INTRODUCING THE GOAT SHELL!!! A lightweight hard sided popup up camper shell.

[Goat Shells]

Hello fellow adventurers!

I am currently in the process of starting up a new company dubbed Goat Shells which will be producing lightweight , hard sided, popup camper shells and NEED YOUR HELP! I am a semifinalist in an entrepreneurship contest with my company in order to gain capital to start production of the Goat Shell. In order to solidify a win though I need to show the judges how much interest there is out there in a hard sided, popup camper shell. Please answer in this thread if you would be interested in possibly buying a Goat Shell when they come into production. Even though I can't give you much information right now on things such as designs and prototypes due to patents I can tell you the Goat Shell will be under 300 lbs and will give you 6 feet 6 inches of hard sided head room when it's in the popped up position! Also it will be more economical than competitors (cough cough Hiatus Campers) without sacrificing on build quality. Please help a fellow overlander out with his dream of starting a business and reply below if your interested. Thanks so much for your time. Hopefully you'll be my customers soon!

P.S. The name Goat shell is inspired by the mystical mountain goat because just like the mountain goat the Goat shell can go over any terrain as long as the vehicle it's on is capable!

 

[Goat Shells]

Here are some renderings done back in the very beginning stages. Think a camper shell version of an Alaskan Camper i.e. not a slide in but just a shell.

Popped Up



Popped Down

 

[john61ct]

I would want to buy the pop-up mechanism for DIY building with my own composite panels

Making a different model for each bed' footprint dimensions will hurt economies of scale

 

[Goat Shells]

I would want to buy the pop-up mechanism for DIY building with my own composite panels

Making a different model for each bed' footprint dimensions will hurt economies of scale

I would want to buy the pop-up mechanism for DIY building with my own composite panels

Making a different model for each bed' footprint dimensions will hurt economies of scale

The Goat Shell utilizes electric linear actuators to pop up. There are numerous commercially available options available if you wanted to buy them for a diy project. As for the different footprints the first models available of the GOAT Shell will conform to the most standard pickup bed sizes on the market and then when the company grows more sizing option will become available. Thanks for your interest!

 

[rruff]

I think it's pretty cool... but would have way more utility as a camper if it had a bed over the cab... with folding hard sides (like Alaska).

 

[Goat Shells]

I think it's pretty cool... but would have way more utility as a camper if it had a bed over the cab... with folding hard sides (like Alaska).

I completely agree with you. For camping and sleeping a cabover gives you that extra room that you need (especially if you have a short bed). There would also be a cabover option with hinged walls on the cabover section.

 

[JDaPP]

I like the cabover design. Depending on cost I think this would be a great addition to the truck camper market place especially since there is only one other folding hardside that I am aware of.

 

[kwill]

I would be interested.

 

[Spencer for Hire]

When do you anticipate first production if your funding is successful?

 

[rruff]

I completely agree with you. For camping and sleeping a cabover gives you that extra room that you need (especially if you have a short bed). There would also be a cabover option with hinged walls on the cabover section.

A much longer cabover would be better...

What materials and construction method are you planning?

 

[Goat Shells]

I like the cabover design. Depending on cost I think this would be a great addition to the truck camper market place especially since there is only one other folding hardside that I am aware of.

Yeah Hiatus Campers is the only other hard sided popup shell on the market as of right now. While Alaskan Campers is a hard sided pop up it is a slide in camper ranging in weight from 1390 lbs to 1985 lbs dry which doesn't make it an ideal option for most overlanders. The ultimate goal in all this is to undercut Hiatus Campers in price. This is easily done due to the fact that they are charging people an arm and a leg for their products since they are the only ones on the market. I can tell you right now the Goat Shell will be a much more economical option without sacrificing on quality.

 

[Goat Shells]

I would be interested.

Good to hear!

 

[Goat Shells]

When do you anticipate first production if your funding is successful?

If funding is successful (which I think it will be) building of the first proof of concept rough prototype will begin immediately. Once this is done the testing stage will begin. This will involve taking the camper out into the wild to see how it actually performs under all the various conditions it could face. The majority of this testing will be done in rugged northeastern Nevada up in the high mountains (the perfect testing ground for something like this). Along the way tweaks will be made to the design till we have something that we feel confident about letting out onto the market. This is when production would occur. Fingers crossed this will happen sometime around 2022-23

 

[Goat Shells]

A much longer cabover would be better...

What materials and construction method are you planning?

As of right now cabover is set to be 8 feet from rear of shell to the end of the cabover (the rendering is makes it look shorter than it actually would be) This length is the same as companies such as Go Fast Campers and Hiatus and provides ample amount of room for sleep.

Also it will be all composite panel and aluminum construction. This allows it to be extremely lightweight yet rigid and strong (something needed when it's being jostled around on rough roads). The composite panels also provide an insulation factor to the shell that would come in very handy when adventuring out in the cold.

 

[rruff]

Just thinking that making the cabover as long as the cab involves little downside (and most trucks have crew cabs these days) and frees up more interior space when the bed is used. Very helpful for two people.