This $1,500 Box Is Like A Big LEGO Kit That Turns A Regular Car Into A Comfortable Camper

Something that has long annoyed me about RVs is that they’re so expensive. You pay a ton of money for a box that you’re lucky to get ten years out of. That’s why I’m excited to see whenever a company comes up with an idea to make camping dramatically cheaper. Here’s another, and it’s called the miniB. This camping kit consists of a bed, an outdoor table, chairs, a two-person sofa, and a pull-out cooking surface that packs into a bag a little larger than a suitcase. It allows you to turn a practically endless array of cars anywhere into a small camper.

This camping kit comes from a European company called 123camp, an offshoot of 123labs. The parent company was incorporated in Poland in 2013 by Voytek Yozkov. In addition to camping box kits, 123labs sells professional printing machines and a prototyping machine. Its latest product pitches an interesting idea. What if you could turn your daily driver into a camper for a road trip? Or, even better, what if you could fly just about anywhere in the world and turn your rental car into a camper? That’s what 123camp wants to offer with a camping kit called the miniB.

Boxes That Turn Cars Into Campers

Camping kits are an awesome way to convert existing vehicles into campers without a ton of work. We recently wrote about the Ququq BusBox, a sizable case that you plop down into the back of a van to add gear like a bed, a cooking unit, and running water. These sorts of kits aren’t anything new and there are companies all over that offer different versions of the same thing. You get a box that expands out, converting a crossover, van, or SUV into a camping space with little time and effort on your part. Since setup and teardown are so easy, your vehicle can go back to being a passenger car when you aren’t camping. The best part, to me anyway, is that these kits aren’t outrageously expensive. If you’re handy, you could even build your own camping box for peanuts.

However, most of these things are pretty big and some of them are pretty heavy. For example, the BusBox 4 that I wrote about? It’s about the size of an instrument case and weighs 110 pounds on its own. The bed is a separate piece that weighs an additional 55 pounds. That’s not exactly easy for a single person to carry around. Voytek’s 123camp thinks it has the solution with the miniB.

Voytek says that the idea for the miniB sprouted up in 2020 during the pandemic. Hotels, resorts, cruises, and other popular vacation destinations were shuttered, which led a lot of people to get into camping. Being with others was a bad idea, so people decided to be with nature instead. Voytek and his crew decided to make something that people could use to camp out of a car with and could be taken on a plane. The company had already built its first camping box in 2016 and put it on the market in 2021. The team started working on the design of the miniB in April 2022 before testing began in June of that year.

The miniB

The miniB is essentially a flat-pack camper kit in a bag. 123camp says that the kit is made out of waterproof European plywood. The kit is produced in Poland and the company says that it’s inspired by local furniture. A miniB kit comes with a bed frame for two people, mattress pads for two people, an outdoor table with adjustable height settings, a countertop for cooking, two outdoor chairs, and a sofa for two. All of it packs down into a bag that’s a little larger than a suitcase.

The trick to this is that when you pull the zipper, you’re presented with all of the wood pieces neatly packed into a pile. You get easy step-by-step video instructions to help you assemble everything. Those pieces are built so that you stick an end through a hole and twist it to lock it in place. 123camp says that the chairs, and table could be assembled in under a minute. As for the bed, it’s set up by folding down your rear seats, constructing the platform, and anchoring to the front seats using straps.

The bed stretches out up to 6.3 feet in length and holds 420 pounds. The chairs hold 200 pounds each. Padding comes from three mattress pads. When they aren’t being used for sleeping, they make up the padding of the sofa. The chairs have some minimal padding already on their plywood.

All of this is modular, so it can be adjusted to suit your needs. 123camp says that so long as your vehicle is larger than something like a Ford Ka or Fiat 500, the miniB kit should work.

Basically, the camping kit scales up or down depending on the vehicle that you put it in. The company says that the minimum trunk width is 37 inches and the minimum interior length needed is 69 inches, nice! 123camp has provided an expansive list of compatible cars from the Audi A4 to the Subaru Legacy. The list is very European, but I’m sure there are just tons of U.S. market cars this will work with.

You will note that this doesn’t come with any equipment such as a faucet, stove, outdoor shower, water jug, sink basin, or even blankets. 123camp says that when the kit is in its travel position, there is a storage compartment where you can put that stuff into. Just make sure you choose lighter and smaller options for that equipment if you plan to fly with your miniB.

The huge selling point, for me, anyway, is the fact that this can be deployed in a variety of cars quickly and easily. A number of camping kits out there are made for a specific vehicle. So, if you ever sell that vehicle or decide that you want to camp in another, you’re left trying to make the box work. This opens the door to turning many cars into campers.

The Catch

All of this stores in a bag that 123camp says is air transport-ready. It measures 110cm by 65cm by 25cm. Now, for those of you who do international travel, you probably know that 62 linear inches (157cm) is the airline industry standard for the maximum size of checked luggage. Linear inches is just all measurements added as one. In this case, the miniB exceeds the limit just by adding up its width and length. The miniB comes in at 77 linear inches. If you’re an international traveler, depending on your airline of choice, you will be charged an oversize bag fee and depending on the airline and flight, the bag may be denied.

Airlines also have rules about heavy baggage. The miniB weighs 62 pounds, which is great because many people will be able to carry it around with some ease. It’s also under the absolute maximum baggage weight limits for many airlines. However, once again, you’ll likely be charged an overweight bag fee. For example, Delta Air Lines charges $100 each way on a flight between North America and Europe for a bag that’s too heavy. A bag that’s too large is $300 each way for the same route.

123camp is technically correct that its miniB camping box can fly while something like a Ququq BusBox cannot. But, flying it around will be expensive.

The miniB is backed using a Kickstarter campaign. 123camp asked for $21,919 and as of right now, it has received $36,710. The company says that it has the funding it needs to put these on the market and they will start showing up on doorsteps in Europe, North America, and Australia this summer. The first customers to get their miniBs will be Kickstarter backers. After that, they will go on sale for $1,440.

You may also wonder why would you spend this kind of money on a plywood camping box when a tent is cheaper. Voytek says that his product offers what a tent can’t. Sure, tents are cheap, but sleeping in a car is safer than a tent and tents don’t come with furniture like sofas or tables. As someone who regularly camps in both tents and cars? Yeah, I’d say sleeping in a car is better if you can make it comfortable. This seems to do the trick.

If you’re interested in getting your own miniB, as of right now the company still has a handful of backer slots open on its Kickstarter.

Update: 123camp reached out to me with this awesome message:

[T]his last week at Kickstarter users can back this project and RECEIVE within this pledge miniB set covering ONLY delivery which for USA main land should be around 200$.

For them as backers it is 35/25% cheaper than MSRP later – so no reason to wait – just to grab now! 🙂

(All images: 123camp)

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