Coachman Clipper Camper

What we liked:

This popup camper seems like there is an incredible amount of space and storage for something so small that fits in my side yard. I live in a neighborhood with an HOA, and this camper folds down small enough that my neighbors cannot see it, so I can store it at home and works great to head out on a quickly, reducing prep time. This camper, paired with my generator, also enables me to work on realhunters.com reviews in the field.

Every time I set the Coachmen Clipper 1285SST, everyone tells me they can not believe how big it gets. I am 6’ 4” tall, and I was very comfortable in this camper and can stand entirely up with boots on. This camper has all the amenities of home as well. I was able to take a quick shower every night on a four-day hunt. I had a partner with me that showered multiple times, and we both made coffee and tea with the water from the freshwater tank. We ran out of water right at the end of the last day, and overall we were impressed with everything. I started bringing extra water in a 6 Gallon Igloo Portable Water Storage Container, so we still have some if the main tank runs empty. I would also like to eventually put a tank gauge on the water tank.

I powered the entire camper every evening on a 4-day hunt on a single Honda EU2200i Inverter Generator. I installed a Hutch Mountain Generator Tri-Fuel Conversion Kit on the Honda EU2200i and was able to run on propane the entire time. Amazingly, we only went through about 10 lbs of propane. I brought about 120 lbs since I had no experience running a generator on propane, much less not using propane often in general. I could have camped out there for a month on the propane I had. I liked the idea of having a couple of these generators as a backup for my home in the event of a power outage after having massive outages across Texas in early 2021. With the Tri-Fuel, I can now start with natural gas, and if that goes out (as many reported happened in Texas), I can switch to propane and even siphon gas out of our vehicles if necessary. It has lots of options, and these generators run very quietly. Read more about the Honda EU2200i Inverter Generator.

This camper has so much storage in the slide-out compartments at the front it is impressive. As a first-time camper owner, and only having stayed in one a couple of times, it sure is nice to be able to have most stuff ready to go. I am not a big fan of setting up and maintaining campsites when I am on a hunt like this one. It took 9 years of preference points to draw the tag, and I want all of my time, energy, and focus in hunting when I am on a trip like that. The camper only took about 45 min to set up completely, and it was roughly the same amount of time to clean up and properly pack it back down when we were done. It is a perfect setup without having to go into a full-sized trailer or RV.

Who we think will like this product:

Hunters, campers, fishers, and outdoors people of all kinds will love this Coachmen Clipper 1285SST popup camper. I put the MSRP price of $29.7k but mentioned it could be purchased closer to $20k. I found one at a local dealer and was able to get one right at $20k for a brand new camper. It is expensive if you are used to a tent and on a budget, but for anyone who can afford it and does not want to get into the big leagues of a full-sized trailer or RV yet, this is a great starting point or permanent fit for the mobile run and gun type hunter.

Pro Tips:

• The bolt holding the fold-down step onto the chassis of the trailer fell off the first time I used this. The bolt fell off while driving, and when I got to the campsite, it was gone. It was a pain to use this camper without that step, so I would suggest you take the bolts out, put some Threadlocker on them, and put them back in so they do not vibrate out.
• Bring one of the 6 Gallon Igloo Portable Water Storage Containers full of extra water in case your main tank runs out.
• Check out the Cuisinart 3-in-1 Oven Airfryer Microwave. It fits perfectly on the little bar and opens up many additional quick-cooking opportunities.