The Best Part of of your Van Might Just Be OutBack™
Van Compass brings three-sided access, organized storage, and a place for the wet stuff to the rear doors of Sprinter and Transit vans.
There’s a good chance you’re thinking, “Aren’t there already a ton of rear-door boxes on the market?”
And to that, we say: yes. Yes… there are literally a ton of them.
So the next question is probably, “Okay, then why another box—and why now?”
The answer is pretty simple. We knew we could build a better option. And frankly, we’d waited long enough for someone else to build it.
Think about the last time you needed something from the back of a fully loaded storage box. Or packed up wet gear and wondered where it was going to ride. We’ve had those same moments in our own vans. And we wanted to do something about them.
That’s where the OutBack™ Rear Door System comes in. We build it in North Idaho for Mercedes Sprinter and Ford Transit vans, with three-sided access, adjustable PackOut shelving, and a DryBox Drain + Vent™ floor for gear that had a particularly good time outside.
Not another box. A complete system.
The Big Box
It’s big.
We called our largest storage option the Big Box. With about 13 cubic feet of storage, it offers substantial room for the equipment that otherwise ends up competing with camp chairs, bedding, and whatever you packed because the forecast looked indecisive.
Capacity is easy to appreciate in the driveway. Access gets much more interesting once the box is loaded, and the thing you need has, of course, migrated to the back.
The Big Box’s lower compartment opens from the front and both sides, giving you another way into the load. Pack with those openings in mind and the small item you reach for constantly can stay within reach, even with bigger gear in front. Anyone who has spread half a storage compartment across a gravel parking lot to retrieve one tool will immediately understand the appeal.
Inside, adjustable shelving designed around Milwaukee PackOut helps keep tools and supplies organized. If PackOut is already part of your garage or workday, the setup will feel familiar.
Those two features belong together. Shelves help you decide where something lives; the extra doors help you get it back.
The angled lower corner helps preserve departure clearance when the trail gets steep.
DryBox Drain + Vent™
The end of the trail is also usually the start of cleanup. Snow melting off ski boots. A recovery strap caked in mud. Waders that remain impressively wet long after you’ve stopped fishing.
We built the DryBox Drain + Vent™ floor into both OutBack™ boxes to let water drain and air circulate around damp gear. It’s actually pretty simple: you have somewhere outside the living space to put the mess, with drainage and ventilation built into the compartment itself.
The same floor also makes cleanup part of the design. Muddy equipment gets its own place to ride, and the box can be rinsed out afterward.
The Little Box
Want exterior storage without giving up most of the rear door? That’s what the Little Box is for. Its 3.5 cubic feet of weather-tight storage give the gear you want outside a compact home close at hand. It carries over side access and the DryBox Drain + Vent™ floor, so choosing the smaller box doesn’t mean abandoning the useful details.
Then the front folds down, and the storage box becomes a place to do something.
Set down a mug. Lay out the tools for a quick adjustment. Put a cutting board under the tomatoes before they roll off into the dirt. It’s a work surface that’s already attached to the van, ready whenever you stop.
More Than Storage
We built the system around vehicle-specific Door Mounts and a slotted Utility Panel. Those components provide the foundation for storage, tools, and recovery equipment, with a Wheel Mount available to carry a full-size spare outside the van.
The Wheel Mount uses lug studs through the wheel’s mounting flange. The Utility Panel supplies attachment points for compatible equipment. Together, the pieces let you plan around the things you actually carry: a Big Box for a gear-heavy trip, a Little Box with room elsewhere for other equipment, or a spare and the essentials.
Start with the Door Mounts and Utility Panel, then add compatible components as your needs change. You don’t have to outfit both doors at once. There’s something reassuring about a setup that leaves room for the hobby you haven’t become obsessed with yet.
Before ordering: Check your van’s exact fitment and the configuration you want to run. OutBack requires 180-degree rear-door hinges and is not compatible with 270-degree hinges.
Build Your OutBack
We build OutBack’s boxes, mounts, and panels in-house in North Idaho, from the first cut through the final weld. We’ve put our experience in suspension, armor, and van hardware into the details you’ll use every time you load up or pull into camp.
Start with what you need. Leave room for what comes next. Build your OutBack around the way you travel.