Caravan Review: Everest Caravans Kombat Performance

Everest Caravans is a boutique custom builder in Australia’s caravan manufacturing heartland: Campbellfield, Vic. Having had plenty of dealings with this brand over the years, including towing and reviewing loads of their models, I’ve concluded that this company is the real deal. While it’s a small outfit that builds only a couple of vans a month, each van is a meticulous labour of love – the owner, Louie, is on the tools while his wife, Aneta, helps run the business side of things. Louie, by the way, takes his work seriously. If it has his reputation attached to it, he makes sure it’s as perfect as possible.

Anyone whose dealt with Everest before, or perhaps owns an Everest van, would agree with the above statement, I think. In early September, Aneta called because Louie was about to finish a specced-out version of its Kombat off-roader, the Kombat Performance. Everest Caravans builds all vans to order and as such, this one was about to be shipped off to its new owner… but Everest really wanted to show us the van first!

I’m glad they did. They told me that this van was a beast – and they were right.

EVEREST CARAVANS’ REINFORCED FRAME

Everest doesn’t do things by halves. The meranti framing is reinforced and blocked at almost each join, as well as being bolted to the honeycomb floor. Structural integrity is taken seriously – the front, back and sides are secured with nuts and bolts. The internal cabinetry is also reinforced. Nothing whatsoever feels flimsy or as though it’d break at the first gust of wind. Everest Caravans even provides a 10-year structural guarantee – double that of many other manufactures. That should tell you something about its build quality.

Our review model was a 19ft 7in unit weighing 3046kg Tare with an ATM of 4500kg. Therefore, GoRV contributor Marty Ledwich was on towing duties with his 200 Series Land Cruiser. We hauled this van at freeway speeds towards our location, with Marty noting how smoothly the van sat behind his vehicle. That didn’t surprise me – I’ve towed plenty of Everests and have never had a problem.

The Everest Caravans Kombat Performance sits atop a 6in Raptor-coated chassis that includes 4.5-tonne-rated independent trailing arm coil suspension with Pedders shockers on each arm. 

The van is clad with composite aluminium and X-plate, an elegant upgrade over standard black checkerplate. The X-plate has also been neatly applied, too, to the recess behind the picnic table, where you’ll find a mounting point and the connection points for a TV. This shows the attention to detail you get from Everest – I guarantee that not all manufacturers would extend the X-plate to behind the picnic table.

The attention to detail extends to under the van as well. There are two 110L fresh water tanks, as well as a 110L grey water tank. Each tank and associated fitting has been given shielding so that they don’t become shot-peened to pieces by gravel. One thing I also liked: the town water inlet becomes the filling point for the water tanks via a couple of valves. Simply open the valves and the water tanks will fill from beneath, minimising air locks, via the town water inlet.

The van has Starlink provision, too, with a through-the-wall RJ45 point fitted to the offside.

Now, for all intents and purposes, this is a gas-less caravan; however, its new owner still wanted two 9kg gas cylinders – stored in a box fabricated from powder-coated aluminium on the A-frame – so that he could cook with a gas-fired barbecue that will be fitted to the slide-out tray in the same storage box. This is wise, in my opinion. I am a huge proponent of going ‘gas-less’ but I do think having a gas back-up so that you can at least still cook is a good idea. 

But there’s otherwise no internal cooker, and nor is there a cooktop on the powder-coated aluminium, external Everest Caravans slide-out kitchen. The customer will simply use a portable induction cooktop – something we are seeing more and more of these days.

The rear is fitted with a customised powder-coated aluminium bar complete with storage space and spare wheel. Other external features include a rear camera, a 16ft awning, and next to the slide-out kitchen there’s a locker that’s home to a King’s fridge (the customer’s choice). This is a very well set-up caravan exterior.

AUTO BLIND!

Something different: the blind for the door is on an automatic roller. Just push a button on a remote (also voice activated) and the blind will electrically lower or roll up again. A first for the industry, I’m told. Louie is also investigating electric blinds for the rest of the windows.

The interior conveys a sense of strength and rigidity. Again: there’s nothing flimsy here. There’s a lot that appealed to me about this interior, too. With three rear bunks, a nearside bathroom, a front east-west bed, nearside kitchen, and L-shaped lounge upholstered in faux leather, it’s a class act.

A couple notes about the kitchen: first, it’s amazing how much bench space you win back by omitting a fixed cooktop in favour of a portable induction unit. Second, Everest Caravans has strategically added a door to the leading edge of the kitchen, facing the entryway, to provide easy access to what’s in the pull-out pantry without having to step inside the van. Say you’re cooking outside and need the sauce. It’s literally a case of reaching into the doorway, opening the door, and grabbing what you need.

Several other things caught my eye. The kitchen has a dual pull-out bin and each sink, both in the kitchen and the bathroom, has a trap that can be easily unscrewed for cleaning, rather than a traditional S bed.

Our Everest Kombat Performance was equipped with 600Ah of lithium – stored inside a vented offside locker – along with an impressive 1050W of solar, a BMPRO BatteryPlus 35 battery management system, a 3000W inverter and a DC-DC charger. A very decent 12V setup that will allow the owner to easily run the 184L compressor fridge and even the reverse-cycle air-conditioner off-grid.

In the back of the van, the bathroom gets a separate shower, full vanity and a cassette toilet. Like the rest of the interior, it’s very neatly finished off. Across the way, each bunk gets a 12V fan and a reading light with integrated USB charging point. There’s a decent amount of storage too, though the rear cupboard does include a front-loader washing machine.

On top of everything else, there are loads of overhead lockers – each door is on a piano hinge with hidden handles – a drawer under the bed, storage under the dinette, and much more. Reading lights at the dinette, a 12V fan and more reading lights in the front bedroom, a stereo and TV… this van is very well equipped. But to me, it’s the fit and finish, along with the overall sense of strength, that really appeal.

GORV’S VERDICT

It’s hard to describe, but there are some vans that you step into and immediately feel like it’s a bit slapped together. There are other vans that convey purpose and rigidity. This Everest Caravans Kombat Performance is the latter. Further, it doesn’t appear to skimp on anything – there’s even a quad bike rack. 

If you take time to chat to the owners of Everest, Louie and Aneta, you’ll discern their passion for their work and their products. Each van is their ‘baby’, and that passion is on show in this van. It’s undoubtedly one of the good ones.

THE SCORE 

FIT AND FINISH –

LAYOUT –

INNOVATION –

HITS & MISSES

COMPLETE SPECS