This DIY Camper Is Actually a Tiny House That Moves Under Its Own Power. Cheap, Too

If that's the one thing stopping a regular 9-to-5-er from going all-in on this much-hyped lifestyle, there's always the DIY (do it yourself) route. The DIY online community is actually almost as large and as supporting as the nomad community, so as long as you have a budget, some basic tools, and a lot of willingness to put in the time and effort, you won't be going at it alone.

This brings us to Jason from Quiet Nerd. Even if you're not considering the transition to a nomad life, this video still makes for fun viewing while proving that an outing in the great outdoors might actually require less, both in terms of resources and features, than we'd imagine in order to be fun, comfortable, and safe.

If the name Quiet Nerd rings a bell, it's probably because he's the guy who built a mini e-camper on a budget and with off-the-shelf materials last summer, and that video instantly went viral. His "tiny house" is actually that same e-camper upgraded for winter conditions.

It's not a perfect build, for sure, and it falls short of classifying as a tiny house even by the most generous definition of the phrase. But it is styled like a wooden cabin, and it has wheels, and it's able to move under its own power, so it's a mobile shelter that can extend a day outing into an overnight adventure.

You might have to ditch typical ideas of comfort in the process, but on the other hand, it's a superior solution to standard camping, bikepacking, or even an e-bike trailer. It's also cheaper than a new e-bike camper, and it's easier to make than a DIY tiny house, no matter how small. It's a fun little project that can work as an intermediate step to building something more definitive, if you will.

The basis of this "cabin," which Jason dubs QN-02, is the e-camper he built last year. He doesn't mention anything about the powertrain, so we're guessing it's the original one, which he built from scratch from parts you can easily buy online or at the local store.

That e-camper drew power from a 24V 500W 6:1 gear ratio motor hooked up to a 12V battery with an estimated 2.5 hours of range on a single charge. The battery was probably upgraded in the process since all that traveling through snow in the cabin and running appliances the entire night only ate up 49% of the battery, leaving him with enough juice for the ride back home.

The chassis is wooden, with the electrics running underneath and no underside protection. Jason removed the greenhouse frame and the tarp from the e-camper and built an all-wood frame with wood walls, a rear wood door, and a driver's cab decked in wraparound clear vinyl for visibility. He added two porthole opening windows on either wall and a dog fence plastic window on the door to allow more light in and create some ventilation.

Jason opted out of putting in any type of insulation in the walls or a vent, which eventually translated into a cold shelter with serious condensation issues. He relied on a heater to warm it up a bit, as well as on a hotplate, a mini electric oven, and a small waffle maker for extra heat, but cooking only created more humidity, with condensation trickling down the vinyl windows.

The cabin also received upgraded tires of a larger size and with bigger threads, and some of that old yellow tarp as insulation for the roof. Jason doesn't say whether he upgraded the motor to make up for the added weight of all that wood, but the strange vehicle was able to power through ankle-high snow, though it was visibly struggling at times.

The low ground clearance didn't help, making the entire vehicle bounce off snow that piled under its front end.

As noted above, this is not a perfect build and isn't presented as such. It probably wasn't even meant as one. It's a young man's effort to build something for himself for fun and functionality, with a minimal budget, offering the basic creature comforts and some attention to safety, which could theoretically replace a much more expensive purchase.

In this sense, this cabin with wheels and the ability to move under its own power is truly the tiny house that could. As long as you're willing to leave any ideas of comfort at home.