HEST Quest: HowerBuilt

September 10, 2024 6 min read

Welcome back to HEST Quest! This year, we want to take a deeper dive into what is the ideal set up for sleeping outdoors. Is it a van? A rooftop tent? The back of your truck? A truckbed camper? A tow behind trailer camper? A ground tent?

With so many options out there, HEST has set out to answer the big question: What is the BEST car camping set up?

Whether you are new to camping or a veteran overlander; everyone wants to know what is the BEST setup. What’s the most efficient, cost effective, easy, comfortable set up for sleeping outdoors? HEST Quest will explore all the different setups; sharing the benefits and setbacks of each, plus “how to” tips when it comes to building or shopping for your next mobile basecamp.

HEST QUEST: Howerbuilt

What type of setup is do you have?

HowerBuilt PopTop Truckbed Camper.

How many does it comfortably sleep?

Two people.

Is it family friendly?

Yes, absolutely.

Tell me more about the 4wd/off road capability of your set up?

This campers was built with off-roading, comfort, and gear storage at the forefront of our minds. Built from a sturdy aluminum frame with insulated composite panels, our camper weighs only 400 lbs making it perfect for a wide range of engine sizes. It also won't bog down out leaf springs too much on the trail or highway.

What’s the kitchen/cooking set up like? Is it inside or outside?

The camper can easily fit a kitchenette set up with a standing counter and plenty of cabinet space for all our utensils. Whether we're going for a two burner stove or JetBoil, there’s space to cook some ramen or a three course meal looking out over the ocean.

How easy is it to set up, move around, leave the vehicle/go to town?

Previously, we had a railtop version that sat on our truckbed like a campershell, but we’re excited to be moving into a slide-in camper models which will have four hydraulic jacks on the side. At the press of a button we can drop the camper, unhook the power, and drive to town while not giving up our camping spot!

Benefits/Pros: What you LOVE about this set up?

As avid campers and dirt road wanders ourselves, we’ve truly honed in on what we feel like is the best truck camper on the market. One of the pros we love about our camper: the lift load capacity on the poptop comes out to a whooping 350 lbs. And even better, we unlatch the roof, press a button, and the camper will raise by itself while our friends are on their backs pressing theirs up with the legs. Basically, that gives us more time to crack a beer, and have one waiting for them while they wear themselves out popping their camper into position.

The lightweight build of the camper is a huge pro in our minds too because we don’t have to weigh our truck down with a heavy camper—better on our suspension, engine, and overall MPG.

Another pro is the power system. Thanks to RedArc, we can have power in the camper ready to go to charge our gear and with the solar built in, so we're not mooching off friends or the random plug we found in a Walmart parking lot.

Challenges/Cons: What has been a hurdle/setback of the set up?

As much as we want to say there’s no cons to our camper and we’re absolutely perfect, the reality is that we’re always improving. So when we see a con, we make sure it’s not a con much longer. Perfect example was when we really wanted to still use our truck as a truck, but the camper kind of got in the way. The new slide-in version let's us do that, dropping down off the back and letting us drive into town or rip out to an alpine lake. i

What are the budget considerations for investing in your set up?

HowerBuilt campers aren’t the project campers you’ll find on Facebook Marketplace. Sometimes the best possible campers and quality materials ain’t cheap. The price of this camper gets you pretty much everything you need to head out to the trail and start camping comfortably, which was worth it for us.

What’s the swag level of your set up? While function is definitely the most important consideration when looking for a rig, we can’t deny that some set ups just LOOK GOOD! How does this set up rank in terms of coolness?

As Ron Burgundy once said, “Hey everyone, come and see how good I look.” That couldn’t ring truer for our HowerBuilt. We all love a good looking setup and HowerBuilts are nothing short of beautiful. From the frame, the well-wired electrical, cozy wood laminate interior, this thing is guaranteed to stand out. Plus, when you’re standing on your popped camper top watching the sunset on your roof top, it’s hard to not feel pretty swagged out.

Which HEST mattress works best in this setup?

Our bed platforms fit the HEST Dually Wide perfectly. It’s the perfect size to leave our bed made, so that way when we finally find the perfect camp spot, we can pop the camper and crash out.

What are some tips or hacks that your experience using the set up has taught you?

This rig has taught us that having the right equipment, right amount space, and gear/utensils/bedding that live in the camper make the experience of last minute camping so easy. Having something that's ready to go, and all you have to pack is clothes and food, makes you want to adventure more. We’ve used so many different rigs, setups, and made the mistakes camping plenty of times, but feel like we've got the right formula now.

What are some upgrades you’ve made or want to make? Are there some key upgrades that you recommend to make your setup even better?

We’ve heard and seen so many different upgrades that it’s hard to keep track of. We take note of our friends' stories to keep improving our own build.

If you had a chance to do it over again would you choose the same set up exactly?

Absolutely. We’ve truly found that a truck/truckcamper works the best for us because we don’t want to give up our off-roading ability and sacrificing comfort.

Would you recommend your setup to a friend?

It truly depends on what said friend wants. If they want the open spaces of a van and ability to just have your space open and ready to go that you don’t have to exit the vehicle, then our camper is probably not for them. But if they value the ability to still off-road, use a daily driver truck, then HowerBuilt is where I’d send them.

What were your main considerations in choosing your set up/why did you choose it?

As an avid outdoor crew, we travel with a lot of gear. Whether we’re paddling rivers, climbing mountains, mountain biking the trails, surfing the coast, fly fishing the waterways, we don't want to always cram our cozy camper with dirty gear. So, our roof lift load ability allows us to install all our gear on top of the camper instead of cluttering our space for when it’s time to use it. Another consideration is the ruggedness of the camper and its ability to handle the roughest terrain we can throw at it. We use our gear in a wide range of terrain. Whether it’s snow piled on top, the heat of the desert, the sands of the beach, or day to day grocery runs, this thing is made to handle it all.

How’s the sleep quality you get in your set up? Do you wake up rested? Are there any pain points in the sleep situation in your adventure set up (e.g. pesky light, temperature issues, etc.)?

When you have to set an alarm camping so you don’t sleep till noon, you could say we sleep pretty well. The canvas for the pop top keeps it nice and dark in there and paired with a full Hest setup, we get some of the best sleep you can in a camper.

Follow along @hestoutdoors as we meet the people behind these different setups and build outs.

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