A Skinny Guy Camper Turns Almost Any Pickup Truck Into an RV
Towing a trailer or a camper isn’t the only way that you can enjoy the RV lifestyle with a pickup truck. With a bed camper, your truck effectively becomes an RV—no towing hitch necessary. But that’s only the case if the camper you’re eyeing can fit in the bed and doesn’t overload your payload capacity. Fortunately, some models, such as the ones Skinny Guy Campers makes, make that first part a non-issue.
A Skinny Guy Camper fits into almost any pickup truck bed
Because pickup trucks vary so much in overall size, there’s no ‘true’ standard bed size. That’s why a company like Scout Campers typically offers several truck bed camper models designed for different bed dimensions. Bristol, Indiana-based Skinny Guy Campers, though, does it slightly differently.
Although it has several different models, they’re all just different-sized versions of the same design. So, the only difference between, say, a Model 4.5 and a Model 8 is that they’re different lengths. Speaking of different lengths, that’s how Skinny Guy Campers separates its models. The Model 4.5, for example, fits in a 4.5’ bed, such as the one in a Rivian R1T. Meanwhile, the 5.5’-long Model 5.5 is compatible with a Ram 1500 TRX.
The Skinny Guy Campers models break down in the following way:
- 4.5
- 5.0
- 5.0 Gladiator (designed specifically for the Jeep Gladiator’s profile)
- 5.5
- 6.5
- 8.0
Note, although we say that a Skinny Guy Camper fits in a specific truck bed, it’s more like it fits on. That’s because, while some truck bed campers leave you without a functional bed, a Skinny Guy Camper installs atop your bed walls via “patent-pending stilt mounting brackets.” That way, there’s still room in the bed for things like toolboxes, gear, and food. Also, it means you can keep the factory tailgate and backup camera, MotorTrend notes.
This truck bed camper is skinny by name, but not necessarily skinny on features
Skinny Guy Campers offers its models in four different configurations: Bare Bones, Skin ‘N Bones, Skinny Fat, and Kit ‘N Kaboodle.
As its name suggests, the Bare Bones version is the most stripped-down. But even this trim has a two-person Aqualon tent with mattresses, seating space for four people, powder-coated storage cabinets, and a tie-down system. And the truck bed camper itself has a 1/8”-thick aluminum shell, so the Bare Bones version only weighs 800 lbs. Plus, even though it’s no higher than the cab, it has 84” of headroom—and Skinny Guy Campers claims that fuel-economy impacts are “negligible.”
However, if “you really want to see what Skinny Guy [Campers] can achieve,” the Kit ‘N Kaboodle trim is the one to get, AutoEvolution says. In this spec, the truck bed camper has a 14,300-BTU Truma Combi Eco furnace/hot-water heater, fridge, propane-powered cooktop, sink, 100W-190W integrated solar panel, and heated water holding tanks. Also, interior LED lighting, multiple USB and 12V power outlets, a Molle rear-wall rack, and a Red Arc Battery Manager30 with a 170-Ah onboard battery.
Even the Kit ‘N Kaboodle version of the Skinny Guy Camper doesn’t have an onboard bathroom. But there is a Bullfinch exterior shower and an optional PrimoLoo flushing toilet. And the rooftop tent doubles as a rainwater collector, AutoEvolution notes.
How much does it cost?
Besides the different trims, potential customers can order their Skinny Guy camper in one of four different finishes. The powder-coated finishes don’t cost more than the raw aluminum one, though. But while longer models don’t cost more than shorter ones, the trims themselves do.
A Bare Bones Skinny Guy Model 4.5 Camper starts at $15,625 without the current $1125 Early Bird Discount. Meanwhile, with a $4350 Early Bird Discount, the Kit ‘N Kaboodle Model 4.5 starts at $31,900—and that’s without the PrimoLoo toilet. That’s almost $13,000 more than the Scout Campers Yoho.
However, the Yoho has fewer standard features than the Kit ‘N Kaboodle. And, unlike the Skinny Guy campers, the Yoho takes up the entire truck bed. It’s a similar story, price-, features-, and bed-wise with the Kimbo 6. With that in mind, the Skinny Guy Campers’ price tags make some sense.
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