandably not that great for having a girlfriend). In the new van, I’ve just left bedding up to my [partner]. I sleep well in almost any condition.”

Training Tools

“I have a Beastmaker 2000 above my door — it’s my favorite hangboard, though there are a few other good ones. I normally have a foam roller and a lacrosse ball in the van as well for rolling things out. And I generally stretch on the floor a fair amount but with no other specific recovery tools.”

Tools for Gear Maintenance — Like a Portable Boot Dryer?

“Hahaha — is a portable boot dryer a real thing?! I’m definitely not that finicky about my gear. (And to be fair, I’m not generally using them in such extreme conditions). I just have drawers and bins, and then I try to keep things in the same places all the time. I think a big part of organization is just having a system and sticking to it.”

Cleaning Supplies

“I barely even use soap. The most important cleaning supply is my broom for sweeping the floor all the time. Every once in a while I wipe down the stove and the countertops, but I do my best to keep things clean by simply not making a mess. I don’t spill, and I’m careful with my cooking.”

Cosmetics — Such as Deodorant, a Solar Shower Bag, Dr. Bronner’s, etc.?

“I literally don’t use any of those. I have a towel and a bar of soap for when I use various showers. I’ve always thought that deodorant is a bit of a scam, but that might just be because I’m not naturally super stinky. I don’t sweat a ton, and I just don’t worry about it all too much.”

Lights

“In my new van, I use Goal Zero panels on the roof to feed into batteries (which are also charged by the alternator when the car is driving). There are LED lights built into the van, which I use when I’m inside. When I’m doing things outside, I almost exclusively use the Black Diamond Sprinter Rechargeable Headlamp, which I can charge in the van.”

Ethos

“For me, van life is basically a smaller, [uncluttered] version of home life. I still live basically the same way: I cook the same foods and engage in the same activities. There’s not a huge difference between van life and home life — except for the easier access to a bathroom and a shower in the house.”

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After 4 years of RVing across the U.S., this couple is venturing on their biggest journey yet — a trip north to the Arctic Ocean.

The Mortons have amassed quite the following with their YouTube channel, “Mortons on the Move.” Now, you may think camping and RVing across the U.S. is probably more fun in person, but the Mortons make watching pretty engaging.

Salmon fishing, driving on an arctic highway, jetskiing in Alaska, soaking in hot springs — the list of fun runs long. And the filming and editing are pretty impressive too. If you want to learn what it’s like to build out a camper and live in it for months on end, this is for you. It’s the simple, noble goal of pursuing the coolest travel and adventure.

The Mortons’ journey started last summer with the first episode, and they just published the 18th episode as they were leaving Alaska. They update the channel semi-monthly.

Tom and Caitlin Morton usually live full-time in a fifth-wheel RV. But for this trip, they enlisted a Lance Truck Camper to navigate the northernmost parts of North America.

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Mercedes-Benz is bringing a pop-top camper van to the U.S. market this spring. Based on features, the Metris-based Weekender might be the answer to our factory-offered camper dreams!

Mercedes-Benz is making a camper van? Say what? The new Mercedes-Benz Metris Weekender is a camper van and pop-up package. The van will have seating for five and sleeping for four.

It will be a great option for small families and couples who like to travel together. Its size and conveniences make it the perfect combo of a great daily driver and weekend adventure machine.

The weekender will be built by Driverge Vehicle Innovations in North Charleston, South Carolina, alongside the Mercedes-Benz factory. Mercedes has also partnered with Peace Vans on this project. Peace Vans is a Seattle-based van upfitter, renter, and restorer. It’s been upfitting Weekender packages on the Metris van for years now at a starting cost of $25,000.

“Pop-up campers are iconic and highly functional vehicles, “ said Robert Veit, VP and managing director of Mercedes-Benz USA Vans.

“We have known for a long time that this market need was unmet, as evidenced by the high demand for aging existing camper vans still on the road. With the help of our partners, we have utilized the Metris to create a product suited to those who seek adventure but also need a versatile vehicle for their day-to-day lives.”

The Metris Weekender

The Metris Weekender is packed with standard features, starting with the obvious elevating roof and upper sleep platform. The sleeping area features an integrated spring system, 2-inch memory foam mattress, three windows, and USB outlets. A second vehicle battery keeps your devices and campsite powered up.

Also standard is a rear bench seat that converts into a bed. It slides on a rail and locks in four locations, allowing for a wide range of cargo-carrying configurations. The front seats also both swivel. This greatly opens up and optimizes the interior living space to easily accommodate four people comfortably.

There’s a host of optional upgrades available on the Weekender. You can add things like solar panels, a roof rack, upgraded navigation, and even a vinyl wrap in one of 200 different colors. Camper upgrades available include an awning, door bug screens, and a pullout rear kitchen. A 1.5-inch lift is even available to get more ground clearance if needed.

“From adventure-seeking millennials to hip retirees, everyone is craving authentic and connected experiences to nature,” said Harley Sitner, president of Peace Vans.

“Small camper vans, like this exciting new Metris Weekender from Mercedes, hit a very large sweet spot in the market. Being experts in pop-up campers, we are confident Mercedes has a fantastic product that is going to delight an entire new generation of road-trippers.”

Mercedes-Benz Metris

Yes, the Metris is just a minivan. But it’s a really nice minivan! Not only is it super-refined, comfortable, quiet, safe, and easy to drive, but it’s also super capable.

The Metris can tow up to 5,000 pounds, has a massive payload capacity of 1,896 pounds, and has nearly 100 cubic feet of cargo room behind the second-row seats. It also averages 21 mpg and only needs to be serviced every 15,000 miles. The base price on the Metris is about $36,000, but it goes up quickly from there.

The Metris is far from perfect as an adventure vehicle, however. It only has 3.82 inches of ground clearance, which will make it tough to even get down some basic forest service roads without bottoming out. There’s also no diesel engine option or four-wheel drive offered on North American Metris models. Hopefully, there will be down the road.

The Weekender will be available at any Mercedes-Benz dealer starting this spring. Mercedes hasn’t announced pricing, but we’re guessing it will start north of $60,000 and quickly get much higher from there with options.

To find out more about the Mercedes-Benz Metris Weekender and get your preorder in early, click here. To sweeten the deal, the first 100 Weekender customers even get a free National Parks Pass with their van.

This Alberta, Canada-based YouTuber is taking camping to a whole new — very different — level.

“ABC, Always be camping,” reads Steve Wallis’ channel description. The camping guru has lived in tents, vehicles, yurts, remote forests, and more throughout all four of Canada’s seasons. In Canada, that means Fahrenheit temps as low as -40 up to 80 and above. It may seem niche, yet Wallis has accrued over 280,000 subscribers.

And he’s always up to something strange, like when he camped in a U-Haul in -40-degree weather. If you’re interested in van life and live somewhere cold, this video is a good reference point — especially for the less-glamorous aspects of the lifestyle.

Engel Fridge for Van Build: 6-Month Review

Engel’s portable fridge/freezer series incorporates first-rate designs and modern tech to help you get — and stay — off the beaten path. I put the SR70F refrigerator through real-life testing in my van build for this review. Read more…

Video highlights include how to insulate windows, Wallis’ two cents on the best portable propane heaters, and more.

Be warned: Wallis is an oddball with a surprising amount of skill. He knows a lot about frost and ice buildup and thermal regulation, yet his dinner choice is stewing pork and a banana. Still, we like his commitment to showing us how much stealth camping can offer.

(Note: U-Haul does not endorse van camping, but it’s also not illegal according to the company’s van rental agreement. So if you want to embrace Wallis’ stealthiness, go right ahead. Also, GearJunkie can’t officially endorse it either, as we haven’t tried it.)

Engel’s portable fridge/freezer series incorporates first-rate designs and modern tech to help you get — and stay — off the beaten path. I put the SR70F refrigerator through real-life testing in my van build for this review.

There’s a laundry list of options when it comes to portable fridges, from compressor and gas-powered fridges to thermoelectric options that come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

So deciding which one is appropriate for your end-use can be stressful. We used the SR70F with an eye toward efficiency, effectiveness, and durability.

Engel began designing fridges in Japan in 1962, finally bringing its products to the U.S. market in 1999. Now, Engel boasts an extensive line of products for RVs, van conversions, marine use, and more.

The brand’s portable fridge/freezer units range from 14 to 85 quarts, with some easily carried on your shoulder. When given the opportunity to test out two of Engel’s more robust models, I happily obliged.

In short: My partner and I decided on integrating the SR70F into our RAM ProMaster build. After 6 months of full-time use and numerous trips off the grid, I’m impressed with the efficiency and durability of this small fridge/freezer built into my cabinets. But there are a few things I’d like to see changed.

Continue reading for the full review.

Engel SR70F Fridge/Freezer Review

After finalizing the layout of my 2016 RAM ProMaster, it was finally time to tackle appliances. I did a bunch of research and contacted Engel, who was kind enough to give me the SR70F for my build. Thanks, Engel!

And while the brand did gift me the cooler, I’m going to share the good and bad I’ve experienced so far with you. I decided on this model because its optimal size, solar compatibility, and general spec sheet made it a no-brainer.

Efficiency

Like many portable refrigerators meant for in-vehicle use, the Engel SR70F is extremely efficient. According to Engel’s product page, the SR70F unit’s power consumption varies from 0.5 to 2.7 amps (12V DC). Thus far, this metric has been accurate.

I incorporated three 100W solar panels and two 12V 100AH AGM marine batteries to store energy. On full-sun days, I tend to pull anywhere from 3 to 5 amps, while the fridge uses around 0.5 amps in its normal state (1-2 amps upon startup).

So I’ve had no problem keeping this fridge running on my panels and marine batteries alone.

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To be sure, I do a decent amount of driving with the van acting as my main vehicle. This means the batteries often have time to regenerate beyond the use of solar. Regardless of how it’s regenerated, the SR70F is extremely efficient using around 1-1.3 AH over 24 hours.

Ample Space

For my RAM ProMaster, the SR70F is an ideal size. With external dimensions of 20 x 23 x 21 inches and a weight of 44.8 pounds, it was easy to handle and install into my cabinet-like space.

Engel specifically sized the SR70F, along with its SB70F and SR48F units, to fit industry-standard cutouts. To me, it seems like the right model for smaller van builds like mine. Engel also makes bigger models for RVs and yachts, too, as do other brands like Dometic.

But for a van-life build, the SR70F’s 60-quart volume doesn’t leave me wanting much in terms of space. One can easily stuff it full of fresh fruits and vegetables to eat the morning before a big ride, or stock it full of their favorite cold beverages to enjoy afterward. If you’re like me, it will most likely be a mix of both.

This is a must-have when living full-time out of your vehicle. Additionally, the side-opening door is convenient for everyday use and is extremely helpful for keeping food and beverages organized. The door is also reversible and can easily be switched depending on the needs of the space.

Engel SR70F Effectiveness

The SR70F keeps food and drinks cold. It integrates a simple dial-knob above the door that has five settings. My unit generally sits around setting 2, which is perfect for keeping fresh fruits and fragile vegetables like berries, spinach, and broccoli from spoiling.

Any setting higher than this is generally too cold. I do keep a steady eye on this, as temperature swings can lead to unwanted condensation within the fridge or on frozen foods and beverages.

This model has a small freezer compartment built in. I find myself using the freezer component more often than I initially figured. I do wish it was a little bigger, but it’s large enough to fit a few of your favorite cold desserts or leftovers from dinner.

Another minor drawback is the inability to turn the freezer component off completely. At times it would be more efficient to use the entirety of the unit as a fridge. This would free up additional space and, most likely, take care of any issues related to condensation.

With that said, this is a trivial inconvenience, especially with the amount of ice cream that gets eaten in my van.

To date, the SR70F has also held up terrifically to over 10,000 miles of driving — split between smooth highways, pothole-laden city streets, and backcountry maintenance roads.

There’s little to no show of wear and tear, with no compromise to the integrity of the unit or its usability. It’s built into the cabinet structure with little room to move, but even so, I’ve been impressed with its durability.

Is this the dream life? Adventure couple Aaron Gulley and Jen Judge think so.

In April 2016, journalist Aaron Gulley and photographer Jen Judge moved into their Airstream trailer and haven’t looked back. Watch as GearJunkie spends a few days with Aaron and Jen exploring life on the road.

Check out our tips for working from the road in our Out of Office series.

On the Road With Wandering Pros Aaron Gulley and Jen Judge

For Aaron Gulley and Jen Judge, the open road is home. We caught up with them just long enough to ask what it’s like living in and working from their home office on wheels. Read more…

Director/Editor: Brendan Lauer
Featuring: Aaron Gulley and Jen Judge

This film is presented by Go RVing.

A U.K. YouTuber unveiled a rendering for a Tesla pull-behind camper designed specifically for the Cybertruck. And it looks as wild as the truck itself.

MotorHomeMan has fewer than 1,500 subscribers to his YouTube channel. But that’s likely to change, as the British auto vlogger this month published an image of what could become the next big thing in camper trailers.

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“I’ve got some exciting news: I’ve just bought a Cybertruck from Tesla,” MotorHomeMan said on his latest video. “I had this lightbulb moment — maybe I could use this as a motorhome or a truck to tow an RV or a fifth-wheel.”

So the YouTube author commissioned renderings of a fifth-wheel. What he and a designer came up with is an uncanny match for the polygon-happy Cybertruck.

Cybertruck Trailer

According to the electric-power news site Electrek, Tesla founder Elon Musk teased a “sick attachment for the Cybertruck,” further fueling speculation around a potential pull-behind. Plus, the brand touted the Cybertruck’s more than 14,000-pound towing capacity at its launch event last month.

What’s more, Tesla released both a preliminary rendering of a trailer for the Cybertruck and a built-in camping configuration for the truck itself.

But MotorHomeMan’s rendering bears a more striking resemblance to the Cybertruck’s futuristic and admittedly jarring aesthetic. The vlogger also showed off a cab-over concept as well, but he noted it “needs a bit of work.”

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for any official announcement of the Cybertruck’s accessories.

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In early 2019, we sold everything, packed up an RV, and said goodbye to a fixed address.

When we decided to purchase an RV and travel full-time, it didn’t come as a surprise to our friends and family. Our definition of home has always been flexible. For several years we lived in a cabin in Alaska and once spent an entire ski season holed up in a hotel room. Adopting a home on wheels may have bucked convention for some people, but not us.

Like many full-time RV dwellers, our evolution from weekend escapists to perennial drifters didn’t happen overnight. In an ironic twist, we only became RV-curious after moving into a sprawling modern house nestled in the burbs.

Over time, the walls of our dream home started to close in. Vacations seemed painfully short, house maintenance neverending, and the daily grind too boring to bear. Driving by the local RV dealer every day only added to our sense of stagnation.

I don’t recall the exact moment we both mentally abandoned our brick-and-mortar lifestyle. The transition first started with a subconscious reduction in possessions. Multiple garage sales eventually thinned our home so much it echoed with emptiness.

In preparation for a pending departure, one as yet planned, we squirreled away extra funds and streamlining our finances. My wife later described the whole process as “un-nesting.” Maps and RV brochures started to show up on the kitchen counter with more frequency, and then one day we voiced the plan aloud, “Let’s do it. Let’s buy an RV.”

The final mooring line to cast off proved the most nerve-wracking. That was the day my wife tendered her resignation and said farewell to a longtime and stable job in finance. If there was a point of no return, that was it.

As a full-time journalist and photographer, I have always worked from home. In addition to freelance work, I founded a nonprofit organization providing safe drinking water solutions to rural communities in Nepal. With the project gaining momentum, my wife didn’t have to find a new job with a digital commute. We had her new gig already waiting as our director of operations.

In the months prior to purchasing our RV, we spent countless hours poking our heads in travel trailers and motorhomes in an effort to best match our needs and wants. Doubts arose as we thought about the logistics of living and working from the road.

While some mobile pros find it feasible to work from a tiny van, we needed more elbow room to prepare for our extended forays into the Himalayas. We settled on a 32-foot fifth-wheel trailer as the ideal solution.

The large floor space and cavernous storage bins help us stage the piles of gear we regularly lug to Kathmandu. The dining table, seldom used for meals, seems perpetually covered in travel documents, permit forms, field reports, and maps scribbled with notes.

Given the 12-hour time difference between the Rockies and the Himalayas, midnight in our RV often involves satellite phone calls with our ground operators in the remote corners of Nepal.

The only constraint we now have is finding a place to camp with sufficient connectivity to use our various communication tools. Through the marvel of technology, we can instantly transport ourselves to Nepal through video chats with doctors, government officials, or just to see what’s happening on the ground in real time.

In June, we helped coordinate response efforts for a Himalayan village ravaged by monsoon rains and landslides. And we did all of that from a river camp in Colorado.

We never would have imagined we could so easily manage our project on the other side of the world from the cozy comforts of an RV. When the time comes to embark on our multiweek stints in Nepal, we simply roll our rig into a gated storage facility, lock the door, and know when we return our life on the road is ready and waiting.

As much as we love our time in Nepal, we often get homesick for our unfettered and untethered life on the open roads of America.

Many people have asked if we’ll ever return to a home with a fixed foundation. I know we will in due time. But for the moment, we wouldn’t part with the ability to focus on our work while remaining stress-free through the magic of RV travel.

One thing continually resonates with us each time we hitch up our trailer in search of a new place to camp and work: Why didn’t we do it sooner?

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

Venture RV built the forward-thinking Sonic X as a design study to create a buzz at the RV trade show back in March. That it did, and now it’s bringing the creative RV trailer to market in 2020. RVBusiness noticed — and named the Sonic X the 2020 RV of the Year.

There were quite a few innovative RVs in the running this year for the RV of the Year award. Most finalists for the award offered a single new design or component breakthrough. RVBusiness chose the Venture RV Sonic X because it “[bridges] the gap between creative thinking and sheer marketability.”

Venture RV was able to take nearly every feature from its Sonic X concept trailer and bring them to production. Sure, it shed the carbon fiber walls in favor of fiberglass. It also went from nine solar panels to four. But these changes help keep costs reasonable.

The Sonic X starts at $47,000 MSRP.

Sonic X: RV Takes Cues From Overland World

In some areas, like water filtration, Venture RV was actually able to improve upon the prototype.

“We upgraded the water filtration system to truly be a one-of-a-kind system that will draw water up to 75 feet away, from a 6-foot drop,” said Aram Koltookian, president of KZ RV (Venture RV’s parent company).

“It first goes through a 5-micron filter, then through an active oxygen generator and yet another micron filter. So it removes all of the contaminants — iron, lead, sulfur, all of those things that make water taste foul — and sanitizes the water system.”

That type of high-quality, self-sufficient system is often reserved for high-end overland-style builds.

The Venture RV Sonic X creates a full-featured off-grid base camp for active outdoor adventures. Two floorplans are on offer, one with a rear bath and another with rear twin beds, and both have a single driver’s-side slideout.

The Sonic X is ready for light off-road adventures and has enough onboard capacity for living off the grid for weeks at a time.

With aluminum framework construction, good ground clearance, and 15-inch AT tires, the Sonic X should be relatively off-road capable. It also has rock guards, a tubular nerf bar bumper system, and LED light bars in the front and back to complete the rugged off-road look.

The base Sonic X weighs in at 5,220 pounds. It can handle up to 1,780 pounds of supplies and adventure gear. And filling the trailer’s massive 78-gallon freshwater tank would quickly take up a lot of that capacity. That much water weighs 650 pounds.

The Venture RV Sonic X has all the creature comforts you could ask for, including heat and AC. The optional rear adventure gear storage carrier is also a nice touch, as is the optional hidden rifle storage compartment.

Whether you need a base camp for your next kayaking, skiing, or hunting trip, the Venture RV Sonic X is worth considering.

Every November at the annual industry-only automotive aftermarket show, brands reveal the best new overland and off-road products. These are our favorites.

The SEMA Show is immense. But over a few days earlier this month, I dug through the aisles to find products that should make waves in 2019. These are the 10 best new products on display for overlanding at the SEMA Show. Which would elevate your next automotive adventure?

Icon Vehicle Dynamics 2.5 Aluminum Series Shocks

Icon Vehicle Dynamics makes some the highest-quality off-road shocks around. It continuously pushes for more and is now transitioning its entire 2.5 Series to a one-piece aluminum shock body construction, where it’s now a two-piece steel shock body.

There are a number of big improvements that this construction offers, which include better heat dissipation, lighter weight, and a much stronger shock body. Anodizing and Cerakote coatings will also ensure there will be much-improved corrosion resistance.

The new Icon 2.5 Aluminum Series shocks will hit the market in early 2020 and be the same price as the current steel offerings. The one exception to this is that there will initially not be an aluminum coil-over setup, but the brand is working on that.

Yakima LockNLoad Platform Rack System

The Yakima LockNLoad platform rack system has been on offer and tested in Australia for many years now. Yakima is just now introducing the system to the U.S. market for a wide range of popular vehicles.

Besides being a clean and strong design, the LockNLoad platform rack system also offers up a full host of quality, secure accessory mounts. Mounts for jerry cans, Maxtrax, Hi-Lift, shovels, and more are available.

Dometic CFX 3 Series 55IM 12V Fridge

Dometic is the world’s largest RV accessory supplier and has been heavily marketing its quality 12V fridges to the overland market the past few years. For 2020, Dometic is fully updating its CFX line of 12V fridges.

The new Dometic CFX 3 Series will be available in February. The brand has dropped a few fridge sizes — the 40, 50, and 65 — and replaced them with a 45 and 55IM. The updated fridges will have a new digital control panel with more features and be controllable through a new Bluetooth-connected app.

The Dometic CFC 3 Series 55IM is going to be the big seller. Not only is it a usable-size fridge for a wide range of vehicles, but it also offers up an icemaker.

While it’s only a single-zone fridge, it has two small ice trays with lids on a rapid-freeze plate in the fridge. Who doesn’t want ice for their campfire cocktails? The 55IM weighs in at 46.97 pounds and can hold 83 12-ounce cans of your favorite beverage.

Suntop JLU SunTent

Suntop will bring us a new bread of rooftop tent (RTT) in spring 2020. The new Suntop SunTent is specifically designed for the Jeep Wrangler JLU. The SunTent converts a Suntop soft-top into a streamlined, wedge-style RTT.

A Suntop soft-top will cost you about $850, and the SunTent will run another $1,800.

AEV Steel Wheels

American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) has once again brought us a high-quality, tested product designed to take the abuse of remote overland travel.

The new AEV 17×8 Steel Wheel is designed to offer the correct offset for 37-inch tires on a Jeep Wrangler or Gladiator and 35s on the Chevy Colorado. Tacoma fitment is also in the works. They will be available in mid-2020 and run about $159 each.

WARN Subaru Crosstrek Winch Bumper

WARN is the industry leader in winches and also offers a wide range of bumpers and other off-road accessories. It has now expanded its offerings even more with a Subaru Crosstrek (2019 ) winch bumper.

The bumper is designed to work with up to a 6,000-pound powersports winch and has an optional tubular grille guard. The bumper is a direct bolt-on unit but does require a bit of plastic trimming.

The WARN Crosstrek winch bumper is available now for $749, with the grille guard costing another $162.

Factor 55 Rope Retention Pulley

The recovery ring has been around in the off-road world for some time but is just now getting popular. It’s basically a pulley, or snatch block, designed to be used in conjunction with a synthetic-lined winch. It’s much smaller and lighter than a traditional pulley/snatch block.

Factor 55 has refined the recovery ring and addressed one of its major weaknesses: rope retention. Factor 55 is calling its new recovery device the Rope Retention Pulley. It is a recovery ring that has six silicone rope retention fingers around it so the winch line doesn’t fall out of the ring when not under tension.

Besides the silicone fingers, the outside has been Teflon-coated for reduced friction on the soft shackle. The Factor 55 Rope Retention Pulley will be available near the end of the year and retail for $110.

Decked Truck-Bed Toolbox

DECKED is known for its quality plastic truck-bed platform drawer systems. In mid-2020, it’s also going to offer a truck-bed toolbox. The toolbox will have a ton of security features, including a Bluetooth locking mechanism, which is solar-powered.

The box will also feature springs in the hinge rather than struts at the sides. This will make it super easy to access everything from both sides without the struts being in the way like they are on most boxes.

The truly awesome feature of this new truck-bed toolbox is the optional built-in retractable ladder. The ladder will make loading adventure gear atop a roof rack or truck-bed rack super easy.

American Adventure Lab Gladiator Bed Rack System

Probably the most talked-about Jeep Gladiator at SEMA 2019 was this creation by American Adventure Lab. The main reason it was so talked about was the S.A.R.T. (Sliding Articulating Rooftop Tent) bed-rack system.

The bed rack not only allows for adventure gear on top, accessories on the sides, and gear in the truck bed, but it also offers up an articulating RTT platform. This allows the RTT to stow neatly out of the way and be flat when deployed, no matter the terrain the truck is on at the time.

The American Adventure Lab S.A.R.T. Gladiator bed-rack system costs $2,500.

Bear Bones Overland Trailer

Bear Bones Systems has created this single-wheel overland trailer. It calls it the CMTS, or Configurable Minimalist Trailer System.

The idea is that it can be pulled behind just about any vehicle, is super small for storage, and fully configurable for a wide range of gear-hauling applications. It can haul dirtbikes, bicycles, kayaks, and more. The new trailer will be available soon and set you back about $4,000.

The MoonShade Portable Awning is a light and packable awning for overlanding vehicles and more.

Awnings for overlanding vehicles can be big, expensive, complicated, and, most permanently, mounted to the vehicle, where they can negatively impact mileage. Moon Fabrications created a tent-like design to solve these issues and expand flexibility.

The San Francisco brand launched its MoonShade on Kickstarter last month, and we got our hands on a preproduction sample for this first look review.

The MoonShade (from $300) creates a 9 x 7-foot awning through the familiar, flexible aluminum-pole-and-clip architecture found in tents. It’s an alternative to permanently mounted awnings common on adventure vehicles and can be used on multiple vehicles, without the negatives of a permanently mounted awning.

MoonShade Construction

Moon Fabrications chose 420-denier ripstop polyester (solution-dyed, recycled yarn), with a UV 50-plus topcoat and a reflective coating on the bottom. Most consider polyester to be more resistant to UV rays than nylon, and the reflective coating ensures total light blockage and disperses lantern light.

Two 12mm aluminum-alloy (7001) poles and plastic clips support the shade. Each corner has a carabiner to attach one edge to any stationary object. If that object is a tree or similar, a 19mm aluminum-alloy strut pole maintains the structure. Two sectional and adjustable 19mm support poles hold up the opposite edge. You can set up the MoonShade with either the 9- or 7-foot side facing out.

Four 2mm guy lines, four Y-profile aluminum-alloy stakes, and four suction cups (to mount to truck roofs and more) round out the MoonShade setup options. And all of it fits in a 28 x 6-inch, 420-denier ripstop polyester case with a zipper. The entire system weighs a verified 7 pounds 14 ounces.

The MoonShade is available on Kickstarter now for $300, and MSRP is $350.

MoonShade Setup

I purposely set the MoonShade up on my van for the first time without referencing instructions. I think anyone familiar with modern tents could do the same. The total time was 10 minutes, with most of that dedicated to establishing the correct distance between anchor points on my roof rack to match the distance between carabiners on the shade.

The tension-pole ends fit into PVC-coated corner pockets, and the adjustable-length support poles engaged the usual grommets. Guy lines were girth-hitched into webbing loops on the two front corners.

The second setup took less than 5 minutes — about half the initial setup time.

I have a tall van; I had to use a ladder on first use to establish the ring anchors on the roof rack. The MoonShade has a clever pull cord system to open the carabiner gate, which made attaching to my rack a ladder-less, single-person affair. It was best to keep a pull cord attached to both rear carabiners to save time.

First Impressions

In calm conditions, the MoonShade did exactly as designed: It protected from sun and precipitation. The canopy material and inner reflective coating blocked all light. And the shade did a fair job of spreading lantern light from the included central hook. (There are other various hanging points on the underside as well.)

Much like a tent, the ultimate strength of the MoonShade depended on the guy lines remaining taut and the poles holding shape. I only tested the shade in relatively calm winds, and with two front guy lines, the shade was solid.

More guy lines may be necessary with stronger winds. But I felt the MoonShade would withstand the same winds as the $1,000 electric shade on the other side of my van, which would require support legs and similar guy lines to do so.

The MoonShade is simple and packable, making it a contender for anyone planning an adventure van or overlanding vehicle build. And for me, I would still use it even though I already have a permanently mounted awning.

The sun moves, and, most of the time, I can’t or won’t move the van to chase the shade. At times, I also want more shade than one awning will provide. The ability to use the shade on multiple vehicles is a huge bonus.

Conclusions

The Moon Fabrications MoonShade guards against the sun and precipitation — in the same conditions as permanently mounted awnings without the associated drawbacks. It’s worlds lighter, more compact, and easier to deploy than EZ Ups.

For those planning a vehicle build, it’s a cost-effective option because it’s usable on multiple vehicles. And for those already with a vehicle and awning, it’s an easy, compact way to increase the area of your awning.

You found a great spot to hole up for a few days, but how do you find off-grid electricity to power your RV office? Here, we evaluate methods to make, store, and manage electricity while boondocking.

Most RVs have only one or two deep-cycle batteries tasked to operate slide-outs, awnings, landing gear, leveling jacks, and a few lights. Ask too much of them, and they may not last a weekend. For the working professional, reliable electricity isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity.

Off-Grid RV Electricity: Fire Up the Generator

For years, the gas-powered generator was the bane of the backwoods: loud, smelly, and prone to failure. A gallon of gasoline yields only enough electricity for a 24-hour camping cycle. While some larger RVs include onboard generators, most people in small motorhomes and trailers opt for a portable unit.

The latest generators bear little resemblance to their predecessors. Models like the Cummins Onan P2500i and P4500i fit in the small storage spaces of most RVs and are easy to transport, operate, and maintain.

Our electrical demands have evolved over the years. So newer units include advanced features like remote starters, voltage displays, and automatic throttle control to maximize fuel efficiency and reduce noise levels.

It seems ill-advised to plug something as delicate as a laptop into a gas-powered machine. But newer units generate clean, sine-wave electricity safe for all devices.

If you live off the beaten path with much frequency, a generator will likely top your gear list.

Soak Up the Sun: Solar Electric RV Options

You can’t beat free electricity. With no need for fuel or upkeep, the silent operation of a solar panel retains the blissful tranquility of your remote hideout. If there’s a downside other than the occasional cloudy day, it’s the initial outlay of cash. The more power you require, the higher the price you pay for it.

Before you dive into a solar-powered solution, you must first calculate your wattage needs, including all of the many devices you plan to power.

How long you intend to draw power from a single charge influences the capacity of the battery, or batteries, you need. The power output of the panel array determines the speed at which the batteries recharge. Inverters and controllers manage the delivery of power, in and out, to meet the surge and sustained wattage currents of your RV’s appliances, lights, and outlets.

It seems like a simple solution, but solar tech is a rabbit hole from which many RV owners never return. High-wattage systems, typically hard-mounted to the roof, generate sufficient energy to run small air conditioners, laptops, and even TVs. But they’re complicated to install — and expensive. Expect to pay at least $3,000 for that level of self-contained power production for a large travel trailer or motorhome.

To streamline sun power, manufactures like Go Power! sell ready-to-install kits complete with solar panels, inverters, connectors, controllers, and batteries. The brand’s website includes a wattage calculator to help guide buyers to the best solution for their individual needs.

Maybe you’re not ready to commit to a comprehensive built-in system. Well, a small plug-and-play kit with a dedicated power pack might be the way to go. Portable panels like the Goal Zero Boulder 100W produce just enough wattage to trickle-charge an onboard RV battery or the brand’s own power packs.

Portable Power Packs: Batteries for Camping

The advent of lithium batteries created a growing number of convenient power products with superb RV utility. Brands like Xantrex make high-capacity battery systems with enough juice to keep a laptop running for several days.

Unlike a hard-mounted RV battery, they are easy to move from one vehicle to the next, or under a shady tree while you crank out a few emails. As a backup or alternative to a gas generator, power packs require no maintenance other than the occasional recharge.

To keep them topped off, most units pair to medium-size solar panels. Options like the Go Power GP-FLEX-100 provide flexible, ultra-portable charging solutions. Whether you travel in a Subaru with a rooftop tent or a full-size travel trailer, a power pack of any size always earns its keep.

Assuage the Surge: Protect Your RV Batteries

It’s fun to camp far from other people. But the occasional RV park stopover offers a chance to empty storage tanks, access free Wi-Fi, and plug into 30- or 50-amp shore power.

But easy access to electricity presents dangerous potential. Without a surge protector for your RV, a drop in current or a heavy jolt could fry your entire electronic ecosystem. It’s not uncommon to hear of RV owners losing expensive equipment. Air-conditioning units, kitchen appliances, laptops, entertainment systems, all of the delicate circuits within an RV’s control panel — nothing is safe.

For the power pedants, the Watchdog 30/50 Amp Smart Surge Protector with Auto Shutoff pairs to your smartphone so you can assess troublesome currents in real time at a glance. If the plug detects a disturbance in the Force, it immediately isolates your RV. Nobody wants to buy a $275 power plug, but it could save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

Once you select the best solution for your needs, you have the power to stay in the wilderness for days on end while still making paychecks. And that’s what it’s all about.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

The modular van upfitter rolls out a new model that can haul more adventurers. But it’s more than a people-hauler.

VanDOit of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, released a new model in its modular adventure van lineup yesterday, dubbed the “LIV.” It will replace the current GO model and will be offered alongside the popular DO model on the same Ford Transit passenger van platform, including the all-new 2020 AWD Transit.

The LIV will offer all the features of and a similar floorplan to the GO model, but it allows third-row passenger seating without having to raise the bed platform. This addition allows the LIV to ferry up to eight passengers while maintaining the bed configuration.

Additional upgrades featured in the new LIV are as follows:

• Battery bank system extended by 50 amp hours
• Rear side cabinet electronic system with battery bank (instead of inside the passenger sliding door), creating more space
• Wood grain-style marine-grade flooring, cabinetry, and gear slide
• External, foldable, portable solar expansion panels and port
• Flush-mounted solar panels with increased 390 charging watts on the exclusive VanDOit easy-mount roof rack
• Multilocation audio controls
• Thule Hideaway, non-electrical mechanical awning
• Optional galley kitchen with overhead hanging cabinets, wall cabinets, and upright refrigerator (removable kitchen pod and refrigerator still available)

Why VanDOit?

Modularity. Do you need to haul a bunch of kids to the soccer game but still want to camp in remote locations with the comforts of an RV? VanDOit makes changing configurations a simple and tool-free affair.

In the DO model, I’ve hauled my family of three to Disney World, camping along the way with a bunk bed system, kitchen pod, and fridge. I’ve also transported two dirtbikes and associated gear for a ride day. I needed more storage space, so I removed the kitchen pod and second-row seats, and attached a Bolt It On Motorcycle Restraint system — all of which took a few minutes.

And right now it’s in Home Depot mode, with everything removed behind the driver and passenger seats. An aluminum internal, self-supporting skeleton grid with an internal T-track provides secure attachment of items almost anywhere. A final trademark of VanDOit is the use of marine-grade materials and fasteners; no wood or wood screws to rattle loose or absorb moisture or odors.

The LIV Follows Suit

The LIV maintains the garage space of the GO model under the hydraulic bed platform, with a slide that makes accessing gear a breeze. The slide also functions as a lower bunk and exterior platform for work, cooking, or dining.

The real kicker is a folding leaf on the front edge of the hydraulically lifted sleeping platform that provides space for third-row seating without raising it, forming a people-hauler (up to eight passengers) that maintains the functional queen/king bed without any shenanigans.

The new possible seating arrangements in the LIV cater to families and multiperson pursuits. Prices range from $59,800 to $108,800 depending on base vehicle and options, and the current wait time is 7 months.

For Aaron Gulley and Jen Judge, the open road is home. We caught up with them just long enough to ask what it’s like living in and working from their home office on wheels.

As a freelance journalist and contributing editor to Outside Magazine, Aaron Gulley lives the part of a full-time adventurer.

When not dispatched to the far corners of the globe, he and his wife, Jen Judge, an editorial and commercial photographer, live in an Airstream. It’s a life many people aspire to, but what’s blending adventure and occupation really like?

RV Life: Pro Writer Shares Tales From the Road

GearJunkie: When did you start living and working full-time in your Airstream? Do you still have a home base?

Gulley: We bought Artemis in April 2016 and spent the better part of that year touring around, though we kept a home base during that period and were also frequently in Santa Fe. We rented our home out in January 2017 and have been fairly continuously on the road ever since.

We still own a house in Santa Fe, and it came open early this summer. So, to help manage a huge load of international work and travel, we set up shop in Santa Fe from May to July. New renters moved into the house in August, and we are back on the road full-time now.

For many people, living full-time on the open road is just a dream, one never made a reality. How difficult was it to cut the tethers of a fixed address and start traveling? What prompted you to make the change?

We sort of drifted into road life. About 10 years ago, I was heavily into endurance mountain bike racing and slightly obsessed with an event called the Arizona Trail Race, which was held every April. Jen and I started spending stints every winter in Tucson so I could ride and train in warm weather.

At first, it was a few weeks, then a month, then a couple of months. After renting a small casita several years in a row, we began considering buying a property down there where we could build a small winter getaway that would double as a rental. At some point, Jen said, “If we bought a trailer instead of land, we could go to new places every year.”

I was initially skeptical: I thought it would be too difficult to manage work from the road. But Jen rented a vintage Airstream for her birthday that year, and, after spending a week boondocking in the Superstition Mountains, I was sold. That was mid-March, and we found Artemis, bought her, and moved in within the month.

Living in an Airstream qualifies as a bold lifestyle choice, and it had to have come with a few sacrifices. Is there anything you miss about a brick-and-mortar domicile?

Mostly, no. We love the simplicity of having just the bare day-to-day necessities, very little space to clean and keep up, and less distraction of internet and TV.

We have a very nice shower in the Airstream, but I do miss the luxury of an occasional long, hot shower, which just isn’t possible because of our limited tank size and the infrequency of refills. But that’s just an extravagance.

If I have one real complaint, it’s laundry: There’s basically nothing redeeming about trips to a laundromat. Managing the postal service is also a challenge. We have our mail forwarded to a post box in Santa Fe, and the owner sorts, bundles, and ships it to us every few weeks, which works okay.

But bills and important notifications get delayed or lost. Once, I received a jury duty notice 2 days before I was supposed to appear, and we had to race back to Santa Fe.

Why did you choose your Airstream? Is there anything you would do differently with your setup if given a chance, and do you have any advice for anyone about to pull the trigger on an RV?

The biggest decision was between a trailer, a van, or a truck camper for the pickup. Since we schemed about living in the setup full-time, a trailer became the obvious choice, both for the abundance of space as well as the ability to leave camp without breaking down your home every time.

We are design people and value quality space, so the aesthetics were what drew us to Airstream. After we looked at lots of trailer options, though, it became clear that Airstreams are simply better built and more durable than pretty much anything out there, and we firmly believe in that old adage “buy it once, buy it right.”

Lots of people are still happily driving around in 50- and 60-year-old models. Airstreams also hold their value quite well — we could probably sell ours today for what we paid for it.

As working professionals, being on the move must present unique challenges. How do you stay connected to your work obligations while balancing travel? Is it difficult to compartmentalize work life from your wanderings?

All we really need to work is cell reception to run a wireless hotspot, so the biggest challenge is simply finding a campsite where we can be connected.

We actually find it easier to compartmentalize on the road: At home, it’s easy to let your workdays bleed on and on, whereas on the road we want to bang out our daily tasks as efficiently as possible so that we can get out and enjoy our constantly new surroundings. Also, we have to manage electricity carefully, which means we simply can’t be on the computers all day every day.

Probably the most difficult thing to juggle is our international work when Jen or I — or most challengingly, both of us — have to go abroad on assignments. It can be tricky to find a place to store an Airstream for weeks at a time on short notice.

The two of you have been at this a while, so I’m curious about your travel habits. Do you have a circuit of favorite haunts you like to revisit, or is every season a chance to explore new parts of the country? How wide is your migratory range? Any favorite spots you care to share?

When we pass through terrain we’ve already seen, we generally stop at the same sites, mostly because we’ve taken the time to scout them once and know they are good and will work for us.

But probably the biggest appeal of road life for us is having access to new trails to ride, rivers to boat, mountains to explore, and vistas to savor, so we try to keep venturing out.

So far, that has been over a swath of the Rocky Mountain West, from Arizona and New Mexico in the south up to Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana in the north. We’ll likely hit Arkansas and Texas for the first time in the trailer this autumn, and we’re talking about either the Pacific Northwest or Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin) next year.

But the other thing we like about the nomadic life is the freedom to go where whim leads, so we also try not to get caught up in any grand route-planning and just enjoy wherever we land.

With a medium-sized travel trailer, you have the flexibility to wiggle into some great spots far off the grid. Do you prefer to dry camp much of the time, or do you hole up in the occasional RV park?

We dry camp on national forest, BLM, and state trust lands (where permitted) about 90 percent of the time. The big appeal is the solitude and the quiet, though the cost — free — doesn’t hurt either.

We’re not above pulling into an RV park for a night, especially when we need to do laundry and fill our tanks. But when we’re in a dense neighborhood setting like that, we always think, “If we’re going to live like this, we might as well be back home in our beautiful house.”

For anyone about to become a full-time traveler, what do you think is the biggest misconception about life on the road? Many people think it’s free living. Others may not appreciate the logistical hurdles. Do you have any eye-openers or advice?

You can live with less than you think you can. It’s easy to stress about packing just the right things or worry that you won’t have all your favorite things. We wear virtually the same clothes every day, have just a few key pieces of gear, and, the truth is, we love that simplicity.

Also, living in a small, mobile space is great, but it comes with complications and frustrations. Be ready to bump into your partner constantly as you negotiate tight spaces and put things away continually to keep them out of the way.

Day-to-day tasks, including cooking meals, washing dishes, and even showering, are more time-consuming and laborious. And things go wrong: you blow a tire, the water tank springs a leak, rats chew your truck’s electrical system, and suddenly all your plans for the day or week can be blown.

Rather than stress about this stuff, realize that’s just part of living on the road and embrace it. All those things that you thought you had to get done probably aren’t as pressing as you imagined, anyway.

And a final question, one any two RV travelers ask when they bump into each other: Where have you been recently, and where are you headed next?

We’ve had a brief hiatus from the trailer to get our house ready for renters and also to accommodate some big international assignments: Bhutan, Nepal, and Iraqi Kurdistan. We’re back on the road again, heading north from Santa Fe, but without too much of a plan.

Elk season is just about to open in Colorado and Idaho, so we’ll be hiding out in the backcountry in one of those two states for the next month chasing our annual meat. After that, we’re going to be looking for the best mountain bike trail conditions in places we haven’t ridden, maybe around Park City or St. George, Utah.

Follow along as Gulley and Judge travel the U.S. in Artemis the Airstream.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

Before you connect to shore power, know the risks and prepare for the worst. One rogue electrical current could inflict catastrophic damage to your RV. Enter the Power Watchdog.

Living and working full-time in a travel trailer or motorhome often involves the occasional RV park stopover. One welcome perk of an RV park is unlimited electricity and the freedom to flip switches with abandon. But can you trust that electricity?

I used to wonder if the no-name surge protector I bought with our coach was anything more than a big empty box. Then a random blast of power tripped all of our breakers — thankfully with no noticeable damage. That’s when I started shopping for a surge protector I knew would do the job.

Like Cerberus at the Gates

It has a ridiculously long name, but the Power Watchdog 50 Amp Smart Bluetooth Surge Protector with Auto Shutoff — whew! — was my solution. It looks like a typical surge protector, and, like most, it insulates RVs from wonky watts.

What makes it a world’s first is the active monitoring of incoming loads and the ability to display voltage data via a connected iOS or Android mobile device. It even sends alerts if it detects a bad ground, reversed polarity, or currents outside the optimal range.

If the Watchdog detects a corrupt power supply, it instantly cuts off the offending current. The face of the unit glows red to indicate the danger, and a small digital readout displays a code identifying the nature of the problem.

When the Watchdog is content with the incoming current, the dog’s face glows white. The advanced internals allow the unit to automatically toggle incoming power on and off as it deems safe.

Because I’m far from an electrical engineer, I didn’t fully appreciate the many dangers presented by unregulated electricity. It’s not just a torrent of volts I have to fret, but also prolonged or recurring drops in current tax electrical components causing a buildup of heat, premature wear, and eventual failure. The Watchdog ensures our RV escapes catastrophic jolts, but also less obvious and progressive damage.

The Proof of Power

The very first time I used the Watchdog, I thought it was defective. I pulled into an RV park eager to try my new toy and plugged it into a 50-amp power pedestal. The face of the unit instantly glowed red.

I notified the park manager, and after a few more tests with additional tools, we determined the voltage was dangerously low. With my cheapo surge protector, I would have never known the stress inflicted on our RV’s expensive electrical system. The Watchdog proved its worth immediately.

I initially dismissed the mobile app as a novelty, but it’s now a favorite feature. The occasional glance teaches me about our electricity demands in a variety of situations. I’m now a power pedant scrutinizing every inbound volt- and amp-eating appliance.

My new electrical edification pays dividends when not hooked up to shore power and relying on our gas or solar generators. I have a much better understanding of the power we need and use.

Although it’s not as important to me as it might be to others, the app measures power consumption. Some parks bill for electricity, typically charging per kilowatt-hour. The app may help some users avoid surprise power fees.

The Price of Protection

At $275 for the 30-amp model and $330 for 50 amps, the price may weaken some knees. It’s not cheap, but a quick inventory of the expensive electronics in our RV more than justifies the spend. No one wants to buy insurance, but it’s too expensive not to. One momentary episode of watts gone wild could cause thousands of dollars in damages. That’s not to mention the risk of fire, injury, and other horrors.

As much as I appreciate the app connectivity, advanced features, and access to information, the best attribute of the Watchdog is less obvious. It’s my ability to plug it in and walk away that I like most. It’s the peace of mind knowing Sparky the Destroyer can’t get into my house.

Carbon fiber construction, a massive Ford F550 base vehicle, and marine-grade components: The 2020 EarthRoamer LTi is the next generation of American overland vehicles with a price tag of around $600,000.

EarthRoamer has built more than 250 overland vehicles over its 21-year history. The new LTi is an evolutionary change from the now-iconic EarthRoamer LT design. The LTi is designed to “improve upon the LT ’s mission of providing fully self-contained, luxury off-grid living in a robust overland vehicle.”

Carbon Fiber Goodness

The big news with this new EarthRoamer is that the monocoque camper body is now a full carbon fiber unit. The EarthRoamer LTi’s body is produced by bonding two carbon fiber skins to a structural foam core with a vacuum-infusion process. The result is a stronger, stiffer, and lighter camper shell.

The carbon shell, along with a host of other upgrades, drops the LTi’s weight by more than 1,000 pounds over the current EarthRoamer LTS.

EarthRoamer LTi: More Upgrades

Besides a carbon shell, the EarthRoamer LTi also offers up a host of modern upgrades over the already over-the-top, super-luxurious, self-contained LTS model.

One of the biggest upgrades is a much-improved electrical system. The system features an 11kWh lithium battery bank and four 330W solar panels. An advanced digital control system keeps the system in top shape, while a new AutoCharge system automatically turns the truck on to charge the batteries when needed.

The other big upgrades on the LTi are new flush-mount, frameless glass windows. These windows eliminate a potential leak point in the camper, offer a sleeker exterior appearance, and have more robust and higher-quality components than the acrylic windows found on the LTS models.

The LTi offers carbon fiber, a better electrical system, and nicer windows, but that’s not all. You also get a bigger water system (now 100-gallon freshwater and 60-gallon gray water tanks), more than 2 inches of increased interior height, and custom billet door locks.

Standard Features

Besides all that goodness, you also get a host of features as standard with the new LTi. Things like a cellular router, GPS tracking system, tire monitoring system, air-ride suspension, and a massive 95 gallons of onboard fuel are the norm with this amazing machine.

To top it off, this Ford F550 Crew Cab 4WD diesel adventure machine sports huge 41-inch tires, a cab-to-camper pass-through, and everything from the kitchen sink to a shower. Oh, heat and AC are, of course, also part of the package.

Floorplan

As with the current EarthRoamer LT overland campers, the LTi will be available in five different layouts. All are versions of the same cab-over bed and side entry door camper design.

The Breckenridge is EarthRoamer’s most popular floorplan. It has a dinette booth on the driver’s side that converts to a 6-foot-long bed. A sofa and galley sit on the passenger side. This layout seats four and sleeps four.

Virtual EarthRoamer Build

Use the EarthRoamer online builder tool to design your ultimate overland adventure machine today. Then start saving your pennies. Lots of them.

Get in Line

Once you’ve specced out your personal dream home on wheels, you’ll need to put a deposit of $50,000 down to reserve a spot in line for production. Then, you’ll need to wait at least 8 months before taking delivery.

While the base price of an EarthRoamer LTi is $590,000, most builds will top $650,000 before leaving the factory in Dacono, Colorado.

Not Enough? Go Bigger

If the LTi isn’t big enough or expensive enough for you, you can always step up to the Ford F750-based EarthRoamer XV-HD.

This behemoth, off-road-capable home on wheels starts at $1,700,000. You’ll have to get in line, though, as delivery times on the HD are currently over a year and a half out.

Unlock the convenience of keyless entry with coded security and a one-touch wireless remote for RVs.

Just 2 hours after purchasing our travel trailer, we sat at an RV resort scratching our heads. That’s when we realized the dealer locked our keys inside. Only minutes later, the park manager arrived on the scene, plucked a ring of keys from his pocket, and after two tries, swung our door wide open. I was pleased — but not happy.

That’s when I learned nearly every employee of an RV dealership carries a master key capable of unlocking any coach. It doesn’t work with the deadbolt, but that didn’t make me feel much better.

Because our RV serves as our home and mobile office, complete with all the expensive tools of my trade, security ranks high on my list of concerns. I immediately swapped the factory lock with a robust steel-core assembly from RVLock. The keyless-entry feature ensures I won’t lock myself out ever again.

Why Go Keyless?

Does anyone need a keyless entry system for their RV? Not really. That doesn’t mean it’s not a worthy purchase with practical benefits.

I try not to spend too much time sequestered inside. Whether I’m off fly fishing, trail running, or squeezing in a late-afternoon mountain bike ride, the last thing I want to do is squirrel away a key in a pocket a key I know I’ll lose.

Keyless locks are pretty straightforward. Type in the code and, open sesame, the deadbolt magically retracts. The RVLock adds a few extra bells and whistles. Users can select their own security code, and audible tones indicate locking and unlocking actions.

My favorite feature is the wireless remote. I can easily lock or unlock the unit with a tap of a button, just as I do with our truck. It’s a handy feature when walking to the door with my arms full of gear or groceries.

As short as my wife is, fiddling with keys and the cheap factory door lock often resulted in a flurry of expletives. It was hard for her to reach the lock and maintain the angle needed to turn the key. She often had to climb up the steps, unlock the door, then back down the steps to open the door, only to ascend the steps again. Okay, that’s not exactly a major life struggle, but it was a minor annoyance.

Now she can remotely open the lock, reach up to open the door, and presto, she’s in. It’s the little things, I guess.

Quick and Easy Install

Our kit included one locking assembly, two traditional keys, and a single wireless key fob remote. The lock pairs to a maximum of 10 remotes, but we only needed one extra at a minimal expense of $40.

Like most RV handles, a secondary lock secures the door lever. The included keys actuate both the handle and deadbolt tumblers. A manual lever inside the door also secures the deadbolt. We also ordered extra lock cores for our exterior cargo hatches. A single key unlocks everything now.

Although I fancy myself a handyman, I admit I sometimes fumble with even the most basic DIY projects. RVLock claims installation requires only one tool and 10 minutes. I would say that’s an honest assessment. A large battery compartment contains the four AA batteries that power the system. It’s easy to replace these, but we used the factory batteries all summer long.

With our lockout incident still fresh in my mind, I feel better knowing we have a much more secure system guarding our laptops, cameras, and other essentials. I wasn’t sure we needed to fork over $239 for the keyless-entry feature, but I’m glad we did. I have yet to lock myself out.

I just hope I don’t forget the code.

This month, GearJunkie launches a major series with Go RVing to explore the people, places, and gear of recreational vehicles. We hope you’ll come along for the ride.

Campers know that a lot hinges on the weather. As the GearJunkie team made its way to north-central Minnesota for a weekend of mountain biking, campfires, and tall tales, our eyes drifted to the clouds building over the aspen and pine forests.

We found an old access road among the crystal-clear gravel pit lakes of Cuyuna and set to work. We pulled out the tents and sleeping bags just as the first drops splattered heavily on the summer leaves. It was going to be a wet weekend.

But the weather had a lesson in store for us. As we opened an awning on the demo Winnebago Revel RV and set up lawn chairs under the relative shelter, beers cracked open. Just as expected, the stories flowed well into the night. And even as rain fell heavily from the sky, that campfire surged to life safely out of reach of the camper.

For one weekend, a diehard group of campers became RVers. And given that it happened to be a very wet weekend, we were all thankful.

The GearJunkie crew had a home base for cooking, staying dry, and organizing our work gear (yes, we worked!) even in the soaking rain. We saw firsthand the value RVs bring, especially when your life on the road intersects your work life in a very real way.

Go RVing: Vehicle for a Life of Exploration

In the next month, GearJunkie will share a series of articles exploring the world of RVs in Out of Office, presented by Go RVing.

But we won’t just focus on the gear. We’ll have profiles of RVers who shape the culture of life in a highly mobile community. We’ll share some of the best locations to visit with your RV (or van, truck, or car and tent!). And of course, we’ll have the gear.

And when we say gear, we mean in-depth articles about subjects like electronics for your RV and communications solutions for life off the grid.

So buckle up and join us for the ride. We hope you enjoy it.

An RV affords the ability to migrate with the seasons. But where should you go when the mercury drops?

1. Cottonwood, Arizona (Best for Mountain Biking Enophiles)

Snowbirds from around the country flock to Arizona each winter to bask in the state’s perpetual sun. Most head far south to the Sonoran Desert and pass by hidden gems like Cottonwood. Situated between Sedona and Prescott, Old Town Cottonwood is home to several nice restaurants, bars, and wine shops. That’s right — Arizona wine.

Cottonwood owes its vibrant wine scene to an unlikely patron. Rockstar turned winemaker Maynard James Keenen, of the band Tool, planted his first vines in the area nearly 20 years ago. The town once full of drunk copper miners at the turn of century now caters to weekend tourists.

As a mountain biker’s destination, Cottonwood sits within an hour of some of the best trails in the country. The closest trails in Dead Horse State Park start on the edge of town. Only 20 minutes away, riders can shred the famous red rock of Sedona. Perhaps the best winter ride in the state, the Black Canyon Trail, meanders through a veritable desert botanical garden.

The best-kept secret? That’s the 400-plus miles of swoopy singletrack in nearby Prescott. Despite the mile-high elevation, Prescott’s trails remain snow-free much of the year.

• Average January temps: High 55 degrees F, low 28
• Elevation: 3,314 feet
• Nearby public lands: Prescott, Coconino, and Kaibab national forests
• Nearby national parks: Grand Canyon
• Activities: Hiking, mountain biking, climbing, and skiing in nearby Flagstaff
• RV parks: Rancho Verde RV Park, Verde Valley RV and Camping Retreat

2. Corpus Christi, Texas (Best for Beach Bums)

It’s by no means a small city with 320,000 residents, but miles of coastline allow ample room to find your own slice of secluded sand. Located just southeast of San Antonio, itself an interesting destination, Corpus Christi offers an abundance of activities. With a steady and strong winter wind, sailing and kite surfing are popular activities. Locals like to grab a lawn chair and watch the Wednesday night sailboat regatta races. If you need more solitude, you can slip outside the footprint of the city and into the surrounding wetlands where thousands of migratory birds gather.

Just north of South Padre Island, Mustang Island State Park offers a chance to camp within walking distance of the surf. The park’s 48 sites include 50-amp hookups and fresh water for a reasonable $20 fee. If you can’t snag a spot there, cruise up the coast to Goose Island State Park with similar amenities. Launch your kayak or SUP on nearby St. Charles Bay, try your luck with your rod and reel, or just enjoy the beach.

If you want to tap into the vacation vibe of the Gulf Coast, the Texas State Aquarium and Naval Museum aboard the USS Lexington are worth a visit. While you’re relaxing, you can hit one of the small seafood restaurants along the waterfront where shrimp boats create the appropriate backdrop.

• Average January temps: High 68 degrees F, low 48
• Elevation: Sea level
• Activities: Surfing, sailing kire boarding, water fowl hunting, general vacation fun
• RV parks: Gulf Water Beach Front RV Resort, Laguna Shore Village

3. Hurricane, Utah (Best for Explorers)

Otherworldly — that best describes the landscapes of Southern Utah. Monoliths of red rock loom over verdant riparian areas where crystal-clear streams trickle toward lakes the size of inland seas. Although it’s usually too hot to visit in the summer, winter in Utah’s high desert is quite pleasant.

The small town of Hurricane makes for an idyllic base camp for outdoor adventurers. Within an hour or two, you can explore some of the most scenic parks in America. It’s a short drive to Capitol Reef, Zion, and Bryce Canyon national parks. Kodachrome and Goblin Valley are not huge parks, but they’re a fun place to explore, particularly for landscape photographers shooting in the low light of winter.

If you get the itch to put on your snow gear, you can carve a few turns at Brian Head Ski Resort, provided the snow conditions are good. If you have not mountain biked Gooseberry Mesa, that should also top your shortlist. Or just drive the thousands of miles of gravel roads winding through the expanse of land known to locals as the Arizona Strip.

• Average January temps: High 68 degrees F, low 54
• Elevation: 2,860 feet
• Nearby public lands: Dixie National Forest
• National parks: Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Zion
• State parks: Coral Pink, Goosenecks, Snow Canyon, Sand Hollow
• Activities: Hiking, cycling, climbing, and skiing in nearby Brian Head Resort
• RV parks: Willow Wind RV Resort, Temple View RV Resort

4. Desert Hot Springs, California (Best for Sun-Seekers)

With January temps occasionally climbing into the mid-80s, the Mojave Desert is the perfect antidote to wintertime blues. Sunbaked rocks and towering yucca plants stretch to the horizon in all directions. Find the right spot to hide out for a few days, and your only neighbors will be lizards and rabbits.

You don’t have to channel your inner Edward Abbey to enjoy the solitude of the desert. Time your visit right and shake your groove thing with thousands of other music-lovers at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

If you need to cool off, drive up San Jacinto Peak to the mountain hamlet of Idyllwild. From the edge of town, you can tackle a small section of the Pacific Crest Trail. At the highpoint on the mountain, you should be able to make out the faint outlines of the Salton Sea, a whopping 10,000 feet below.

Joshua Tree National Park has long been a midwinter stronghold for dirtbag climbers, but bouldering isn’t everyone’s bag. The park offers seemingly endless miles of hikes, trail runs, and sunrise strolls.

The low light of winter solstice casts a magical glow over the Mojave. That alone is worthy of the visit. If pretty sunsets don’t do it for you, take a long soak in one of the many mineral hot springs in the area.

• Average January temps: High 78 degrees F, low 54
• Elevation: 1,076 feet
• Nearby public lands: San Bernardino National Forest, San Jacinto Wilderness
• National parks: Joshua Tree
• State parks: Coral Pink, Goosenecks, Snow Canyon, Sand Hollow
• Activities: Hiking, cycling, bouldering, music festivals, hot springs
• RV parks: The Sands RV Park and Resort, Desert Springs Spa and RV Park

5. Silver City, New Mexico (Best for Hikers and Cyclists)

The Southwest is full of quirky little towns like Silver City, New Mexico. For many people, it’s best known as the home of the Tour of the Gila, one of the longest-running bicycle stage races in America. If you like to pedal, Grant County’s road system offers challenging and solitary rides. If gravel is your thing, the roads in Gila National Forest will keep you riding for days on end.

The town itself is — well — it’s a bit of a sleeper. With just over 12,000 residents, the main street won’t compel you to stay for long. But the opportunities for adventure in the immediate area will keep you busy.

The Dragonfly Loop Trail is a popular hiking destination. Just to the west of town, the Continental Divide Trail parallels portions of the Gila River. Take the trail due north for a few days, and you’ll end up in Pie Town, a small pitstop made famous for the annual Tour Divide bikepacking race.

As a place to spend a few weeks, Silver City may not have enough to keep you entertained, but a short drive puts you in Truth or Consequences near Elephant Butte Reservoir. White Sands National Monument isn’t much farther east.

If you’d rather go west, more quirky little towns in Arizona are not far off. Places like Tombstone and Bisbee have even more quirk than Silver City.

• Average January temps: High 54 degrees F, low 34
• Elevation: 5,876 feet
• Nearby public lands: Gila National Forest
• Nearby national monuments: White Sands
• Activities: Hiking, cycling, hot spring soaks
• RV parks: Silver City RV Park, Rose Valley RV Ranch

If you have itchy feet and you’re prone to wander, a crafty traveler will fit all five destinations into one grandiose loop. Plan your travels well, and you can spend the coldest months of the winter in the Mojave and on the beaches of the Sea of Cortez. As the spring warms, head north in search of more adventure.

What a wonderful thing it is to have a house on wheels.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

You found a great spot to hole up for a few days, but how do you find off-grid electricity to power your RV office? Here, we evaluate methods to make, store, and manage electricity while boondocking.

Most RVs have only one or two deep-cycle batteries tasked to operate slide-outs, awnings, landing gear, leveling jacks, and a few lights. Ask too much of them, and they may not last a weekend. For the working professional, reliable electricity isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity.

Off-Grid RV Electricity: Fire Up the Generator

For years, the gas-powered generator was the bane of the backwoods: loud, smelly, and prone to failure. A gallon of gasoline yields only enough electricity for a 24-hour camping cycle. While some larger RVs include onboard generators, most people in small motorcoaches and trailers opt for a portable unit.

The latest generators bear little resemblance to their predecessors. Models like the Cummins Onan P2500i and P4500i fit in the small storage spaces of most RVs and are easy to transport, operate, and maintain.

Our electrical demands have evolved over the years. So newer units include advanced features like remote starters, voltage displays, and automatic throttle control to maximize fuel efficiency and reduce noise levels.

It seems ill-advised to plug something as delicate as a laptop into a gas-powered machine. But newer units generate clean, sine-wave electricity safe for all devices.

If you live off the beaten path with much frequency, a generator will likely top your gear list.

Soak Up the Sun: Solar Electric RV Options

You can’t beat free electricity. With no need for fuel or upkeep, the silent operation of a solar panel retains the blissful tranquility of your remote hideout. If there’s a downside other than the occasional cloudy day, it’s the initial outlay of cash. The more power you require, the higher the price you pay for it.

Before you dive into a solar-powered solution, you must first calculate your wattage needs, including all of the many devices you plan to power.

How long you intend to draw power from a single charge influences the capacity of the battery, or batteries, you need. The power output of the panel array determines the speed at which the batteries recharge. Inverters and controllers manage the delivery of power, in and out, to meet the surge and sustained wattage currents of your RV’s appliances, lights, and outlets.

It seems like a simple solution, but solar tech is a rabbit hole from which many RV owners never return. High-wattage systems, typically hard-mounted to the roof, generate sufficient energy to run small air conditioners, laptops, and even TVs. But they’re complicated to install — and expensive. Expect to pay at least $3,000 for that level of self-contained power production for a large travel trailer or motorcoach.

To streamline sun power, manufactures like Go Power! sell ready-to-install kits complete with solar panels, inverters, connectors, controllers, and batteries. The brand’s website includes a wattage calculator to help guide buyers to the best solution for their individual needs.

Maybe you’re not ready to commit to a comprehensive built-in system. Well, a small plug-and-play kit with a dedicated power pack might be the way to go. Portable panels like the Goal Zero Boulder 100W produce just enough wattage to trickle-charge an onboard RV battery or the brand’s own power packs.

Portable Power Packs: Batteries for Camping

The advent of lithium batteries created a growing number of convenient power products with superb RV utility. The Goal Zero Yeti 400 Lithium and Jackery Explorer 500 are just two high-capacity battery systems with enough juice to keep a laptop running for several days.

Unlike a hard-mounted RV battery, they are easy to move from one vehicle to the next, or under a shady tree while you crank out a few emails. As a backup or alternative to a gas generator, power packs require no maintenance other than the occasional recharge.

To keep them topped off, most units pair to medium-size solar panels. The Jackery SolarSaga 100W panel folds in half and weighs less than 5 pounds. Whether you travel in a Subaru with a rooftop tent or a full-size travel trailer, a power pack of any size always earns its keep.

Assuage the Surge: Protect Your RV Batteries

It’s fun to camp far from other people. But the occasional RV park stopover offers a chance to empty storage tanks, access free Wi-Fi, and plug into 30- or 50-amp shore power.

But easy access to electricity presents dangerous potential. Without a surge protector for your RV, a drop in current or a heavy jolt could fry your entire electronic ecosystem. It’s not uncommon to hear of RV owners losing expensive equipment. Air-conditioning units, kitchen appliances, laptops, entertainment systems, all of the delicate circuits within an RV’s control panel — nothing is safe.

For the power pedants, the Watchdog 30/50 Amp Smart Surge Protector with Auto Shutoff pairs to your smartphone so you can assess troublesome currents in real time at a glance. If the plug detects a disturbance in the Force, it immediately isolates your RV. Nobody wants to buy a $275 power plug, but it could save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

Once you select the best solution for your needs, you have the power to stay in the wilderness for days on end while still making paychecks. And that’s what it’s all about.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

Purchasing the RV best suited to your needs requires an honest evaluation of your travel habits, living preferences, and, of course, finances. What type of RV should you buy? Here, our expert helps break down camper options.

As a prospective buyer, your first crossroads involves the decision to drive or tow your new roving home or home office. Whether you’re driving a motorcoach, towing a pull-behind, or hauling a slide-in, each type of RV presents unique advantages and drawbacks.

RV Types: How to Choose

Generalities don’t always ring true, but trailers and slide-ins often require a smaller investment per square foot. If you already own a suitable tow vehicle, that also reduces the sting of the initial buy-in.

For travelers prone to stay put for a few days, a trailer creates a convenient base camp, leaving the tow vehicle available for explorations and errands.

Motorhomes greatly simplify travel with an all-in-one driving and living solution. It’s quite easy to roll out of bed, slide behind the wheel, and hit the highway. The cost reflects the mechanical complexity, particularly when assessing the price per square foot.

Mobility is the obvious advantage of a motorized RV. Even small trailers can be tricky to drive and park whereas a campervan wiggles into the tightest spots with little fuss. A long travel trailer with tow vehicle often exceeds 50 feet in total length. Just pulling through a fuel station requires confidence and skill.

Drive a Motorhome

Class A

The largest category of motorhomes often represents the pinnacle of self-propelled living, at least in terms of creature comforts. Built on an RV-specific chassis, top-end models sometimes exceed the value of a brick-and-mortar home.

Typical models have master bedrooms, spacious bathrooms, large kitchens, and cavernous storage cabinets. Additional amenities include laundry machines, electric fireplaces, and multiview camera systems to improve the driving experience.

Even for buyers with the scratch to afford a Class A motorhome, the large size can break the deal. With virtually no ground clearance, they can’t navigate even mild forest roads. Pavement is the natural habitat of a Class A RV.

Class B

We can thank the van life craze for the recent uptick in Class B sales. Built on a standard van chassis with a factory body, manufacturers continue to design space-efficient interiors. Vans like the Winnebago Revel sport an added storage area for bikes, skis, and other adventure toys.

Maneuverability is the main perk of a Class B camper. For anyone keen to travel often or far, vans burn minimum fuel and fit into the tightest camping spots.

Four-wheel-drive variants, like those made by Sportsmobile, rival the off-road chops of a Jeep. Anyone intimidated by the thought of operating a larger RV, or towing a trailer, will find Class B campers drive as well as the family wagon.

If you want to live and work full-time in a van, you will sacrifice elbow room. Bathrooms and kitchens redefine the word “small.” It’s of little concern to most Class B dwellers. Van travel is all about minimalist living and exploring the great outdoors.

Class C

Like their smaller siblings, Class C motorhomes sit atop a van or truck frame, but with an expanded camper shell aft of the cab. The increased volume allows for larger cooking, living, and bathroom areas, with sleeping quarters often perched over the cab. High-capacity freshwater and waste-water tanks improve self-sufficiency for longer off-grid stays.

With their enlarged shells, some Class C campers swell to over 35 feet in length with multiple slide-out extensions. Following the recurring theme, the bigger the size, the bigger the challenge to drive. While some Class C campers are more agile, most won’t conquer more than a gravel road but offer a good balance of living space and maneuverability.

Tow a Camper Trailer

Fifth-Wheel Travel Trailers

A fifth-wheel travel trailer is like a small rolling apartment. Fitted with multiple slide-out extensions, the modular layout accommodates spacious sitting areas, full-featured kitchens, and home-like bathrooms.

The distinctive forward hump splits the floorplan with an upper level, often with a large bedroom and connected bathroom. Claustrophobes will appreciate the high ceilings and ample floor space.

On the road, the overlap of the trailer and tow vehicle reduces overall length, distributes the weight between the truck wheels, and increases towing stability at speed. The placement of the hitch pivot improves turning control, a much-appreciated attribute when backing into narrow parking spaces.

The investment in a fifth-wheel includes the cost of the tow vehicle. Standard pickups lack the tow rating needed to haul a large trailer, typically forcing the purchase of a diesel-powered truck.

Travel Trailers

The iconic Airstream represents the most recognizable example of a travel trailer. In the RV lexicon, some people refer to travel trailers as “bumper-pull coaches,” as they attach to the tow vehicle via a bumper-mounted ball-hitch. It’s a diverse category including everything from wee vintage trailers to 40-foot long mansions on wheels.

Most travel trailers fit within the towing capacities of SUVs and light trucks. Unlike a fifth-wheel trailer, the bumper-mounted hitch doesn’t invade the cargo area of the tow vehicle.

Stability at speed is the primary downside of a travel trailer, particularly as they get longer and heavier. Compared to a fifth-wheel, travel trailers require a bit more mastery when reversing into confined parking spots.

Teardrop, Pop-Up, and Expandable Camper Trailers

Within the travel trailer category, subsets encompass teardrop, pop-up, and expandable trailers. With little more than an enclosed bed and an outdoor cooking deck under the rear trunk lid, teardrop trailers make for ideal weekend escape pods.

Most are compatible with small SUVs and wagons. Newer and larger models retain the classic shape but with complete kitchens and bathrooms.

Not everyone wants or needs a large hard-sided camper. A folding or pop-up trailer pairs well with virtually any vehicle with a modest tow rating. Most standard SUVs will easily pull a 1,500-pound pop-up. (Despite the name, they don’t truly pop up. At least not without a little fiddling around.)

While it’s not a big deal to some, the soft-sided walls of a folding trailer may not appeal to all campers, as they feel decidedly tent-like.

Haul a Truck Camper

The slide-in truck camper continues to hold its own in the RV industry, with options available for nearly any size of pickup. High-volume models with solid walls mate best to three-quarter-ton and one-ton trucks.

Pop-up habitats lower the profile for better fuel efficiency with a lower center of gravity.

One significant advantage of a truck camper is the ability to mount it to a highly capable off-road pickup. For anyone prone to travel rugged roads, a truck-based camper offers unlimited possibilities for off-road modifications.

If your truck is your daily driver, the ability to disconnect the camper when not in use adds trailer-like convenience. The obvious sacrifice? You don’t get much in terms of floor space. Two people living in a truck camper had better be friends.

Most experts agree that first-time RV buyers may not nail it on the first try. Travel habits evolve and often require a change of platform. That’s all part of the RV adventure.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

Many people consider the EarthRoamer to be the most capable overland rig ever made. We recently caught up with Bill Swails, the man behind the vision, to talk about his adventure into entrepreneurship and his globe-circling machines.

When Bill Swails set out to create the most uncompromising overland vehicle, his checklist wasn’t long, but it was ambitious. It had to conquer any road with unrivaled reliability and mile-crushing range. It had to drive laps around the globe with yacht-like comfort and self-sufficiency.

And perhaps the most audacious marker of all: There couldn’t be anything better.

A Dream Realized

In 2003, the first Ford-based EarthRoamer rolled off the shop floor and in one fell swoop redefined self-contained, go-anywhere travel. It was bold, beautifully crafted — and expensive.

“I can’t remember, but I think our first truck sold for $145,000,” Swails said. “Everyone thought we were crazy. I wasn’t sure anyone would pay that much, but we started building the next trucks right away, and people kept calling to buy them.”

When we last spoke with Swails in 2015, a freshly minted LTS model with full trim fetched more than $500,000. Driving the higher price, the chassis received a full reboot with a reinforced frame, air-ride suspension, and mil-spec tires and wheels. Custom bumpers and fender flares completed the brawny stance.

Inside, the living quarters adopted more refinements and features, like wine glasses etched with the EarthRoamer logo slotted into foam-fitted shelves in custom-made, solid-wood cabinets. As prices climbed higher, demand followed.

In 2017, EarthRoamer doubled the size of its Dacono, Colorado, factory and hired additional designers and engineers, a few from the aerospace industry. With the new resources in place, the brand increased production efficiency.

Today, its team of 88 employees can build a complete LTS truck in just 54 working days. And despite the naysayers who say the prices are too high, EarthRoamers sell as fast as they roll off the factory floor.

Celebrities like John Mayer and Jason Mamoa placed orders, with Mayer currently awaiting his second rig. In 2017, Swails also unveiled EarthRoamer’s largest project to date, the colossal EarthRoamer HD. Built on a Ford F-750 chassis, it’s a continent-conquering beast with a price equal to a stable of Ferraris.

“If you would have asked me in 2003 if I would ever sell a truck worth $2 million, I would have said, ‘No way, that’s crazy,’” Swails said. “I didn’t know if people would spend more than $300,000. I think it speaks to the vehicles we build. If buyers see the value, they will invest the money. We just have to keep innovating and delivering the quality we’re known for.”

A Sneak Peek of the New EarthRoamer

I recently returned to the EarthRoamer factory at the invitation of Swails and was the first to see how the best is now even better. And as I expected, it’s more expensive.

If you add your name to the waiting list, which is long, this thing will set you back more than $700,000. As one of only a few journalists fortunate enough to travel in an EarthRoamer for days on end, I still think it’s worth every penny — if you have them to spend.

Swails said, “We’re always looking for ways to make our vehicles better, but we’re set on our current concept. The F-550 paired to our shell is a perfect combination. But we continue to find ways to make significant improvements.”

As we walked to the far end of the factory, the new direction of EarthRoamer came into view. We arrived just as technicians lowered an enormous panel from a pressurized mold. The latest generation of EarthRoamers, both the LTS and HD models, now feature living habitats constructed entirely of aerospace-grade carbon fiber formed as a solid monocoque enclosure.

“Carbon fiber allows us to reduce weight, add stiffness, and create shapes with more precision,” Swails explained. “That increased internal volume with higher ceilings, a bigger shower, and deeper cabinets. The satellite dome and awning now sink into the roofline. Our fiberglass bodies made EarthRoamer unique. Carbon fiber seemed like the obvious evolution.”

The newest iteration of the LT model, badged the LTI, now includes updated tech. Lithium-powered battery cells add more onboard power with less weight and improved performance. Sticking with the theme of self-sufficiency, the high-capacity power banks mate to 1,300 watts of roof-mounted solar panels.

“Lithium battery cells are an expensive upgrade, but we feel they represent our commitment to building vehicles with only the best components,” said Swails. “They save dozens of pounds and don’t require any maintenance. The smaller size saves space better used for gear storage.”

Both the HD and LTI trucks have gone high-tech with a state-of-the-art touchscreen panel to manage all onboard systems. The sophisticated control center monitors power levels and automatically starts the diesel engine if necessary.

Users can operate lights, climate controls, or unfurl the awning using a paired smartphone. As EarthRoamer makes new software features available, it dispatches updates to vehicles anywhere in the world via a roof-mounted satellite link.

The Truck 20 Years in the Making

As I stood in front of the most recent HD build, the scale seemed metaphoric of the EarthRoamer business endeavor.

I remembered Swails telling me why he set out to build such superlative trucks in the first place. He told me about his long weekends 20 years ago, traveling around Colorado in a Dodge truck fitted with a slide-in camper. The more he used it, the more it conspired to self destruct.

It’s obvious he never wants his customers to suffer such disappointments. Staring at the behemoth HD, all I could see were thousands of tiny details painstakingly executed.

In an effort to design away the foibles of his first truck and camper, his tireless pursuit of perfection shaped the EarthRoamer of today. There’s no doubt that both the LT1 and HD, clad in carbon and powered by lithium, are worthy of the most protracted travels to the far reaches of the planet.

“Soon we start construction of our latest HD trucks. One customer plans to ship his to Australia, where he wants to travel across the entire country. It’s a perfect place for the HD,” he said.

Swails started EarthRoamer chasing a dream, and a big one at that. Now, his customers get to dream big too. No adventure aspiration is too grandiose for an EarthRoamer. Sure, they cost a fortune, but the experiences they deliver — those are priceless.

Cellular and Wi-Fi signals determine the reality of where RV-based professionals can travel and work — and how long they stay there. Use this information to extend your digital leash to work from more locations in your remote office.

Work from anywhere. That’s the hook, but “anywhere” must provide internet access or my income grinds to a halt. On the upshot, new technologies continue to enter the marketplace to improve an internet commute.

Some solutions are free, and others are almost too costly to consider. Satellite internet is the premium setup. But with hardware, installation, and yearly data subscriptions, you’re looking at $5,000 before downloading your first cat video!

The High Price of Free Wi-Fi

Free Wi-Fi sounds great, but for the RV traveler, it’s seldom actually free. Most people find a gratis signal in pay-to-park RV resorts. Even if you duck into a nearby town to snag a connection at a local coffee shop, no-cost internet usually involves a $5 latte.

You could hunt for the nearest Starbucks or Walmart and mooch their public hotspots, but that’s antithetical to the whole RV experience. It’s nice when you can get it, but don’t plan on building an RV office around complimentary Wi-Fi.

Boost the Mobile Cell

The simplest means of staying connected is the smartphone in your pocket. But don’t expect a signal while camped in a secluded wood, or even an hour from some major cities. It’s depressing how many perfect camping spots land just outside of 4G reception.

There isn’t much you can do if you fall in a cellular black hole, but a faint signal holds promise. For people with motorhomes, devices like the Sure Call Fusion2Go Max cellular booster install in minutes, work with all cellular providers, and require no monthly service fees.

It’s a simple solution. An external antenna grabs what little signal it can, polishes it, then sends it to an internal repeater within close proximity of mobile devices.

No booster will ever meet the expectations placed on it — certainly not mine. But in my experience, the Fusion2Go Max consistently increases signal strength enough to make a noticeable difference. I also like that I can easily move it from one vehicle to the next.

If you would prefer a hard-mounted system, weBoost sells RV-specific units with a bit more power. On a parting note, booster efficacy seems rather binary: It either saves the day or doesn’t do a darn thing.

Create Your Own Backwoods Hotspot

When a cell booster won’t cut it, a high-powered antenna might do the trick. The Togo Roadlink C2 4G LTE Router and Wi-Fi Extender creates a direct cellular connection and amplifies available Wi-Fi signals.

I know that sounds like a booster, but it utilizes a dedicated SIM card and cellular subscription to ensure the best connectivity. Think of it as a high-powered, roof-mounted mobile hotspot.

New to the market, the Roadlink C2 is made by Winegard, a longstanding leader in remote communications. The dome-covered antenna connects directly to the AT&T network, with monthly data plans starting at $25 for 5 GB. The real hero is the unlimited data package for just $360 a year.

The primary advantage of a powered antenna is the improved cellular reception. If your cell booster or phone fails to grab a signal, the Roadlink’s sensitive receiver could possibly produce four beautiful bars.

The built-in Wi-Fi extender won’t be of use when boondocking. But it could prove useful in campgrounds where free Wi-Fi signals seldom reach the far end of the property. The Roadlink C2 amplifies weak signals for faster data speeds.

Bring on the cat videos.

Handheld Satellite Communications

If all you need is a quick dispatch of texts, voice calls, or abbreviated emails, several portable devices fit the bill. Satellite phones, once priced out of reach of most users, are now quite affordable.

The Inmarsat IsatPhone 2 is free with a yearly subscription. Iridium’s GO! mobile hotspot allows users to make calls and send texts from their smartphones through a powerful satellite network.

If you need something less complex, the Garmin inReach text messenger is a great way to stay in touch from the most isolated campsites — and for just $15 a month.

Keep On Keepin’ On

If you can’t get the above devices to pull in a signal, the only option is to move to a better location. It’s a bummer, but all too often the best campsites have the worst connectivity.

But that’s not always a bad thing. Even working pros need to get off the information highway now and then.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing.  Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

For Aaron Gulley and his wife, Jen Judge, the open road is home. We caught up with them just long enough to ask what it’s like living in and working from their home office on wheels.

As a freelance journalist and regular contributor to Outside Magazine, Aaron Gulley lives the part of a full-time adventurer.

When not dispatched to the far corners of the globe, he and his wife, Jen Judge, an editorial and commercial photographer, live in an Airstream. It’s a life many people aspire to, but what’s blending adventure and occupation really like?

RV Life: Pro Photographer, Writer Shares Tales From the Road

GearJunkie: When did you start living and working full-time in your Airstream?  Do you still have a home base?

Gulley: We bought Artemis in April 2016 and spent the better part of that year touring around, though we kept a home base during that period and were also frequently in Santa Fe. We rented our home out in January 2017 and have been fairly continuously on the road ever since.

We still own a house in Santa Fe, and it came open early this summer. So, to help manage a huge load of international work and travel, we set up shop in Santa Fe from May to July. New renters moved into the house in August, and we are back on the road full-time now.

For many people, living full-time on the open road is just a dream, one never made a reality. How difficult was it to cut the tethers of a fixed address and start traveling? What prompted you to make the change?

We sort of drifted into road life. About 10 years ago, I was heavily into endurance mountain bike racing and slightly obsessed with an event called the Arizona Trail Race, which was held every April. Jen and I started spending stints every winter in Tucson so I could ride and train in warm weather.

At first, it was a few weeks, then a month, then a couple of months. After renting a small casita several years in a row, we began considering buying a property down there where we could build a small winter getaway that would double as a rental. At some point, Jen said, “If we bought a trailer instead of land, we could go to new places every year.”

I was initially skeptical: I thought it would be too difficult to manage work from the road. But Jen rented a vintage Airstream for her birthday that year, and, after spending a week boondocking in the Superstition Mountains, I was sold. That was mid-March, and we found Artemis, bought her, and moved in within the month.

Living in an Airstream qualifies as a bold lifestyle choice, and it had to have come with a few sacrifices. Is there anything you miss about a brick-and-mortar domicile?

Mostly, no. We love the simplicity of having just the bare day-to-day necessities, very little space to clean and keep up, and less distraction of internet and TV.

We have a very nice shower in the Airstream, but I do miss the luxury of an occasional long, hot shower, which just isn’t possible because of our limited tank size and the infrequency of refills. But that’s just an extravagance.

If I have one real complaint, it’s laundry: There’s basically nothing redeeming about trips to a laundromat. Managing the postal service is also a challenge. We have our mail forwarded to a post box in Santa Fe, and the owner sorts, bundles, and ships it to us every few weeks, which works okay.

But bills and important notifications get delayed or lost. Once, I received a jury duty notice 2 days before I was supposed to appear, and we had to race back to Santa Fe.

Why did you choose your Airstream? Is there anything you would do differently with your setup if given a chance, and do you have any advice for anyone about to pull the trigger on an RV?

The biggest decision was between a trailer, a van, or a truck camper for the pickup. Since we schemed about living in the setup full-time, a trailer became the obvious choice, both for the abundance of space as well as the ability to leave camp without breaking down your home every time.

We are design people and value quality space, so the aesthetics were what drew us to Airstream. After we looked at lots of trailer options, though, it became clear that Airstreams are simply better built and more durable than pretty much anything out there, and we firmly believe in that old adage “buy it once, buy it right.”

Lots of people are still happily driving around in 50- and 60-year-old models. Airstreams also hold their value quite well — we could probably sell ours today for what we paid for it.

As working professionals, being on the move must present unique challenges. How do you stay connected to your work obligations while balancing travel? Is it difficult to compartmentalize work life from your wanderings?

All we really need to work is cell reception to run a wireless hotspot, so the biggest challenge is simply finding a campsite where we can be connected.

We actually find it easier to compartmentalize on the road: At home, it’s easy to let your workdays bleed on and on, whereas on the road we want to bang out our daily tasks as efficiently as possible so that we can get out and enjoy our constantly new surroundings. Also, we have to manage electricity carefully, which means we simply can’t be on the computers all day every day.

Probably the most difficult thing to juggle is our international work when Jen or I — or most challengingly, both of us — have to go abroad on assignments. It can be tricky to find a place to store an Airstream for weeks at a time on short notice.

The two of you have been at this a while, so I’m curious about your travel habits. Do you have a circuit of favorite haunts you like to revisit, or is every season a chance to explore new parts of the country? How wide is your migratory range? Any favorite spots you care to share?

When we pass through terrain we’ve already seen, we generally stop at the same sites, mostly because we’ve taken the time to scout them once and know they are good and will work for us.

But probably the biggest appeal of road life for us is having access to new trails to ride, rivers to boat, mountains to explore, and vistas to savor, so we try to keep venturing out.

So far, that has been over a swath of the Rocky Mountain West, from Arizona and New Mexico in the south up to Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana in the north. We’ll likely hit Arkansas and Texas for the first time in the trailer this autumn, and we’re talking about either the Pacific Northwest or Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin) next year.

But the other thing we like about the nomadic life is the freedom to go where whim leads, so we also try not to get caught up in any grand route-planning and just enjoy wherever we land.

With a medium-sized travel trailer, you have the flexibility to wiggle into some great spots far off the grid. Do you prefer to dry camp much of the time, or do you hole up in the occasional RV park?

We dry camp on national forest, BLM, and state trust lands (where permitted) about 90 percent of the time. The big appeal is the solitude and the quiet, though the cost — free — doesn’t hurt either.

We’re not above pulling into an RV park for a night, especially when we need to do laundry and fill our tanks. But when we’re in a dense neighborhood setting like that, we always think, “If we’re going to live like this, we might as well be back home in our beautiful house.”

For anyone about to become a full-time traveler, what do you think is the biggest misconception about life on the road? Many people think it’s free living. Others may not appreciate the logistical hurdles. Do you have any eye-openers or advice?

You can live with less than you think you can. It’s easy to stress about packing just the right things or worry that you won’t have all your favorite things. We wear virtually the same clothes every day, have just a few key pieces of gear, and, the truth is, we love that simplicity.

Also, living in a small, mobile space is great, but it comes with complications and frustrations. Be ready to bump into your partner constantly as you negotiate tight spaces and put things away continually to keep them out of the way.

Day-to-day tasks, including cooking meals, washing dishes, and even showering, are more time-consuming and laborious. And things go wrong: you blow a tire, the water tank springs a leak, rats chew your truck’s electrical system, and suddenly all your plans for the day or week can be blown.

Rather than stress about this stuff, realize that’s just part of living on the road and embrace it. All those things that you thought you had to get done probably aren’t as pressing as you imagined, anyway.

And a final question, one any two RV travelers ask when they bump into each other: Where have you been recently, and where are you headed next?

We’ve had a brief hiatus from the trailer to get our house ready for renters and also to accommodate some big international assignments: Bhutan, Nepal, and Iraqi Kurdistan. We’re back on the road again, heading north from Santa Fe, but without too much of a plan.

Elk season is just about to open in Colorado and Idaho, so we’ll be hiding out in the backcountry in one of those two states for the next month chasing our annual meat. After that, we’re going to be looking for the best mountain bike trail conditions in places we haven’t ridden, maybe around Park City or St. George, Utah.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

Many of us have dreams of cruising down the open road in our built-out Sprinter van. But the thought of actually converting a van can be daunting and expensive. This is just one reason to consider renting a camper or RV to see if it’s right for you. Here’s how.

While you might be tempted to pull the trigger and buy or build your own campervan for your excursion, you should consider renting one first. Follow this step-by-step self-evaluation to see if it’s right for you.

In no time, you could be putting rubber to the pavement.

Why Rent a Campervan?

Combining comfort and affordability, campervans are versatile freedom machines that allow you to easily navigate city driving and take your travel into areas unreachable for larger RVs. You can keep your costs down and relax with a cold one from the built-in fridge at the end of the day.

Escape Campervans has 16-plus years of experience in the field, with more than 600 custom, modern campervans. The brand offers great customer service (read customer comments here) and can give you all sorts of advice you didn’t know you needed.

Easy to drive, easy to park, and easy to rent, it’s a great way to try before you buy.

How Often Do You Travel?

While you might be hoping to hit the road often, the reality might be that you will use a campervan for only a couple of weeks each year.

You need to consider a place to park your palace on wheels. Will it fit in your garage during the snow season? Storage and insurance costs can rack up over time. Renting could be a simpler option that saves you cash.

One Way or Round Trip?

Will you be sticking close to home, going on day and weekend trips, or do you want to be able to explore destinations hundreds or even thousands of miles away?

You might not have weeks of vacation or want to spend all your time getting to the areas you want to experience. If you have your own campervan, you have to start and end at home.

But if you rent, you can fly in, pick up your vehicle, and you’re off. Escape Campervans has 12 locations in the U.S. and Canada, and a plethora of inspired itineraries for those needing extra inspiration.

What Do You Need to Pack?

Deciding exactly what to bring or how to outfit your own campervan before a trip can be daunting.

Escape’s long list of rental offerings means everything you need can be packed before arrival — so you won’t waste any time in preparation. Need a bike rack? Done. Bedding? Done. Camp gear? Done and done.

If you’d rather keep track of your kids than your shopping list, renting can streamline your efforts.

What Are Your Rental Options?

Right now, Escape exhibits four different models to choose from: the Indie Camper, a 2018 Ford F-150 four-door crew cab with Lance 650 camper model; the Big Sur, a Ford T-350, the Mavericks line of Ford E150s; and the Santa Cruz family of Ford Transit Connects.

Testing out various models can also help you draft your shortlist — do you like indoor or outdoor kitchen access? How much power or running water do you need? What about seatbelts or bed types?

Spending some quality time with various models will illuminate needs and wants.

Who’s Your Ride-or-Die?

Are you taking yourself, a partner, or a five-person group of family and friends? Will your needs change? When you own, you lock yourself into one option, but renting can help you find your best fit. Escape Campervans offers optional rooftop sleepers that can accommodate larger parties.

If you have kiddos in tow, you can rest easier knowing that Escape’s campervans are reliable (24-hour roadside assistance), practical (sink, stove, fridge, etc.), and fun (each Escape campervan sports a unique hand-painted exterior).

What’s Your Budget?

Hotels and car rentals add up quickly on vacation. Van insurance and AAA add to ownership costs. But Escape’s campervans start at just $33/night in the low season, with affordable and flexible insurance options available.

Right now, Escape is running the Weekend Escape Special. You can try out an Escape campervan for just $99 for a weekend with free camp gear when you book from October 10, 2019, to March 2, 2020. Why invest thousands when you can test the waters for the cost of a decent meal out?

If you’re unsure of what campervans are capable of, or if the lifestyle is a good match, then renting is your best introduction to cross-functional adventure vehicles.

This article is sponsored by Escape Campervans.

Whether you’re a weekend escapist or a full-time working traveler, knowing where to park your RV for the night can be part of the fun or a daunting challenge.

RV brochures regularly depict happy campers on the edge of secluded woods or a quiet mountain lake. But they can get pretty crowded, especially during peak season.

Before you dive headlong into full-time RV dwelling, you might evaluate your camping options.

Boondocking and the Freedom of Federal Lands

As an American, you are the proud owner of 654,885,389 acres of federal public land, much of it open to camping at no cost. The bulk of your free-stay opportunities fall under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, but also large swaths of national forest.

As you might expect, free campsites offer nothing more than solitude and a nice view. For many people, that’s all they seek. Some call this Boondocking, or dry-camping in RV parlance.

Camp for Free on Public Land: ‘Dispersed Camping’ 101

No campground, just a spot on the side of the road on public land, dispersed camping is free, fun, and easier than you might expect. Read more…

Whether you travel with a diminutive teardrop trailer or an enormous Class A diesel pusher, self-sufficiency defines the RV experience. It’s not unlike having your own little cabin in the woods, but it comes with a few limitations.

Dry camping demands careful management of onboard resources. How well you ration your water, food, fuel, and power determines how long you stay in a free backcountry campsite. It’s also worth pointing out that pristine and isolated locations remain that way due to poor road access. Your RV may not reach some remote sites.

Even if you can get there, those of us who work from our mobile offices need cell service to stay connected. Backcountry campsites may not always be the best option.

Established Federal, State, and County Campgrounds

If you need more than just a level place to park, campgrounds provide extra resources like potable water, toilets, and, occasionally, electrical hookups and dump stations. Federal campgrounds fit most travel budgets, with fees ranging anywhere from $12 to $35 per night. That’s not bad for what you get — if you can get it.

Due to increasing competition for campsites, internet bots now snatch high-demand reservations within nanoseconds of availability. Even without cyber-campers snagging your spot, plenty of real people will.

If you want to frequent federal campgrounds, get to know the recreation.gov reservation system. And to keep squatters from planting roots, many national forests impose 14-day stay limits — not just for a given campsite or campground, but for the entire district.

In large portions of the country, state parks offer excellent campgrounds at reasonable prices. Websites like campendium.com provide a complete listing of the nation’s 1,600 state parks with RV-specific services.

Annual passes often lower per-night fees, and many parks have amenities like those previously mentioned. Another benefit of public parks, state and federal, is that they tend to afford more real estate between campers. Private facilities utilize every square foot to generate income.

RV Parks and the Quest for the Best

It’s not uncommon to develop a love-hate relationship with private RV parks. Some are beautiful, fun, and relaxing, but finding those rare gems isn’t always easy. Many are kept as guarded secrets.

In Southern Colorado, one such haven, tucked in the pines near a mountain lake, advertises free breakfast on Mondays, bluegrass concerts on Fridays, and a horseshoe tournament every Sunday. This is on top of spacious sites, full hookups, free Wi-Fi, and satellite TV.

Where is it? I’ll tell you later.

The worst parks cram everyone together and look more like a gypsy stronghold than a recreational retreat. It doesn’t matter how polished the park: If your front door faces your neighbor’s back window, it’s a drag for everyone.

When you find a winner, paid parks serve as little oases. The plug-in utilities at each site supply unlimited water and power. For those in the know, that equals long, hot showers and the ability to finally use all of the lights and appliances in your RV.

If your home is your office, a developed park can streamline your workday with less time chasing Wi-Fi and managing water and power. While not cheap at an average cost of $45-55 per night, weekly and monthly rates drop the price significantly.

RV Parks offer some other amenities including access to entertainment and local eateries or breweries, too.  Staying a while might be a good option for reliable connectivity, especially if you have work projects ending.

If you spend enough time on the open road, you will likely try your hand at boondocking, RV parks, and everything in between. Get lucky, and you might find that perfect setting befitting an RV brochure and have it all to yourself — for free. Just don’t tell anyone where you found it.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news and dealer information at gorving.com.

You don’t have to quit your job and move into a van full-time to get a taste of the open road. For millions of Americans, a rented campervan provides easy access to turnkey adventure. If you plan accordingly, it could change your outlook on travel.

Why buy when you can rent? Aside from the high cost of the initial buy-in, the annual maintenance, insurance, and storage present deal-breaking challenges for many would-be RV owners.

Rentals like those from Travellers Autobarn remove the hassle factor with low prices, convenient locations, and a fleet of nicely appointed adventuremobiles.

It’s a perfect solution if you’re looking for an alternative to road-tripping in your daily driver. And it’s a great way to avoid expensive hotels or the inconvenience of tent camping.

A rolling habitat is ideally suited to seasonal getaways like music festivals, sporting events, or a rendezvous of friends at a far-flung trailhead. When you’re done with your fun, all you have to do is turn in the keys and start planning the next outing.

Where to Go and How to Get There

Most people have little problem picking a destination or plotting a course. But finalizing the minor details of where to camp, refuel, and resupply requires additional considerations.

Online resources like RV Trip Wizard provide an abundance of information with just a few clicks. The intuitive system helps locate campgrounds and attractions with suggested scenic routes.

And it sounds too good to be true, but Harvest Hosts unlocks access to hundreds of free camping opportunities at wineries, breweries, and farms throughout the nation. Other planning tools include the ever-popular Free Campsites website.

The crowdsourced iOverlander app, just launched a few years ago, contains thousands of listings for campsites, restaurants, and other must-see locations in the U.S., Canada, and beyond.

The most common mistake road-trippers make involves excessive hours behind the wheel. It’s hard to answer the call of the wild from the dark side of a windshield.

To ensure you enjoy your travels, limit drive time to half-days, or package most the big miles into a heavy push, with a few days parked in one spot. Don’t forget to share the drive time with your fellow travelers.

Point-to-Point Travels

If you’re keen to fit as much adventure into your trip as possible, choose a service that facilitates one-way rentals.

Travellers Autobarn has locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Francisco, all serviced with major airports. Renters can swoop into Las Vegas, grab a van with free unlimited miles, and hit a dozen national parks before rolling into San Fran for the flight home.

What to Pack and How to Manage Your Gear

We’ve all seen mountains of gear crammed into every nook and cranny of the family truckster. Don’t let the generous size of a van fool you — it’s easy to overstuff.

To maximize space and avoid the creep of clutter, organize your items in smaller bags that easily stash in various cabinets and bins throughout the vehicle. The tidier you are, the less time you’ll waste rummaging around looking for a lost headlamp or spork.

Before you pick up your rental, put careful thought into your meal planning. Bacon and eggs sound amazing until you roll into bear territory, where oatmeal might be a better, less-fragrant breakfast.

Also, consider the cleanup phase and choose foods that produce less mess. Water is a premium on the road. Try serving all of your meals on a tortilla-covered plate. Why wash the mess when you can eat it?

A Toe in Tempting Waters

If you’re contemplating full-time van dwelling or want to know what it’s like, a rental van creates a great space to give it a go.

It might be all the validation you need to sell everything and hit the road for good. Or it might just reaffirm the value of a week-long escape from the daily grind.

Either way, it’s a fun way to see the country without worrying about overnight accommodations. Simply drive, play, sleep, and repeat as necessary.

This article is sponsored by Travellers Autobarn.

For 1 million Americans, an RV isn’t just a weekend escape pod — it’s home. For many of us, it’s also an office on wheels.

For many years, my daily commute involved a sleepy shuffle through the kitchen to a spare bedroom turned office. I now live and work from the road.

When not scribing articles for GearJunkie, I direct an international humanitarian organization in Nepal, all from a fifth-wheel RV. If you feel the itch to travel full-time and take your job with you, I have a few suggestions to ease the transition.

Make a Schedule and Stick to It

Just because you escaped an office and a fixed address, don’t think you ditched the time clock. Nothing kills productivity faster than an unstructured workday.

There’s nothing wrong with a late-morning fly fishing break. In fact, I highly recommend it. But make sure you recoup that time for work.

This also applies to a well-balanced week. I still honor the weekend as a rest period; it helps me stay focused and stress-free.

If your job allows, pick your own non-work days. I find it easier to locate prime camping spots during the early week and set those days aside for travel and play.

Know When to Move and When to Stay Put

Long before buying an RV, I had visions of traveling and working — in that order. The more time I spend behind the wheel, the less time I log in front of my laptop, which, for most of us, is the money-maker.

Moving an RV from one location to the next takes considerable time and effort. It’s not just the driving miles, but the hour or so spent breaking down and setting up our RV. I invariably have to stop for fuel, propane, water, food, or all of the above.

A short transition of a few miles is enough to shoot a workday down the tubes. When big work projects are afoot, I try not to move more than once a week — if at all.

If given a choice, my preferred scenario involves an isolated campsite on a riverbank with only squirrels for neighbors. Such places often lack internet, so there are times when a campground saves the day, or at least work productivity. The convenience of unlimited water, free Wi-Fi, and all the electricity I need helps streamline my workflow.

Define Your Workplace

People who work from home, even a home on wheels, know the importance of a dedicated workspace. My wife works from a folding chair under our awning. I work at a kitchen table with noise-canceling headphones. Defined zones help compartmentalize work from recreation.

Invest in Communication Tools

There’s nothing better than the isolation of a remote campsite, and nothing worse than passing it by because you can’t get cellular service. Staying connected is an unfortunate reality of the mobile professional.

It might be feasible to slip into the woods for a day or two, but you’ll eventually need to communicate with the outside world. That could involve assembling a tool chest of mobile devices, cellular signal boosters, and high-powered antennae.

Travel, Don’t Drift

Some people wander without an agenda. For the working pro on the go, it’s better to have a plan, even a loose one. Knowing where you will be in a week or two helps organize your logistics.

The last thing you want to do is burn 2 days of work trying to find a location to dump holding tanks, resupply propane, or find cell coverage. It might erode some of the spontaneity of RV travel, but your paychecks won’t take the hit.

The Right RV for the Job

Before you commit to a particular RV, you need to honestly evaluate your ability to make it your workplace. For some people, that could be little more than the passenger seat of a van. If you can’t settle in and get the work done, it won’t be long before your RV is in storage.

Do your homework well, and the payoff is liberation from the daily grind. On a good day, I work before sunrise, hit a mountain bike trail, crank out a few laptop hours, cast flies in a river, then squeeze in another work session before sitting under the stars in quiet repose with a glass of whiskey. Would I ever go back to four fixed walls? I don’t think I could.

This article is sponsored by Go RVing. Check out RV travel ideas, news, and dealer information at gorving.com.

Here at GearJunkie, we test a lot of gear. We are fortunate to test cutting-edge new products. Now, we want to give you the chance to win some gear too!

This week, one lucky winner will receive a 2-week campervan rental from Travellers Autobarn!

More on the prize: This week’s winner will receive a 2-week campervan rental. With a handful of different vehicle options and itineraries, it’s easier than ever to plan your next adventure.

Yes, you’ll have to travel to one of the brand’s three locations (San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas), but these highly sought-after destinations mean reliable flight schedules and reasonable airfare. And after that, the logistics become easy.

More on the brand: Campervan and auto rental company Travellers Autobarn was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1993. Since then, it has opened up rental services in New Zealand and, as of February 2019, the United States.

The brand has an extensive list of perks including free unlimited miles with every rental, 24/7 roadside assistance, and free additional drivers. Travellers Autobarn makes it easy to travel without the hassle of owning or maintaining your own vehicle.

Enter below for your chance to win!

Be sure to check back every Friday for a new giveaway.
Want the giveaway in your inbox? Sign up here.

The 2020 Winnebago Solis RAM Promaster pop-top class B RV is the brand’s first foray into the pop-top category. And with the Solis, Winnebago aims at the all-season outdoor adventurer.

Winnebago is following in the footsteps of classic pop-top vans like the VW Westfalia. The Solis is the most affordable camper van in Winnebago’s three-van lineup. Prices start at $100,667. It’s also the first to offer sleeping accommodations for four adults.

Three years ago, Winnebago launched the Revel 4×4 Sprinter-based camper van, which has gotten a lot of attention and sold quite well. While the Solis is not a 4×4, it does offer a lot of the features of the Revel — and more.

Space-Saving Solutions for Camper Van Living

A van provides a great space to build a custom adventure vehicle. But while vans have more interior space than many cars and trucks, they still have limited square footage. Here, we offer tips to plan your van build. Read more…

Winnebago Pop Top

This is Winnebago’s first foray into the pop-top van market place. The fiberglass pop-top on the Solis offers a huge amount of headroom and a sleeping area for two. A collapsible ladder makes it easy to get in and out of the upper bed.

Three windows in the pop-top allow for stargazing, elevated photography, and maximum ventilation. The windows also offer up bug screens and full blackout privacy shades.

The pop-top makes it possible to sleep two up top and two in the rear of the van. This is Winnebago’s first van that offers sleeping space for four adults. This setup will be great for road trips with two couples or families of four.

All-Weather Van Life

The Solis is specifically aimed at four-season outdoor adventurers. It’s a full-featured camper van, but at the same time super basic and durable. The whole idea was to make it affordable while offering all the amenities that you’d want in a “surf-to-slope” camper van.

The entire camper is heated and insulated. Even the bathroom — with a shower, a cartridge toilet, and optional shelving — is heated. This is perfect for drying that wet surf or ski gear after a soggy day outside. All plumbing in the van is run internally as well, so it won’t freeze.

Winnebago Solis: Adventure-Focused

The fridge is located just inside the sliding door. This makes it easy to load with groceries and to grab a beer without tracking the snow, mud, or sand in after a day outside adventuring.

Behind the Solis, there is an exterior “annex.” That means you can open the rear doors and, using a pole and a privacy curtain, create an enclosed outdoor area. This area is perfect for getting changed out of dirty gear and for showering in privacy.

The Solis also offers up bountiful storage space. There are big cabinets above the galley kitchen, below-floor storage in the rear, and a big storage locker under the rear Murphy bed.

Heavy-duty vinyl flooring should stand up to years of hard use. You know you’ll be tossing your gear in there and occasionally getting in and out with ski boots and the like, which would beat up a less-durable floor quickly.

The Van Life Goods

Besides interior and exterior showers, toilet, fridge, lots of storage, and sleeping for four, the Solis also offers up a ton of other great features. It has a two-burner stovetop, large stainless steel sink, recirculating hot water system, and a standard large 220W solar panel.

Up front, the two forward seats swivel, combined with a swiveling table and two rear captain’s chairs, to create a dinette seating area for four. The rear fold-down bed also provides seating for two and offers up a versatile movable desk surface that is perfect as an office or for additional counter space for cooking.

Solis Van Life

Is the Winnebago Solis the answer to your van life dreams? Overall, we think it’s an extremely compelling full-featured package. But we’d love to see it offered with four-wheel drive for true four-season capability.

The Four Wheel Campers Project M is the latest lightweight pop-top truck camper to hit the market. It is so new it doesn’t even have an official name yet. It will be the most barebones truck camper ever offered by Four Wheel Campers.

Lightweight pop-top truck campers like Project M fill the void between the traditional truck topper and a full-featured, RV-style, slide-in truck camper.

Four Wheel Campers is probably one of the best-known pop-top slide-in truck camper companies out there. Its full-featured rugged campers have traveled the globe since the company’s founding in 1972.

The concept behind Project M is to blur the lines between truck topper, rooftop tent, and full-featured slide-in truck camper. From the outside, Project M mostly looks like a traditional Four Wheel Camper.

The difference though is that Project M attaches to the truck bed rails, has no floor, and is completely empty inside besides a bed in the pop-top.

Looks Matter

The matte-black, diamond-plate exterior on the prototype camper looks like it belongs on a construction contractor or ranch truck. Luckily, Four Wheel Campers will also offer some clean smooth-sided aluminum options that should look way higher-end.

The smooth exterior option comes in a bunch of colors as well: gloss black, gloss gray, metallic gray, white, gloss khaki, gloss, and red.

Most lightweight pop-top truck campers on the market, like the AT Overland Summit and Go Fast Campers Platform, offer a contoured truck topper that is sleek and matches the width of the truck cab.

The Project M is instead very boxy, with vertical sidewalls, like the OVERLND Pop Top. While this doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing or offer smooth aerodynamics, it does offer more interior room, a bigger sleeping platform, and the ability to have seating areas in the truck bed with vertical backrests.

Project M Construction

Like all Four Wheel Campers, the Project M is constructed from an all-aluminum welded frame. The frame is then clad in an aluminum skin and fully insulated.

Four Wheel Campers advertises that this insulation “provides comfortable sleeping at or below 30 degrees.” With no heater on board and no insulation in the truck bed itself, we’re not sure how the brand verifies that claim. On the other hand, you can sleep out of the elements in a good sleeping bag in nearly any temperature.

Project M comes standard with three windows. You get one on each side and one in the tailgate. More are available as options.

The pop-top system is carried over directly from the slide-in truck camper models Four Wheel Campers has been making for over 40 years. It’s super-quick to set up and break down.

The system is a full-pop design, which offers the most standing room in the truck bed and the most room to roll around in the bed. The pop-top walls have four large openings with bug screens, clear windows, and blackout shades.

Project M campers are also prewired for solar and batteries. This allows you to easily upfit the camper with a full self-contained electrical system. Think 12V fridges, lighting, and electronics charging in the camper. This will be a no-brainer upgrade for most people.

Project M Truck Camper: By the Numbers

A big downside to the Project M is the weight. Four Wheel Campers lists it at 425-500 pounds. While that’s considerably lighter than the brand’s full-featured campers, it’s the heaviest offering to date in the lightweight pop-top truck camper category.

The base price will start at $8,995, with additional upcharges for 8-foot truck bed models and accessories. Again this is a great deal when compared to the rest of the Four Wheel Campers lineup, but it’s one of the most expensive units in this category.

While roof carry capacity hasn’t been expressly stated for Project M just yet, it’s the exact same roof construction as Four Wheel Campers’ other models. The brand stated, “When carrying luggage, coolers, kayaks, canoes, etc. on the roof, we recommend keeping the total weight about 100 pounds.”

That should be enough to support about two whitewater kayaks and the rack itself, but not much more.

Key Benefits of the Project M

The features that set the Project M apart from the competition are the massive sleeping platform, optional camper jacks, and international dealer network.

In the pop-top of this camper, you get a queen-width bed in the midsize-truck version and a king-width bed in the full-size-truck version. Both beds extended out from the cab-over. This maximizes living space in the truck bed when the sleeping platform is not in use and offers a full 6.5-foot-long bed when it is.

The Project M comes standard with jack brackets at all four corners like a traditional slide-in truck camper. No other camper in this lightweight pop-top category offers this feature. The jacks themselves are an option. This is the heaviest camper in this category as well, so jacks for removal are a very good idea.

Most campers in this category are offered directly from the manufacturer or have a very limited dealer network. Four Wheel Campers, on the other hand, has 15 U.S. dealers and eight international dealers.

This dealer network and shared parts with the other camper models in the brand’s lineup should make service and repair much easier for Project M campers than the competition.

More to Come From Four Wheel Campers

Besides an official name for the Project M, Four Wheel Campers has more in store for this camper soon. It plans to offer modular interior drawer and cabinet modules for organization. The brand will also offer rack solutions for outdoor gear, like bicycles, for indoor locked and secure transport.

You can order your Four Wheel Campers Project M today from your local dealer. There’s currently a 13-week lead time on all Four Wheel Campers models.

For an in-depth look at all things lightweight pop-top truck campers, check out “The Lightweight Pop-Top Truck Camper Revolution.”

Lance’s latest vehicle project aims to highlight the versatility, capability, and all-season comforts of truck campers. Lance’s The Altimeter project vehicle is ready for adventure any time and anywhere.

Lance truck campers have been featured on a number of high-profile adventure builds over the past few years — most notably on the Hellwig Rulebreaker Titan XD build and Aaron Wirth’s overland RAM build.

The Altimeter project is the convergence of a slide-in Lance truck camper and a big Ford Super Duty truck. Of course, both the truck and camper have been modified and upgraded, and the brand added a matching souped-up side-by-side. Grayscale mountain landscape vinyl graphics tie all the elements together.

The Vehicles

The platform for this adventure vehicle build is a 2019 Ford F350 Platinum Super Duty 4×4 crew-cab short-bed truck. With single rear wheels and carrying a big truck camper, Hellwig sway bars and air springs are required to keep the truck handling right across all types of terrain.

Top-of-the-line Icon Vehicle Dynamics suspension ensures that the ride is smooth no matter how rough the trail becomes. This Super Duty has also been upgraded with Raceline Wheels, Maxxis off-road tires, KC lights, and a WARN winch and bumper. Those upgrades are the big ones, but there is a full host of smaller upgrades: Troklift, Sherptek, Scoshe, Maglite, Malo’o Rack, Yakima, and others.

Behind the truck is a wrapped-to-match 2019 Yamaha YXZ1000R side-by-side on a small utility trailer. This little off-road go-fast rig is the perfect runabout once you’ve set up camp with the big rig.

The Truck Camper

The Altimeter project vehicle sports the largest short-bed truck camper Lance offers. The 855s Lance Camper offers big features in a relatively compact camper.

Highlights include a big slide-out dinette, large wet bathroom, and a queen-size cab-over bed. The slide-out truly opens up the interior to easily accommodate up to four adults. It has seating for four and sleeping for four, with the large dinette that converts to a bed.

Expect all the creature comforts of home in this truck camper. Think hot water, AC, and heat. Lance also set up this rig to stay off the grid for extended periods of time. Big water and holding tanks combined with a large Battleborn lithium-ion battery system make off-grid camping on longer adventures possible.

The Lance 855s starts at about $40,000. The dry weight of this slide-in truck camper is about 3,000 pounds.

Promo Video

The Lance Altimeter video starts off with a really cheesy snowboarding segment — but it does get better from there. Above all, it gives you a bit of an idea of the lifestyle this type of truck camper RV can provide.

Surprisingly, Lance chose not to showcase much of the full-featured kitchen, massive interior seating area, and full bathroom in the video. All of those things are the real draws to a big truck camper like the Lance 855s.

Pay to Play

The F350 Super Duty Ford will set you back more than $65,000, plus upgrades. And the Lance 855s starts at $40,000 before options.

That means that you’ll be well over $100,000 into a home on wheels like this before hitting the open road. That big number doesn’t even include the $26,000-plus for the Yamaha side-by-side, trailer, and associated upgrades.

Hit the Road Less Traveled

This project started with the basic idea of Lance wanting to show the versatility and capability of the truck camper. The brand succeeds in its “adventure no matter the altitude” ethos by offering a fun, well-equipped home on wheels ready for adventures off the beaten path.

Hymer and BASF partner up to create the ultimate tiny home on wheels. Meet the VisionVenture Sprinter Tiny Home.

Using over 20 new BASF advanced materials, the latest 3D printing technology, and all that has been learned through tiny home and van life creations in recent years, the VisionVenture was born. Hymer has given us a glimpse into what RVs might look like in the not-so-distant future.

Hymer is a super-well-respected premium German RV company that has been around for over 60 years. BASF is one of the world’s top chemical technology companies and is based in Germany.

Together, these two leading companies combined their expertise to create a truly one-of-a-kind look at the future of RVs. Hymer expects we’ll see vehicles like this VisonVenture concept hitting the highways of the world by 2025.

Solid Mercedes Sprinter Foundation

Starting with a 4×4 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis cab, the team at Hymer went to work on reimagining the cab. The original doors, headlights, and grille have been retained. But designers modified nearly everything else.

They brought the windscreen farther forward and redesigned the roofline. 3D-printed fender flares/wheel arches and other body parts complete the vehicle look. Will future Sprinters look like this?

After modifying the cab, designers added a custom lightweight camper. BASF “ultra-resilient paintwork in striking dark green” covers the entire vehicle.

BASF makes this paint with a “temperature-regulating, energy-efficient Chromacool technology” that can reduce the vehicle’s surface temperature by a massive 68 degrees Fahrenheit. It can also reduce the interior vehicle temp by up to 39 degrees.

Living Space

The living space in this tiny home on wheels feels extremely upscale and spacious for such a small footprint. It offers a full bathroom, living room, office, kitchen, bedroom, and even upper and lower outdoor patios.

Behind the rotating front captain’s chairs and just inside the side entry door, you are presented with a bunch of illuminated steps that lead up to the bed in the pop-top. Inside these steps are big storage drawers and a drawer-style refrigerator. You’ll typically find this combination of systems in tiny homes and yachts.

A full bathroom is both supercompact and configurable. It offers such luxuries as a rain shower and natural stone flooring. Concrete and stone are used throughout the vehicle’s flooring and made possible by a BASF product called Veneo Slate.

The advanced material combines a thin layer of stone or concrete with plastic into a 1-mm-thick, light, bendable material. This allows for the natural look and feel without adding extra weight to this home on wheels. It also allows the living area floor to flow seamlessly into the bathroom floor without the need for a conventional shower tray.

At the rear of the vehicle, you get a full kitchen and a dinette-style seating area. A big panoramic rear window and lots of glass dominate this area. The rear of the vehicle even opens up to create a covered patio area complete with pull-out electric BBQ.

Up Top

One of the coolest features of this tiny home on wheels is the pop-top roof system. To raise it, inflate the honeycomb outer walls of the pop-top. These walls are nearly 3 inches thick. Users can inflate them with heated or cooled air in under a minute. Ambient lighting is integrated into the inflatable walls for natural-looking full-surround lighting.

Upstairs inside this pop-top area is a full bed. The rear of the pop-top also opens up to allow stargazing and to access a small roof patio atop the vehicle.

The Future of RV Life

With an integrated roof solar system and full-electric appliances, this RV of the future is ready for off-grid adventures. Imagine all this advanced tiny home tech and space-saving features on a full-electric 4×4 chassis. The future of tiny home/van life/RV life never looked brighter!

LifeSaver improves an age-old off-roading staple — the jerrycan — with modern filtration technology. We tested it over a hot Texas summer of dirt roads and daily adventures to see if it really offers the peace of mind it advertises.

One of the big hurdles in remote overlanding is securing a potable water supply. Of course, the more remote the objective, the more complicated this becomes. Carrying large amounts of drinking water requires space and weighs the vehicle down, negatively affecting handling and mileage.

But filtering or purifying large quantities of water with typical backpacking filters can be tedious and time-consuming.

Enter the LifeSaver Jerrycan — a self-contained solution that is well-suited for overlanding use. This 5-gallon water jug uses a hollow-fiber membrane filter, a carbon cartridge, and a pressure pump to store, filter, and purify a large volume of water.

So far, the Jerrycan has been a permanent fixture in the bed of my truck for 3 months. It provided clean water for a summer of outdoor pursuits.

LifeSaver Jerrycan: 5-Gallon Water Filter

The Jerrycan uses a standard-looking, 5-gallon, BPA- and BPS-free, plastic, very rigid and robust jug for water storage. A large filler cap houses an air-pressure pump. A smaller drain cap holds a 15 x 1.5-inch-diameter hollow-fiber membrane filter and activated carbon cartridge.

LifeSaver offers the Jerrycan in two versions: one rated to filter 2,642 gallons ($287) and another rated to 5,283 gallons ($345).

Both the hollow-fiber membrane filter and activated carbon cartridge are replaceable. The 2,642-gallon replacement filter costs $76, and the 5,283-gallon replacement costs $90. LifeSaver rates the replacement carbon cartridges to 660 gallons. It sells packs of five for $25.

The Jerrycan is an NSF-certified water purifier, removing both bacteria and viruses. And the activated carbon removes chlorine, tastes, and odors. It also passes the P248 Military Operations testing protocol for Microbiological Water Filters.

LifeSaver Jerrycan Review

After a priming procedure, the Jerrycan proved intuitive to use. I filled, pumped, and dispensed purified water through the spigot or the optional showerhead ($22). To maintain a workable pressure, I found 15-20 pumps per minute adequate. While the Jerrycan operated in any position, placing the spigot low aided flow rate.

The spigot uses a quarter-turn dial. It was easy to use and prevented incidental opening while the Jerrycan slid around in the back of my truck.

And the showerhead accessory made it convenient to rinse off and wash dishes while the Jerrycan sat on the open tailgate. A second person pumping allowed continuous showering or washing with a constant flow rate.

The biggest drawback I found came when trying to fill the comparatively large container in natural sources of water that weren’t deep enough to engulf the can. To solve this, I simply used smaller containers to fill the Jerrycan.

One of the most common uses for me during the testing period was to purify the often funky-tasting, odd-smelling, or heavily chlorinated potable water offered at parks. I value the peace of mind drinking cleaner-tasting, odor-free water.

The LifeSaver Jerrycan proved durable throughout the testing period, which included residence in the camper shell of my Tacoma during a hot Texas summer and the almost daily driving down rough dirt roads that are part of my commute.

LifeSaver Jerrycan Water Purifier: A Good Buy?

The LifeSaver Jerrycan is a great way to both store and purify water during overlanding adventures. But it’s also a daily source of clean water in the vehicle.

The flexibility to store and purify up to 4.9 gallons of water, sourced from anywhere, is a great addition to any adventure vehicle, whether it’s a van, truck, or sedan. It also makes for a sensible addition to a home emergency preparedness kit.

The large size of the hollow-core membrane filter alone makes its $200 (and up) price tag seem reasonable given the similar price of some smaller backpacking purifiers. And the Jerrycan’s self-contained and portable nature makes it easy and logical to skip the water storage and delivery plans of your overlanding vehicle build.

After using the Jerrycan, my permanent water tank and 12V water pump almost seem overkill and unnecessary.

Off-road trailer-maker OPUS releases its first hard-sided camper trailer. Go off the grid in luxurious comfort.

Overlanders, road-trippers, and comfort-loving adventurers take note: There’s a new camper in town. It’s sleek, luxurious, and ready to go off road. OPUS makes several off-road trailers, including the infamous inflatable Air Camper.

But this is its first foray into the world of full-size, hard-sided campers. And it’s left no luxury behind.

Camper Inflates In 90 Seconds, No Poles Needed

Compressed air and ‘tubes’ instead of poles pitch the Opus Air Camper quickly. Read more…

OPUS OP 15: The Expandable, Off-Road Trailer

The OP 15 pairs off-road capabilities with the luxurious comfort of on-road campers. But what’s most immediately eye-catching is its ability to expand.

It has a pop-top for extra headroom, an extendable interior, and an entirely functional kitchen slides out on the exterior. This expandable design makes for less bulk while towing yet more space while camping.

With a curb weight of 4,960 pounds, you won’t be pulling this with a car. But it’s a modest weight for the included features and no problem for even a small pickup. It collapses down to 15 feet and is designed to handle narrow, rough roads.

Twin shock-absorbers and trailing arm independent suspension for each wheel make for a smoother ride on uneven terrain.

Off-Grid Comfort

Roughing it isn’t a concern when you camp with the OP 15. It can hold an impressive 63 gallons of fresh water. And it comes with a 17-gallon gray water tank and 10-gallon black water tank.

For electricity, three 100Ah AGM batteries are linked to a 300W solar system to keep you powered on the go.

The exterior slide-out kitchen comes with a prep deck, stove, pantry, and Dometic CFX75 fridge.

Inside, you’ll find a king bed and twin bunk beds. There’s also a full bathroom complete with shower, sink, and chemical toilet.

Add in the on-demand hot water heater, air conditioning, integrated speaker entertainment system, and television, and this may be nicer than your home.

We haven’t tested one to see how well it handles off road. But if its performance is as good as its looks, this could be a serious contender in the boondocking arena. Pack up the family, fill the tanks, go off the grid, and get away from it all.

The OP 15 starts at $34,000 and is available now.

Dreaming of the perfect off-road trailer? Check this out:

The Best Off-Road Trailers & Teardrops Under $10,000

Equal parts comfort and roughing it, these burly pull-behinds provide a place to lay your head at night and are meant to venture off the beaten path. Check out these trailers and teardrops under (or just a hair above) $10,000. Read more…

The RV lifestyle is reaching new demographics and continually growing. And peer-to-peer RV rental companies make experiencing the RV life that much easier.

RVshare is one of the top peer-to-peer RV rental companies, and one of the first to market all the way back in 2013. RVshare just hit a major milestone, its 1-millionth day of rentals. That’s a lot of days of RV travel, and a milestone that the brand hit after two record-breaking months.

“The month of June was our biggest ever. We’ve seen an unprecedented number of site visits and bookings, and that momentum is projected to continue throughout the year. We are seeing a resurgence in RV travel because it offers a great deal of flexibility in planning your vacation, particularly for groups and families. With this peer-to-peer model, RV travel is more accessible and affordable than ever before,” said Jon Gray, CEO of RVshare
.

Where RV Shares Rule

The top RV rental markets for RVshare in June of 2019 were as follows: Spokane, Washington; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Boise, Idaho; Denver, Colorado; and Tacoma, Washington. Do you notice anything similar about those places? We do: It’s outdoor adventure opportunities combined with major airports. Fly in, grab an RV rental and some knowledge from a local, and get out for an RV-based adventure!

Whether you want to experience the RV lifestyle a few times a year without the hassle and costs of RV ownership, or are an RV owner that hates seeing your RV sit idle much of the year, peer-to-peer RV rental websites and apps are a great answer.

Besides RVshare, there are also many other RV rental options out there. There are traditional RV rentals from places like Cruise America, and there are other peer-to-peer options like Outdoorsy and even Turo.

Turo, the car-sharing app known for unique and high-end vehicles, has started to tap into this growing marketplace. Recently, the platform started renting out Jimmy Chin’s adventure van.

According to a number of industry reports, surveys, and company data findings, RV travel is on the rise. RVshare is having a record-breaking summer and expects to continue to break records throughout the rest of the year.

Vehicle-based camping is hot on all fronts right now. Whether you call it car camping, van life, RV life, or overlanding is up to you. There’s just no denying that getting out for a vehicle-based adventure where you have all the comforts and outdoor gear you’d have at home is an appealing prospect to a wide and diverse audience.

DMOS, famous for its backcountry, jump-creating snow shovels, takes aim at the overland and camp market with the multifunctional Delta Shovel.

You may not think you’ll ever need an adventure shovel, but DMOS begs to differ. The Wyoming-based brand launches the Delta shovel today on Kickstarter for an early-backer price of $149.

DMOS designed this new shovel as a packable, vehicle-based tool for digging a campfire or cat-hole, fixing the road ahead, or unsticking a stuck automobile. As you might expect, it takes aim squarely at the camping, off-road, overland, and RV crowds.

DMOS Delta Shovel

DMOS describes the Delta as “the next phase in the evolution of the shovel and a true year-round, multi-application solution.” The idea was to build a more versatile and refined version of the classic military entrenching tool. It’s also the brand’s first shovel specifically designed for use in the dirt.

DMOS began with a collapsible backcountry snow shovel to enable the creation of perfect backcountry jumps. It launches all of its adventure tools through Kickstarter, manufactures them in Oregon, and dreams them up from its headquarters in Wyoming. DMOS backs all its products with a lifetime warranty.

The Delta shovel handle attaches to a three-part, telescoping, locking, aluminum shaft. While it packs down relatively small — 11 x 24 x 3 inches — it extends to a considerable length of 51 inches. Still, it isn’t exactly backpacker light. DMOS offers it in both 12-gauge cold-rolled steel and 6061 aluminum, weighing 6 pounds and 3.5 pounds, respectively.

A foldable, three-position head adds utility as a shovel, hoe, and entrenching tool.

DMOS also offers a few transport options for the Delta. The most interesting is a dedicated vehicle mount. This mount is “for rear spare tires and roof racks.” The brand claims it’s “rattle-free,” lockable, and designed for a quick deploy. The mount is made of the same aluminum as the shovel, weighs in at 4 pounds, and fits roof bars up to 2 inches in diameter with included mounting hardware. You will want to be sure to put a padlock on this mount, as people will try to steal this shovel off your vehicle.

If you’d rather throw the Delta in the trunk, under the seat, or in your vehicle’s drawer system, DMOS makes a heavy-duty 1,000-denier nylon carrying/storage bag. It’s also American-made, MOLLE accessory/mounting-compatible, and weighs only 1 pound.

DMOS Delta Shovel: First Look

I’ve had an early prototype of the DMOS Delta shovel in our hands for a few months now, although I didn’t get to use it much. From my preliminary handling, it feels sturdy, has a solid blade design, and feels way more ergonomic than a basic entrenching tool.

For comparison, you can find a $25 military e-tool entrenching shovel on Amazon that packs down to 9.4 x 7.1 x 2.9 inches and weighs in at 2.2 pounds. But it uses lower-quality materials and extends to only 24 inches.

The Kickstarter campaign for the DMOS Delta shovel starts today. And if you want one of these shovels, you’re going to want to get in on this early. A limited number of early-bird backers can pick up the Delta for $149. That’s a bargain considering the Delta will retail for $199 when it hits shelves in time for Christmas.

Early-bird deals also soften the retail shock of the $379 shovel/mount combination or $319 shovel with carrying bag.

While we love the looks of this shovel, we’ll be the first to admit that spending $149 (and up) on a shovel is rough on the adventure budget. But with the lifetime warranty, this should be a buy once, cry once purchase. Check out the DMOS Delta Shovel here.

Ever wanted to test out this whole van life thing? Now you can rent out a well-traveled adventure van owned by none other than Oscar-winning director, photographer, and adventurer Jimmy Chin.

Chin, most recently known for his Oscar-winning film “Free Solo,” had our stomachs flipping as Alex Honnold free soloed El Capitan. But on the other end of the lens, Chin actually lived in this 2012 AWD Chevy Express pop-top van while he filmed the movie. It has also taken Chin on a wide range of climbing and skiing trips all across North America for many years.

“My passion lies in sharing stories that inspire people and open their eyes to a different world,” Chin said. “I appreciate that Turo thinks along the same lines and helps people travel in a more sustainable way. Whatever adventure you’re planning, Turo can help you find the perfect ride for your trip.”

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Turo Van Rental

Chin travels around the globe regularly on a wide range of adventures. This summer, he won’t be around his home in Jackson, Wyoming, much, so he decided to partner with Turo and list his van for rent.

Turo offers over 850 unique makes and models of cars for rent, including a wide variety of adventure vans. Turo’s mission is to “put the world’s 1.2 billion cars to better use,” as the average car sits idle 95 percent of the time. Peer-to-peer car-sharing is what Turo is all about. The brand says, “The average active owner on Turo generates approximately $625 per month.” That’s an impressive amount!

Rent Jimmy Chin’s Van

Our guess is that Chin is going to make much more than that with his van. The van is listed for $250 per day, but there’s a one-week minimum to rent it. That means that the minimum you’ll spend to live like Chin is $1,750. That rate allows you to add 1,000 miles to the odometer and will cost you $0.37 for each mile after that. While $1,750 a week for a van rental isn’t inexpensive, it also isn’t out of the ordinary.

My favorite part of this rental is the broken stereo. Not to worry, though, as the listing states, “But you’ve got the mountains and hopefully some friends to keep you occupied.”

You do get AWD for all-season driving confidence, a reasonable 15 mpg on regular gas, solar battery charging, and a propane stove. While this van is said to be able to transport five, it would be very snug with five adults. With two beds, sleeping a reasonable and friendly four people, a four-person road trip would maximize the economy of this rental.

Many Turo listings offer “extras” with the rentals. These are items you can rent from the vehicle owner at an additional charge. Along with Chin’s van listing, it says you can rent “rock climbing rope, climbing gear, climbing shoes” for an additional $10 per trip. That’s an impressively inexpensive climbing gear rental!

“The flexibility of van life is perfect for adventure,” Chin said. “When you’re living out of your van, climbing and hiking wherever you want, there’s no rush. It’s a simple life. I did it for a long time, and I’d do it all over again. Since I can’t live that life full-time anymore, at least someone else can have a taste of it in my van.”

The Fame Effect

It’s a pretty rare opportunity to get to drive any vehicle of a living legend, no less sleep and eat in their home on the road. Sure, you’re going to pay for it, but you’re honestly just paying for a van rental in this case, with little to no fame fee on top.

Do realize that Chin is renting his van while he’s out roaming the globe on jaw-dropping adventures. This means it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get to meet or have a conversation with the man himself.

You can reserve Jimmy Chin’s van starting today on Turo. You’ll find the listing here.

What appears to be a too-good-to-be-true deal circulating on Facebook is just that. Be on the lookout.

Sometimes, an offer comes along that’s so tempting, even though it smells fishy, you want to go for it. So it was with a few of the GearJunkie staff today who caught wind of a deal that’s roped in plenty of outdoor enthusiasts.

That’s right, you could (can’t) own a teardrop trailer — shipped free — for just $169! Why take this deal? According to the Shopify page (that will happily accept your credit card information):

“The old-timey style is but one of the iconic features that make teardrop trailers so magical. Their comfortable sleeping quarters, as well as their functional and beautiful rear galley kitchens are a couple more reasons. Throw in the fact that they are easy to tow, lightweight, and have a multitude of custom option possibilities including off-road versions and it is no wonder why so many people are catching the teardrop fever.”

“Old-timey style”?! OMG, I’ll buy 12!

Hold. Your. Horses.

$169 Teardrop Trailer Scam: Facebook

There are so many reasons to immediately disregard this “promotion.” It’s among the most obvious ploys, but these scammers may have touched on the perfect product. “Teardrop fever” is real: Our readers love them, they’re a fun and accessible way (besides the price) to get outdoors, especially with a family, and they look cool!

But the only thing $169 would buy you is a couple of tires. Maybe. So put your wallet back, and let’s look at all the reasons this is, in fact, too good to be true.

It’s on Facebook

First off, this deal greets consumers solely from Facebook — the internet equivalent of the Vegas strip at midnight. Facebook is a lawless, unforgiving marketplace that trades in turning your identity and habits into dollars. Dollars that go from you to someone else, and never the other way around.

Legitimate businesses will have some presence or traceable marketing that reaches outside Facebook. Never jump on a deal you can only find on a website that the U.S. government has repeatedly targeted for illegally harvesting personal data, being complicit in election meddling, and suspicion of massive antitrust practices.

‘Today Only!’

How lucky are you? You happened to pass by the world’s greatest deal on a teardrop on the one day it’s available! No. You’re not that lucky. “Just $169 Today & Free Shipping” is code for “No time to think! Buy first, think later.” Sorry, but always lead with your smarts — it’s the only shot you have at keeping $169 in your pocket.

What Brand Is That?!

By now, we should all know enough that if a website or business name is impossible to pronounce — let alone sound out — it’s not a place we should be. Take this unprecedented teardrop deal. It comes courtesy of the fine folks at … UWIEHHFFC. That’s literally the sound a hippopotamus makes when it sneezes. It is not a legitimate enterprise.

A quick gander at some other “$169 Teardrop” Shopify pages returned other business names that were, well, less than convincing. I’m looking at you, “WEOFIW,” “WOIPWOEIF,” and “TIYIUJDC.”

Google Search

If all else fails, just Google “$169 teardrop scam.” I did, and here’s what I found:

“Purchased on a safe credit card in case of fraud. Also have a freeze on my credit. Received a receipt but when I click on the receipt to ‘see’ my order it goes to a webpage that can’t be displayed.” — Signal Arnaques

“In recent weeks, an individual or group has been running a series of online fraudulent scams on various online web stores on multiple different platforms in an effort to impress upon people that they may get a screaming deal on a teardrop trailer. They have been using our product images from throughout our website, and removing our logo in Photoshop.

“PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS IS A SCAM AND WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO BRING IT TO AN END.” — Timberleaf Trailers

Not only that, but some Reddit users ran a domain search that uncovered one fraudulent site (there are many) that was just days old. If you started a business, would you begin by selling your big-ticket items at 98 percent off in the first week?

Face it: You won’t get a teardrop trailer worth its salt unless you A) pay good money for it or B) build it yourself. Fortunately, we’ve covered the best teardrops under $10,000 and cool info on how to build your own (here and here).

The all-new Outdoorsy Vehicle Purchase Program takes RV purchasing, financing, and rental into a seamless, wholly digital format.

With millennials and Gen Xers representing more than 70 percent of all RV rentals on Outdoorsy’s platform and big companies like Mercedes-Benz and Sportsmobile signed up already, this program is sure to gain traction quickly.

What Is Outdoorsy?

Think of Outdoorsy as Airbnb for RVs. Founded in 2015, it has quickly become the world’s largest RV rental marketplace, with offices on three continents already.

Outdoorsy’s mission “is to mobilize the 20 million idle RVs around the world to ensure everyone has the access, choice, and opportunity to safely enjoy outdoor experiences and empower RV owners to realize life-changing financial benefits.” Sure that sounds like marketing hype, but it’s a proven program that works well for both RV renters and owners.

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Recreational Vehicle Purchase Program

The new Vehicle Purchase Program will allow individual RV buyers, as well as rental fleet managers, to have factory-direct purchase, financing, and insurance access. You now get this in addition to the ability to rent out the RV within the Outdoorsy marketplace.

“We are geared toward consumers and small-to-midsize businesses who don’t have the purchasing power bigger rental companies do. The Vehicle Purchase Program gives users a simple, hassle- and headache-free way to grow their business,” said Outdoorsy CEO Jeff Cavins.

Program benefits include the following:

• Discounted pricing
• Cut the long lines at preferred upfitters, like Sportsmobile
• Commercial financing options

We dug into these lofty benefit claims a bit, and here’s what we found.

Outdoorsy’s Great Pricing

Outdoorsy is targeting the van life crowd with direct-to-consumer pricing on Mercedes Sprinter vans as well as through preferred upfitters. If you don’t know that term yet, an “upfitter” is a company that builds RVs on base platforms. They’re basically where RVs (or other small-batch, specialized vehicles) are born. Expect to see other traditional RV companies sign up for the program soon. Basically, you’re buying a new RV through Outdoorsy’s digital portal direct from the factory. This process cuts out most of the dealer markup.

Although Outdoorsy wouldn’t provide us with specific discounts or pricing, the brand said, “Outdoorsy’s 2020 pricing for all Sprinter vans are set at discounted, industry-leading rates unavailable through dealers.” It also claims it’s offering exclusive discounted rates through upfitters. The quoted discount was “up to 16 percent off MSRP for full vehicle orders” that can reach “over $13,000 in some vehicle builds.”

Those are impressive numbers! Consider that Sportsmobile doesn’t offer discounts outside this program. And it’s also extremely hard to find discounts on the ever-popular new Sprinter.

Cut the Line

Most Sportsmobile orders are custom van builds that can take 6-18 months to finish. Sportsmobile is the largest Class B upfitter in the nation, with a continual backlog of custom orders.

Outdoorsy is working with Sportsmobile directly to offer “pre-priced vehicles with specifications already selected.” This will allow Sportsmobile to fill the orders more quickly by producing production vans. Outdoorsy expects to delivery times to be 6-9 months on these van builds.

Financing Options

Unless you have at least one RV and are planning to buy another (or you’re an aspiring small RV rental business), the new financing Outdoorsy is offering really isn’t for you. It’s specifically offering a line of credit through Daimler Financial Services that will cover the vehicle and upfit costs.

When you as an individual finance an RV and upfits — think Sprinter van and full buildout — it’s typically a mortgage-style loan through a third-party bank. Outdoorsy is offering to finance for a fleet through the manufacturer directly. It requires ownership of more than one RV but does not require all RVs to be rented out.

Outdoorsy: The Small Print

While there are still some questions, the Outdoorsy Vehicle Purchase Program does sound like a great opportunity for anyone in the market for a new RV. Rent it out to help cover the ownership costs and not have it languish in your driveway. This new program is even better for you if you plan to offer a few RVs for rent through the Outdoorsy marketplace.

In order to be eligible for the program, you first need to sign up for a free Outdoorsy account. Once logged in, you can express interest in the program by submitting an order request. (We’re unsure what qualifications that request needs in order to be granted.) You’re automatically eligible if you’ve been an Outdoorsy member for over 90 days or have active searchable rental listings.

This week, YETI dropped the price of its Hopper Two 30 cooler by 20 percent. Now, you can get this great cooler for $240.

YETI’s Hopper Two cooler is loved by many for its versatility and durability. The soft cooler consistently gets high marks from buyers across the web.

The average rating across REI, Backcountry, Amazon, and YETI’s own site is 4.6 out of 5 stars. GearJunkie also tested and reviewed the Hopper Two and gave it props. (Editor’s note: We tested the 40-quart version, which is no longer available.)

The Hopper Two is the second generation of the cooler and it offers more insulation, better accessibility, and more handles than the original.

Check out the YETI Hopper Two 30

Why Buy a YETI Soft Cooler?

Hard coolers are amazing. There’s a reason you see them at the campsite, beach, and sporting events. But sometimes, a soft cooler is a better choice.

Because of their shape and ability to compress a bit, soft coolers can be easier to pack in your car, truck, or boat. They are also often smaller in size (30 quarts and below), making them easier to carry by yourself. Plus, the Hopper Two 30 comes with a detachable shoulder strap that allows you to carry the soft cooler and your other gear simultaneously.

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Though it has soft sides, it’s still durable. YETI uses a DryHide exterior that resists punctures, abrasions, and mildew. Plus, it’s waterproof and won’t leak.

YETI claims it will hold 20 cans with about 20 pounds of ice. The Hopper Two also holds a good amount of food that can cover a weekend of camping, depending on what you need to keep cold on your next outing.

The ColdCell Insulation is made of closed-cell rubber foam that’s designed to hold in the cold longer. In the long run, that will help save money in your ice budget.

When to Use YETI Soft Cooler

You can take a YETI soft-sided cooler anywhere a hard-side goes, but here are some smart places and perfect activities for this flexible food and beverage storage unit.

Camping – Car camping, cart-in or walk-in sites, or short-distance backpacking sites.

Ocean and river – Canoeing, kayaking, standup paddle boarding, surfing, or just hanging out on the beach.

Overlanding and road trips – Inside any adventure-mobile or on a road trip of any length.

Fishing – Boat, wade, or shore fishing.

Hunting – In the truck bed, strapped to the ATV, or at camp.

This article is sponsored by YETI. Check out the Hopper Two 30 soft cooler. 

Rivian showed off its most recent R1T prototype at Overland Expo West. The vehicle has a full suite of overland and off-road components. Is this the first full electric overland adventure vehicle?

Rivian is trying hard to differentiate its electric vehicle offerings by marketing them as “adventure vehicles.” The Rivian R1T overland edition, debuted at Overland Expo, represents one of the first electric vehicles we’ve seen that is ready for a big adventure.

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Electric Vehicle Capabilities

Sure, that big adventure can only span 400 miles before needing to find a recharge station. But 400 miles can get you to some pretty epic adventures from most places in America. Plus, the Rivian’s quick 30-minute recharge time buys you 200 more miles to keep the adventure moving down the road.

And with 750 hp on tap and massive (instant) torque, the all-wheel-drive R1T should be quite good off road. It also offers up an impressive 14 inches of ground clearance with its adjustable air-suspension. Sealed batteries even offer up to a 3-foot water fording depth.

Overland travelers love to overload their vehicles with all sorts of gear. Many literally bring the kitchen sink, stove, and fridge with them on their adventures. This Rivian concept has all of the above and isn’t fazed. It has an impressive 1,700-plus-pound load capacity, so it should be able to carry more of your outdoor gear.

Overland Equipment

The showstopper feature in the Rivian booth at Overland Expo was the “custom electric stove powered by the vehicle’s battery pack.” The complete kitchen setup slides out from the vehicle’s 350L gear tunnel. The setup features an electric double-induction cooktop, a sink, lots of counter space, and a full set of pots, pans, and dishes.

In the truck’s frunk is also a Dometic 12V fridge. It’s always important to keep your adult beverages frosty and your food cold.

Rivian says, “Users can light their surroundings and cook using the vehicle’s power for over a week using only 20 kWh — or 11 percent — of the largest 180kWh Rivian battery pack.” We’re not sure how the brand came to these numbers, or if they include the use of the fridge, but they are impressive! We also didn’t see much in the way of area lighting on the truck, so we’re not sure how Rivian plans to light up its customers’ surroundings.

With your belly full, you’ll want to find some shelter for the night. Rivian has you sorted with a truck bed rack-mounted Tepui and Rivian co-branded rooftop tent.

Off-Road Accessories

The Rivian R1T comes with a built-in air compressor, which should come in handy for airing up and down tasks. This concept truck also has roof rack-mounted Maxtrax recovery boards, a shovel, and a Hi-Lift jack.

The Hi-Lift is relatively useless on this build, as there are no high-lift points on the vehicle. If you tried to use the jack to lift the vehicle off any body part or bumper, the part would just crush. It could possibly be used as a come-a-long, but in this instance, I think it’s just eye candy on the concept truck.

Will We See the Rivian on the Road Any Time Soon?

Rivian is still just a startup. It’s fighting a massive uphill battle to launch a production vehicle in North America. Not to mention the extremely stiff competition in the fast-paced EV space. With massive investments from both Amazon and Ford recently, Rivian is now much more likely to bring its vision to market.

Rivian does have lofty goals and an impressive focus on creating a unique and functional adventure vehicle. Just have a look at its modular bed system patent filing for an example of this creativity.

Expected launch of the production Rivian R1T (truck) and R1S (SUV) is late 2020 for North America. Both will be built at Rivian’s newly acquired 2.6-million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois.

While you can’t order an overland edition Rivian just yet, or maybe ever, you can put your name on the list to purchase one at www.rivian.com.

A new kind of camper is coming to town. Soon, you’ll be able to haul gear, sleep, and cook dinner — indoors or out — in the modular basecamp wonder that is the SylvanSport VAST.

Pull-behind campers get a gear-oriented upgrade this summer. We previewed the SylvanSport VAST last month in Salt Lake City, where it won an innovation award at the RV Experience (RVX) show.

This article breaks the VAST down for anyone in the market for what may be an ultimate gear junkie basecamp camper. The company calls it “the RV reimagined.”

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SylvanSport VAST Camper

The SylanSport VAST is the kind of camper designed for people who prefer to camp outdoors but may want a cushier experience. Unlike your typical RV, the VAST is a place where you sleep, maybe eat a meal during rain, and have as a home base hub. But the design lends itself to those who will spend most of their camping time away from the camper. It nicely bridges the gap between luxury RVs and a camp tent on the ground.

I got inside the VAST at the trade show and was given a full tour by the founder of the company. Its boxy interior is equipped to the hilt with compartments, doors, windows, moveable beds, storage, a bathroom, and a kitchen unit that moves to reveal a shower underneath (more on that below).

SylvanSport unveiled its first unit, the popular GO camper, more than a decade ago. The VAST is a full reboot, built off a box-trailer template and assembled with gear hauling in mind.

Kayaks can attach on the side with a unique rack. In the back, a door opens as a mini “garage” to stow bikes.

A “storage pod” on the front offers 18 cubic feet of additional storage in a waterproof, lockable space.

Indoor-Outdoor Kitchen

As we noted in the RVX article, the SylvanSport VAST’s indoor-outdoor kitchen is likely the most innovative part of the design. It slides in and out on a non-motorized rail system.

You can cook and prep food inside if it’s rainy or cold. On a nice day, the entire kitchen slides down and out, offering the same two-burner stove, sink, and refrigerator outside.

SylvanSport calls the indoor/outdoor kitchen a first for the RV industry. “The all-season kitchen is fully functional at an optimal cooking height for the indoor or outdoor gourmet,” the brand notes.

We tested it out at the trade show. The system is slick, with the whole modular kitchen easily moving out on smooth tracks. A table folds down for more food-prep space, making the kitchen a bona fide place to cook a camp feast.

Inside, once the kitchen is moved on the tracks, you can access a residential-size shower in its place.

Sleeping Quarters Are Modular, Too

Time for bed. Inside the VAST, two “true” queen-size beds provide a “home-like sleep experience,” SylvanSport notes.

SylvanSport configured the interior for a variety of lounging, sitting, and sleeping arrangements. There is a unique, artsy light on the ceiling.

A custom-designed bed stows up at ceiling height. At night it lowers via a motorized lift, and a second bed nests underneath. The bunkbed setup can accommodate a small family sleeping in the VAST.

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Details: SylvanSport VAST Camper

The VAST measures about 21.5 feet long, 7.9 feet wide, and 9.5 feet tall. It weighs 2,500 pounds and can be loaded with 500 pounds of food, gear, and other supplies.

Its outer shell has a composite skin laminated onto an insulated wall structure. SylvanSport built this on an extruded aluminum frame.

The VAST will sell for around $45,000 when it comes to market later this year. Check it out if you’re looking for an ultimate, gear-centric base camp of your own.

One family renovated the inside of a city bus to comfortably sleep four and go on adventures. Learn the secrets to maximizing space and outfitting a bus.

At night, the kids’ playroom transforms into the master bedroom. And the kids’ bedroom turns into a home office during the day. Bus owners Scott and Emily performed a ground-up renovation, complete with custom beds and cabinets.

Airstream claims its lates