Paddlers have always employed whatever it takes to crash near their favorite waterway, from sleeping on the dirt and on friends’ couches to cramming into hotel rooms. For those who have a truck, Denver, Colo.’s Tune Outdoor, founded by avid paddlers, makes the process way easier and more comfy with their new entry to the growing lightweight truck camper market—the Tune M1 pop-up canopy truck topper.
The Tune M1 blends design innovation, simplicity, and a streamlined production process that delivers an industry-best weight-to-space ratio, great performance, and a stylish, modern aesthetic—all while letting you keep your boats on top. Targeting the burgeoning vehicle-based adventure and active outdoor community, the Tune M1 represents a leap forward in design and utility for this category.
Tune is led by Golden-based businessman Sean Kepler, who has held executive leadership positions at The North Face, VF Outdoor and Crocs, and longtime kayaker Bruce McGowan, co-founder of Boulder-based backcountry gear brand Backcountry Access, now part of K2. The team also includes skilled modeling engineer and designer Broc Patterson, and industrial design/build engineer and outdoorsman Kristian Arnold.
“I wish we had something like this when we were traveling and camping all around to go paddling,” says McGowan, who grew up kayaking the rivers and creeks of Colorado. “It would have made things a whole lot easier and more comfortable.”
And it won’t break the bank—or your truck’s suspension. Using durable, lightweight materials, Tune’s design puts the Tune M1’s base model weight at only 360 lbs., leaving plenty of pounds left for your gear and other paddlers hitching ride. It also features a patented wing-wall design with flared sidewalls, a market first, and a fully vertical pop-top, providing more cubic living space than any lightweight truck camper on the market. This weight-to-space ratio broadens the Tune M1’s utility across a wide range of outdoor and offroad conditions, making it great for camping outdoors whether you’re fishing, surfing, climbing, kayaking, biking, snowmobiling, hunting, and more.
The company has also come up with an efficient, streamlined production process that allows for fast order-to-installation times and after-market service. “It’s more of an assembly process than a fabrication one, which most other campers employ,” says McGowan. “It’s unlike anything the industry has ever seen.”
With Tune’s team of outdoor industry veterans and engineers spending more than two years perfecting Tune’s design and production process, the Tune M1 camper easily integrates with nearly any pickup chassis—from Toyota Tacomas to the Ford Lightning—without extensive modifications.
“Like many Coloradoans the outdoors is our sanctuary, so we designed a canopy topper that hits the sweet spot of lightweight, functionality, and feel, where you can access your favorite backcountry places with enough space to bring your toys and gear and still camp comfortably,” adds Kepler. “We designed a canopy truck topper that hits the sweet spot of lightweight, functionality, and feel, allowing you to access your favorite backcountry places with enough space to bring your toys and gear and still camp comfortably.”
Based in a 29,000-square-foot industrial warehouse in Denver just minutes from afternoon runs on such Front Range waterways as Clear Creek, Boulder Creek and Bailey Canyon, Tune’s structure incorporates an aluminum frame, injected ultra-strong composite corner brackets, a clean polyester pop-top canopy extension, and easy-to-fit, FRP honeycomb paneling. Each camper comes with three aluminum or glass awning doors that allow for easy access from any angle, low-power interior halo lighting, and over 440 feet of universal T-track on the interior, exterior, and roof for unlimited customization. A large sleeping loft allows users to sleep sideways, while maintaining 6’4’’ to 6’10” of stand-up headroom (depending on truck model). The bed and living area can be enjoyed simultaneously, opening the entire cabin to camp living – from hanging out and cooking, to toy hauling and remote working.
Tune innovated a patent-pending industrial design solution that allows the Tune M1 to assemble quickly and easily, translating to fast installation lead times and efficient after-market service. The Tune M1 camper easily integrates with nearly any pickup chassis—from Toyota Tacomas to the Ford Lightning—providing unparalleled performance and comfort without extensive modifications.
“Tune has engineered a product that is affordable, highly functional, and efficient to build, which empowers outdoor enthusiasts to comfortably enjoy their favorite off-the-path places to play and stay,” adds Kepler.
The M1 is sold direct to consumers at www.tuneoutdoor.com, with a base model price of $12,999. Tune is offering an introductory price of $10,999 for a limited time.
Tune M1 features:
- Industry leading weight-to-space ratio
- Super lightweight, starting at just 360 lbs.
- Category’s highest interior living space
- Large sleeping loft with hinged bed extension
- 4” thick mattress
- 6’4” to 6’-10” of interior stand-up headroom
- Patented wing-wall design with flared sidewalls
- Panoramic smoked glass walls (optional)
- More than 440 feet of T-track for unlimited customization
- Interior halo lighting
- Fast installation times
About Tune Outdoor
Founded by a team of outdoor industry and engineering veterans, Tune Outdoor is a direct-to-consumer brand launching a premium, highly innovative, lightweight pickup truck camper to a growing market hungry for innovation, value, and evolved performance. Focused on function, modularity and a clean, modern aesthetic, Tune empowers the aspirations of outdoor enthusiasts who live to be out in their natural environments. With an aluminum frame, ultra-strong composite corner brackets and a clean polyester pop-top canopy extension, the Tune M1 offers unparalleled performance and comfort while helping bring humans closer to their natural state. For more information, visit www.tuneoutdoor.com.
