Most truck camper stories are filled with mountain passes, hidden boondocking spots, breathtaking wildlife encounters, and unforgettable adventures. Delani Kaufman’s story has all of that—and then some. But woven into thousands of miles of backcountry travel is an experience every truck camper owner hopes they’ll never face: a violent rollover accident that destroyed her truck but somehow spared the camper riding in its bed.
It’s the kind of story that makes you stop and wonder just how tough a truck camper can really be.
For Delani, however, the accident is only one chapter in a much bigger adventure—one that has taken her from the snowy peaks of the Canadian Rockies to the wildlife-rich coastlines of Alaska, all while living life on her own schedule.
A Life Built Around Adventure
Delani isn’t the type of traveler who books hotels or plans vacations six months in advance. Her idea of a perfect trip is chasing fresh powder across the Rockies, photographing wildlife in Alaska, and disappearing down forgotten Forest Service roads where the only sounds are the wind through the trees and the occasional howl of a wolf.
To make that lifestyle possible, she purchased one of the earliest Kimbo campers in 2019—#009 off the production line.
The camper quickly became much more than weekend recreation.
“I’ve definitely stayed in here over 1,000 nights,” Delani said. “I lived full-time in here for a year, but I still stay in here more than I do my house.”
That’s an incredible amount of time spent living in a truck camper, and every one of those nights added another chapter to an already impressive travel resume.
Home base is Prichard, Idaho, where she enjoys easy access to some of the West’s best outdoor recreation. Winters are devoted to chasing snowstorms from Idaho to British Columbia, Banff, Colorado, and New Mexico. Summers, meanwhile, have become all about Alaska.
Before purchasing the Kimbo, Delani spent an entire winter chasing snowstorms while sleeping under the canopy of her pickup truck. The harshest stretch came near Sun Valley, Idaho, where avalanche-covered roads stranded her for five days.
“That was pretty rough,” she laughed.
The Kimbo changed everything.
Instead of simply surviving the weather, she could comfortably live in it.
Trading Crowds for Solitude
If there’s one thing Delani enjoys almost as much as snowboarding, it’s getting away from everyone else.
Campgrounds have never really been her style.
She’d much rather spend the night beside a quiet river, on a secluded beach, or deep within a national forest where the nearest neighbor is measured in miles instead of campsites.
Traveling with her dog, Jackson, and her adventurous cat, Targhee, only reinforces that preference. Both enjoy the freedom of remote camps, and Delani goes out of her way to find places where they can safely roam.
“I’ll go an hour out of my way just to camp somewhere nice,” she said.
Those extra miles often come with incredible rewards.
Over the years she’s photographed humpback whales, playful sea otters, wolves, foxes, baby moose, and countless bears. Living responsibly in bear country has also taught her to keep an exceptionally clean campsite, carefully wiping up food scraps and minimizing anything that might attract curious wildlife.
It’s exactly the kind of freedom truck campers were built for.
Then Everything Changed in Seconds
For several years, Delani’s Kimbo rode in the bed of her Ram 1500, a combination that remained comfortably below the truck’s rated payload while carrying her across nearly every western state, through Canada, and eventually up the Alaska Highway. With every mile, the lightweight camper proved itself as a capable companion, giving Delani the confidence to tackle whatever adventure lay beyond the next bend.
Then, in a matter of seconds, everything changed.
Ironically, the trip that nearly ended it all didn’t happen on some rugged 4WD trail or remote mountain pass. It happened only a few miles from home.
Driving along Coeur d’Alene River Road one evening, an elk suddenly darted into the roadway. Like many drivers, Delani’s first instinct was to avoid it.
She swerved.
The truck dropped onto the dirt shoulder beside the pavement. As she corrected back toward the road, the combination of the uneven shoulder and the weight of the camper caused the truck to roll into the ditch.
The truck absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment.
Windows shattered. The cab was crushed. The pickup was a total loss.
Inside were Delani, a friend, and her dog.
Remarkably, everyone escaped with only minor cuts from broken glass. With no cell service—and years before Starlink made remote communication commonplace—they hitched a ride back to town and returned the next morning to see what remained of their rig.
A Remarkable Discovery
Standing beside the wreckage the following day, there wasn’t much reason for optimism. The truck was clearly beyond saving, and from a distance it seemed likely the camper had suffered the same fate.
Then Delani got a closer look.
“The Kimbo was not that bad.”
It was almost hard to believe. The aluminum shell had taken the hit far better than anyone expected. One corner panel had been dented and punctured, but the repair proved surprisingly straightforward. Using a jack, Delani and her family pushed the damaged section back into shape from the inside. An aluminum reinforcement plate was riveted over the damaged area, Flex Tape sealed the exterior, and the camper was ready to hit the road again.
The total repair bill? About $200.
For a rollover accident that completely destroyed the truck beneath it, that’s nothing short of astonishing.
Everything Still Worked
Even more impressive was what didn’t need repairing.
The refrigerator continued working. The Dickinson heater survived intact and still heats the camper today. The windows survived the crash. The entire structure remained square. Doors still opened and closed normally.
Aside from a couple of bent wire storage baskets on the impact side, there was remarkably little evidence that the camper had ever spent time lying on its side in a ditch.
Considering how many traditional truck campers are effectively totaled in rollover accidents, it’s an extraordinary result.
Built for Abuse
As impressive as the rollover survival was, Delani is quick to point out that it isn’t the only test her Kimbo has endured.
She’s not afraid to venture down roads most RV owners wisely avoid.
One particularly memorable trail in Colorado was so rough that every cabinet emptied itself as the truck pounded through deep potholes and steep climbs. By the time she reached the top, the inside of the camper looked nearly as chaotic as it had after the rollover.
Yet after picking everything up, the Kimbo was ready for another adventure.
“The wear and tear of shaking up a camper can cause a lot more damage than people realize,” she explained. “But the Kimbo just really does well.”
More Than a Camper
Today, the dented corner has become something of a conversation piece.
People constantly stop to ask about the camper.
When they notice the repaired panel, they naturally ask what happened. Delani simply smiles and tells them the truth.
“I’ve flipped it and it held up.”
That’s about as powerful a product testimonial as any manufacturer could hope for.
She firmly believes many conventional campers would have been insurance write-offs after the same accident. Instead, her Kimbo went back to doing exactly what it was built to do—exploring.
Today she’s still chasing snowstorms across the West, photographing bears and whales in Alaska, and seeking out remote campsites where the only company is wildlife and wide-open skies.
Perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway from Delani’s story. Yes, the Kimbo survived a rollover that totaled the truck beneath it. That’s remarkable all by itself.
But the real testament to its design is what happened afterward.
It didn’t become a salvage project or sit forgotten behind a garage. After a few inexpensive repairs, it simply returned to the road—crossing mountain ranges, boarding ferries to Kodiak Island, bouncing down forgotten Forest Service roads, and carrying Delani toward her next adventure.
The scar on the side of the camper is still there.
It serves as a reminder that the best adventures aren’t always the ones that go according to plan. Sometimes they’re the ones that test both the traveler and the equipment—and prove just how resilient each can be.
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