MR E30
Well-known member
100% of camper cost paid UPFRONT when you order.
Yet Fully Refundable whenever you want???
Ya Right!
Another underfunded and over promising niche camper builder in the making.
I'm kind of with you on this one.
I hope he pulls something fantastic off, but I will say that I am skeptical.
I've seen GFC's in person. Three of my friends have them, and one was just installed yesterday. I've been in them, I've studied them, and I've researched them to death. Also, both GFC and AluCab can have a camper for you in just a couple of weeks nowadays, so the months of backlogs aren't applicable to all camper manufacturers out there.
I have no idea how he is going to deliver a quality product that costs even less than a GFC. A GFC already has absolutely nothing to it. Its OEM mattress is crummy. Lone Peak is including a dual foam mattress from the get-go, which is comparable to a $600 dual foam mattress from Hest Outdoors. The tent fabric of the GFC can't even keep the light from a cell phone screen from being visible outside of the camper at night. It has no integrated lighting, no integrated solar, no panels have any fabric on them, the bed support panels are simple shapes and simple materials, the bed does not pivot out of the way. It is so basic. It also has the benefit of using a smarter/cheaper structure (trussed/braced tube frame), though you do lose side access a bit. A comparison between the two will be interesting to see.
That overhanging rain gutter component is really desirable, but it better be tight! One of the main appeals of a wedge tent is its ability to handle windy weather without keeping you up all night. If that part of the tent is not tight it will flap like crazy. It also doesn't appear that the tent can be used without that portion being deployed, further enforcing the idea that it needs to be tight and secure to function well.
The tent lifting struts being on the outside is a bit of a bummer. Based on his video they seem a bit underpowered as well. Even with two rigid solar panels at the very back end of my tent roof, I only need to lift the top ~12 inches before it sails sky high. He seemed to need to push the lid up almost all the way, and this was with nothing on the roof. And everyone is going to want to put at least one panel up there. Not to mention the affects that a strong wind will have on it, as it is common practice to park into the wind with a wedge style camper.
I would be very skeptical of his claim of this thing being water and dust proof. If you look at it as just the camper itself, then ok, I will buy that it is completely water/dust proof. I bet it's as water tight as anything else on the market. But the camper being water/dust proof to the truck bed itself? Not even close. Do not believe that for an instant. I'm over 25 hours on dustproofing my AluCab Canopy Camper and I still have two tiny places where dust sneaks in (in between the side mounting rails on the bed to the composite bed itself), and the ACCC doesn't have a tailgate. I've used marine grade caulk everywhere, which is far superior to a rubber/foam seal. His design will certainly keep the dust down, but a noticeable amount of dust and water will still penetrate into the camper itself.
The overhang over the trucks cab is also an area of concern. It hangs out very far relative to every other camper. I'd be concerned about how long it will last under heavy use. He mentions in a comment on his video on YT that he offroaded it hard to get to where he shot the video, but that doesn't tell us much. One trip offroad doesn't paint an accurate picture about how it will handle long term abuse. I may know nothing though, I only have a BSME and another degree in mathematics, and am a practicing structural engineer. I do know that a GFC can handle being on the back of a truck that is literally sailing through the air, on purpose, and that the ACCC can easily handle an accidental jump while on the back of another Tacoma. They're both tough, and you can clearly tell if you know what you are looking at. I haven't seen one of these in person, I just hope it as tough as we all want it to be.
All in all, I am excited to see where this lands, I still hope he pulls it off, but only time will truly tell.