Walk through any campground, Overland Expo, or backcountry trailhead and you’re almost guaranteed to overhear one of truck camping’s oldest debates: hard-side or pop-up?
Hard-side owners will tell you nothing beats solid walls, roomy interiors, and residential comforts. Pop-up enthusiasts counter with lighter weight, a lower center of gravity, better fuel economy, and the ability to slip beneath low-hanging branches that would stop a hard-side in its tracks.
For decades, choosing one meant giving up the advantages of the other.
Then along came the Outfitter Apex 8.
At first glance, it looks like a traditional pop-up truck camper. Spend a few minutes exploring it, however, and you’ll discover something altogether different. The Apex 8 combines holding tank capacities that rival many hard-side campers with a spacious north-south queen bed, a genuine wet-bath, impressive storage, and true four-season capability. Better yet, it manages to do all of this while remaining lighter than many comparable hard-side models and retaining the low-profile design that makes pop-ups so appealing in the first place.
That didn’t happen overnight.
Since its introduction in 2001, the Apex 8 has been steadily refined year after year. Rather than chasing the latest trends or reinventing the camper every few seasons, Outfitter Manufacturing has focused on improving an already successful design. Twenty-five years later, the Apex 8 remains one of the company’s flagship models—and one of the most capable pop-up truck campers on the market.
We recently caught up with Outfitter Manufacturing owner and CEO Scott Mavis at the 2026 Overland Expo West to learn why the Apex 8 has stood the test of time. What we discovered wasn’t just another well-built truck camper, but a company committed to thoughtful engineering, practical innovation, and giving customers exactly what they need for serious backcountry travel.
Twenty-Five Years of Continuous Refinement
The RV industry loves to use the term “all-new.”
Every year brings fresh floorplans, redesigned interiors, and a long list of “game-changing” features that often disappear just a few seasons later. Very few models survive long enough to become legends.
Outfitter’s Apex 8 has done exactly that.
“It’s one of our legacy models,” Scott Mavis told us. “It’s been a pretty prominent part of the lineup for many years now. Since 2001 actually, so 25 years now.”
That’s an impressive milestone in any segment of the RV industry.
Its longevity isn’t the result of luck or clever marketing. Instead, it reflects a design that has consistently delivered what truck campers actually want: a camper that combines the maneuverability and efficiency of a pop-up with many of the comforts normally reserved for larger hard-side models.
Rather than starting over every few years, Outfitter has spent the last quarter century making hundreds of small improvements. The result is a camper that feels remarkably refined because every system has been tested, tweaked, and improved through decades of real-world use.
Lightweight Without Feeling Stripped Down
Every truck camper manufacturer talks about keeping weight under control.
The difference is how they get there.
Many lightweight campers achieve impressive specifications by removing things. Smaller holding tanks. Less storage. Compact dinettes. Tiny wet baths—or no bathroom at all.
Outfitter took a different approach—build a feature-packed pop-up camper light enough to be hauled on both short-bed and long-bed 3/4-ton trucks.
“The main thing that really distinguishes the Apex 8 is its light weight overall, compared to other truck campers of this size,” Scott explained. “It weighs only 2,130 pounds.”
The remarkable part isn’t simply that the Apex 8 is light. It’s that it never feels like a camper built around compromise.
Owners still enjoy a spacious dinette, a generous wet-bath, a comfortable north-south queen bed, abundant cabinetry, and holding tanks that would make many hard-side owners jealous. Rather than deleting features, Outfitter focused on smarter engineering and more efficient use of space.
That’s welcome news for the owners of today’s 3/4-ton and one-ton pickups, allowing them to enjoy a highly capable camper without immediately stepping up to a larger, heavier rig.
The Heated Basement: The Apex 8’s Secret Weapon
One of the Apex 8’s biggest advantages isn’t something you’ll notice while walking through the interior.
It’s hidden beneath your feet.
Outfitter incorporates a heated basement that houses the fresh, gray, and black water holding tanks, protecting the plumbing system from freezing temperatures while giving the camper genuine four-season capability.
That basement also solves several engineering challenges at the same time.
By placing the tanks below the floor instead of inside cabinets, Outfitter lowers the camper’s center of gravity, improving stability both on the highway and on rough backcountry roads. It also frees up valuable interior storage that many pop-up campers sacrifice to plumbing components.
Then there’s the water capacity.
The standard Apex 8 carries an impressive 44 gallons of fresh water, along with 16-gallon gray and black tanks. Buyers who choose the cassette toilet can take things even further, increasing fresh water capacity to a remarkable 60 gallons or expanding gray water storage to 32 gallons.
Those numbers aren’t just impressive for a pop-up—they surpass what many hard-side truck campers offer. Even better, the Apex 8 includes a dedicated gray water holding tank—a feature that’s still surprisingly rare among pop-up campers.
For anyone who enjoys boondocking on BLM land, exploring national forests, or spending extended time far from developed campgrounds, those larger holding tanks mean something very simple: more days camping and fewer days searching for water fills and dump stations.
That’s a luxury every off-grid traveler can appreciate.
Storage Built for Real Adventures
Storage has always been one of the biggest compromises in pop-up truck campers. Once the bed, dinette, and appliances are squeezed into a compact floorplan, there usually isn’t much room left for the gear that makes an adventure possible.
The Apex 8 tells a different story.
According to Scott Mavis, it offers more storage than any other camper in Outfitter’s lineup—a bold claim, but one that becomes easy to believe after spending time inside.
Every available inch has been put to work. Deep compartments beneath the queen bed swallow bulky items that would otherwise clutter the living area, while a full-length sliding drawer provides quick access to recovery gear, leveling blocks, camp chairs, or whatever else tends to migrate to the bottom of a storage compartment. Overhead cabinets, wardrobes, and thoughtfully placed compartments provide generous space for clothing, cookware, cameras, fishing gear, and all the little essentials that somehow multiply before every trip.
For anyone who spends weeks—not just weekends—on the road, that extra storage makes a noticeable difference. Instead of constantly playing a game of camper Tetris, everything has a place.
Then there’s the battery compartment.
Rather than limiting owners to a modest electrical system, the Apex 8 was designed to accommodate multiple 12-volt batteries, allowing up to an incredible 900 amp-hours of lithium battery capacity.
That’s enough energy to transform the camper into a legitimate off-grid basecamp. Induction cooking, compressor refrigeration, Starlink, laptops, camera equipment, lighting, and even optional 12-volt air conditioning become practical realities instead of luxuries reserved for campgrounds with hookups.
Composite Construction That Goes Beyond Marketing
Walk around the Apex 8 and you’ll notice something that’s becoming increasingly important in today’s RV market.
Outfitter builds the camper differently.
While many manufacturers continue relying on wood framing or welded aluminum structures, the Apex 8 uses molded fiberglass.
“The Apex 8 is a fully-molded fiberglass body,” Scott explained. “There’s no aluminum in there. There’s no wood in there. It’s very strong and will last for years.”
That’s more than a marketing sound bite.
Composite construction eliminates many of the materials traditionally associated with rot, corrosion, and long-term water damage. It also creates an exceptionally rigid shell that’s better equipped to handle thousands of miles of washboard roads, rocky trails, and everything else adventurous truck campers encounter. Where additional reinforcement is needed, Outfitter incorporates high-density CoreLite composite backing materials to strengthen structural mounting points without adding unnecessary weight.
The attention to detail continues inside the camper.
Instead of installing traditional laminate countertops, Outfitter molds its own fiberglass countertops that resemble polished granite while offering several practical advantages. They’re durable, easy to clean, and allow sinks and cooktops to be flush-mounted for a clean, integrated appearance that feels more like a custom yacht than a conventional RV.
It’s one of those details many buyers won’t fully appreciate until they’ve lived with the camper for a while.
One Floorplan, Two Truck Beds
Buying a truck camper shouldn’t require buying a different truck.
Unfortunately, that’s often the reality. Many campers are designed exclusively for either short-bed or long-bed pickups, forcing buyers to compromise—or start shopping for another truck.
Outfitter solved that problem with a surprisingly elegant approach.
The standard Apex 8 is designed to fit today’s popular 6.5-foot short-bed pickups. Owners of 8-foot long-bed trucks aren’t left out, however. The company also offers the Apex 8 LB, which positions the camper flush with the rear of a long bed while preserving the exact same interior layout.
That means buyers can choose the truck that best fits their lifestyle without sacrificing the features that made them fall in love with the camper in the first place.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the smartest ones.
A Pop-Up That Doesn’t Feel Like a Pop-Up
Step inside many pop-up truck campers and you’ll immediately notice the compromises.
The dinette feels cramped. The bed requires climbing over your partner in the middle of the night. Storage is limited. Bathrooms—if they’re included at all—often feel like an afterthought.
The Apex 8 takes a refreshingly different approach.
Despite its compact 8-foot floor length, the interior feels surprisingly open and inviting. The spacious dinette comfortably seats multiple adults for meals, game nights, or simply waiting out a passing thunderstorm.
The north-south queen bed eliminates the nightly gymnastics that east-west beds often require, allowing each person to get in and out without disturbing the other.
The dedicated wet-bath provides genuine privacy instead of asking owners to rely on portable toilets or outdoor showers.
Even with all of those amenities, storage remains easily accessible, proving once again that smart engineering often accomplishes more than simply making a camper larger.
As Scott summed it up: “The Outfitter Apex 8 really is in a class all by itself.”
We absolutely agree.
Built Around the Customer, Not the Assembly Line
Customization has become increasingly rare in today’s RV industry.
Most manufacturers offer buyers a handful of prepackaged option bundles and call it customization. If your camping style doesn’t fit neatly into one of those packages, you’re often out of luck.
Outfitter has taken the opposite approach.
“The beauty of what we do is offer a custom-built, made-to-order camper,” Scott said.
That philosophy gives buyers remarkable flexibility.
Need a larger inverter? Done.
Prefer induction cooking instead of propane? No problem.
Want lithium batteries instead of AGM? Easy.
Need enough battery capacity to support extended off-grid travel? Outfitter can do that, too.
Rather than forcing customers into a one-size-fits-all camper, the company works with each buyer to create a rig that matches how they actually camp.
Weekend travelers can keep things simple and affordable. Serious overlanders and full-time adventurers can spec out a highly capable expedition platform with all the electrical capacity, solar, and creature comforts needed for weeks away from civilization.
It’s a refreshing approach—and one that’s becoming increasingly difficult to find in an industry dominated by assembly lines and standardized option sheets.
Modern Electrical Systems for Modern Camping
Truck campers have changed dramatically over the past decade, and nowhere is that transformation more apparent than in their electrical systems.
Not long ago, serious boondocking meant rationing power, running a noisy generator, or packing up every few days to recharge. Today, lithium batteries, high-output inverters, efficient DC appliances, and rooftop solar have completely rewritten the rules.
Outfitter has embraced that evolution without abandoning the flexibility its customers appreciate.
While AGM batteries remain standard equipment, Scott says most buyers now upgrade to lithium battery systems—many opting for capacities as large as 900 amp-hours. Pair that with a 2,000-watt inverter or the optional 3,000-watt system, plus up to 600 watts of rooftop solar, and the Apex 8 becomes an impressively self-sufficient off-grid camper.
That kind of power isn’t just about running lights anymore.
It comfortably supports DC compressor refrigerators, induction cooktops, laptops, camera equipment, Starlink, CPAP machines, and countless other modern conveniences that have become part of today’s camping lifestyle.
Air Conditioning Without the Generator
Perhaps no advancement has changed off-grid camping more than battery-powered air conditioning.
For decades, running an air conditioner meant finding a campground hookup or listening to a generator drone for hours on end. Today, efficient 12-volt air conditioners have made quiet, generator-free cooling a reality.
Outfitter now offers both the proven Coleman Mach Polar Cub and 12-volt systems from Nomadic and Velit, allowing buyers to choose the solution that best matches their camping style.
As lithium battery technology continues to improve, Scott believes DC-powered air conditioning will only become more common.
It’s another example of Outfitter adopting technology because it genuinely improves the camping experience—not simply because it’s the latest industry buzzword.
Push a Button. Raise the Roof.
Every pop-up truck camper depends on one critical system. If the roof lift isn’t reliable, nothing else matters.
Fortunately, this is another area where decades of refinement have paid off.
Outfitter’s proprietary electric roof lift has been perfected over years of real-world use and remains refreshingly simple to operate.
There’s no cranking. No wrestling with heavy roof assemblies. No climbing inside to give the roof an extra shove.
Simply press the switch located just inside the entrance door, and the roof quietly rises into place.
It’s one of those features owners quickly stop thinking about—which is perhaps the highest compliment any engineering solution can receive.
When something works flawlessly every time, it simply becomes part of the experience.
Four Seasons Should Actually Mean Four Seasons
Almost every pop-up manufacturer claims to build a “four-season” camper.
Far fewer actually do.
Outfitter has been building campers for Colorado’s unpredictable climate for decades, and it shows.
The Apex 8 starts with a fully molded fiberglass composite shell and R-5 insulated walls, but that’s only part of the equation. The heated basement protects the holding tanks and plumbing, while a robust 20,000-BTU furnace keeps the interior warm when temperatures plummet. Buyers can also choose self-heating lithium batteries for reliable cold-weather performance.
Then there’s the soft wall.
While many pop-up campers treat the tent fabric as little more than weather protection, Outfitter goes several steps further.
Every Apex 8 uses Weblon, a premium architectural fabric engineered to withstand years of exposure to sun, rain, snow, and wind. More importantly, insulated soft-wall liners come standard on every camper—not as an expensive upgrade.
As Scott proudly pointed out: “Nobody else offers a winter insulation layer as standard. Nobody.”
We checked and he’s right.
According to Scott, customers regularly camp throughout Colorado’s Front Range during the winter months, and the Outfitter team routinely uses its own campers on ski trips into Summit County.
In other words, this isn’t a camper that’s merely designed to survive winter.
It’s built to be used in it.
Ready to Stay Off-Grid
If batteries are the heart of an off-grid camper, solar panels are the lungs.
The more efficiently you can replenish your batteries each day, the longer you can remain comfortably off-grid.
Outfitter understands that.
Every Apex 8 comes standard with a 200-watt portable solar suitcase, giving owners the flexibility to chase the sun instead of parking in it all day. Rooftop solar options expand that capability even further, with buyers able to install up to 600 watts of roof-mounted panels.
The company also offers lightweight CIGS flexible solar panels, reducing weight without sacrificing charging performance.
Combined with the camper’s generous lithium battery capacity, the Apex 8 becomes an exceptionally capable boondocking platform that’s ready for extended stays on BLM land, national forests, remote beaches, or wherever the next adventure leads.
Final Thoughts
The Outfitter Apex 8 isn’t trying to reinvent the truck camper.
It doesn’t rely on oversized televisions, flashy LED lighting, or gimmicky features designed to grab attention at an RV show.
Instead, it succeeds the old-fashioned way.
Through thoughtful engineering. Smart design. Quality materials. And twenty-five years of continuous refinement.
Every major component serves a purpose, from the heated basement and molded fiberglass construction to the spacious interior, abundant storage, and highly customizable electrical systems. Nothing feels unnecessary, and nothing feels like it was included simply to impress buyers on a showroom floor.
Perhaps that’s what makes the Apex 8 so unique.
Or perhaps it’s because the Apex 8 is one very capable pop-up. It’s lighter and more nimble than many hard-side campers, yet offers many of the comforts and capabilities people normally associate with larger rigs. At the same time, it retains all of the advantages that have made pop-up truck campers a favorite among serious backcountry travelers for decades.
Twenty-five years after its introduction, the Apex 8 still occupies a category largely of its own.
In an industry that constantly chases the next big thing, Outfitter has chosen a different path—continually refining a design that already worked exceptionally well.
Judging by the Apex 8, that’s a strategy that’s aged remarkably well.
So if you’re looking for a truck camper that can confidently tackle everything from weekend escapes to extended off-grid expeditions—and do it in every season—the Outfitter Apex 8 deserves a spot near the top of your list.
It’s proof that sometimes the best innovations don’t come from starting over.
They come from spending 25 years perfecting a great idea.
To learn more about the Apex 8 and other Outfitter Manufacturing campers or to get a quote, email the company directly at info@outfittermfg.com.
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