Offroad RV Sniper X.9 2020 Review

Box, pod, or micro campers as they're called, depending on their maker, are on-trend at the moment, often delivering the first camping experience to Millennials or Gen Xers.

However, not all are equal. Some in reality are little more than fair road and fair weather weekenders, for those who regard anywhere with a weak mobile phone signal as, like, ‘remote’.

Then, there are those models at another level like the Sniper X.9, which is built by experienced adventure travellers to take as much punishment as a hardcore camper trailer, trip after trip.

Built by Offroad RVs, formerly known as North Coast Campers, which has been manufacturing onsite on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast for nearly 20 years, the X.9 is the smallest of the growing range of Sniper models whose credo is to put  function ahead of form.

With its 2745mm length, and 1850mm high and wide box weighing just 850kg all up, it also comes close to being  the lightest of the Australian tent-based camper trailers.

Military theme

With its no-nonsense military simplicity, the Sniper X.9 doesn’t have all the ‘bells and whistles’ of its main competitors from Australian Off Road and Zone RV, but stands apart with its simplicity and practicality in this growing marketplace.

It starts with the little Sniper’s chunky, no-nonsense design. Significantly smaller than its bigger brother, the Sniper X.14, the X.9 is no harder to squeeze into tight places than a stubby camper trailer, such as a Patriot. Yet it's faster to set up than most campers and appears to be just as tough where it counts, based on the considerable experience of Offroad RV’s founder, Brian Ward.

Ward, who is planning his own major trans-world road trip  from South Africa to far eastern Russia in a custom-built Expedition truck, has created the X.9 to be very quick to set up and pack down for adventurous travellers, with notorious ‘tough treks’ like Cape York’s Telegraph Track, firmly in its crosshairs.

For example, the X.9’s overnight set-up is designed to take less than one minute including its full 2.2 metre instant awning erected, that can be supplemented by an additional 5.5m built-in awning a few minutes longer.

Tough underpinnings

The Sniper’s toughness starts with its high tensile galvanized steel chassis, a McHitch 360-degree trailer coupling and unique ORV beam axle suspension with coil springs and long-travel single off road shock absorbers per side.

This set-up is an unusual choice on the X.9, but it's designed by Ward for optimum stability on heavily rutted tracks and is manufactured in-house for the Sniper range. Airbags instead of steel springs are optional.

The FRP composite body with its aluminium sub-floor and commercial grade vinyl flooring is minimalist in its design, with everything built-into the main ‘box’ and accessed by dust-proof hatches, with positive latches This means there are no external components to get snagged on the tight tracks that the X.9 is likely to explore.

Plenty of Raptor front body protection, two front truck mesh stone shields and lots of underbody protection for the 80L and 60L water tanks are what you’d expect on a tough trailer like this, while chunky 35-inch diameter A/T tyres keep everything well off the ground on rough tracks.

Snappy set-up

Setting up the Sniper X.9 is a snap, whether for the night or longer.

Drop the skeletal rear stairs; unclip the rear of the front-hinged roof and raise it on its gas struts, then pull out the built-in awning that shelters the rear entry door.  If this takes more than a minute, you're not trying. Open the rear door and step in.

Inside you’ll find the basics: a double bed with  a foam mattress that can be raised at its foot and held upright with a simple prop, allowing you and three of your friends at a squeeze to shelter out of the weather, using the space beneath the bed as a table.

It’s not high-tech, but it’s simple, fool-proof in the bush and it works, which is what you want in a remote area.

Also inside, there’s a Dometic 85-litre compressor fridge on the right hand side of the entry door and room for a small gas cooker on the left, on top of a storage area for clothes., However, unless the weather is 'Biblical', you’ll be cooking and living outside, which is what the X.9 is designed for.

For a longer stay, or if it’s raining, you might want to erect the longer exterior awning that rolls up inside the edge of the pop-top roof and when deployed covers the Sniper’s slide-out two burner gas cooktop and stainless steel sink, and this only takes  a few minutes more.

Outside shower

On the outside, the X.9 has a concealed hot/cold shower that draws on the standard 140-litre capacity hot water and whose privacy curtain pulls out of a flush body locker.

Exterior storage is pretty good considering the Sniper’s compact length. There are front lockers on each side, while there's a drop-down picnic table adjacent to the slide-out kitchen.

Sustainability off the grid is a key factor in a hardcore camper such as the Sniper X.9 and it delivers this via a Redarc battery management system linked to 100Ah lithium battery and 200 Watts of rooftop solar, while underneath there's a total of 140-litres of fresh water storage in two separate tanks.

Priced at $45,000, with options including air suspension, the X.9 is positioned in the thick of the increasingly competitive hardcore canvas/box camper market, but stands out with its bullet-proof design where rugged simplicity takes priority over technology.

Offroad RV also plans to introduce a stripped back version of the X.9 pitched to sell in the high $30,000 bracket and this should really stir the pot.

Summing up

The Sniper X.9 is as tough as nails and designed to go to the hardest places with ease, making it a comfortable, easy-to-set-up weapon of choice for those who want to get back to the essence of outdoor remote area travel.

Specs: 2020 Offroad RV Sniper X.9

Travel length: 4015mm
Body length: 2745mm
Body width: 1850mm
Travel height: 1850mm
Tare weight: 850kg
ATM: 1800kg
Body: FRP composite body with aluminium sub-floor
Chassis: Hot dipped galvanized steel
Suspension: Offroad RV designed and built with beam axle and coil springs with single shocks per wheel. Airbags optional.
Brakes: 12-inch electric
Wheels: Alloy with 33-inch diameter off-road tyres
Fresh water: 1 x 60L and 1 x 80L
Battery: 1 x 100Ah lithium battery
Solar: 200W of rooftop solar
Gas: 2 x 4.5kg
Hot water: Gas
Cooking: 2-burner gas cooktop in slide-out stainless-steel kitchen
Fridge:  Dometic 80L compressor
Shower: External hot/cold
Lighting: LED throughout
Price: $45,000
Supplied by: Offroad RV, Caloundra, Queensland
More info: SniperX