Skinny Guy Campers

Skinny Guy Campers started with a New Zealand hunting trip in 2019 that convinced co-founders Jason Bontrager and Donavon Frederickson that the truck camper market had a profile problem. Bontrager came from an Indiana RV manufacturing family; Frederickson had grown up in a Montana RV dealership and spent years as a diesel mechanic. The first prototype came out of Frederickson's barn that same year, and by 2020 the two had relocated production to Indiana to build something they couldn't find anywhere else: a slide-in pop-up that sits flush at cab height when closed.

That narrow, low silhouette is the defining idea behind every Skinny Guy model. Closed for travel, the camper lines up with the roofline of the truck cab, which keeps aerodynamic drag down and means the rig fits under standard gas station canopies, in most parking garages, and in a conventional garage without modification. The shell is built from 1/8-inch aluminum, the tent fabric is Aqualon, and every camper in the Kit 'N Kaboodle configuration ships with a Truma combination heater and water heater, a RedArc Battery Manager, a 12V compressor refrigerator, a 1,000W inverter, a cooktop with sink, and heated tank pads. Setup from closed to sleeping configuration takes five to ten minutes. The proprietary jack system is fully removable, so the camper can be left standing at a campsite while the truck handles other work.

The lineup covers five mainstream bed lengths, from five-foot mid-size beds up through eight-foot heavy-duty platforms, plus a dedicated Gladiator-spec model. Skinny Guy is RVIA certified and offers financing through LightStream, which sets it apart from most small-batch boutique builders in the category. For buyers who camp regularly and don't want to compromise ground clearance, garage fit, or self-containment, the Bristol-built lineup makes a case that a narrow profile doesn't mean a stripped-out one.