TakeOff: 100 percent Dutch camping product

It is not a trailer tent and it is not a caravan, but it does combine both advantages of those camping classics. Last fall, a new camping product was launched: the TakeOff, a Dutch product. CampersCaravans speaks to the initiators.

The history of the TakeOff is somewhat reminiscent of the first part of the boys' book series De Kameleon, in which the Frisian twin brothers Sietse and Hielke Klinkhamer build a boat to experience crazy adventures with. But this is not about a boat, but about a new camping concept. The cheerful eyes of Maarten de Roos, Rikus Hoving and Dennis Tiethoff are identical to those of the Frisian twins. The three know each other from their many years of collaboration at Kip Caravans in Hoogeveen and now they are starting a crossover between caravan and trailer tent. High time for an interview. A new camping concept, why?

Origin of idea TakeOff

Maarten de Roos: “I have been camping for as long as I remember. As a hummel with my parents in the caravan, later with the tent and when we had children of our own also with the caravan. Yet I always looked askance at people who went on holiday with a tent or a trailer tent: they were able to drive along, but at the campsite they were struggling to set up.”

Maarten continues: “I wanted to combine the advantages of the caravan with those of the trailer tent – ​​the best of both worlds. And then immediately connect to a number of important trends: cars are becoming smaller and are therefore less suitable for towing a heavy caravan. In addition, the prices of caravans have risen sharply in recent years - who can still afford that? And then the electric car is on the rise... that also means that you have to look at camping in a different way. I thought: it must be simpler and affordable. That's how I started sketching, almost literally on the back of a beer mat.”

“This doesn't exist yet”

Maarten de Roos, once director at Kip Caravans, took his sketches to Rikus Hoving: now retired, but a product developer at Kip for decades. Rikus was immediately enthusiastic: “I was immediately on the edge of my seat: what Maarten had come up with did not yet exist.”

“The trailer fits behind any car, you can look over the car via the interior mirror to keep an eye on the traffic behind you and it is so narrow that you don't need extra mirrors. And at the campsite it opens like the trunk of a car. You then have standing height inside, two comfortable longitudinal sofas that you can quickly convert into a large double bed, there is room for a toilet and the kitchen allows you to cook indoors and outdoors.”

“Just think of it: the comfort of the caravan, but in a super small trailer,” says Rikus. “My role was to ensure that it all worked technically as Maarten had planned. And then we called in industrial designer Frans Hegge – Kip's in-house designer – to make it look flashy and to ensure that it can also be built in series.”

The next steps

From an idea to a producible concept is a big step, but you then need financiers to take the next steps. Maarten de Roos approached Wim van der Vorst for this, from De Vouwwagenspecialist in Boxtel and owner of Holtkamper: trailer tents from the top segment. Van der Vorst was also immediately enthusiastic. “With Wim on board we were able to take the next step,” says Maarten de Roos: “Building prototypes.”

And so Dennis Tiethoff comes into the picture, another Kip veteran who, as production manager, was responsible for the construction of thousands of Kip caravans. “These prototypes are needed to see if everything is correct before the cars can be built in series. Everything was conceived on paper, calculated on the computer and developed into 3D cadcam drawings. But only in practice do you see whether it works as intended. From the fit of the various parts to the adjustment of the folding mechanism. Everything has to be right so that the assembly process will run smoothly. And of course it is fantastic to make something completely new with the club from back then.”

D-Day in Utrecht

The prototypes that Dennis built together with Maarten and Rikus were also intended to interest potential customers. Maarten de Roos: “The launch was during the Kampeer & Caravan Jaarbeurs in Utrecht last autumn 2019. That was really D-Day for us. The attention we received with the TakeOff was really enormous. We barely had time to eat a sandwich during the fair – we were constantly busy showing the folding process to campers.”

“People were really impressed with the ease of use. The TakeOff is ready for use within thirty seconds and you have the same comfort as in a compact caravan. During the fair, but also afterwards, this resulted in a large number of orders, considerably more than expected. That is of course very satisfying.”

The next challenge

The trio now faces the next challenge: the production of the series models. “We are really on edge and we are now fine-tuning the final details for production,” says Maarten de Roos. “The first TakeOffs will roll off the production line at the end of March.”

The prototype of the TakeOff can be seen at De Vouwwagenspecialist in Boxtel. More information: www.easycaravanning.com

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