Alabama Hills camping in our new hard walled pop-up camper - This is an overlanding game changer!
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- After years of planning and saving we finally upgraded our adventure camping setup from a roof top tent to a wedge style truck camper. We did a ton of research on this type of camper before going with Oru Designs, and I think you'll see why... when it is all packed up this camper looks like a lot of its competitors, but it has a secret when you pop it up! Checkout this video and subscribe for a future walk around with all of the details on this innovative product. We are not affiliated with Oru Designs USA, however if you do place an order please tell them that Western Wild sent you. You can visit their website here: www.orudesigns...
With the camper installed we headed to the Eastern Sierras to visit a place that has been on our bucket list for a long time. The Alabama Hills are a bit of a cliche on Instagram with overlanders and vanlifers, but in our experience spending a night there is totally worth the hype. Watch through to the end for beautiful drone footage of this unique natural wonder.
![Ep. 6: Snow Camping in the Winter Wonderland with iKamper Annex Plus [Electric heating pad, ASMR]](/img/n.gif)
Wow great new set up! Looked like a scorcher of a day. The soak down was a good idea. Great spot and the evening looked amazing. Definitely a great spot for a western. I was waiting for you guys to put on some cowboy hats and do a spoof western shootout ha ha!
Haha yeah we went from winter camping to what felt like the surface of the sun in a hurry! Almost miss the snow (almost). It really did feel like we were going to be ambushed by bandits driving the narrow roads between the rocks.
Hell yeah! Stoked to see it in person, glad you guys finally got it 🤙🏼
Normally tours are reserved for our Patreon supporters... but we can make a one time exception 😂
Awesome camper, congrats! The Alabama Hills area looks fantastic!
We've had three nights in it so far and it has been great! And they really are, it's an otherworldly landscape.
Awesome video, and those drone shots were killer!!!
Thanks Craig! Have been dreaming of capturing that 4K goodness since we got the drone.
Congrats on the new set up. It looks pretty awesome. It’ll be such a game changer being able to store gear in there and not have to worry about the weather. Alabama Hills looks like it’s worth the hype, I’ll have to check it out it I ever venture that far south.
It really is! Nice to just leave some camping gear in the back too between trips. Yeah Alabama Hills is a trek but it’s worth it! Good stop in between here and SoCal.
come on up to Montana. I will show you some great spots around the cabinet mountains.
It’s on our list! What’s the best time of year to visit?
The set up looks awesome! Can’t wait until I get one! You earned a new subscriber! Keep up the great work y’all do, excited to see more adventures.
Thanks for watching and Subscribing! Let us know how it goes when you get your Oru, and say hi to the team for us!
I saw your walk around first then this video. Very nice video shots, editing, and music all good choice.
I live about 2-3 hours south of that area and always enjoyed driving up there. Except in winter driving to Mammoth and chaining up to deliver propane. Have fun.
Thanks for the kind words, and for watching more than one video ☺️. Gorgeous area for sure! Tessa grew up in Southern California so the Mammoth drive is very familiar for her.
Great scenery! Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it! One of the cooler places that we have camped and an epic spot for drone shots.
I want the oru camper. I plan to grab a truck again do such. The new tundras are having main bearing issues. Thjs tundras are extremely reliable. I've been thinking of getting a 2nd gen tundra, double cab 6.5ft bed. I know the mpg is terrible. I also know these trucks will out live the owners. This is inspiring me more to go this route
We do love our 2nd gen! They can also be a great value these days. Look for a 2015 or newer If you can with the 38 gallon tank. If you do buy an Oru please let them know that you watched our video!
I am looking at this! Was order to pickup really 8-12 weeks? Thanks! Looking forward to your detailed walk through :)
I think our delivery appointment was right around 12 weeks. Lead times may be a little longer now with summer demand, but I also know that they are working on growing their manufacturing capacity significantly. Should have the walkthrough video up later this week!
Mantap kawan 👍👍✋❤️❤️❤️
Of enough about the camper for the billing as a game changer. Cutting slices of cheese?
U need bed Rugz or similar.
Wow, that is light and looks like a great setup. Should even work on a Raptor without messing with the suspension given such a low starting weight! Wonder if they can deliver these overseas?
Yes! The Raptor's payload capacity is similar to ours. We got out on a very rough track over the weekend and the weight was hardly noticeable. I'm sure shipping to Europe would be expensive but not impossible. One of these would take up about a quarter of a 40ft container.
@@Western-Wild We have just ordered an RSI Smart Cap, so first stop is attempting some camping in that with a bed frame and drawer setup I've built. It sure does look nice with a full sized bed though, and room to stand inside.
We can get Alu-Cab stuff pretty easily here, but it will quickly hit 250kgs on the truck, requires you to remove the rear tailgate, and still leaves us with lots of tent-fabric flapping around in the wind. The Oru Designs solution looks much neater!
@@texnorthman the smart caps look good, but having standing room is very nice especially in bad weather.
I agree about the Alu-Cab, they are very heavy. Designed for non-US spec vehicles with higher payloads like the Hilux. What country are you from? It would be nice if Oru and some of the other American camper builders could export.
@westernwildoutdoors Yeah standing room would be amazing! We live in Norway, and although I dream of long overlanding trips we realistically spend at most two nights "off grid". For that purpose having somewhere comfortable to sleep is the most important part 😊 That said, I'm still dreaming of getting a Unimog and building a big camper on the back of it... I just love my Raptor too much to swap 😅
@@texnorthman can imagine the Raptor is far more practical for most of your adventures near home! The Unimog would be nice for longer journeys. Norway is on our travel bucket list for sure. With the beautiful road networks you have we may look at hiring a fun car and do more of a Grand Touring style trip.
Love the truck! I’ve been looking at the Bruin campers for my Tacoma. Is this the Adventurer option?
Thanks! And yup, this is the Adventurer plus the barn doors.
Love the drone footage... I have been looking at the ORU Camper, Just a couple of questions. The roof panel is pretty translucent, do you find that the morning light is too bright inside, and during the sun of the day does the roof transmit a lot of heat inside? I see you picked black for the color, can the side wall panels be insulated? Thanks Jeff
Thanks Jeff! Could have happily spent days capturing that landscape.
The roof panel certainly isn't blackout, but so far we haven't had issues sleeping with the light that it does let through. It is pretty cool to the touch even in direct sunlight, the interior does get warm but I think most of the heat is coming through the black aluminum components. We've been able to get a lot of airflow through the four screen windows in the "tent" area, but do plan on adding a roof fan eventually. Oru does offer insulation kits for the "tent" and camper components, I'm sure we'll eventually pick those up since we do a lot of cold weather camping. We expect to have our full walk around video in the next couple weeks. If you have more questions we can try to address them in that video!
Really curious to know why you went with Oru and not with a Hiatus that actually as full hard walls and doesnt have canvas corners.
Simple answer is a comparable Hiatus would have been $5,000+ more expensive. The Hiatus is a cool product for sure, but it also has a yearlong lead time, weighs more and sets up slower. We were worried about the fabric sections when we bought the Oru, but in truth these campers need a lot ventilation for a good portion of the year so the windows would be open anyway. Still handles the wind great and only becomes a downside in freezing conditions.
Hi such a awesome camper! Just wondering...do the barn doors lock from outside and in?
Thank you! So the barn doors can only be opened from the outside with the tailgate open, so we just lock the tailgate when we need to keep things secure. We may add an additional locking mechanism for extra security before heading into Central America, but still need to figure that solution out!
@@Western-Wild oh ok. Thanks for the reply
HB!
Tessa’s home town so we had to make the stop!
I know that you haven't had the ORU that long and not sure if the camper has gone through any rain storms yet. Just curious if any water comes in through the rear barn doors? Thanks Jeff
Hey Jeff! We have not had the camper up in the rain yet... but have experienced heavy downpours while driving and parked. No water incursion yet! Our unit was the first to come with Oru's new rubber "rain gutters" over all of the openings, and they have done the trick so far. Dust incursion through the back is a different story, but that is more an issue with tailgate gaps than anything else.
Please make a walk around video. My wife and I considering purchasing one. How is the quality of the build?
We are working on one! The build and design quality is solid, I would trust the Oru to hold up to some pretty rough roads and years use. Only complaint so far would be a few cosmetic details, mostly related to seals around windows that could have been a little tidier. I'd expect that to change as they transition to their new production facility. Overall impression so far is that Oru's design philosophy is leaps and bounds ahead of their closest competitors. These are roughly the same weight and price range as many of the popular soft-walled wedge campers on the market but the weather resistance is vastly improved.
Oh interesting they are moving locations? When you make your walk around will you include some of these cosmetic blemishes?
They are opening a production line in Indiana, but it sounds like HQ is staying in San Marcos. You can ask them! For sure, we love the product so far but we’re committed to providing well rounded reviews. Let us know if there is anything else you want to see.
How many mpgs did you lose? I also have a tundra
It’s about equal with the RTT setup we had before, sitting around 12-13 MPG. Probably a couple MPG less than we’d get with nothing on the back. It’s super sensitive to speed, keep it under 70 mph and it’s not too bad.
So when you close the rear of the oru design the front closes too?
Yup! The gas pistons are angled so the front pair can't hold the roof up if the back pair is collapsed. Setup and takedown go as quickly as you can get the latches off/on.
When you have camp set up. How does the bed store when you're not using it?
For Oru's standard model the bed folds up with the help of a gas strut. We opted for the optional sliding bed. The front third of the mattress folds and the panel that supports it slides under which allows for full height use of the entire truck bed.
@@Western-Wild awesome! Are you guys happy with that choice? I assume having the entire bed has made it liveable?
@@MrRolsen83 It was definitely the right call for our needs. Longterm we plan to do a basic build so we can work remotely from the camper, and ultimately do extended trips like the Pan-Am. Having full use of the already short 5'6" bed makes a big difference.
Peo tip...Next time you're making grilled samiches, use mayo instead of butter. It grills very good, and spreads alot easier than butter.
Very interesting, we'll give it a try!
Oru campers are junk
Yeah that's like not our experience with them at all.