
With a pop-up that looks like a chimney and a bimini-topped party deck, the roof of the short, stout Purpose Trailer from California’s RKS Off-Road is unlike any other you’re likely to see at the campground. In fact, it holds up to 1,000 lb (454 kg) so that a campsite of friends can chill out during the day for better views, with a pair sticking around at night to camp in the deployable tent. The hybrid caravan/teardrop-style interior has standing height where you need it, lying height where you don’t.
The 17-foot (5.2 m) RKS Purpose trailer proves yet again that no matter how many different camping trailer configurations we see, there’s always something completely different on the horizon. It’s a four-person trailer that organizes things in a way we would have never thought of.
On the drive, the Purpose is something of a compact box that stands just under 7 feet (2.1 m) tall. When looking at it, it doesn’t appear quite high enough to stand in so could be either a pop-top all-terrain caravan, as are common in Australia, or a boxy trailer with a teardrop-style lying room-only interior, something like the Bruder EXP-4.
In fact, the the Purpose is both. The hard roof over top the bed is fixed at 4.3 feet (1.3 m), offering comfortable height while lying or sitting on the 80 x 60-in (203 x 152 cm) residential-queen size memory foam mattress. Meanwhile, the pop-up roof at the front of the trailer opens a standing height of over 7 feet (2.1 m) inside the entryway and bathroom. This way, campers can stand up to shower and wash up before lying down in bed – standing height where you need it, not where you don’t.