Outdoors

Bear-macing teardrop camper fights off apocalypse with insane features

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Mammoth ELE off-road trailer
Mammoth Overland
Mammoth Overland goes the extra mile (or two) with its new ELE all-terrain camping trailer
Mammoth Overland
Mammoth Overland's new ELE off-road camper/survival trailer
Mammoth Overland
Keep the Mammoth ELE parked in your garage, and you'll be ready to hitch up and escape everyday life, whether for a weekend or forever
Mammoth Overland
The Mammoth Overland ups overland preparation with a neatly integrated bear spray protection system
Mammoth Overland
Submarine-style doors close up the pressurized cabin that keeps unwanted external particles out
Mammoth Overland
Besides its new prepper-style feature set, the Mammoth ELE is one of the most rugged, off-road-ready tiny camping trailers out there
Mammoth Overland
A deployable night vision camera gives campers eyes on their surroundings without having to open the door
Mammoth Overland
Flip the cover and hit the button, whether the threat is bears, some other kind of wildlife, or perhaps a human intruder
Mammoth Overland
The ELE keeps campers connected and on top of local conditions
Mammoth Overland
The Starlink-connected multimedia system provides monitoring and entertainment
Mammoth Overland
The always-stylish Dickinson Newport marine mini-fireplace-style heater
Mammoth Overland
Mammoth ELE off-road trailer controls
Mammoth Overland
Mammoth ELE off-road trailer safe storage
Mammoth Overland
The onboard water purification system ensures that ELE owners don't run out of clean drinking water
Mammoth Overland
Mammoth ELE off-road trailer storage cabinets
Mammoth Overland
Mammoth ELE off-road trailer
Mammoth Overland
The ELE has the same style of swing-out tailgate kitchen as the original Mammoth trailer
Mammoth Overland
The Mammoth ELE off-road trailer comes with air pressurization and filtration
Mammoth Overland
A first aid kit is definitely a must-have on a trailer like this
Mammoth Overland
Dual-burner gas stove
Mammoth Overland
It might be a shit show outside, but this Mammoth ELE trailer still brings calming natural views
Mammoth Overland
Integrated weapons storage adds a new layer of preparedness
Mammoth Overland
Exterior tool storage
Mammoth Overland
The bear spray system in action
Mammoth Overland
Mammoth ELE off-road trailer
Mammoth Overland
Mammoth ELE off-road trailer
Mammoth Overland
Ready to get out of Dodge
Mammoth Overland
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When the term "Extinction Level Event Camper Trailer" leapt out from our morning email scroll, we assumed it was just one company's creative marketing, a way of distinguishing its offering from all the other "rugged" and "hardcore" campers out there. But the new ELE trailer from Mammoth Overland is different. It goes beyond mere camping and into the realm of pure post-apocalyptic survival, carrying unique features like a Bear Spray Defense System, medical-grade air filtration, drone-launch system and optional bulletproofing. Imagine the worst disaster you can think of, and then imagine towing and camping right through the heart of it.

"People ask me all the time if our trailers are bear-proof — and they are, technically," said Mammoth president Scott Taylor. "That got me thinking: What if we made a trailer that’s truly bear- as well as apocalypse-proof? I grew up in Montana, and Montanans know a thing or two about bear-proofing and self-reliance. We designed ELE to aircraft standards. It can handle whatever campers might encounter, from bears, to wildfires, to social unrest, so overlanders can explore fearlessly."

Keep the Mammoth ELE parked in your garage, and you'll be ready to hitch up and escape everyday life, whether for a weekend or forever
Mammoth Overland

Bear attacks on humans may be extremely rare, but statistics will be of little consolation if you're woken by a bear clawing and rocking at a teardrop trailer that has you lying mere inches from the kitchen, little more than a piece of lightly alu-dressed plywood between your groggy face and the animal's determined claws. Bears have been known to mangle car doors on their undying mission to sate hunger, so what might they do to a small RV ... or the human inside?

Instead of pondering that while listening to those claws digging closer and closer, ELE campers have a quick out. Mammoth's bear spray system ties together replaceable left and right bear spray canisters on the front of the trailer. A flip of one of two rocker switches located inside the cabin behind accident-proof covers unleashes a 25 x 10-foot (7.6 x 3-m) mist of spray around the trailer exterior within seconds, warding away everything from hungry bears to unlucky thieves, like so:

The bear spray system in action
Mammoth Overland

Hopefully the spray system will quash any intrusions on its own, but should it fall short, the trailer also includes lockable weapons storage designed for keeping handguns and rifles safe and at the ready. And if you're buying a trailer like this, you're probably going to be stocking it with firepower.

Not that Mammoth's trailer is mere plywood lightly dressed in aluminum, anyway. The company, a spinoff of light-sport aircraft manufacturer Vashon, builds the ELE with aerospace-derived construction, securing an aluminum-sandwich body to a high-strength steel chassis. The build is reinforced with steel armor up front and steel skid plates below, and those looking for even more protection can add the optional Level 3 bulletproof armoring package to create a towable survival bunker that pairs perfectly with something like a mil-spec Rezvani Tank.

The ELE has the same style of swing-out tailgate kitchen as the original Mammoth trailer
Mammoth Overland

Mammoth doesn't stop there. It pressurizes the ELE cabin to 0.25 PSI with help from two submarine-style pressure doors that each push four pins into the walls at the turn of the handle. A medical-grade air filtration system from E.L. Foust ensures interior air is clean, providing up to six months of purified air. The system is capable of immediately purging air and refilling the cabin with purified air in less than three minutes. It filters so finely, it can even take care of odors.

The ELE also comes equipped with a Guzzle H2O water filtration system capable of filtering and filling the onboard 83-L water tank in 10 minutes. This way, occupants don't have to venture back to a compromised, unfriendly grid for a refill.

The onboard water purification system ensures that ELE owners don't run out of clean drinking water
Mammoth Overland

ELE occupants maintain awareness of their surroundings via multiple surveillance features. A gimbal-mounted, boom-operated night-vision camera rises over top the roof to provide a surveillance feed to the computer and onboard 32-in TV. To take that surveillance wider, a roof mounted hatch lets campers quickly access the drone deployment system for eyes in the sky. The greater monitoring system also includes an onboard weather station and geiger counter.

Meanwhile, the robust R20 insulation package means that campers can stay put and stay comfortable. An air conditioner and available Dickinson Newport propane heater combine to keep the climate just right, while campers stay connected via Starlink internet and dual-band radio communications.

The Starlink-connected multimedia system provides monitoring and entertainment
Mammoth Overland

Four 100-Ah Renogy smart lithium batteries deliver up to 20 hours of electricity and can charge via the two 100-W solar panels on the awning or from driving the tow vehicle. A Wen portable gas generator serves as a backup.

That broad feature set comes standard on the $67,000 ELE trailer, but those who want to make it literally bulletproof will have to pony up an extra $25K for the Level 3 armoring. The ELE will be a limited edition trailer, and Mammoth is taking deposits now for Q4 2023 delivery. The Washington company will premiere the new camper at next week's Overland Expo West show, and New Atlas plans to be on the ground to take a closer look.

Source: Mammoth Overland

View gallery - 27 images
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5 comments
Steve Camp
Only for the must have millionaires! Not very useful AT ALL. You will still have to sleep in your camper and get out to activate any of the safety items. 70K down the drain!
Unsold
Pretty sure there's a limit, even for rugged individualists. Are you out to enjoy nature or shopping for an apocalypse?
DavidB
@Steve Camp didn’t read the article, or he’d have seen that you don’t have to go outside to activate any of the “safety items” (?). Only the drone seems to require opening a roof hatch (an odd design decision, given how well insulated you are, otherwise). As for having to sleep inside…well, of course—it’s the whole point.

@Unsold, it’s clear from the article that this is designed more for long-term survival than recreational camping. There are plenty of campers that will leave you freezing, breathing toxic air, and waiting to be either brutalized by bears or murdered by marauding bands of post-apocalyptic punk-rockers in jerry-rigged vintage cars.
Brian M
@DavidB Its all quite impressive save for the fact that its not self propelled, best form of defence is to get out of the situation, be better off if it was more akin to a motor home, same applies to a bear attack but not much of an issue here in the UK.

The idea that you have to go outside to cook in a danger zone also makes no sense, again motorhome would be a better solution.

If you are laying out 70k on that, then you probably wouldn't worry spending a bit more on a properly armoured ' motorhome' vehicle.
Unsold
@DavidB - Dave, buddy, in the event of an apocalypse, long term survival parked somewhere sounds counter-intuitive. I'll point myself in the direction of sanity with the lowest profile I can manage and build a team along the way. Funny reference: They call those teardrop trailers "canned hams". I hope that's in the morphological sense and not the culinary.