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Mammoth Overland SKL: Hard-Shell Rooftop Camping
Most rooftop tents have one thing in common—fabric sides that aren’t necessarily warm in colder weather, and get soggy when it rains. The new Mammoth Overland SKL prototype solves both of these problems with a simple solution: Swapping out those fabric panels for an insulated aluminum hardshell body. And it has a new, powerful onboard battery to boot.
Specifically, it’s a Rego 208-Ah solid state battery pack from Renogy, built into this camper’s roof to power accessories that Mammoth Overland has already integrated into the camper’s body, including interior and exterior lights and a multi-speed roof fan. The battery is also pre-wired to quickly accept solar panels for a charge-up.
But the real attraction here is the hard-sided walls, which Mammoth Overland says will offer an R5 insulation value, keeping out the cold, while a white-painted exterior helps keep the sun at bay. The walls might also help keep a bear at bay, if you’re camping in grizzly country; at least, they’d be more protective than a thin fabric tent. And bears aren’t the only wildlife that can make your life miserable in a thin fabric tent, so this may be a welcome option to worry-prone campers.
As far as space goes, the current Mammoth Overland SKL design is 89 inches long, 59 inches wide, and when the roof is folded down, it’s 18 inches tall. No doubt the beefy construction and the integrated battery and lighting systems are to blame for the height. Inside, Mammoth Overland says there’s plenty of room, with “an interior width between and queen and full-size bed. Easily and comfortable able to sleep two adults.”
What we don’t know is the unit’s weight, and Mammoth Overland is probably still sorting this out as they do not appear to have a production-ready unit yet. Renogy’s website lists their single 104 Ah batteries as weighing 28.2 pounds apiece, so doubling those up will mean a 56.4-pound weight added to the camper’s roof, which you’ll have to lift up every time you open it, since that part isn’t electrically powered. That probably reduces potential failure points, but it does make this job require more muscle. Those batteries are currently listed at $1,499 apiece, so you can imagine what adding a couple of those to this trick camper will mean as far as MSRP…
Speaking of which: Mammoth Overland says “The SKL is still in the prototype stages with lots of room for change as we lock in the design. No timeline has been determined and no pricing has been set. Be sure to keep coming back for updates on the SKL camper and of course feel free to always reach out to the Mammoth team at info@mammothoverland.com with any questions you may have.” So, the price tag, the biggest question of all, is still a guess as far as anyone’s concerned. See more details here.
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