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Peak Performance Campers was founded by Brandon Tyler in 2021. Brandon, an avid outdoorsmen, spent years looking for a camper he could pair with his truck that would fit his lifestyle. After 4 years of searching he concluded there was no campers in the market that possessed the attributes he felt necessary: selfcontained, rugged, ultralight, and modular. His solution: build the baddest lightweight truck camper on the market and he did just that.:
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When I launched this company, I did not have a name picked out; It c Irons. My love for the mountains coupled with my mission to create th Peak Performance Campers. 4
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500, 520, 550 lbs
came to me when I was in Boulder Colorado climbing in the Flat he most Rugged, Ultralight, and Modular camper spawned the name:
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I grew up in the North Texas area. My parents took us camping in our 1999 StarCraft popup camper, it was basically a second home for me. I spent most of my childhood fascinated with building things. I designed campers, tents, backpacks, shoes, basically anything people could use to explore the outdoors. In the fall of 2015, I started my fouryear journey at the University of North Texas studying Business. I veered away from my passion of design and engineering to pursue a corporate career. I found little passion for office work, and I knew I always wanted to build outdoor equipment. When the Covid Pandemic began in early 2020 and continued through 2021 I saw a rise in interest for camping, especially van camping. In early 2021 I saw these elaborate van builds and poorly constructed campers flooding the market, that’s when I launched Peak Performance Campers. 7
With dozens of models out there you could not find just one that was close? I think its just the nature of how we view campers today. We think up a budget, go to a show, find layout we like and buy it. The problem is people are dynamic and with the limited space campers provide trying to find a layout that will work for every trip or vacation is impossible. That is why I spent 4 years looking for a camper that I could take climbing, then hunting, then take my fiancé to the lake. I felt if I chose a camper, I would be compromising to cater to one activity. Like I didn’t need the dinette when I was climbing, I needed more bunks for friends. I didn’t need the bunks when it was just me and my Fiancé, I wanted a couch. I wanted more storage for a Fishing trip I didn’t need a couch. The smaller the camper the more exaggerated this issue becomes and for most of us we either cannot haul or afford a large camper.
Why do you think it was so hard to find a camper? Part of the issue is that a lot of campers are built with a business model that relies on the camper failing for you to purchase a new one in 5-10 years. They are big and look great, 8
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but the build quality and attention to detail is lacking. I feel these camper companies try and shove as many features into their models and never stop to think, what are my customers looking for and how do we best deliver these features to satisfy their needs. Rather than toss a lot of features that add weight and are prone to failure into our units, we offer a camp ready shell that allows for customers to add AND REMOVE those features without drilling or expert skills. I really focused on design thinking when I started this company, I built a camper based around the needs of customers and then constructed our Prototype rather than design and construct a camper and push it to market without listening to what the real needs of the truck camper market are.
Was it the Idea at first to build light or just to build one that fits well with the truck? This is funny, because I didn’t think about the weight in the initial design, it was all about how to make it as modular as possible. I chose 10
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the panel style structure because it is stronger, simpler, and more visually appealing. I then realized what I had in terms of a lightweight and shell style structure, I decided to continue reducing weight as much as possible. Learning more about weight and how it affects offroad performance, I saw this as an opportunity to make my campers perform better for my customers. If you spend 30, 40, even 50k on your offroad performance truck why would you start weighing it down with something top heavy and pushing 1000 lbs.or more!
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How did you start the design? I had a Graph Paper book I used for physics in college, and I spent all my time drawing out campers, truck racks, bumpers, just a slew of outdoor gear. That’s where I hatched out my idea for a pop-up truck camper. To be honest my first design was atrocious, it was way too complicated. These iterations are what ultimately led to my gen 1 camper design. At first I was thinking about just hitting the Toyota Tacoma
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market, but if you go anywhere like Telluride, Moab, etc. there is every truck under the sun and I didn’t feel like leaving anyone out. 13
Was modular a key reason you could not find one? I am not sure it was the reason as much as it was a remedy for current shortcomings in the market. I simply needed something I could haul, afford, and enjoy. None of the truck campers or small pull behinds had
modularity. Even when they have removable features like a stove or table that can be taken and put outside, that is all it offers. I want something that is a blank slate that you can. 14
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The Pop-up + Composite style was not on my mind at first. I really foc and realized composite panels offered simplicity and performance. I a decided on the popup style camper was the fact that I drive so much
be dangerous with a camper that stands 80 inches from the truck bed. Ultimately a camper that has a composite panel structure paired with a pop top has yet to be sold in the United
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cused on the modular aspect. I then studied different build methods am of the mindset that more complexity = more to go wrong. How I offroad that I realized any trails that have a lean left or right could
States at scale and I am excited for people to enjoy performance, comfort, and peace of mind that their campers will be tough to break.
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I started out with the idea of using stick and tin because it is all that I knew. Through testing this method, I found that it had to many flaws for ruggedized offroad campers: the weight, leaking potential, thermal bridging, etc. I found that with the frameless composite panel structure I got not only strength but no thermal bridging and weight reduction. I also use structural glue and not rivets so there is minimal chance for leaking and rivets walking out. This is especially valuable when we take our truck campers through rough trails in inclement weather. My whole goal is to build a camper that lasts a lifetime.
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I found that the pistons + braces made for a very stable, easy, and simple way to raise the roof, especially by oneself. When studying different methods, I found no other way to effectively raise the roof without adding seriously complex parts. A real benefit of gas pistons too is that if you change the static load of your roof i.e., adding A/C units, roof racks, ski racks, etc., you can also change out the gas pistons cost-efficiently, they run close to 20
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$20 a pair. We are trying to find ways to automate our campers, starting with the roof. We are testing electronic braces to allow for user to pop the roof with an application on their phone. 21
This still is the most difficult portion to design and implement in our campers because you must balance simplicity with functionality. I do see value in a popup camper for most people because it performs better on rough trails with low clearance and lateral tilt due to its low center of gravity. Keeping this in mind I overbuilt the lift arms in the Gen 1’s to ensure their will be no failure when you arrive to camp. Our roof lift system is industry standard and has never failed through hundreds of uses. One of the best features of our roof lift system is that the gas struts can be switched out in seconds to support different attachments to our modular roof.
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The changes I am making are to: increase visual appeal, increase not only is R5 but also acts as an acoustic barrier. Some companie be included. We switched from a T-Track to an L-Track because w attachments sliding.
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strength, decrease weight. I’m adding an insulated soft that es make this an add-on for $1000-$1500, but we felt it should we wanted the higher load strength as well as protect from
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Besides the weight, why is this the best camper out there?
Best” is subjective, what is important is finding a camper that best fits you. Often buying a camper you must select a layout that cannot be changed and if you do change it, it requires power tools and a lot of demolition. Our Modular layout allows users to change layouts to best fit them in seconds without drilling or demolition. The flexibility of changing layouts is valuable especially in a truck camper where let’s face it, we are limited on room. Since our campers last a lifetime, you now have a lifetime of possibilities. 26
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• 2x vent fans • 14x14 roof void with AC/DC power (removable skylight standard) • 6 interior led pod lights • Roof rail system • R5 and acoustic barrier soft side w/ 4 large windows • Exterior rail system • Jack mount points • Screen door • Ruggedized/wash-out one-piece floor with drain plugs • Prewired 2x solar inputs (roof & front) w/ solar output • Interior rails for modular pods/attachments • 3x interior DC/AC hookups (for left and right platforms + cab wall) • 2x interior Water/Propane hookups (left and right platforms) • Rubber Fittings for mounting • Waterproof cushions • Waterproof mattress
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