The pop-up versus hard side debate gets serious at Expo PNW as we dive deep into the new Flagship HT. There’s so much to the HT camper than a hard top.
Before we even set foot into the new Supertramp Flagship HT hard side, we had a fun conversation with Kelsey Panich, Co-Founder of the company, about this new product.
Kelsey and her husband (and Co-Founder), Keith, launched the Flagship LT pop-up in 2021. It’s their pride and joy—the result of untold blood, sweat, tears, and sheer willpower to launch Supertramp as the successful and vibrant company we know today. As she said, the LT is their baby.
So what about this new kid, the HT hard side? Technically, it’s their third child after the chassis mount, EarthRoamer hunting Supertramp Megatron, released in mid-2024. Can the third-born get the same love and attention as the first and second? Well, Kelsey?
Kelsey was conflicted. She professed her never-ending love for the LT. Then she admitted that the Megatron was just too awesome to ignore. Then things got interesting. Really interesting.
Recently, Kelsey has been doing more solo traveling as she attends various events to promote Supertramp. If anyone out there thinks being the owners of an up and coming truck camper company is a gravy train—all bonbons and room service—think again. It’s often long hours, seven day weeks, and lots of windshield time.
Anyway, Kelsey told us that she has grown to appreciate the Flagship HT in a way she didn’t expect. Traveling as a single female, she preferred the privacy and security of the hard side camper. She told us, if it were just her, there was no contest between the Flagship LT pop-up and Flagship HT hard side. Non-demountable Megatron aside, the Flagship HT would be her number one choice.
This was our first opportunity to see the Supertamp Flagship HT in person. Taking a step back, it’s a hard‑side, non‑slide, vacuum‑infused fiberglass truck camper designed to fit both short and long bed trucks. It retains the 82-inch interior floor length of the LT model but offers a permanent interior height of 6 feet 6 inches and an exterior width of 81.25 inches.
Supertramp reports the dry weight for the HT at 1,399 pounds—about 50 pounds heavier than its pop‑up counterpart. The wet weight, accounting for water, fuel, batteries, tanks, and passenger gear, is approximately 2,207 pounds. That’s three-quarter ton territory, or better.
After that, the features and specs are the same as the LT. Fresh water capacity is 24 gallons with two 5 gallon grey tanks, a 5 gallon black tank in the optional cassette toilet, and two 11 pound vertical propane tanks. Heating and water heating are provided via a Truma Combi system, and a diesel‑fueled variant is available as an optional 2025 upgrade.
Standard solar capacity is 330-watts, and one 100 Ah lithium battery is included. The battery bank can be expanded to 800 Ah as part of the 2025 option additions. The camper supports optional inverters up to 2,000-watts, house Victron MPPT charge controller, and Maxxair fans.
Other features carried over from the LT include a north‑south queen cabover, huge underbed storage, an L‑bench dinette, a two‑burner stove, Isotherm 65 L refrigerator, and manual jacks.
Standing in the Supertramp HT is another world compared to its pop-up variant. The seven Arctic Tern flat‑tint windows with screens and shades offer impressive views, but nothing like the LT pop-up. Then again, the HT is quiet! With the door closed at Expo PNW, you suddenly felt a sense of being in your own separate space. This is an important part of why we personally love hard sides. Camping at Cracker Barrel, just off the highway between point A and B, we’re home. Crazy, but true.
Which Supertramp would we choose? The Megatron! Just kidding. Too big. Too expensive. Non-demountable.
Okay, okay. Our honest answer is this: If we could keep our current hard side, we would snap up the firstborn LT in a second and go where we’ve never gone before. Forced to sell our hard side and have only one? The HT. The third camper’s the charm.
For more information on Supertramp Campers, visit their website at SupertrampCampers.com. Click here for a Supertramp Camper brochure.
