What a Year in a Truck Camper Taught Me About Building the Right One

When I bought my 1997 Kodiak K99 truck camper and dropped it onto the back of my 2019 F-350, I thought I had finally built my dream setup. And in many ways, I had. Over the course of a year, I completely gutted, restored, and modernized the camper from top to bottom. I wanted a rig that could take me deep into the mountains, across the country, and through every season—and I made it happen.

Every surface was touched. I stripped it back to the bones and reimagined the whole system: a brand-new electrical setup with 400AH of Go Power smart lithium batteries, five 100W solar panels, a 2,000W inverter, and a full 12V infrastructure. The plumbing got the same treatment—PEX lines, a Truma AquaGo on-demand hot water system, new water pump, and fresh fixtures throughout. The cabinets were removed, sanded, and painted. The flooring came up and was replaced. It was a total transformation.

And then came the road time.

In the past year, that camper took me from the Rockies to Yellowstone to the Pacific Coast, where I chased swells and pow in Oregon. We made a full cross-country run back to Ontario to visit family, and spent countless weekends deep in British Columbia—riding bikes, snowboarding, and soaking in natural hot springs. It was, by all accounts, a dream setup.

But the more I used it, the more I learned.

The rig was big. It sat on 37-inch tires and, while it could go anywhere off-grid, it was awkward in parking lots, cities, and gas stations. The fuel economy wasn’t great (okay, it was bad), and the overall weight meant that quick weekend getaways sometimes felt like a hassle. I also discovered that a lot of the “features” I thought I needed were things I could actually simplify—and that lighter, smarter systems could do more with less.

The most important thing I learned? No matter how much you update an older camper, there are things you just can’t change—like the weight and footprint.

That’s why I’m building something new.

The next camper will be everything I loved about the Kodiak—but more compact, more efficient, and more aligned with how I actually travel. It’ll be a clean slate, designed around the needs of real-world adventure: bikes, boards, boots, and remote work. Simple but not stupid. Lightweight but four-season capable. A platform for anyone chasing snow, surf, or singletrack.

The first prototype build starts this winter, and I’ll be documenting the entire process—from design and sourcing to testing and fine-tuning. This is a new chapter, built on everything I’ve learned from a year on the road.

Follow along—because we’re just getting started.