BundutecUSA is on a roll. Founded in 2014 by industry veteran and truck camper designer extraordinaire, Rory Willett, BundutecUSA has quickly earned a reputation for building rugged, high-quality truck campers designed for adventure seekers who demand durability, comfort, and versatility. Drawing on more than four decades of experience in the truck camper industry, Willett’s company combines proven craftsmanship with innovative design to create campers capable of handling everything from weekend getaways to extended off-grid expeditions.
BundutecUSA specializes in both pop-up and hard-sided truck campers, offering a variety of floor plans that can be customized to fit different truck sizes and travel styles. Each camper is handcrafted with an emphasis on lightweight construction, all-season capability, and practical living spaces that maximize comfort without sacrificing mobility. Their commitment to customization allows customers to choose anything from a basic shell to a fully equipped camper tailored to their specific needs and adventures.
Beyond truck campers, BundutecUSA has expanded its lineup to include premium overlanding products such as roof-top tents, awnings, and outdoor gear inspired by the rugged landscapes of South Africa. Known for their innovative designs, dependable construction, and customer-focused approach, BundutecUSA products are built to help outdoor enthusiasts explore remote destinations with confidence. Whether traveling deep into the backcountry or embarking on a cross-country journey, BundutecUSA continues to provide solutions that make adventure more accessible and enjoyable.
We caught up with Rory Willett at last month’s Overland Expo West. There we discussed his latest truck camper design, the Riptide, his Go-Away hard-side camper, and the latest happenings at the Iowa-based company. That interview is presented here in full.
Hi Rory, looks like you’ve been busy with three new models. Tell us about them.
Rory Willett: This year, we came up with one brand-new style camper and two pop-up models that spun off popular pop-up models. The newest hard-side model is the Riptide, It came about from talking to people at the Overland Expo West, I found that there are quite a few people who pull a jeep or ATV trailer into the mountains or to Death Valley National Park. They wanted something to haul their gear securely and have a place to mount a roof-top tent (RTT) or sleep inside. But they needed something to be removable so their truck can be the daily driver. The Riptide does that! It is based on the basic four walls and floor and decked roof shell. The customer can choose the interior height and overall width to start. Then the arrangement of cabinets and features can be added to fit individual camping needs. I have built them with double doors in the rear for mountain bikes, 12-inch bump cabovers and full 50 inches wide cabover bunks. Instead of removing features from a model, they add whatever they need. Starting at $12,000, it is an affordable model to start out.
Our other new pop-top models are the Roan and the Topi Swiss. The Roan is an adapted version of our Cape model which came out in 2022. The adaptation for the Roan is that it added an interior toilet and shower while keeping the unit under 8 feet in length. This adaptation was done due to the feedback that people love the front cafe seating inside but wanted to have an interior shower for their significant other who may want a bit more privacy. The Topi Swiss is our smallest, lightest pop-up that fits the Tacoma, Frontier and Colorado trucks. Being only 70 inches wide, it has a starting dry weight of 1,100 pounds; it is easy to travel with the compact trucks. We just drove the pilot model to Flagstaff on a 2012 Nissan Frontier, and it handled great through the mountains, Albuquerque rush hour traffic and an off-road bout to find one of our favorite spots to camp outside of Gallup in six-mile canyon.
What makes BundutecUSA different from other truck camper companies?
Rory Willett: There are a few things that set us apart from the other camper companies. Of course, with only five employees our size makes us one of the smallest out there. There are the huge Elkhart, Indiana producers that pump out hundreds of units and the new upstarts that want to be different from the standard truck camper look. Here at BundutecUSA we fall in between all of that. My experience in building campers has to be one of the longest tenures out there. While growing up with a family business that produced truck campers under the Texson brand, I always hung around and helped where I could, but my first “official paycheck” came in the summer of 1973. Man, is that really 53 years ago? When I became an official employee, I started as a floor sweeper and parts runner; I then moved up to installing toppers and loading trailers for delivery.
Eventually, I drove rigs throughout the Midwest delivering to dealers. A few years later, I started building cabinets for the campers and the Bethany folding tent Trailers the company had acquired. In my late 20s to early 30s I moved from the production floor to the office. With all that being said, the biggest thing makes us different is that we don’t use a high pressure sales approach, my staff and I work with every customer to build their fitting as many checkboxes as we can and with a build quality that would be done if it was our own personal unit for use. When starting a build, we try to get to know the customer and I put my years of experience out for them with both the good and the bad while letting them decide.
Another aspect that sets us apart from our competitors is that I enjoy working “off-jig,” helping to customize a truck camper build when needed, so each build is truly unique to each customer placing the order. All of our customers know that we say “we don’t sell truck campers; we build them.” I also feel that because I use our product personally for my own enjoyment it gives an insight others might not have, I can see how each unit is laid out and what will work or not work so I can help guide the customer in the right direction for their camping needs.
What is BundutecUSA’s most popular model right now? Is it still the Wild made for half-ton trucks?
Rory Willett: The past couple years, it’s a toss-up between the Free and Wild pop-up models. The pop-ups still have more models built than the hard-sides, but I have seen more people choosing the hard side campers lately.
BundutecUSA still makes its campers out of wood. Why do you that when so many companies have switched to composites?
Rory Willett: Well, first of all, it’s what I know, and I feel comfortable that my campers will stand the abuse of the most extreme trails. Wood construction is more affordable and makes it easier for me to switch a jig when a request is made for something that is not “standard”. We do use aluminum in our pop-up roofs with an aluminum frame and laminated structure with minimal structural wood. We do install a few wood strips across for the ceiling boards to be stapled to but the vast majority is aluminum and foam inside the lamination. The aluminum frame allows us to give a natural pitch to the roof as well which help with runoff in bad weather. In our hard wall models, the roofs are made of 2×2-inch crossmembers and 1/2-inch plywood decking. In my experience and research, composite materials are harder for me to offer the customized floorplans and are much more expensive than my wood framing. I am also unsure as to the longevity of composite materials in rugged off-road use as there is no such thing as light-weight heavy duty.
Your campers are very affordable. How are you able to keep costs under control when the industry, as a whole, has gone bonkers?
Rory Willett: The wood framing saves costs for me. I see prices are skyrocketing for some of the aluminum and copper items I purchase, and I worry that my pricing will need to be adjusted soon! However, eliminating most of the tariffs took some pressure off some of our inventory. Unfortunately, some still remain and a high percentage, such as the Nova Kool DC refrigerators, with a 25 percent tariff set a year ago. With no US supplier for our insulated windows, we have had to go direct to the manufacturer overseas, and that means an additional tariff for those items as well. Being in the Midwest, we have a lower overhead, but my overhead is lower than other Midwest manufactures because we are also located in the small rural town of Raymond, Iowa.
One thing that makes BundutecUSA different from other companies, is that you’re willing to custom build campers? Why do that when the process takes so much time and effort?
Rory Willett: Because I love doing it! It keeps my mind sharp and off a rocking chair at the old folk’s home. In my tenure in this industry, I have run the plant that has 20-30 employees and needs to get six to seven units out of the door each week or lose money. It was great and I had a well-oiled machine, but it could get tedious and there was always “corporate drama” between employees or management making it a high-stress environment without even trying. When I started BundutecUSA I wanted to give a customer service and customized experience to the off-roading and camping community, the setup I run now is much less stressful, we have a family atmosphere and it is a happier place to build campers with something new to do on each build.
We heard that BundutecUSA is now shipping campers to dealerships. Is that true? Or is BundutecUSA still considered a factory direct company?
Rory Willett: I have signed one dealer, Hawkes Outdoors, an outfitter shop just north of San Antonio, Texas. They took on selling the imported roof-top tents and awnings for us and are doing a great job. They had a customer look at our website and asked if they could buy a truck camper directly from them to save the trip to Iowa and have a place closer to them that could help with anything that comes up. So, I do now have one physical shop that sells our campers, but we are still factory direct. The ordering starts with a phone call or an email to me. Once the conversation starts, I work with each customer until I get enough info to provide a build invoice that they can accept or change until they send a deposit to get into production.
What trends have you noticed in the industry recently? From our perspective, it looks like everything has gone lithium with DC compressor refrigerators and DC air conditioners.
Rory Willett: Yes, I agree that those are quickly becoming industry standard, From the start, we have used the compressor refrigerators standard and just went to 100 percent lithium a year ago. We use the Epoch brand lithium battery and now pair that with the new RedArc BCDC unit that acts as both the charge line for the lithium battery while driving but also as the solar controller all through the 7-way plug connection so there is no need for an additional external connection. We are seeing an increase in popularity of the 12 volt roof air conditioners as well; these require a larger lithium battery as well as a larger wire gauge which is all included in our 12 volt air option. Due to the larger battery and wire gauge, it does require us to use an Anderson plug connection between the truck and camper to ensure proper charging while drive and use of the air when parked. I do most of my camping in the fall, but our southern state customers and full-timers lean towards the 12 volt units because of the way the use their rigs.
What is the most popular option ordered at BundutecUSA?
Rory Willett: That’s a good question. All of our builds are pretty much camp-in ready, which is not always the case for our competitors. Most of our option list and new package deals are items to make each build a bit more bouchée or comfortable. If looking at our builds over the last year I would say that the electric jacks or at least the pre-wire for them have become very popular. We have also seen an increase in customers asking for Starlink connections the newest Mini unit is great as it runs off of a USB-C, which is standard in our builds so we only have to change placement of the connection rather than add a bunch of additional wiring. With Starlink now on the market, the request for cell boosters is almost nothing now. Popular add-ons in our pop-top models would be the overhead cabinets and radiant barrier panels for those wanting extra storage or help the furnace run less while camping in the colder months.
You had the Go-Away on display at the Overland Expo West. We love the camper’s size and layout. Can you tell us more about it?
Rory Willett: We love it too! The Go-Away is the hard-sided version of the Cape. It is a transition we can make in any of our pop-top models so if there is a floorplan that someone loves in a pop-top,p but they favor a hard-sided unit, the pop-top can be adjusted into a full hard-sided build. That is how I came up with the Go-Away! I wanted a hard side camper for my personal use, but I was concerned about the loss in mileage it would have over a pop-up. So, I built the Go-Away with a lower headroom and pitched the entire roof angle from front to rear. I find it gets the same or maybe just a little better than the Cape I have been using the past few years.
The Go-Away is quieter and better insulated than the pop-up, but I do really miss the under-bed storage that is in a pop-top model. Even though I have cabinets space I don’t use, that under-bed storage is so handy to access! I still prefer no inside shower. That is my preference that I find many others have as well. The Go-Away has a shorter entrance door so I could install the imported wrap around the awning. It is the first hard sided camper with one installed and it does require me to carry a telescoping ladder for deployment and tear down, but it is a compromise I don’t mind making because I love the coverage.
Do you have any closing thoughts on the state of the industry and the state of things at BundutecUSA?
Rory Willett: If I really had to think about our industry, I can see AI designs expanding. My base customer is the type that wants to get away from all that. Some want to get away from everyone entirely! That is okay, too. I am the same way. Of course, the prices of fuel fluctuating is something that our industry has always had to deal with. The desire to see the country and be free to do so will always keep truck campers coming. I am getting to the age where I should be looking for an exit plan, either merging or selling to a group that can carry on my builds here.. But that is for tomorrow! Today I want to build campers!
For more information about BundutecUSA campers, or to get a quote, contact BundutecUSA at jenn@bundutecusa.com.
I have owned my Bundutec Odyssey flatbed camper since 2018 and have logged close to 150,000 miles with it. It’s been cross country multiple times, traveled the Dempster to Tuk and down the Baja peninsula. We have almost 400 nights in it and have enjoyed every one. Rory and Jen are some of the best people I have met in the industry and always go above board supporting their customers and servicing any issues. If you are looking for a truck camper and want it built with features that you want, you can do no better than giving them a call.