Pop-Up for Adventure

From a new company, SylvanSport, based in Transylvania County, North Carolina, comes a new concept in the age-old category of the pop-up tent trailer: One designed for the adventure and outdoors crowd.

“This is distinctly not a traditional RV or pop-up and will be marketed and distributed differently,” said Thomas Dempsey, founder of SylvanSport.

Indeed, the company is dubbing the to-be-released trailer a “backpack on wheels,” as it will have the capacity to not only sleep weary outdoorsy types, but also haul their bikes, kayaks, backpacks, and other equipment via integrated racks.

SylvanSport (www.sylvansport.com) will unveil its pop-up trailer at this year’s Outdoor Retailer Show, August 7-12, in Salt Lake City. National distribution will follow at outdoors shops, with initial shipments slated for this autumn.

It will cost about $6,000.

It sleeps two comfortably, four with an adapter that connects the two “sleeping pods” to create a king-size mattress area.

The unit weighs about 700 pounds.

This camper “reflects three years of exhaustive study of the evolution of adventure activity,” said Dempsey. “We’ve focused on a somewhat overlooked segment of the RV and camping categories: the ‘pop-up,’ which has shown little technological innovation in over a decade.”

Dempsey said there’s been an evolution of the dedicated adventurer who is seeking more than a sleeping bag on the ground. Car campers who climb or mountain bike, for example. “We want more comfort and technology but we’re not quite ready to enter the RV world.” Dempsey said.