La Plata County residents looking to prolong a weekend getaway to the area’s recreation hot spots can do just that with a different type of camper setup.
A new Bayfield company called Outpost Campers, which launched operations on Monday, is building energy-efficient truck campers, which are electric-powered and designed to function off-grid.
“We’re working to build 100-plus units a year at our little factory,” Outpost Campers founder and CEO Taylor Ripp said.
Ripp said the campers are designed for people looking to set up camp in more secluded areas farther away from established campgrounds or RV parks.
The campers, which cost about $35,000 apiece, include a space for a queen-size bed for one or two people, plus a full kitchen and bathroom. A Starlink Wi-Fi router can be added to the camper, Ripp said.
The campers are propane-free, and their power source comes from solar energy and a built-in lithium ion battery bank.
Customers will have the option to charge their camper from either power source, Ripp said.
“It’s really built to be able to kind of run the whole camper off-grid indefinitely,” he said.
Ripp has been building campers through his other company, San Juan Vans, since 2019. His company started building truck campers in 2023.
After seeing success making custom lightweight campers over the past year, Ripp said he saw an opportunity to create a new platform production model.
These campers are physically light enough to attach to standard North American four-wheel-drive brands such as a Ford F-150, but Ripp said the designs are such that they will only fit on a truck bed. The campers will not fit directly onto vehicles like a sport utility vehicle, Ripp said.
“It’s a slide-in pickup truck camper. It’s not a trailer,” he said.
Outpost Campers, at 580 S. West St., about a block south of Blue Sky Cafe, is in the process of building a 7,500-square-foot manufacturing facility on County Road 501 to keep up with production-line demands, Ripp said.
The facility, which Ripp aims to open by or before this winter, will be on a 1.8-acre property next door to Bayfield Self Storage just past the roundabout on County Road 501.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com
