Multi-expander caravan explodes into six-man bushland base camp (2024)

South African trailer manufacturers aren't shy about making campers that expand. In fact, they seem to prefer them ... the more unusual, the better. Even knowing that, though, the all-new CX⁶ from Berg Off-Road packs a truly surprising amount of expansion. As a fairly compact, hardcore overland trailer, the CX⁶ shadows its tow vehicle closely to explore everything from UV-saturated coastlines to squall-engulfed mountains. Upon arrival at the destination – or nowhere in particular – the trailer softens up into a veritable safari lodge by popping, sliding, swinging and flipping out in nearly every direction to comfortably accommodate up to six people.

"Berg" just became our word of the day. We knew it as "mountain" in German but didn't previously realize that meaning transferred over to South African English, given it's just a stand-in for "iceberg" in American and British English. It's not too hard to trace back over to Germany, as South Africa's version borrows from Afrikaans, itself a derivative of Dutch, a West Germanic language along with German.

We took that linguistic detour not because it's the type of intercontinental journey for which you want an all-terrain camping trailer, though one would definitely come in handy for a pan-African voyage to Europe. Instead, we mention it because, while Berg likely means simply that its trailers are mountain-worthy, it's occurred to us that the startup has created a mountain of a camping trailer, a rugged, hard-edged hunk of natural resources ready to survive the elements for generations.

The 17.8-ft (534-cm), fiberglass honeycomb-bodied CX⁶ stretches out atop a heavy-duty ladder frame rolling on two 16-in steel wheels holed up inside 33-in mud terrain tires. Though Berg is convinced that a good set of leaf springs at the ends of a solid axle – the "Chuck Norris of suspension components" – outperforms more expensive independent off-road trailer suspensions, it does offer a set of coil-sprung arms as an option.

The real Berg magic happens at camp, where the CX⁶ pops and slides open like some sort of fantastical storybook contraption, expanding its footprint in nearly every direction. The most dramatic of the openings is the 6.6-ft-long (2-m) rear slide-out that houses the extra-length king-size bed. That bed fills out the 72 x 79-in (183 x 200-cm) slide-out module floor, which does indeed align perfectly with a South African "king-size xl" bed size, a touch smaller than the 76 x 80-in (193 x 203-cm) king known well in the United States.

Other trailer builders would be satisfied with one oversized slide-out bedroom, but Berg keeps the expansion going. The CX^6. includes a pop-up wedge roof over the rear slide-out to add proper headroom and a full-length pop-up over the main trailer body, where two 28 x 79-in (70 x 200-cm) single beds are left exposed after the rear slide-out does its sliding. Each of those beds is located just inside one of the massive fold-down side windows.

Those windows can be used simply for ventilation or can each house an optional 28 x 69-in (70 x 175-cm) bed to give the CX⁶ enough space to sleep six. If we're talking a family with small children, it can probably fit even more on that combination of single extended king and four single beds.

That does it for bedding expansions, but the CX⁶ is only partially done growing into sprawled-out base-camp form. The outdoor kitchen is a multi-expandable unit all its own, concentrated around a main slide-out at the front of the trailer body. This slide brings along a cupboard, drawers, and a faucet system that works with the flip-out sink basin on the outer end.

A Cadac dual-burner portable stove finds home on a small shelf next to the faucet, held neatly in place during travel by the folded-over sink. An optional 100-L fridge slides out separately from inside the nose box to stand right next to the main kitchen area. The kitchen comes fully stocked with Victorinox knives, pots and pans, dishes and cutlery for six, and myriad other cooking tools and accessories.

With the kitchen outside under the 180-degree awning, the very front of the CX⁶ interior becomes a full-width wet bathroom (storing the kitchen block when it's pushed back inside for travel). Yet another roof expansion opens up more headroom, this one folding forward to create a fabric ceiling area and hard front wall over the bathroom. The full-width bath has a corner sink to the entrant's left, toilet to the right and shower immediately ahead. The fabric roof zips open for open-sky showering and toileting, closing up for inclement weather.

We think we've covered every pop-up, slide-out and flip-over on the CX⁶, but it's worth noting that the rear spare tire carrier folds down to the ground, as do the stabilizer legs. So technically, the trailer expands down as well as up, left, right and back. The only direction it doesn't expand is forward – unless you count hitching up and adding in the tow vehicle's length.

The CX⁶ standard features kit includes a 14-L gas/electric water heater, 150-L fresh water tank with pump, electrical system with 1,000-W inverter, shore power hookup and DC-to-DC charger, and underbody stone protection. Berg introduced the new trailer at last month's Caravan Overland Show in Midrand and prices start at R529,950 (approx. US$28,150). Buyers can spec their build up via a long list of accessories that includes lithium batteries, solar panels, air conditioning, and annex and awning tents.

Berg seems ready to dive into the market with both feet and is already previewing the CX³ trailer, a 17.6-footer (536-cm) with less expandable bed space designed for smaller families.

The short promo below shows the CX⁶ in all its overlanding glory, and if you want to dig into the nuts and bolts of how it unfurls to support six-person 'van life, you can take a look at this 9-min how-to.

Sources: Berg Off-Road, Drive & Camp