Top-10 box campers

Compact, hard-walled campers – or box campers – are 'hot' right now in the Australian RV market, as many buyers move away from canvas and look for alternative options when it comes to light and compact trailerable RVs.

Some like the Jayco JPod and Golf X265  are bigger, boxier versions of the traditional teardrop camper, while others like the Box Campers Boss are aimed more at hardcore off-roaders who are willing to sacrifice a few 'comfort' features for the insulation and no-fuss set-up offered by a mostly fixed body.

Here are 10 of our favourite box campers on the market right now…

AOR Sierra

Australian Off-Road has gone back to its roots by introducing an entry-level camper -- but this time instead of a canvas hard-floor camper-trailer like the Odyssey which it phased out in 2016, the Queensland off-road specialist has come up with a new approach to entice new buyers with its Sierra fibreglass box camper.

AOR’s aim? Deliver an appealing, contemporary product that would engage younger buyers as the Odyssey once did...

Keep reading: AOR Sierra from $42,500

North Coast SniperX.9

Caloundra, Queensland's North Coast Campers has thrown its hat into the surging compact hard roof camper market with its new 9ft long SniperX.9, which has gone on sale, fully-equipped, for $45,000.

With an overall length for its composite body and galvanised steel chassis of 4015mm and an identical 1850mm height and width, the new SniperX.9 is larger than the 3000mm long, 1745mm tall and 1850mm wide Patriot X2 soft-floor camper trailer, but has a smaller footprint and lower Tare weight than the just-released 4300mm long x 2150mm tall x 1950mm wide and 900kg Tare Australian Off Road Sierra that is built just a few kilometres away on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast...

Keep reading: North Coast enters brawny box camper market

TS Camper

Forget about mining... there's a mini-RV manufacturing boom going on over in the west, with some new players recently joining more established brands in the relatively small but growing West Australian RV market.

Perth-based TS Campers is one of the newbies, putting their spin on the increasingly popular box camper concept Previously a manufacturer of teardrop campers, TS Campers co-owner Terry Donnell said the box design is more efficient because it maximises interior room and offers sleeping space for up to two adults and two small children...

Keep reading: New Perth camper out of the box

Jayco JPod Outback

There’s something to taking a minimalist approach to camping, especially when delving off the beaten track. Dragging a lighter, more nimble camper behind your 4WD is always going to be less hard work than a full-size van, whether you’re in the desert, on the beach or a mountainous bush track.

This is where an off-road teardrop-style camper like Jayco’s new JPod Outback can make sense. The Jayco JPod Outback is the latest variant of a model that first arrived in 2015, as one road-going touring model only...

Keep reading: Jayco JPod Outback 2019 Review

Noosa 12ft Hybrid

Fitting many of the comforts of caravan living into a 12ft pop-top is a never-ending challenge for those at the premium end of the Australian hybrid market.

One of Australia’s smallest caravan manufacturers and its most northerly – Noosa Off Road Vans – has stolen a technical march on its larger Sunshine Coast rivals with its latest 12ft model, that among its innovations, features an electric folding queen bed...

Keep reading: Noosa debuts trick electric bed

Box Campers Boss

Born out of a necessity for the owner/manufacturer to have comfortable sleeping quarters well above ground level, the Box Camper has evolved since the first version arrived in 2011 to become a safe and practical way to enjoy the outdoors without all the clutter and large footprint of a hard or soft-floor fold-out trailer.

The Boss is a teardrop-style, hard-wall camper construction utilising a one-piece, monocoque design. The panels are German-made 2.5mm thick fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP) for the inner and outer skins with an insulation core of American-made high density, fully waterproof structural grade styrofoam...

Keep reading: Box Campers Boss Review

Zone RV Expedition

Let’s get this clear; Zone RV’s boxy new Expedition is a camper, not a hybrid. The latter may come later from this innovative Coolum Beach, Queensland RV builder.

This means it’s more focussed on tent trailer-style outdoor living, than the live-in comforts of a scaled-down caravan. There’s a philosophical difference. But apart from its standard wrap-around bat-wing awning, it doesn’t have any canvas. Go figure...

Keep reading: Zone Expedition 2018 Review

Willow Sprout

Featuring full AL-KO Enduro off-road independent suspension and the same wall, floor and roof composite construction as the Willow caravans, the Sprout comes with serious front stone protection and a tool box with a generator slide tray, making it a fair dinkum bush track camper..

A fixed north-south bed, a pull-out exterior kitchen with a drawer fridge, 60 litres of fresh water capacity and 160W of rooftop solar are some of its inclusions for a RRP of $29,990.

Keep reading: Willow branches out

Rhinomax Scorpion

It has a body length of just 3100mm, at 1970mm wide is only slightly narrower than it’s tall and weighs only as much as a top-spec Tvan, yet the Rhinomax Scorpion is one of the biggest things in Australian camper trailers for many years.

Since entering the hyper competitive micro hybrid market in pre-production form in October 2015, this ‘mini’ from Maroochydore on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has set the pace in terms of its package, quality and price...

Keep reading: Rhinomax Scorpion Review

Crusader Chameleon

Why would you struggle with a fold out camper when you can set up in seconds and sleep securely, oblivious to the elements, in a composite-bodied caravan for a similar price?

That’s the question Crusader Caravans is asking potential customers to consider with its new four metre-long and lightweight entry-model Chameleon that broke cover at the Melbourne Supershow in in early-2019...

Keep reading: Crusader Chameleon 2019 Review