Camper Trailer of the Year 2021: Offline Raker

KATH HEIMAN

The Offline Raker provides caravan-like comfort to adventurous couples whose kids have long-since outgrown the parents’ bed but who aren’t ready to pitch a swag under the awning. This is an elegant and high-quality Australian-made camper which lays claim to the longest hard-floor space and shortest tow length in its class.

The Offline Raker is a reinvention of a hard-floor camper style that has become less prominent in recent years. This new imagining of a tried and tested design concept is bristling with comforts and innovative features to make camping easier. From the waist down, the Offline Raker is manufactured identically to the Offline Domino. The Raker’s features include an adjustable drawbar length, and a unique ignition-actuated air-pressurisation system to keep dust out of the rig. The roof deployment mechanism is electric assisted and automated. These features speak to the engineering nous and imagination of Adelaide mechanical engineer, Sam Reynolds, who developed the camper when he could find no others on the market that met his camping requirements.

When packed away, the clean lines of the marine-grade aluminium and composite panelling give the Offline Raker a striking presence on the road. First impressions are surpassed only when the camper’s huge lid is unleashed to reveal the Australian-made canvas tent which extends from the front of the rig all the way to the rear of the kids’ 32mm composite hard-floor sleep space. At 2.95m x 1.66m, this area is easily sufficient for a couple of kids’ stretchers while leaving both the entranceway and the offside ensuite access door unobscured. With Cruisemaster AirBag Man suspension, levelling the whole rig is achieved simply with the press of a button. Up top, the solar panel is integrated into the tent canvas, a really clever idea which reduces setup time and maximises utility of this massive roof space.

The Offline Raker is a high quality Australian owned and built camper with an R&D focus. For comfy remote area family travel in a compact design, the Raker has the bones of a hybrid with the space of a marquee.

DAVID COOK

The Offline Raker, like its later sibling, the Domino, comes to the rearfold paradigm with a fresh approach that makes for some interesting solutions to this design. To go with its excellent engineering and construction is a high level of offroad self-sufficiency to sustain you in the bush.

As we saw it there was a 200Ah lithium battery, sustained by 350W of flexible solar mounted on the top of the tent. Between camps the 40A Enerdrive battery management system does a good job of sustaining charge from the alternator.

Like the Domino there was a wi-fi and signal booster, and two water tanks (105L and 75L), with the smaller unit set aside for drinking, with its own special tap feeding through a filter. The gas supply is in two 4.5kg gas bottles, while jerry can holders are optional and drop into the front box.

Offline has been smart and adapted both the Raker and the Domino designs to use the same bottom half construction, speeding and reducing the cost of production. Both use laser-cut hot dip galvanised 100 x 50 x 3mm Australian high tensile C450 steel for the chassis and drawbar, the latter having a 800mm extended option (adding 200mm) to suit tow vehicles with a barn door or fold-down rear access requirement.

The body sides are 29mm-thick composite fibreglass panels above mid-line, 5052 aluminium below and the 3m long rear floor is made from a single piece of composite for strength and lightness. All the fittings throughout the camper are laser-cut for a fine and accurate finish.

The kitchen is stainless steel, as per the industry standard, and the tent is all-Aussie 12-ounce canvas for the roof, 10-ounce canvas for walls.

GLENN MARSHALL

When on the hunt for a camper, finding one with a low ball weight should be one criteria, as it can weigh heavily once the camper is packed. This is why I was a little concerned about the 180kg ball weight on the Raker. Designer and manufacturer Sam Reynolds was quick to explain that this high weight was intended as part of the design, as the majority of the storage is at the rear of the camper.

The chassis is 100 x 50 x 3mm high tensile RHS with an extendable drawbar that houses a DO35 coupler and the ARK 750 offroad jockey wheel. As tested in the judges' run, the stopping power was great thanks to the 12in electric brakes and the handling superb with help from the Cruisemaster XT Air suspension. Dust ingress is prevented thanks to the ingenious 12V pressurisation system than can be switched to turn on and off with the vehicle or operate manually. A traditional stone guard isn’t utilised, as Raptor coating protects the front of the camper and if you need to change a tyre, high lift jacking points are on either side behind the wheels. Talking of wheels, the rims and tyres are matched to the tow vehicle.

It’s nice that you can head off to Captain Snooze and choose the perfect innerspring queen-sized mattress to suit you, up to 300mm, and Offline will organise the pickup and installation. The camper has loads of storage with most of it accessible from inside and out. Access to the 2600W Enerdrive inverter is possible from the bedroom and reading lights at the head of the bed make reading before lights out easier. Sirocco fans help move air through the expansive indoor space with enough height to suit the tallest person.

The high-spec kitchen has a three-burner stove and hot water plumbed to the sink while also offering good access to a large slide out pantry drawer and the fridge. This is one luxurious hard floor camper.

With a beer in hand, you can level the camper from side to side using the airbag system, open the tent using the electronic actuator, and adjust the three poles required to tension the tent. Very simple and easy.

TIM VAN DUYL

One of the benefits of fully custom builders like Offline is their ability to adapt their build to your needs for things like track width and wheel PCD and offset. This is exactly what Offline did with its Raker, matching it to the venerable 100 Series LandCruiser supplied to tow it.

It gave the Raker stable towing on the soft sand of Grants Beach, south of Port Macquarrie as well as confidence that you have more than enough spares should you roll a bead or two or tear a sidewall. Should you want, it also allows you to lose the spare from under the Raker to add to the already decent 600kg payload.

The smooth tow is aided by arguably the best-in-the-business suspension, Cruisemaster's XT with the air option. So you can level the camper on rough sites easily but also set the bag pressure to help stabilise possible bounce with a light load or raise the ride height with a heavy load.

Helping its off-road cred is the underside of the camper. It’s bloody impressive and the poster boy for tidy plumbing and smoothed skid plates. Sam uses stainless steel for protection over the water tanks and the way it is chamfered gives me confidence that, should you find yourself with a rock jammed underneath, powering over it should be fine.

Setting up the Raker is pretty straightforward, well it’s actually stupidly easy with an electric actuator doing the heavy lifting and a pole system designed to allow you to have a hand free at all times. I wonder what for? The awning poles are twist lock and pinned at the hinge to the frame so there is no losing one. I reckon it was a five-minute job, or two cans if it was one of those drives where your mates got a head start in the back seat.

Once set up, you're met with your choice of mattress. By that I mean you go order it from your favourite supplier and the team will build the camper around it. The mattress in the Raker we tested was a pocket-spring with a foam topper, it was better than at home, honestly. And around it are all the mod-cons well-positioned to be taken advantage of or, if you’re in the tent side, there is space for bunks for the kids and in the ensuite extension, room to shower and comfortably dry. The Raker is as impressive in its comfort as it is in its design and build quality. Outstanding.

Offline Raker Specs

Trailer:

Dimensions:

Accessories:

• Water 105L tank for kitchen and ensuite, optional 75L tank for drinking, optional Webasto diesel heater for hot water at sink and ensuite shower outlet
• Gas 2 x 4kg bottles, one plumbed
• Kitchen Stainless steel slide-out with two or three burner and sink, 250L storage within arms’ reach of kitchen, 95L CFX fridge
• Battery 2 x 105Ah AGM battery standard, can be upgraded to lithium. 20A Enerdrive DC to DC charger standard (40A optional) and Enerdrive 40A AC to DC charger standard. Optional 400 to 2600W Enerdrive inverter. Simarine battery monitoring system.

Offline Raker price from $55,600

Offline Raker price as tested $75,000

Supplied by Offline Campers