3.0 This is it. The Kampereen K3 design

Finally, after four years of prototype building and experimenting, I got to the Kampereen K3 design. This is a lightweight tent trailer that does everything I wanted my camper to do.

• It is light, weighing in at between 210 and 250, depending on how I have it configured.
• The tent sets up in under 1 minute.
• The bed is as wide and long as the K2 design, but the folded form is half the size.
• I can get to the cargo whether the camper is set up or not.
• It has standing room, and enough room to put a chair inside if the weather isn’t great.

I got to this design by going back to the beginning and reexamining my first K1 design. I now had the ability to make my own tent, which meant that I could freely experiment with a new design without the hassle of finding someone to do the sewing.

New box design

The biggest difference between the K1 and the K3 is that the left side of the cargo box unfolds, creating an inside standing area that is almost 8 square feet. That is plenty of room to stand for getting dressed.

Better bed design

I also spent a LOT of time on figuring out a better way to handle the lower portion of the bed. This is the part that needs to move up make the bed usable, and then move down into a stored position for travel. Moving the lower bed portion also creates room for an area that’s large enough to accommodate a folding chair.

OTS components

In addition to the overall design, another thing I looked at really hard for this was the use of commonly available components. I didn’t want to design and build something that required special hinges or custom-made brackets. Everything that goes into this camper is off the shelf.

Better leveling legs

The Atwood style leveling legs commonly found on small campers are a pestilence. They do work, but they are heavy, they are cheaply made, they get hard to work when they get a little bit dirty. You often have to stoop at an odd angle to pull them from their spring loaded stowed position, tilting the camper first one way, then another to get them to deploy.

I created a new set of leveling legs that fit to the outside of the camper box instead of the underside, using star knobs to deploy. So far with about 20 camp nights in use, they seem to be holding up well. I think there’s more to be done with them, but for now they seem to be good. They’re a hell of a lot better than the drop-down jacks.

Better finish materials

I also figured out how to handle the camper finish. The answer is vinyl car wrap. This actually works really well over plywood. It goes on quickly and, with practice, fairly easily. I’ll have more to say about this in a how-to post, but in short, this seems to be a much better way to provide an exterior finish than any kind of paint or aluminum skin.

Conclusion

With over 1500 miles and about a month of camp nights under its belt, the Kampereen K3 is definitely the design I want to move forward with. It has met all my expectations and it is a lot of fun to use. It has really added to my outdoor enjoyment.

---