Total Composites
Photo: Total Composites
What is Total Composites?
Total Composites, based in Esquimalt, BC, makes all-composite truck camper shells using a proprietary foam-core fiberglass panel system with no wood or aluminum framing. Shells start at 540 lbs and sell from around $17,200 USD empty, through a network of North American builder-partners.
About Total Composites
Total Composites was founded in Victoria, British Columbia by Andreas Schwall, a German-trained furniture maker and expedition builder who came to Canada in 2001 after years of constructing high-end overland vehicles in Europe. His goal was a truck camper shell with no wood to rot, no aluminum frame to conduct cold, and no thermal bridging to seed condensation on a winter trip. The result is a 100-percent composite construction built around a proprietary FRP (fiberglass-reinforced polymer) pultrusion framework bonded to foam-core fiberglass skins. German raw materials and engineering standards define the process; the panels come out of a factory in China that Schwall's family has operated for years, then flat-pack kits ship to certified builder-partners across North America for assembly and optional interior fitout.
The lineup covers four distinct body styles. The Lynx is sized for mid-size and full-size short-bed trucks, starting at 540 lbs in the super-short 5-foot version and 606 lbs in the 7-foot. The Wolf steps up to standard full-size bed lengths, with the 6.5-foot at 795 lbs and the 8-foot at 895 lbs, both offering a taller 82-inch interior height. The Bobcat and Wolverine are flatbed builds, purpose-made for lifted and modified rigs that run flatbed platforms. All four series sell as empty shells, which means the buyer gets a blank four-season composite box and either builds their own interior or hands it off to one of Total Composites' commercial partners for anything from a simple sleeping platform to a fully outfitted expedition camper costing well over $50,000 finished. The shells have logged documented time at both poles, including an Arctic Trucks AT44 F-350 expedition to the magnetic North Pole, with more than 450 expedition rigs in service worldwide.
Key Features
- 100-percent composite construction: proprietary FRP pultrusion corners bonded to foam-core fiberglass panels, with no wood and no aluminum framing anywhere in the structure
- Near-zero thermal bridging eliminates condensation on interior walls even in deep cold, verified on expeditions to the magnetic North Pole at -38 degrees Fahrenheit
- Lightest hard-sided shells in class: Lynx 5 starts at 540 lbs, Lynx 7 at 606 lbs, Wolf 6.5 at 795 lbs, Wolf 8 at 895 lbs (dry, empty shell)
- Sold as a blank canvas, letting buyers design exactly the interior they need, nothing they do not, with a North American builder-partner network for turnkey builds
- Panels engineered to German standards with low-VOC polyurethane adhesive sourced from Germany for long-term flexibility and UV resistance
Models & Specs
Photo: Total Composites
Total Composites Lynx 7
The go-to choice for Tacoma and Gladiator owners at 606 lbs dry, with a 74-inch interior height and 68-inch width, this is the lightest fully four-season composite slide-in shell designed specifically for mid-size and short-bed full-size truck platforms.
Photo: Total Composites
Total Composites Wolf 6.5
The Wolf 6.5 steps up to a taller 82-inch interior height in a full-size short-bed footprint, adding meaningful standing room and floor space at 795 lbs dry while keeping the same condensation-free composite shell construction.
Photo: Total Composites
Total Composites Bobcat 8
The Bobcat is Total Composites' flatbed-specific shell, sized for 8-foot long-bed flatbed platforms at 990 lbs dry, with the same 82-inch interior height and composite construction as the Wolf but purpose-built to overhang a flatbed deck rather than slide into a factory bed.
Specs
Pricing
- Price (empty shell)
- 17,959 USD
Weight
- Dry weight
- 606 lb
- Wet weight
- 1,106 lb
Dimensions
- Floor length
- 83.85 in
- Overall length
- 131.85 in
- Exterior width
- 68 in
- Interior height
- 74 in
- Exterior height
- 78 in
- Truck bed fit
- Short bed (5-7 ft)
Build
- Panel construction
- Foam-core fiberglass composite
- Frame system
- Proprietary FRP pultrusion corners
- Thermal bridging
- Near zero
- Season rating
- 4-season
- Interior finish
- Empty shell
- Country of assembly
- Canada / USA (via builder-partner)
Specs
Pricing
- Price (empty shell)
- 18,260 USD
Weight
- Dry weight
- 795 lb
- Wet weight
- 1,295 lb
Dimensions
- Floor length
- 76.77 in
- Overall length
- 124.76 in
- Exterior width
- 81 in
- Interior height
- 82 in
- Exterior height
- 86 in
- Truck bed fit
- 6.5 ft short bed (full-size)
Build
- Panel construction
- Foam-core fiberglass composite
- Frame system
- Proprietary FRP pultrusion corners
- Thermal bridging
- Near zero
- Season rating
- 4-season
- Interior finish
- Empty shell
- Country of assembly
- Canada / USA (via builder-partner)
Specs
Pricing
- Price (empty shell)
- 26,000 USD
Weight
- Dry weight
- 990 lb
- Wet weight
- 1,490 lb
Dimensions
- Floor length
- 96 in
- Overall length
- 156.3 in
- Exterior width
- 81 in
- Interior height
- 82 in
- Exterior height
- 86 in
- Truck bed fit
- 8 ft flatbed (long bed)
Build
- Panel construction
- Foam-core fiberglass composite
- Frame system
- Proprietary FRP pultrusion corners
- Thermal bridging
- Near zero
- Season rating
- 4-season
- Interior finish
- Empty shell
- Country of assembly
- Canada / USA (via builder-partner)
Review Videos
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Pros & Cons
Pros
- Best-in-class thermal performance: the composite sandwich panel construction produces near-zero thermal bridging, meaning no condensation, no ice buildup, and consistent insulation at any temperature
- No wood anywhere in the structure means nothing to rot, swell, or absorb moisture over a decade of hard use in wet or snowy climates
- Among the lightest hard-sided shells available for their bed lengths, which keeps payload impact low and opens the category to lighter full-size and mid-size truck builds
- FRP pultrusion corner system distributes structural load across the whole shell rather than concentrating stress at joints, a key durability advantage over bonded-panel competitors
- Blank-canvas model means zero compromises in the interior: the builder-partner network includes specialists who can deliver anything from a spartan sleeping platform to a fully outfitted diesel-heated expedition rig
- Documented performance history across extreme expeditions, including sustained use below -38 degrees Fahrenheit on a magnetic North Pole run
Cons
- Sold as an empty shell with no kitchen, plumbing, electrical, or sleeping system included at the base price; buyers must budget for a full interior build on top of the shell cost
- Panels are manufactured in China, not in Canada or the USA, which is a drawback for buyers who prioritize fully domestic production
- Builder-partner network is still growing and geographically uneven; depending on location, buyers may need to ship the shell a long distance to reach a certified partner
- Shells tend to sell out before each shipment arrives, so lead times can be long and order windows unpredictable
- The blank-shell model requires the buyer to understand 12-volt systems, water plumbing, and insulation, or pay a builder-partner to handle it; this is not a plug-and-camp product
- Published pricing is for the empty shell only; a finished turnkey expedition build through a partner runs $50,000 to over $100,000 USD depending on the interior specification
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