Canadian-American company Loki is looking to disrupt your usually scheduled van life with what might be the most versatile, modular (and downright expensive) pickup camper to introduce itself to Mother Earth. The Basecamp adventure pod makes a stylish go-anywhere shelter out of pickup trucks ranging from Toyota Tacomas, to Ford Super Duties, to Rivian R1Ts. It adapts to the activities of the day with a modular interior and huge tailgate, provides a comfortable off-grid retreat with climate control and solar power, and drops off the truck to double as a standalone backcountry hut.
Loki has eight years experience working with modular small spaces, upcycling metal shipping containers into impressive workstations and promotional venues. Its latest venture looks to take the pickup camper beyond the usual big, white box and turn it into a highly configurable, multi-sport adventure powerhouse, something of a gear shed-cum-tiny home.
For years, Loki CEO Pierre-Mathieu Roy dreamed of a more versatile slide-in camper that could quickly adapt between his seasonal hobbies — overlanding and mountain biking in the summer, ski touring in winter. The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing RV boom pushed him to pursue that dream.
Loki hits the market with the Falcon Series, a three-size camper family built to fit popular 5-foot-bed midsize pickups like the Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger up to 6.5- and 8-foot-bed full-size trucks like the Ford F-Series and Chevy Silverado. Future series will bring the flexible Basecamp design to upcoming electric trucks like the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning and, ambitiously, Tesla Cybertruck.
To find the precise blend of all-sport flexibility and cozy livability for which it was looking, Loki partnered with Norva, the Quebecois masterminds behind some impressive multifunctional, all-season Mercedes Sprinter camper vans. Not surprisingly, then, the Basecamp comes loaded with features and equipment reminiscent of off-road adventure vans, not only from Norva but also from the likes of Storyteller Overland and Pleasure-Way.
To make the Basecamp Falcon more flexible and accommodating for outdoor athletes, Loki surrounds the rear entry door with a much larger strut-assisted lift-gate. This makes it easier to load gear inside and also provides a weather-shielding extension of the side awning. The skinnier door centered in the tailgate allows for quick entry for times campers don't need full tailgate access.
Inside, Loki makes liberal use of tie-down track, installing it on the floor, walls and ceiling. The track can serve to secure skis, boards, bicycles, backpacks and other gear during transit and also to create personalized interior configurations at camp. Hang gear or utensil organizers, magazine holders, hooks, etc.
Basecamp owners won't necessarily need to store gear inside because the camper also comes with a large platform roof rack strong enough to use as a deck and a swing-away spare tire carrier. Underfloor drawers at the base of the camper slide out for additional external storage space.
The Basecamp takes care of weary, dirty adventurers the second they get back to camp. Much like an EarthCruiser, it has a mudroom with deployable shower right inside the entry. This way, campers can scrub down before inadvertently covering the small interior with mud and dust.
The toilet counterpart to the Basecamp's shower is stored in a pull-out in the step up to the alcove bed. The camper's sink is located on the kitchen block below a glass top and next to the slice of countertop sized for holding the portable induction cooktop.
The living and sleeping areas of the Basecamp are as flexible as the bathroom and kitchen. The main couch finds home on the passenger side, and a single cushioned seat stands across the aisle atop the plumbing compartment in the corner. A multi-position table rotates between them. The seating area converts over to a second bed, and the bed platform below doubles as a work bench. Loki also says the furniture can remove for outdoor use.
To guarantee comfort through all four seasons, the Basecamp comes standard with air conditioning, heat and hot water, along with a lithium battery-based electrical system charged via up to 360 watts of roof-mounted solar. The aluminum framed/skinned camper isolates the interior climate with a synthetic composite insulation. A Redarc management system offers control of lighting, water pumps and other equipment from an integrated display and mobile app.
In addition to living right atop their pickups, Basecamp users can slide the camper off the truck and use it as a standalone shelter, freeing the truck to venture more flexibly without a large camper on its back. The solar panels become even more important in this configuration, keeping the battery running while it's disconnected from the truck.
The Falcon 5, 6 and 8 are engineered to fit into 5-, 6.5- and 8-foot pickup beds without any modifications necessary to the base truck. Dry weights range between 1,200 and 3,000 lb (544 and 1,361 kg). Loki revealed its first Super Duty-mounted Falcon 8 demo model this week and opened up $10,000 preorder reservations through its website.
When we first laid eyes on the versatile, modular Basecamp design, it brought to mind other flexible modern pickup campers like the affordable Scout pickup series. After reading up on all the Basecamp Falcon features, we figured it would be positioned further upmarket, but we didn't realize just how much further. The $135,000 Falcon base price (truck not included) is more in line with full-blown 4x4 adventure vans than existing slide-in pickup campers.
Loki emphasizes that its Basecamp models are long-term investments, unaffected by the depreciation of the base vehicle and designed to move from one truck to the next. So they have that over camper vans and trucks, but not necessarily over other pickup campers and trailers. The corrosion-free aluminum construction certainly looks superior to mass-produced campers, and the materials and components are all carefully considered ... but $135,000? Without a truck attached?
We guess the market will decide.
Loki will deliver and install the Basecamp Falcon campers anywhere in North America after manufacturing them at its Quebec City facility. The first deliveries will begin in the first quarter of 2022. Loki also plans to open a Colorado manufacturing facility in 2022.
Beyond the Falcon Series, Loki plans the EV Series of $135,000 campers for the aforementioned electric pickups and the smaller, lower priced (still $95K) Icarus series for mid- and full-size pickups. We very much look forward to seeing how it handles creating a camper around the rolling steel cheese wedge that is Tesla's Cybertruck. So far, it has this:
Source: Loki
