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 it 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. It works great to stay ready so I can head out quickly for a hunt, reducing prep time. This camper, paired with my generator, also enables me to work on realhunters.com reviews in the field.

Whenever I set the Coachmen Clipper 1285SST, everyone tells me they can not believe how big it gets. I am 6’ 4” tall and was very comfortable in this camper and can stand entirely up with boots on. This camper has all the amenities of a home as well. I could take a quick shower every night on a four-day hunt and had a friend who showered several times too. 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 put a tank gauge on the water tank eventually.

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 ran the generator on propane for the full hunt. Amazingly, we only went through about 10 lbs of propane over the 4 days. I brought about 120 lbs since I had no experience running a generator on propane. 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 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 an impressive amount of storage in the slide-out compartments at the front. As a first-time camper owner and only having stayed in one a couple of times, it sure is nice to have most stuff ready at all times. I am not a big fan of setting up and maintaining campsites on challenging public hunts like this one. It took 9 years of preference points to draw the tag, and I want all my time, energy, and focus on hunting. 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 going into a full-sized trailer or RV.

Who we think will like this product:

Hunters, campers, fishers, and outdoors people 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 got it for about $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 trailer’s chassis fell off the first time I used this. The bolt fell off while driving, and it was gone when I got to the campsite. It was a pain to use this camper without that step, so I 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 offers many additional quick-cooking opportunities.