The Northstar 850SC XB has to be one of the most overlooked campers on Earth. In fact, we overlooked the XB until we saw it side-by-side with a standard 850SC. Here’s our take on the only production camper with an extra bed on the side. It’s a tip-out!
Perhaps more than any other production camper company, Northstar has carved out a very specific marketplace niche. As wood-framed, hung wall, predominantly seven foot wide, non-basement, non-slide, and cassette toilet-only truck campers, they’re after a very specific customer.
Above: The Northstar 850SC XB at Truck Camper Warehouse in New Hampshire
Who are these very specific customers? Fellow truck campers who understand the insulation qualities, strength, and repairability of wood construction, want to avoid de-laminations by not having lamination in the first place, prefer a lighter, sleeker, and more aerodynamic camper that offers full visibility to truck side mirrors, desire a lower center of gravity, and appreciate the dump in any toilet, all-season versatility of a cassette toilet system.
Within that niche, Northstar makes both hard side and pop-up campers. Within these two camper types, Northstar builds some unique floor plans, designed and refined over decades to appeal to Northstar’s customers.
Seeing Past the 650SC
My personal favorite example of a niche-tuned Northstar is the 650SC; a self-contained, wet bath, north-south cabover, pop-up truck camper for short bed trucks that weighs in at 1,650 pounds dry and retails for under $30K USD well appointed. If you read that last sentence too fast, you may have missed the most important two words; self-contained. The 650SC short bed pop-up has a bathroom, a shower, a cassette toilet, and fresh and grey holding tanks! There’s a reason why the Northstar 650SC is a perennial bestseller.
The Northstar 650SC’s long bed big brother is the 850SC. I am 100 percent certain I’ve been in dozens of Northstar 850SCs over the years, but my attention has always been stolen by the 650SC often sitting a few feet away. As Rod Stewart famously sang, “Some campers get all the breaks”.
That changed a few weeks ago when we visited Truck Camper Warehouse in New Hampshire and found a row of Northstar Campers inside, doors open, lights on, and ready for inspection. Toward the end of the Northstar row, we found an 850SC side-by-side with an 850SC XB. Suddenly, I found myself staring at the tip-out tent.
Above: The 850SC XB on the left and the 850SC on the right
“Hey Angela, does any other camper company offer a tip-out tent like that?”
“I don’t think so. Northstar has offered the 850SC XB for years. You should write about it.”
Ryan Penney and Tsara Walsh of Truck Camper Warehouse happened to be on hand and told us that they personally own a Northstar 850SC XB (pictured above).
Now here’s a couple who could have just about any truck camper you can imagine and they own a Northstar 850SC XB. Why? First, they’re completely on board with Northstar’s aforementioned niche.
And second, their dog, Chester, and two cats, Pink Floyd and Hank Williams, like to lounge in the XB tip-out tent and look outside for birds, animals, and people. In other words, the XB tip-out extra bedroom is a game changer.
Above: Hank Williams, Pink Floyd, and Chester lounging in the XB part of the 850SC
Tsara added that the XB bed is a good height for their older cat to jump into, and is a great place for their pets to lounge other than the cabover.
Tsara also said that their dogs and two cats all have enough room in the XB to sprawl out, that all of them—two adults, two dogs, and one cat—can fit in the dinette with the XB deployed (with or without the dinette table), and that the XB can even be set up when the pop-up roof is down. Talk about pet-friendly and versatile.
Okay, let’s dig into the 850SC XB.
Tip-Out That Tent Room
You might assume that the Northstar 850SC is essentially a long bed version of the 650SC, and you’d essentially be correct. The two campers have almost the same floor plans, features, and appliances.
Above: The wet bath in the 850SC XB
Both models have 30 gallons of fresh, 13 gallons of grey, a 5 gallon cassette toilet system, one 20 pound propane tank, up to three Group 31 lithium batteries, a Rec Pro 12-volt compressor refrigerator, one 175-watt solar panel, and Sub Zero soft wall standard.
Where the 850SC is different is a longer story. The 850SC has more storage, more counterspace, and a larger U-shape dinette made possible by its extra two feet in length. Every inch in a truck camper makes a difference. Two extra feet is another world.
Ready For The Opening Act? Good!
Opening the XB tent room is a fully manual affair. From the outside, you release two large latches, one on either side of the tent room. Once the latches are released, you guide the XB tent room down to a horizontal position. Then you attach the Velcro’d lower tenting material to the horizontal tent platform.
When that’s completed, you go inside the camper, connect a push rod to the tent material, push the tent material out, and latch the rod to the roof of the tent room. Arrange the dinette cushions to cover the inside of the tent room, and you’re done. It’s so easy to open the tent room that we figured it out after only being shown once. After one lesson, we put the tent room out in under a minute. Yes, we’re that good.
You can have the dinette set up as a dinette while the XB tent room is deployed. This allows the dinette to be used as normal while pets and/or children have the XB tent room setup and ready to use. With that setup alone, I bet a few readers out there just put the Northstar 850SC XB on their interest list.
When the dinette is also made into a bed, you now have a huge extra bed for larger kids, full-grown adults, or big dogs to sleep in. If you’re looking for a long bed pop-up truck camper that can comfortably sleep four adults or two adults and two English Mastiffs, put the 850SC XB at the top of that list.
The XB by itself (not including the dinette bed) is 60 inches long by 30 inches wide. It’s rated for up to 500 pounds. Make the dinette into a bed and the resulting sleeping area is 60 inches wide. Again, no other truck camper—pop-up or hard side—has this feature.
Northstar 850SC XB Gallery
Once I get into a camper, I instinctively go into photo mode. Even if I’m only supposed to photograph one element of a camper—like the tip-out extra bed—I often end up shooting the whole thing. Guess what happened with the 850SC XB? I shot a gallery’s worth.
Note the wet bath with shower and cassette toilet. Note the storage in the kitchen and cabover. Note the slim two burner propane cooktop and counter space. Whether you go for the standard Northstar 850SC with a dinette, or the Northstar 850SC XB with the tip-out extra bed, the 850SC is one highly versatile camper.
Pros and Cons of the Tip-Out
The concept of a truck camper tip-out extra bedroom dates back decades. Starting half a century ago, the Amerigo snap and nap had a side entry and a rear fold-down extra bedroom. Several other brands have had variations on the tip-out extra bedroom theme over the years, but the feature never became a dominant marketplace trend. As it is now, it’s always been a niche thing.
Why don’t more truck camper brands have a tip-out room? In the hard side camper space, I suspect the main reason is the invention and proliferation of slide-outs—at least within the hard side camper market. Why have a tip-out tent room when you can slide-out the wall? There are arguments to be made there (weight and mechanical complexity), but none that would meaningfully tip the balance for tip-out tents for most folks.
But what about pop-up campers? Yes, there is a custom manufacturer who once made a pop-up with a slide-out, but slide-outs are generally not considered for pop-up designs. If you want more sleeping space in a pop-up, the tip-out room is a fascinating option.
The pros of the tip-out room in the 850SC XB center on the extra sleeping area it provides. The XB option allows for more sleeping space for adults, kids, and pets. If you sleep with your head in the tent room, the space is wonderfully connected to the outdoors. For many, that’s a key appeal to pop-up truck campers in the first place. Taking another angle, the XB makes the already incredibly versatile Northstar 850SC and makes it even more functional and versatile.
The cons are mostly part and parcel of the tip-out room itself. First, it’s a bit of a mess when folded back into the camper in travel position. This is not unlike how pop-up camper soft wall material folds into a camper for travel—the material is never exactly neat and tidy. If you always plan to deploy the tip-out room when you’re camping, this is no big deal. However, if you pull over for a quick lunch, the tent out material is a bit in the way of the dinette area.
Another con is the process of deploying the tip-out room is manual and takes a bit of time and effort. Again, this is not a big deal for most people as it only takes a minute or two to deploy and retract. Being manual also avoids potential issues with electric actuators, and generally keeps things simple.
Rain is also a consideration as the tent material is exposed to the outdoors and would need to be dried before retracting into the camper interior. Finally, the tip-out rooms add a little weight to the camper, and the option is a bit pricey at $1,990 USD.
Overlooked No More
If you have dogs with names like Brutus, Bear, Boomer, or Chester, and are in the market for a pop-up, the 850SC XB might be worth fetching. If you go on hunting or fishing trips with your adult buddies, and are in the market for a pop-up, the 850SC XB belongs on your target list. And if you have growing grandkids of varying ages and sizes, the 850SC XB could be the grandpa, grandma, and grandkid family memory adventure vehicle you’ve been thinking about.
Put another way, the XB option ($1,990) changes the dynamics and possibilities of an already outstanding and refined Northstar long bed pop-up truck camper. The unique function of the XB will suit many truck campers in ways nothing else on the market can.
Consider the Northstar 850SC XB overlooked no more.
For more information about Northstar Campers, visit northstarcampers.com. Click here to request a free Northstar brochure.
