When life gets a little too serious, David Rule reminds us that sometimes the best builds are the most ridiculous. Meet the hilarious mastermind behind a fully functional, wood-fired Sauna Camper you have to see to believe.
This one is purely for fun. Honestly, I don’t know too many folks who don’t need a little more fun in their lives right now. So yeah, this one is purely for entertainment purposes.
Thankfully, David Rule—the camper building comedian behind today’s feature—delivers the fun on all fronts. My infamous April Fools articles may have earned a few knucklehead accusations my way over the years, but I’ve got nothing on David. This guy turns building a camper into stand-up.
The concept is simple—to build a fully functional mobile wood-burning barrel sauna that happens to slide into a truck bed. If that sounds completely ridiculous, get this—David’s creation isn’t the first dedicated sauna camper we’ve covered. In late 2020, we showcased a Four Wheel Camper transformed into a mobile sauna.
Could this have been David’s inspiration? Is he using our fine elections for ideas? Hey, David—if you’re reading this, we have a suggestion for your next over-the-top build and video. We hereby double—no triple-dog dare you to build a fully functional Amphicamper!
The Sauna Camper construction is straight forward. David starts with a plywood base that extends past the tailgate. The barrel shape was achieved from beaded and coved white pine staves assembled in a process David compares to how a strip canoe is constructed.
The front and back panels are constructed using tongue-and-groove pine boards. The door is framed in wood with plexiglass windows using simple magnets to keep the door closed.
To qualify as a sauna, the room—or camper in this scenario—needs to be made from wood, have the ability to heat to between 158 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit (70-100 degrees Celsius), with seats where scantily clad humans can sit and sweat. To achieve the necessary heat, David uses a HUUM HIVE Wood 13. The wood-fired HUUM operates without electricity and is ready for off-grid sauna duty.
Together with the traditional sauna barrel shape, there’s no denying this set-up looks the part. From one knucklehead to another, hats off, David. Well done.
Oh, and if you missed David’s first DIY demountable camper build and comedy skit, click here.
