Harker Outdoors EDC pop-up wedge camper

[Roscoe Reporter]

Folks, as you can tell I am new to this board and am very interested in the Harker Outdoors EDC (Expedition Driven Camper). My wife and I retired and over the past 40 years, have owned and camped in slide in campers, truck toppers, boats, converted van, converted cargo trailer and travel trailers. We currently own a White Hawk 29BH and that we will take with our kids and grand kids, but need more room, so we are looking at the EDC with the open back end entry (no stooping).

Anyone one here have a Harker EDC or EXO and can talk about them? Been to the factory and they gave me a walk through and I am impressed with the build and how they put it together. The owners, Joe and Cam and the entire team seem honest and straight forward. Just need some more info on how these units match up. Harker is running a deal for a full sized EDC for my Chevy 3500 4 door truck, 6.5 bed, for $7999.00, which is 2K off the retail price. Kinda hard to walk away from that deal. I looked over a year ago at them and they did not at that time offer them for my truck. Now they do.

Someone? Anyone? Help me out with this? Thanks, from an old fat guy looking for some family fun and adventure.

 

[sn_85]

Personally, I hate the design. The open back end negates the advantage of a wedge camper. If it's windy there's going to be a lot of flapping from the canvas/tent material and you'll have to stake it down. It will also allow for a lot of dust intrusion as well. The other obvious part, as you can see in the picture above, there's going to be a lot of heat loss if you do winter/cold camping. Whatever heater you run is going to be extremely inefficient because of the open back end. It's a neat idea for 3 season camping and the open backend allows for extra space but I'd prefer something that is more enclosed and insulated like every other wedge camper out there.

 

[Dave in AZ]

I concur, bad design. I watched hundreds of review videos before settling on Tune, and I didn't see anyone who seemed happy with their EDC, while actually sitting next to anything else in a side by side comparison. Only happy buyers were, "Look what I just bought today! Think it should be great, here's a walk thru from a guy with ZERO actual experience, enjoy!"

 

[llamalander]

6.5 bed makes for plenty of floor-space in a pop-up, the tent extension probably works least badly for the Gladiator or other really small beds. Prices are more reasonable now, so one need not wait for sales...

 

[AlpineClimb]

I have a Harker EDC and I think it is wonderful. I've gone through just about every other set up and I love it. Things I like: being able to walk right up a latter and into the Harker without ducking. The dirt circuit battery is awesome. I love how the solar panels are custom made to fit exactly across the top without wasted space. If it is very windy and I can't park with the wedge towards the wind it can be obnoxious but I'm told that guying it out takes care of that. Other than that one thing, which I can live with, I find no other faults and would make the choice to buy it again even given all the current offerings out there.

 

[MR E30]

I will also chime in with another negative opinion:

The design is terrible IMO. What sn_85 said above about dust, heat, water, etc. are all my opinions as well. Setup and teardown would be laborious relative to a typical wedge camper.

As a structural engineer, that overall design of the frame/structure is very poorly done as well. I have serious doubts that this thing could handle true use over the years.

 

[DirtWhiskey]

I don't get all the hate. More work for more space. Still infinitely easier and faster than a ground tent. Whatever. Seems to be constructed well. I see so reason why it wouldn't hold up. Wind gets bad enough drop the roof. Same with other designs.

 

[Christian P.]

I don't have a wedge camper but closing the tailgate from inside must not be very fun?

 

[Bergger]

I don't have a wedge camper but closing the tailgate from inside must not be very fun?

Pretty easy actually. I have a full size truck and simply but a strap on the tailgate so I can pull it closed from inside.

 

[Dave in AZ]

I don't have a wedge camper but closing the tailgate from inside must not be very fun?

Tacoma inside tailgate handle #automobile #diy #camping #tacoma

youtube.com

 

[Roscoe Reporter]

I have a Harker EDC and I think it is wonderful. I've gone through just about every other set up and I love it. Things I like: being able to walk right up a latter and into the Harker without ducking. The dirt circuit battery is awesome. I love how the solar panels are custom made to fit exactly across the top without wasted space. If it is very windy and I can't park with the wedge towards the wind it can be obnoxious but I'm told that guying it out takes care of that. Other than that one thing, which I can live with, I find no other faults and would make the choice to buy it again even given all the current offerings out there.

My exact same experience. I have built out the truck bed into a very nice camper and it has a third bed/bench seat for my grandson when he travels with us.

 

[Vista1]

Creative solutions to camping/overlanding is a good thing, bring 'em on. Different solutions solve different problems and at the same time may introduce potential downsides. It's all about what problem are you trying to solve and does that over ride what you feel may be a negative. When I bought my 5-1/2 foot bed Dodge Ram, I never expected I'd need sleeping room on the lower level . I do and the Harker EDC turned it into a 7-1/2 foot solution. Walking straight in upright is a huge plus for me as is having more than 2 feet of additional standing/gear room with that queen size + 10" bed in the down position. Turning the hatch into a side table ... used it way more than I thought I would. Like anything, you get really good at setup with use and it's suprisingly quick and for the advantages, no problem for me. Obviously not for everyone but a large following of very happy owners (myself included) out there.

 

[ITTOG]

I don't get all the hate. More work for more space. Still infinitely easier and faster than a ground tent. Whatever. Seems to be constructed well. I see so reason why it wouldn't hold up. Wind gets bad enough drop the roof. Same with other designs.

Me either. I love the design. I four season camp in a backpacking tent. I don't get why so many think you have to have no heat loss. You are camping, toughen up!

 

[slowtwitch]

'Toughen up'... lmfao.... you should just keep camping in a tent then and save some money and weight.

That thing is an abomination.

 

[RadioRick]

Love mine. If you have a 5 foot bed it means the difference between cramped photocopy of every other cramped wedge camper and having a camper 2 aging adults can enjoy. Queen bed on a compact bed with room underneath for a portable toilet and ability to hop down and use it without bothering your spouse? Good luck in ANY other wedge camper. Room to hang out inside on bad weather days? Check. If you don't own one don't chip in here.