5 x Australian made hybrid campers for off-road adventures

Looking at Australian made hybrid campers? You've come to the right place. We take a look at five of the best for off-road adventures.

We take a look at five Australian made hybrid campers for your next off-road adventure.

Your days of throwing the swag and a bottle of whisky in the tray of the ute are long behind you. You’ve done the camper trailer thing, but the old rear-fold is looking a little shabby after its years of faithful service and that last storm on the east coast of K’gari had you wondering if the canvas was on its last legs. Plus the set-up and pack-down times aren’t getting any shorter. But you’re definitely still not ready for a full-size caravan, they’re for older folks and people who are happy to stay in overcrowded paid sites.

You still want to get out into the remote bush and you still want to eat your meals under the stars. You just don’t want to spend half the day setting up camp or packing up – and a bit of comfort wouldn’t be the worst thing for the sciatica…

Welcome to hybrid country, amigo. Half-caravan, half-camper trailer. It’s where convenience meets capability, where comfort and rugged outdoor living coexist in harmony, and where you can be 1000km from anywhere and still enjoy an espresso in air-conditioned comfort. Some call it paradise, others call it sensible, we just reckon hybrid caravans are where the smart money shops.

Psst. If you’re na little confused about the different types of camper trailers and caravans on the market in Australia, check out these articles from our sister publication RVDaily first:

Hybrid campers are booming so we threw together a list of 5 Australian made ones

We’re not alone either. Hybrids are booming on the Aussie market, with almost every manufacturer having at least one in the range. And when it comes to making it your own, they’re often fully customisable to suit your needs to a tee. Available completely homegrown or imported, they offer a fantastic middle ground between trailer sizes for couples to get out and explore this continent without sacrificing things like showering or CPAP machines.

With that in mind, we thought we’d better throw together a quick list of 5 of the best Australian made hybrid campers that we’ve come across over the past few years that will have you living the good life.

1. Kimberley Karavan

From $125,855

The Karavan is the OG expanding hybrid. Completely hard-sided and as roomy as a much larger van when at camp, when lugged behind the tow-rig it’s as compact as a camper trailer thanks to its genius pop-up-and-pull-out system.

With an indoor and outdoor kitchen, indoor fridge, internal toilet and shower and queen bed, these Australian made hybrid campers are as comfy as they come. It’s also got airbag suspension and proper all-terrain tyres (matched to your tow vehicle’s track width), so it’s able to handle even the most remote touring destinations as well.

Built from insulated aluminium, it’s fairly lightweight too, coming in at 1660kg tare. Pretty impressive for such a large living space we reckon.

Specs:

• Sleeps: 2 adults
• Dimensions closed: 5700mm (L) x 1850mm (W) x 2100mm (H)
• ATM: 2200kg
• Tare: 1660kg
• Payload: 540kg
• Tow ball weight: 200kg
• Water: 1 x 120L + 1 x 75L + 45L grey water
• 12V: 200Ah Enerdrive lithium + 280-700W solar

2. BRS Platinum Pursuit

From $119,000

Yep, the BRS trailers are not what you’d call cheap, but they ARE what you’d call luxury. We’re talking two internal 30L drawer fridges, an external 80L upright fridge, a fully enclosed hot shower, Cruisemaster airbag suspension, Maxxis AT rubber, 200Ah of Enerdrive lithium fed by 380W of solar and a top-flight outdoor kitchen.

The bed is a queen inner-spring number that has a huge stargazing window above it, and to get inside the camper, you press a button on a fob and the freaking electric door opens for you – look, we could bang on about these Australian made hybrid campers (all fully customisable too) for days. But yeah, if the sticker shock isn’t an issue for you then you could do a lot worse.

Specs:

• Sleeps: 2 adults + 1 (small) kid
• Dimensions closed: 5700mm (L) x 2100mm (W) x 2780mm (H)
• Open height: 2780mm 
• Interior height: 1900mm (at lowest height of roof taper)
• ATM: 2700 – 2800kg (depending on options selected)
• Tare: 1600 – 1700kg (depending on options selected)
• Payload: 1000kg
• Tow ball weight: 160kg
• Water: 1 x 70L + 1 x 140L + 1x 95L grey water
• 12V: 200Ah Enerdrive + 380W solar

3. Track Trailer T4 Rhapsody

From $159,990

Another top-of-the-line Australian made hybrid camper that offers levels of comfort and convenience more commonly reserved for five-star hotels and first-class flights. The T4 Rhapsody is undoubtedly built to offer the best of the best in terms of inclusions, while also delivering legitimate off-road capability.

The pop-top is operated by linear actuators that raise the roof at the press of a button while the queen bed can be mounted either north-south as standard or you can opt for an east-west configuration. In fact, pretty much everything is customisable by the customer. From the fridge to the batteries to the internal layout. If there’s something you want, Track can most likely make it happen.

As standard in these Australian made hybrid campers, there’s internal and external kitchens, a stand-up shower and toilet, Track-designed proprietary MC2-R asymmetric-link suspension and the width is only 1990mm, meaning it’ll tuck in nicely behind your 4X4 no matter how tight the trail.

If you’re chasing something built to last and will keep you and your partner in supreme comfort, definitely check the T4 Rhapsody out.

Specs:

• Sleeps: 2 adults + 2 (up to 8yrs old) kids
• Dimensions closed: 4590mm (L) (body only, 6575 OA)x 1990mm (W) x 2550mm (H)
• Interior height: 2070mm
• ATM: 2650kg
• Tare: 1850-2000kg (depending on options selected)
• Payload: 650-800kg
• Tow ball weight: 140-170kg
• Water: 1 x 210L + 1 x 50L (optional) + 1 x 50L grey water + 1 x 16L black water
• 12V: Redarc Redvision + range of battery options (3 batteries max) + up to 420W solar

4. Alpine Campers ALP-13

From $105,000

Another Australian made hybrid camper that’s chockers with innovative inclusions like a metric buttload of storage, optional airbag-equipped Cruisemaster suspension, an electric pop-top and even a few neat little touches like the rain channel that directs water away from the external kitchen (that’s mounted on bearings and is smooth as butter to operate).

Inside the fully insulated foam core fibreglass body of the Alpine ALP-13 is a queen bed, dinette and kitchenette with a sink that’s plumbed directly to the grey water tank – making life at camp about as stress-free as it comes.

As with all of the hybrids on this list, the customisation options available are pretty mind blowing too, so if you’re looking for a sub-2.5T camper that can be pulled fully loaded by your Ranger Raptor or Jeep Gladiator, be sure to stop into Alpine Campers.

Specs:

• Sleeps: 2 adults
• Dimensions: 6000mm (L) x 2100mm (W) x 2300mm (H)
• ATM: 2500kg
• Tare: 1700kg
• Payload: 800kg
• Tow ball weight: 120kg
• Water: 280L + 85L grey water
• 12V: 2 x 120A Enerdrive lithium, Redarc RedVision

5. Jayco Crosstrak 14ft

From $53,455

We couldn’t have a list of hybrids without Australia’s biggest manufacturer now, could we? The Jayco Crosstrak is backed by a nationwide dealer network and has a sticker price that’s on par with an imported camper. Yes, it’s a mass-produced product and as such, may not have the standard of workmanship of a built-to-order hybrid, but let’s be honest, Jayco didn’t get as big as they are by putting out garbage.

With off-road tyres, independent coil suspension and a reasonable tare weight for stress-free towing, the 14ft CrossTrak enables serious trips to be confidently tackled without having to sell a kidney on the Taiwanese black market.

These Australian made hybrid campers have all of the mod-cons of a more expensive trailer too, with an internal toilet and shower, hot water and plenty of solar. They are a tops budget option for off-grid hybrid camping

Specs:

• Sleeps: 2 adults
• Dimensions: 6540mm (L) x 2040mm (W) x 2580mm (H)
• ATM: 2050kg
• Tare: 1620kg
• Payload: 430kg
• Tow ball weight: 160kg
• Water: 2 x 80L
• 12V: 120Ah lithium + 400W solar

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