Back on point, in talking about Bahn Camper Works selling
just the shell, we are also telling the story of how this wild journey of
making truck campers started. Right after Ryan and I had our first child, Ryan
started searching for some type of adventure vehicle that would allow us to
drive to the coast for at least the day, provide a space for our son to nap,
and give us some shelter if it started pouring rain as it often does in Oregon.
We quickly ruled out a trailer because we wanted the option of easier parking. Ryan
studied the sprinter van options, but we also needed our adventure vehicle to
take us up to Mt Hood in the winter and 4-wheel drive van options are limited
and not as robust as a truck’s. A van also meant having a whole separate
vehicle to maintain with a finite life span. Inevitably the van would start
having mechanical problems or die and all the money we put into the interior
would be wasted. That simple thought immediately brought us to a truck camper—a
camper we could invest in with a truck we could trade in when it started
falling apart. And best yet, we could take the camper off at the end of the day
and have our truck back for the workweek.
It was settled, we were in the market for a truck camper.
Many a night, Ryan sat at his computer scrounging the Internet
for the best camper and I’d hear him say, “I wish one of these companies would
sell just the shell because I’m going to rip out all the heavy particle board
cabinets, low-grade components, and get rid of these huge bathrooms anyways.”
Or I’d hear, “I don’t like any of our options—they are all too heavy and have
seams that leak. We will pay $40K for a camper that will start rotting in 3-5
years. And I’ll have to spend so much time maintaining those seams to prevent
the inevitable leaks.” These comments would always be followed up with, “If
only someone made a one-piece composite shell I could buy and then build out
the interior with what we needed.” I should have seen the red flags. I should
have known that with my husband’s expertise in composites and engineering and
irrational behavior to build everything himself that he would start designing
and constructing his own custom camper.
If only a company had just sold a slide-in truck camper
shell, I wouldn’t be sitting in a composite shop and having arguments with my
husband over who has less work to do and should have to go get the boys from
school. Rather I’d be at home complaining every night that in order to see my
husband, I’d have to be in the garage watching him build bunkbeds and cabinets
for our new camper. I can’t win.
In all seriousness, I’m thrilled Ryan and I took the biggest
risks of our lives by starting a company dedicated to reinventing the truck
camper and giving do-it-yourselfers the option to buy just the shell. We truly have brought to the market a camper
you can invest in—a seamless shell that weighs only 700 pounds that will last for generations. No other
company on the market makes a hard-sided camper shell as light and as high
quality as ours.
Come visit our shop in Hood River, OR. I’m sure you will
witness either our Chief Craftsman, Chris Erickson building the nicest and
lightest veneer cabinets, Chris Boyle with Hood Built perfecting our production
line, Ryan on the computer designing the next greatest interior for a client,
or me, the Queen sitting on her throne oddly wearing fingerless gloves because
my hands are always cold even on 90 degree days, crunching numbers, and driving
the crew crazy about wearing their safety glasses and masks.
Happy Bahn Camper Days!
XOXO
Sarah
YouTube Channel coming soon!
www.BahnCamperWorks.com
Build the Camper of Your Dreams, Truck Camper Shells, Custom Campers, Do-It-Yourself Campers, One-Piece Shells, Reinventing the Truck Camper
Build the Camper of Your Dreams, Truck Camper Shells, Custom Campers, Do-It-Yourself Campers, One-Piece Shells, Reinventing the Truck Camper
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