CampOut - The Most Versatile Camper We’ve Ever Used
Last fall we got a very intriguing email in our inbox. It was from Four Wheel Campers and it was a little cryptic. They were developing a new kind of modular camper and they wanted us to test it out. That’s all we really knew, but it piqued our interest and we decided to say “hell yes!”.
Our video we made about our time in the Four Wheel Campers CampOut in addition to a tour of the camper.
What is the CampOut?
We picked up the camper from Four Wheel Campers headquarters in Woodland, California. From the outside it looked familiar, but there were some new additions. The inside, however, was a whole other story. With the CampOut, Four Wheel Campers started from scratch, using new materials and a new floor plan. It’s been planned out with different modules for the interior so that you can build up over time, or even scale back as your needs change. The idea itself isn’t revolutionary, but it shows that Four Wheel Campers is adapting and widening their already broad scope of offerings to appeal to even more people wanting to get outdoors.
Our Trip in the New CampOut
We had a week with the CampOut and to make the most of it we sought a place that was close by, but still offered some unique and wild camping. We pointed the Toyota Tundra north on I-5 and made our way to Mt Shasta.
Over the years you might have picked up on the fact that we’re pretty fair weather travelers. What can I say? We’re just not cold weather people. This was going to be a whole new experience for us. Shasta in the late fall meant snow and as we pulled onto the dirt road for our first night that’s exactly what we encountered. We were a little nervous to drive someone else’s rig onto a snowy track, but we were exhausted and needed to call it for the day. To our surprise, the truck cruised right through and we made it to camp that night unscathed.
We woke up to a beautiful view of Mt Shasta and the snow made for a fun environment to walk around with our cat, Boo. After enjoying some coffee and breakfast, we pulled away for our next destination. Navigating a network of dirt roads, we found our way to the other side of Shasta and set up camp for a few days. It was a lovely (and warmer) spot that gave us an opportunity to really suss out the new interior of the CampOut. We found ourselves repeatedly impressed by the functionality of the space. The seating area is so roomy, even more so than our flatbed Hawk Four Wheel Camper. Mornings with coffee and a book were extra cozy in this space. We also found the central placement of the Dometic CFX refrigerator to be perfect. It was easy to access while using the cooktop or while sitting at the table. The Dometic faucet and water containers were also intuitive and easy to use. We went by a beautiful spring and were able to pop out the containers and fill them up at the spring. How cool is that?!
Our last stop on our journey in the CampOut was a remote lake up in the mountains across I-5. This was designed to test the durability and strength of not just the camper, but also the Tundra. Both passed the test with flying colors. The road up was rocky and then snowy. Bumpy does not fully paint the picture of the experience of driving the road. There were several places that required a multiple attempts to get past obstacles and when we finally reached the end we expected all our gear to be spilled across the camper’s interior. We were delighted to find that was not the case at all. In fact, everything was right where we left it.
Up at this lake we spent a few days taking in the scenery and testing out some of the other features on the CampOut. One of the most exciting additions is the inclusion of a 120V plug on the exterior of the camper. Since the camper we were using came with an induction stovetop, we were able to cook outside with the induction! We found this to be super cool. This plug also means you can easily run a Starlink or any other AC powered device that is within the limits of the inverter. There is also a quick disconnect for propane so you can use just about any camp stove you want outside without having to pull out one of the propane tanks. There are two USB ports on the exterior as well, so you can power lanterns or string lights or whatever else you can think of outside. These are things we really wish were on our Hawk flatbed.
Final Thoughts on the Four Wheel Campers CampOut
Overall, we found the CampOut to be a delight to use. There are some features that we are definitely jealous of like the outdoor plugs and the seating area. It also felt way more nimble than our Tundra with our Hawk flatbed camper (which was expected). There was a good bit of storage in the camper, but it would definitely be cool to have the option of under bed storage like the flatbed and slide in campers have. Over the years we have found that space to be invaluable and that would be the one thing that would hold me back from jumping into this platform as a “full time” rig. That said, with a custom flatbed this rig would be a compelling option and could be a fantastic camper for going full time in or on extended trips. We’re really stoked to see Four Wheel Campers pushing their own boundaries and exploring new ideas like this one.
If you’d like to learn more about the CampOut check out this link for all the details: