Offline Campers Solitaire 16: Aussie-owned, Aussie-designed and Aussie-built

The Offline Campers Solitaire 16 represents the pinnacle of hybrid camper design. The market for folks wanting caravan comfort in a camper-sized package has been growing for a while now. There’s no sign of the trend losing steam. Who doesn’t like sleeping on a comfy mattress inside four solid walls in air-conditioned comfort? Especially when you’re travelling for more than a few days at a time.

Aussie-owned, Aussie-designed and Aussie-built hybrids have long been accepted as the best of the best. I reckon the Offline Campers Solitaire 16 has to be real close to the pointy end of that shortlist. It’s one of the more impressive hybrids I’ve seen. One I’d be looking long and hard at if I were in the market.

Campers designed this thing for campers. It’s not a slapped together list of accessories that’s aiming to look fancy in the brochure. Builders constructed it from the ground up to suit Australian travellers who want the mod-cons. More importantly, they want them with next to no compromise and easily accessible.

Seriously, the Solitaire has strength in the right places. Low weight where you want it. So many innovative touches on this thing you can’t help but wonder why other manufacturers do it any other way.

Take a look at a camper that’s equally at home on a weekend trip as it is on far-flung tracks. The Canning, Gibb River Road or the Old Tele Track.

Solitaire 16 towing performance

Check the pics. If you’ve been around trailers a while, you’ll see the long drawbar (great for reversing and stability). The centrally located axle (for weight distribution and balance). The Cruisemaster ATX airbag suspension and D035 hitch (both among the best in the biz). You’ll realise that this thing should tow bloody well.

And yep, it does so nicely. The sixteen feet of insulated sandwich panelling on top of the galvanised steel frame doesn’t seem so imposing when you take in the low tare weight. Easy manoeuvrability and narrow width help too. In fact, the width is purposefully capped at 1800mm so as not to require tow mirrors. Told you these guys thought of everything. You’d be as comfy pulling this thing behind your mid-size wagon as you would behind your RAM. That goes for off-road too. The wheel arches can accommodate up to a 35-inch tyre. The wheel and tyre package gets tailored to individual owners so as to match the tow vehicle’s track width. There are even high-lift jacking points.

As for suspension performance, don’t make me tap the sign that says “Cruisemaster on bags” again. There are also recovery points, back-up lights and a Safety-Dave camera on the model we tested. All bases are covered on that front too.

Off-grid by name, off-grid by nature, eh? Ten out of ten so far.

Hybrid camper setup and breakdown

This one is a bit tricky to explain. The set-up can take about ten seconds all the way up to a few minutes. But either way, it’s pretty much effortless. Let’s say you want to pull over after a long drive. Have a quick bite to eat and jump straight into bed. All you have to do is walk down the side, open the door and throw your microwave burrito into the onboard food-nuker. You’re good to go in seconds. However, if you’re looking to set up for a few days, then things take a little longer. But not much, and it’s just as easy. I’d say the “hardest” part is unfolding the Darche 270-degree awning. This probably consumes all of 30-40 seconds.

From there, it’s basically all a matter of pressing a few buttons. You level out the airbags with buttons. You pop the roof with buttons. You open up the ensuite with buttons. Even the stairs into the camper activate with a button. The roof and ensuite both operate by linear actuators. They have a built-in redundancy – while there are two actuators per opening, one is enough to operate them should one cop some track damage.

Kitchen and storage accessibility

The kitchen, toilet and everything else are all on slides. Super accessible. The kitchen is a work of art (more on that in a sec). I honestly struggle to think how the whole operation of pitching camp could be any easier. There are even spirit levels strategically placed around the camper. These ensure you’re dead flat when on uneven terrain.

Packing up is largely the same thing, but in reverse. It probably takes an extra minute or so to fold the canvas ensuite and awning back into their respective places. But it’s hardly arduous. I guess this is all a long way of saying that the Solitaire 16 gets full marks in this category.

Solitaire 16 liveability features

Given that this thing targets ease of use and off-road ability, it’s really no surprise how nice it would be to spend weeks or months living out of. Builders constructed it around the ultra-plush inner-sprung queen bed. The focus remains on accessibility for everything you need. Then they’ve added buckets of what’s important and left out what isn’t (although the options list for the individual buyer is extensive to say the least). There are lights, storage and outlets around the bed for convenience. It just seems that everything is exactly where you want it when you want it. A testament to the thought that Offgrid have put into the Solitaire.

Given it’s narrow and light, it still has around 800kg of payload to play with (which is a fair chunk for a trailer this size). It comes with all of the hot water, fresh water and grey water (210L total) you could need. The battery system is better than decent from stock with 200Ah of lithium as standard. Along with a 2600W inverter, and 350W of solar, all of which can be bumped up considerably if required. This enables induction cooking both internally and externally. As well as air-conditioning, which engineers have ingeniously mounted underneath the trailer rather than on the roof. This potentially prevents garage storage or damage from overgrown tracks and increases aerodynamic efficiency. There is also diesel heating which has ducting throughout. Plus a nothing-short-of-amazing dust suppression system that is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Outdoor kitchen and ensuite innovations

Let’s talk about the outdoor kitchen and pantry (there’s an induction hob inside for the morning coffee too). What appears to be a fairly standard slide-out kitchen quickly unfolds into more flat, stainless real estate than the DeLorean factory. The pantry is nothing short of expansive. Even the gas hobs (if fitted) stay plugged in, which is another Offgrid innovation.

The 3-point locking entry door has a smaller screen door built into it. This provides airflow in warmer areas, and is security mesh. So you can leave your pup in the trailer without worry about him/her overheating.

As for the ensuite, it’s another work of art. The rear wall drops down and a gas strut-supported hoop pulls out and tensions the canvas. The process takes about twenty seconds go to whoa. You can access the space from inside, via a magnetic partition, or outside. The cassette or composting toilet (your choice) pulls out on an innovative (there’s that word again) drop-down slide. This keeps it out of the way if you simply want to use the ensuite as a shower. Capable of supporting 250kg and fully sealed when closed, it’s nothing short of game-changing. One hell of an efficient use of space.

Full marks for the Solitaire 16 here as well.

Final thoughts on the hybrid camper

While the Solitaire 16 is built extremely well, fully made here in South Australia, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take it anywhere in the country tomorrow, it is not what you’d call cheap. Starting at just over $140 grand. But that offset comes from the huge list of inclusions. The almost infinite options you can set it up with to suit your needs perfectly. And by the growing market segment who have been through the swag to tent to cheap camper to medium-priced camper journey. Now they want something that’s going to last them for twenty years minimum. Without leaving them stranded on the side of the Peninsula Development Road.

If you’re chasing something that tows almost flawlessly, sets up and packs away in no time, and will serve you for days, weeks, months or even years of travel at a time, then you need to put these on your shopping list. They’re simply too good not to.

Looking for more camper options? Check out our guide to Australia’s best hybrid campers or explore our top 10 hybrids for an outback getaway.

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