The lightest-weight full-bodied pickup truck camper we’ve ever covered has somehow gotten even lighter. While the average pickup camper manufacturer struggles to build products any lighter than 1,500 lb (680 kg), Texas startup Peak Performance spent 2024 getting the word out about a pop-up camper weighing in at a mere 550 lb (249 kg), as midsize truck-friendly as you’ll find.
Peak is pushing the envelope again in 2025, this time with a hard-sided camper that manages to weigh even less than last year’s Stealth pop-top. The new Nest camper also uses the company’s fully modular component set so buyers can lock in exactly the right blend of comfort, weight and price.
Conventional wisdom holds that hard-sided pickup campers weigh more than pop-ups. It makes sense since a pop-up replaces thick, fully insulated wall segments with a lower profile construction of fabric and struts.
The all-new Nest camper that Peak announced this year doesn’t quite upend that conventional wisdom, but it comes close. When built for a 5-foot short bed on a midsize truck like the Jeep Gladiator or Toyota Tacoma, the R8-insulated four-season composite camper has an incredibly light estimated dry weight of just 500 lb (227 kg), lighter than the 550-lb Stealth pop-up as we covered it a year ago. However, Peak has managed to shave some weight off the Stealth estimate, which now lists as low as 475 lb (215 kg) when constructed for that same 5-foot midsize truck bed.
Peak Performance
All in all, those are both pretty incredible figures in an industry that still struggles with the idea of designing campers that don’t require a heavy-duty full-size truck just to stay within payload. The next closest full-blown camper competitors we’ve covered are the 600-lb (272-kg) non-alcove TC teardrop Truck Camper and the 634-lb (288-kg) Scout Tuktut, which is designed to work with the 4.5-foot Ford Maverick bed. The midsize-friendly RoverKing Capra had an estimated weight of 640 lb (290 kg) when we looked it over three years ago, but that’s been amended to 550 lb, bringing the pop-up camper close to Peak territory but not quite there.
Peak is currently developing a full lineup of Nest campers for truck bed sizes between 5 and 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m), with base weights topping out at 550 lb for the 6-foot-bed model. It also says its smallest model can work with smaller truck beds if you pull the tailgate off, so it could even be an option for the Ford Maverick or Rivian R1T.
Peak Performance
More than just a completely empty shell, each base model is equipped with a mattress-topped alcove double bed and a pair of vis-a-vis cushioned benches, giving buyers indoor seating for mornings and evenings and a bed for overnighting. Owners could easily carry an inexpensive folding table and transform the dual-bench floor into a dining and game room.
Each base model also includes features like a Tern door and windows, interior LED lighting, a solar-routing gland, and interior and exterior L-track for mounting accessories and tying down cargo. Those looking to add bathroom capabilities can opt for the mudroom configuration, which adds a teak-covered shower drain in the entryway. Users can then add their own shower system and privacy curtain. The wet bathroom option adds the same shower floor plus a recessed console with portable toilet. The heavier of the two, the full wet bath setup adds 50 lb (23 kg) to the total camper weight.
Peak Performance
As far as more complete floor plan options, Peak was founded on the idea that the feature-loaded layouts common across the truck camper industry add unnecessarily to cost and weight, as not every buyer wants the same fixed feature set. So it deconstructed the whole camper right down to the bones, creating a simple plug-and-play ecosystem of modules that buyers can use to create exactly the right setup within their price range.
The Nest follows the Stealth in this spec-it-yourself program, which Peak has further fleshed out since last year. For module installation, Peak relies on a combination of L-track and Modu-Lok hardware, the latter comprising more than 120 structural wall studs that mount the company’s modules as well as MOLLE panels, cargo nets, soft-shell cabinets and other organizational solutions. Beyond underpinning the modularity of its campers, the studs ensure that not a square inch of space has to go to waste.
Peak Performance
As for Peak’s own kit, the catalog kicks off with a kitchen that brings in a combo single-burner gas stove/sink, 38-L fresh water canister, AC/DC countertop outlet strip, slide-out garbage can, storage crates and worktop space. Peak also offers a slimmer kitchenette without the worktop or storage.
Buyers can complement that kitchen with several fridge/freezer options, including a Dometic CFX3 55 chest fridge and a storage console built around a Dometic NRX35 door fridge. Also on offer is a cushion-topped “power bench” that can be installed at the rear to connect the two side benches into a U-shaped seating arrangement, bringing along a 300-Ah battery, 3,000-W inverter, AC outlet and front MOLLE panel.
Peak Performance
Peak integrates those individual modules into a number of configuration options, many of which delete part or all of a side bench. The company even invites potential buyers to submit written or rendered ideas of their own optimal floor plan so it can work with them to develop just the right modules and layouts for a more customized setup. And at the end of the day, no one is locked into a single floor plan since the modules are designed to be removed and rearranged.
Beyond complete modules, Peak also offers optional components like a multi-positional swivel table, lower bed options for increasing sleeping capacity to three or four, skylight, ventilation, year-round climate control, and rooftop solar charging.
Peak Performance
Peak’s modular True-Transfer prewiring system increases user flexibility by spreading five wiring harnesses around the camper, each of which allows the owner to hook up a power draw, supply or both. In other words, the battery (or batteries) and components do not have to be located in a specific place but can be installed (and moved) to wherever works best. The True-Transfer architecture also allows for easy upgrading of batteries and components, increasing of solar capacity, and even integration of a portable power station the buyer already owns to increase storage without the cost of a new battery.
Peak Performance
Nest base campers start between US$20,375 and $21,625, depending on size. The modules can be added individually or via several package options. Peak meticulously lists the weight of each module and component so that buyers can track exactly how much they’re adding to the final dry weight of their camper.
In fact, Peak’s configurator automatically updates the weight and price for each option you add. We designed a midsize 5.5-ft-bed variant with wet bathroom floor plan, electrical power bench, kitchen, Dometic CFX3 55 fridge, roof vent, swivel dining table, and True-Transfer prewiring package. This robustly equipped camper prices in at $32,449 and has a still-impressive base weight of 835 lb (379 kg). We teetered on adding an LPG furnace package for winter camping, which would add $1,999 and 35 lb (16 kg).
Source: Peak Performance