Simplicity Is Best, and This Off-Road-Loving Compact Camper Is One of Cleanest You'll See

Folks, the name Condamine Campers is bound to mean very little to you. If we consider that this manufacturer is a family-owned crew operating out of Australia, then you can understand why. However, the company owner, John Huth, has been building campers since 1999, and these days, they're crafting these babies with an array of hardware and software to optimize every inch of their units.

That brings us to the Compact Camper (CC), the rather minimalist-looking machine we see in the image gallery. Be sure to really explore what Condamine has in store for us because things aren't really what they seem; this thing is explosive.

Now, from the outside, the CC comes across as nothing more than a box on wheels, but underneath, we can see that this thing is equipped with a proven Cruisemaster trailing A-arm suspension with twin shocks for each wheel. In short, it's what you want.

Working our way up the unit, we encounter the shell, and in traditional Australian camper style, everything we need for a full outdoor life is present. From solar power to fresh water, a galley, and even a bedroom, it's all here and, surprisingly, selling for a starting price of $51,500 Australian, which is roughly $33,700. There is a catch, of course, but we'll discuss that shortly.

To get an idea of what Condamine has achieved here, let's kick back for a few minutes and picture our lives with a CC. We can start things off with you driving down some highway, hauling this two-person unit behind you. Dry, it comes in with a weight of no more than 1,050 kg (2,314 lbs), so you'll have plenty of space for features, extras, and essentials like clothes and maybe even a toy or two.

Driving along, you suddenly see some random road pop up, and since the CC is perfectly equipped to handle unpaved and even inexistent roads, you slow down, veer right, and looking in the rearview mirror, you realize that your CC is actually handling the road better than your truck.

After a bit of trudging through sand, dust, hardpack, and even some riverbeds, you finally arrive at a place hidden from the world where the only sounds in the air are the local fauna. Take a moment to breathe in the fresh air, let the sun warm your skin, and look over at your significant other doing the same. Once you've recharged your batteries, it's time to check out the rest of the CC's magic.

As you noticed in the image gallery, the CC is a pop-top camper, and the only interior space on the unit is that roof nest. It's here that you'll rest your bones after a long day, and that's about all you'll do here. So what is the rest of the CC's body for? This is where it gets really juicy.

Each unit is designed in such a way as to accommodate all the essentials two people would ever need to live a full life off-grid. For example, we can spot a large storage bin at the front of the unit, where we find several features, including gas tanks, a water heater, and an outdoor shower.

Moving our focus to the main body, the right side of the CC is reserved for large storage bays for tools, clothing, shoes, and even some inflatable watercraft like SUPs (standup paddleboards), but it's the left side that really grabbed my attention and one of the main reasons I chose to bring this unit to light.

Along the unit's port side, Condamine went to town, installing not one, not two, but three slide-out drawers, and once they've been accessed, this camper nearly doubles its girth. It's at this stage that we'll be able to access features the likes of a cooktop, massive countertop, sink and tap, more countertop space, storage for dry goods, and finally, a fridge. Oh, and all that is friggin standard!

A few other goods that Condamine Campers adds as standard include a Webasto diesel heater, two 90 l (24 gals) water tanks, and a rather beefy electrical setup. Victorn is behind the BMS; there are 240 Ah of battery power and 390 W of solar cells. What more could you want? Honestly, for this sort of price, few manufacturers can give you what we see here, and this is where that "catch" I mentioned comes up.

As far as I could deduce, Condamine is only selling its units in Aussieland, which means that they're tuned only to Australian laws and road regulations. This means that the would-be owners from the rest of the world will encounter a few roadblocks if they ever try to bring one home. Just a little something-something to think about.