G er! A M pl m a s
T O H S R E P M CA
AT HOME AMONG
THE GUM TREES Photographer: Nathan Jacobs Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark III F-Stop: f/4 Exposure: 1/250 sec ISO: 320 10
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Opus , an offroad
O RIGINAL While its air-powered tent support mechanism may initially turn heads, the Opus’ offroad capability is equally impressive, suggests Camper editor, Aaron Flanagan WORDS & Pics Aaron Flanagan
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T S E T AIR OPUS
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Curvaceous and spacious
W
hen it comes to offroad touring, the laws of physics are beyond dispute. The greater the force downward through the wheels the less likelihood of smooth forwards momentum. If Isaac Newton were alive today he’d, arguably, be in the camper trailer manufacturing caper. I can imagine a modern-day Isaac, his verdant locks tied back to prevent them from catching in table-mounted grinding discs, off to buy a kransky and choc milk for lunch in between hammering together yet another top spec camper. Like Isaac, most 4WD experts agree with physics. Two of the key factors in determining the offroad-ability of a camper trailer are: its overall aggregate trailer mass (ATM) and the latent power of the tow tug to which it’s hitched. Of course, this assumes the trailer is well made, with hardy suspension and chassis and the driver is experienced and skilled enough to drive the vehicle to its potential.
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Beyond the attention-grabbing setup mechanism, the Opus is tough where it counts
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TEST AIR OPUS
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MAKE N IO T C U R T S N O C Y D NDERBO U D E G G U R D N BOG A D M E T R E T T A L P S D “IT S L IGH T A U RDCORE M A H A R O F R E N T R A A M A G A” B O T S N IR A C IT A SUITABL E P M O R T R ACK , F E L E T D L O E H T G N ES T T RIP ALO HITS Innovative and class-leading inside roominess Offroad capability and weights Manufacturing quality Price
MISSES Perhaps it could do with more storage for toys, swags, etc.
All that said, the Air Opus is a lightweight beast capable of heavyweight feats – at just 1200kg Tare weight, and with an added 600kg payload toting it up to an ATM of 1800kg, it’s fully capable of muscling its way over most offroad challenges. Recently, Camper took an Opus on a multilocation test run, from coast to mountains.
WE START AT THE BEGINNING The sun was blasting that day, my friends. It rose brightly, sparkling off gently lapping waves rolling up behind the beach at Catani Gardens in St Kilda and at the same time, about 250 kilometres north-west, struck down slender gum tree-shaped shadows up in the Victorian highlands around Mansfield. I started my commute around Beach Road, hugging Port Phillip Bay all the way from Sandringham to Port Melbourne before abruptly turning west for the steady haul upwards towards Mansfield, about three hours away. Ahead of me were a lazy few days checking out the Opus’ award-winning airbeam design, family adventure bona fides and offroad capability.
UNIQUE, AWARD-WINNING INGENUITY It takes effort to win a best-in-class design award. After all, creating something that’s welldesigned, by definition, is seldom managed. As famous American beat-mixer, DJ Z-Trip, famously says in his seminal album, Uneasy Listening, “everything you’ve done has already been done”. But through innovative design, the Opus has managed to redo the camper trailer concept – and been awarded for the effort. The fundamental construct of a camper trailer has, to date, been pretty standard fare. A single axle box trailer with an often elaborately folding tent structure opening up to reveal a queen size bed at each end, a U-shaped dinette separating them in the middle. Outside, a slide-out kitchen and various storage compartments are added to encourage outdoor camping as much as possible. A caravan, in comparison, encourages indoor camping courtesy of indoor kitchen and Inflation stations
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plumbed-in commode. Which is fine if you’re in Finland or somewhere else with endless nights during winter. But in Australia, who wants to be inside when out in the bush? And it’s encouragement to camp outdoors which defines the Opus’ design excellence. Oftentimes, after a quick limbering-up yoga session or something similar, there’s the tent pole ‘shuffle’ to negotiate. Without adequate stretching and prep work, this can be an arduous proposition. Even with pneumatic push-button folding functionality, there’s tent poles that have to be tightened, extended into sleeves, and fastened shut. The Opus avoids this by using pressurised air instead of rigid poles. The push of a button inflates the tent without the need to contort yourself into impossible positions. The beds at each end are nicely raised and the headroom above each is vast. If it took your fancy, you could sit up and gaze out the window from bed, rather than prop up on an elbow. And outside, courtesy of a similarly designed awning structure, there’s similar high-headroom roominess courtesy of the flexibility of airinflated beams.
And it’s this defiance of straight-line geometry that describes the advantage of air beams over steel poles. With the air beams, manufacturers can incorporate arc into what, without the flexibility of air, would be a straight line. This arc enables greater headroom and an ability to bow interior walls slightly outwards. And when it comes to building interior quarters with a stringent set of manufacturing constraints, having the ability to incorporate more space is a massive tick. Air beams compared to steel poles? It’s a question worth asking.
POLES VERSUS AIR BEAMS, WHAT’S ACTUALLY THE DIFFERENCE? The answer is space. With rigid poles, camper fabricators are governed by the laws of geometry. That is: the distance between node one and node two on a traditional box-shaped tent is a straight line, mimicking the shape of the poles themselves. Using pressurised air, a curved symmetry becomes possible. This curvuture means the shape of the tent can, in a way, defy gravity. A closer look at the air
beams
CTA RATINGS AIR OPUS
AARON FLANAGAN
1. FIT FOR INTENDED PURPOSE 2. INNOVATION 3. SELF-SUFFICIENCY 4. QUALITY OF FINISH 5. BUILD QUALITY 6. OFFROAD-ABILITY 7. COMFORTS 8. EASE OF USE 9. VALUE FOR MONEY 10. X-FACTOR 46
Even a baby can set up the Air Opus
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TEST AIR OPUS
ART ERS U Q G IN IV L L A N R US’ IN T E P O E H T , N TEN T O T H T IT U B W A T U F O O B S A S E G O F USSIN N ’S “WIT H T HE PR E R E H T R” . U Y O R F O L IC G T L S L A U T F N A IR F E ROM THE F IC T E X PA N D T O T H S A T N A F R ION OF M S R E V A G IN O D POLES
Put the shoes on; there’s plenty of time for activities when setup is this easy
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