Ah, the Black Series HQ19 off-road travel trailer. There’s a lot to talk about with something like this, and is it a good travel trailer for you in 2024? Let’s go find out. Let’s go!
This is the 2024 Black Series HQ19. You’ll be able to see the floorplan layout and the specs on the screen, and there is much to say about this Black Series camper. I’ve done much research before writing this article. First of all, the first thing that must be pointed out about a Black Series is that it is still one of the best-looking exterior off-road campers you can get in the United States. This thing is super eye-catching.
This is all an aluminium shell on the outside, similar to an Airstream, but with a different look. It has a very aggressive off-road aesthetic that is eye-catching. It pops. You can see the massive windows in some of the areas of this Black Series camper. Then, you have things like the rock rail protection along the sides, a super beefed-up A-frame up here, latch doors (though not lockable), a massive outdoor kitchen, and so much more. There are two spare tyres off the back. This is a very aesthetically pleasing travel trailer that will certainly catch your eye, regardless of how you feel about travel trailers or what you’re in the market for. This is something that will certainly catch your eye anywhere you go. You see the two spare tyres off the back, all these additional lights—lights off the back, lights off the front, lights off the sides—and so much more.
Now, I also have to mention that just like any other RV exists, there is some negative press online. And with the Black Series, I have seen a few negative things online regarding these products, just like anything else. With the Black Series, there are some things that you definitely should know about them. One of them is that they were originally made in Australia and then bought by a Chinese company. So, they are a Chinese-owned company. I don’t know how much is to be said about that—I mean, most of the things that we consume and use in America are made in China—but that is just something that you should know: this is owned by a Chinese company, it’s not owned by like Thor or Forest River or something like that where they are made in Indiana.
But let’s go through it and look at many different things here. Normally, I would want to show you all the inside, but there’s so much to talk about on an off-road style camper that we’ve got to go through some stuff on the outside. You have this swing arm drop-down wheel here, which most people will often use. It also has a tongue jack and an electric tongue jack, but with this right here, Mose will often use it. And it has its parking brake built in right here. The full extent of this parking brake’s capabilities, but it has a built-in parking brake.
You can see the frame here. It is much more beefy than what you would get on a traditional travel trailer in the US. It has this articulating hitch up here, making it off-road capable. Now, there are some good things and some bad things about this. This uses a pin system, so you have to get a part that attaches to the hitch of your truck right there. That will allow this pin system to work, and if you don’t have that, it does not have an alternate like a ball system you would normally see with a trailer and truck combination, so it’s a bit different there. But this gives it that articulating hitch that provides a far superior off-road capability, where it can fully pivot around and rotate and do what it needs to do if you push this thing to the limits of its off-road capabilities.
Let’s see if it has weight ratings up here. The gross vehicle weight rating is 10,000, but I don’t know if it has a dry weight here. You saw the specs at the beginning of the article, though, and it’s a well-off half-ton towable trailer. This will not push the limits of most modern half-ton trucks. It looks like a size that I would be comfortable towing with my half-ton truck, my Tundra.
Up here, you have these plates or these—this is all like diamond plating along the side so you can see it upfront. You can see how aggressive that looks, and it goes all along the side. Then, these open up in this first bay here. You’re going to have your spot for your propane bottles. So, little house, two 20 lb propane bottles in there. They are strut-assisted, so they pop open on their own. You also have a light bar right above there, and all of your lights on the exterior are LED.
Then you have a spot in here. You have diesel fuel. There it is, using a—oh, gosh, I just got the rundown on this—oh shoot, it’s using diesel instead of… I can’t remember if it was a diesel water heater or a diesel furnace, but it uses diesel instead of propane. That is why there is that diesel tank there. That does have a kind of, you know, spot where it runs out the bottom there, and I apologize for not being up on that. I just got the rundown, and as I got to filming, I just blanked on it. So, if you know, let me know in the comments below. You could add that information there.
And then that is your 60-amp Renogy battery charger. So, your battery system uses all Renogy technology. With something like this, being as off-grid capable as possible, it has a 3,000-watt inverter. So, I’m running the AC right now without being hooked up to any power other than my truck and the battery in there. It does have a 400 amp hour battery inside, and that does have the capability to run the AC. There’s also a ton of solar on the roof. There’s no way for me to get up to see the roof, but I can lift my camera so you can see it, and I hope you can see what’s going on up there. But you can see there are many solar panels up there. There are at least 400 watts of solar energy if those are 100-watt panels. It may be even more than that, closer to 500 or 600. I don’t know. I can’t get up there to see the exact capacity of those solar panels, so it’s a little tough, but I did count on four solar panels up there on the roof.
So, you go along this side again. You have these rock rails along the side. These can, you know, withstand impact. They’re not just aesthetic; they are designed to be able to make an impact. And then you have stabilizer legs that drop down here right behind. Open these up, and you have your storage space through there. Pass-through, and then these latch shut, and these do also lock. Again, the rock guards along the side give this a look. These will do a much better job of absorbing any impact and things like that.
You have this HIV Research speaker system. I’ve never heard of them, but it does have a tweeter speaker outside. This allows the speaker to handle the mid- and low-range frequencies while the speaker handles the high-range frequency. So you get more sound clarity from your audio system. And then you have this huge outdoor kitchen. This looks like all stainless steel for the components of this outdoor kitchen. And look at everything you get here, you all. You get an outdoor sink and a nice big sink stainless steel sink. You have a little storage space underneath and access to your water lines. You have this tray that pulls out here, so you can see all the different storage you’ll have with that tray. Close that up, and a two-burner dedicated stove there. So, you get that huge outdoor kitchen.
Then you come back this way, and you have right here tabletop space. So, this is just a table, but you can see some protective film here. Then, there is a table that you can put down, and you have a spot to put things outside. You have some different plugs out here. So, this smart plug behind here, you have a USB type-C connection and a cable connection, and then you have some plugs here as well, just a standard outlet. And then up underneath, here is a plug for a 12-volt plug.
Sorry, with your tires and wheels, you get a custom Black Series wheel, and then this is using a Discover ATS Cooper Tire. So, on this size camper, they’re giving you this Discover tyre with a pretty insane suspension system. We’ll see that when we get to the other side. Rock connection or rock rails along this side again. You have your freshwater connection. It has locking caps on these water connections, so that’s what you see there. Come back this way; you do have the awning. There is an armless awning over the side.
You have your light off the back. You can see that lit up. Two spare tyres off the back. You have this receiver hitch as well, so this can hold quite a bit of weight as well when you get Underneath here, you can see this whole component is really, really beefy, and then it goes into a spot here—a receiver hitch there and a receiver hitch here. So, two different points where that’s connected. You have your tank drains right here and then your tanks underneath here. You can see how—let me get the camera up—you can see, oh, got it a little too far for you. There you go. You can see how they are all mounted and secured here. They have metal protections all around them, so lots of protection going into everything underneath this camper. You can even see, like, these additional, you know, steel beams here for protection underneath here. Lots of different stuff to make this more off-road capable.
So, here, we also get a chance to see the suspension system. If we briefly bring the camera down, you can see that independent suspension system. It is very massive underneath there. So, a huge, massive suspension system that you’re getting—an independent suspension system that is going to give you pretty significant ground clearance, especially if you’re going to push this and take it down terrain where, you know, your wheels may… you know, one’s sitting on a rock, and another one’s not, and it will give those wheels independent travel and a lot of it. Now, I know there have been some owners online who have had issues with the axles and the wheels. I can’t speak much on that because I’ve asked people questions. I’ve asked people here in the service department if they’ve seen any issues with the axles or the wheels, and I haven’t seen any other instances where that was the case other than one article I saw online that went pretty viral. So, that’s something that, you know, I obviously would hope would never be an issue for you or anything like that. Keep in mind, if you do choose to buy a Black Series camper from Blue Compass, they have over 100 stores in 33 different states, so you have a pretty wide range of places you can take this camper to for service work if you’re ever if you need service work done. We always hope you don’t have to get service work done or encounter issues with your RV. Still, at the same time, I tell everybody they only make two types of RVs: no matter how much money you spend, either ones that are broken or ones that will be broken. So, it’s always best practice to anticipate encountering issues. We just always hope that they’re not that severe.
Right here, you have more water connections—outdoor shower connections. Same thing here; that’s going to be. It’s not labelled well, but this is probably a black tank FL valve. And then, come along this way, this is the one thing that is so weird—why they couldn’t just get a black plate for that tankless water heater. It doesn’t look the best, but you have a tankless water heater, which is the Bugatti brand. So, we’ve seen that on some other RVs as well. And then your storage through here, and you have some breakers, which is just about everything on the outside.
So, very, very capable travel trailer to do a heck of a lot of off-roading adventures. This is far more well-equipped than any other off-road camper I have seen. I know there are many options, but when you think of things you see at most of your generic RV dealership lots, this far exceeds what you would typically be used to. You have this solar-powered light right here. So, nice, even if you’re not hooked up to power, you have that light there. And then you have this door that opens up. It does have this latch here that stops the door; although it’s not super strong, unfortunately, it’s not the strongest latch ever.
Love this screen door. This is a nice-looking screen door. It has all these metal components on the outside. This is like aluminium here, and then you can open that up. You have your Black Series logo right there. That does light up, and then you have a power step. So, the step will retract. You can see the switch right here, and I always forget which way this needs to go. There it goes, and you can see how that step will retract back in, or you can have it come out and stay out permanently, which is what I currently have it configured to do. Whoops, I went too far. You have to keep the switch in the middle position to get that to stay out. Even has this padding here that feels nice when you step on it. It’s cushioned.
Then, when we step inside, again, this is the HQ19, and I currently have the standard lens on this camera, so you can see what it looks like with just a standard lens. Very nice lighting in here. I love the way the lighting looks right Away and very, you know, bright, mixed with some warmth. So, you have the white cushions and whatnot, and then you have a lot of tan accent colours in the wood. Before we start walking through this, let me put the wider lens on this camera so we can get a better perspective of what we are taking a look at here. So, let me snap that up there. Okay, we didn’t widen it too much, but we get to see more. Let’s start from the entry door and work our way around.
So, right away, you have a very different control panel here than what we’re used to seeing. These are push-button breakers right here. Then you have all your tank levels: your drinking water, in general water here, so I’m guessing these are like the pumps for the water tanks, and then you have your electric meter reading all of your electric components there. This is strange, and I have found it difficult to work with. I wish they did something different here, but these are your light switches. So, you can see you have three touch pads here, three touch pads and one. There’s no way of knowing which lights these go to or what these are powering, so I’ve just had to sit here and play with them and try to figure it out.
The other weird thing is that because it’s all touchpad, there’s no indication of whether something is on or off. So, some of these I pushed, and it seemed like nothing happened because all I could do was look around and see if something turned on when I pushed it, and if nothing happened, I don’t know if I turned something on or not. And so, that’s something that I’m not a huge fan of, but that’s just how they decide to do things.
So, you step around this way, you have your bed here, and it’s nice-looking. It is a memory foam mattress. See your massive window here? These windows give this a very nice feel inside. These bigger windows let in so much natural light. They are also a dual-pane window that will open up very far. They use the same window latching mechanism we’ve seen on things like teardrop trailers, so you undo all these latches, and the window will push out. You have nice blackout shades that stay in a track system, so they’re very easy to get up and down. And then you have your bug screen that comes up from the bottom.
It may have been nice that they did this reverse so that you can have your privacy shade come from the bottom, but you have both of them there, and they also can connect so you can move them both simultaneously. In addition, you get these curtains on the windows, with colour-changing LED lights above them. Currently, it’s in the purple light mode, giving it a cool look. And you have those curtains that will go all the way across, and you have these nice threads there to keep them closed up and out of the way when you don’t need them.
All of your cabinets have no handles, so you push on them to open them. Then, they have hinges that keep them open at the highest position. And then they are a… what’s it called… you push to open and close them, so they have that spring-loaded mechanism, and they’re a bit of a high-gloss finish on those cabinets.
Going back this way, the same audio system is here inside the RV. You have a mid-range and low-range speaker. This doesn’t have a subwoofer on it. We’ll keep going as we look around and see if we find one, but I think this is going to be your mid-range, low-range, and then high-range speaker there. Glass door here going to your storage, and you can see a spot there to hang clothes, and it does have an LED light strip up in the closet. Nice padded headboard here, and then storage up above this space. See how that opens up there.
As we step back again, I will use a memory foam mattress and show you how I fit on this mattress as best I can because it will be about 75 inches long. It’s not a residential queen, so let me hop up here and show you what I look like on this mattress. That will be about 75 inches because I’m 73 inches tall, and there’s just a couple of extra inches where my feet are. So, it is not a true residential queen; it doesn’t feel like it and is a custom-size mattress, as you can see. The corners are cut there, but it is a memory foam mattress, so it’s more on the firm side, which I prefer. That’s all of your personal preference.
More storage along this side, a big window over here, and then storage up here again. Underneath your bed, try to show you this as best I can with one hand. You have little compartments underneath here, so that’s your amplifier for your audio system right there. So, audio components are there. And then let’s get over to this side. See, there’s not like a, you know, storage space under this travel trailer like you might be used to seeing. That looks like it’s your furnace right there, and underneath here, you have your water heater, and you can see your water lines in that space there. And those do have some insulation wrapped around the water lines.
All right, as we turn this way, you have your water tank heating pads, so this is where you can turn on and off your heat pads. And it’s also your Thermostat controls, so you have that control panel there. And as we work into the kitchen space, three drawers pull out right here. So you can see those drawers; all three look the same size. You have a little space that most people will likely use as a pantry. That opens up again, push on it, and the latches make it open, and it’s like spring-loaded on that, so it pops it open. There, you can see your pantry storage space. Nice big window in the kitchen area. That is a huge window. Big stainless steel sink. See how my hands fit in this space? It also has a drain area where you can set things up. Storage space up above here. You have three different compartments there. And then the lighting in here is nice, too. These are a cool light tone; these puck lights are right here. Then, you have more warm lighting, and you can see that strip light up through there.
It’s interesting; the strip light is shining up and tucked down underneath here. However, this black reflective material allows you to see that light strip. So, although it’s tucked away, you can also see it simultaneously because of the reflective nature of this black plate up here. You have your vent fan. This is cool. It has a bug screen and a blackout shade and opens up. I don’t know if I haven’t played with this to open it up, but this opens up all the way, so you can open it way up or have it closed. Plus, there are also lights on here that I just realized were not on, so have that additional lighting. And then again, can pull that back to let in some natural light, so much light in here. It is very, very bright.
Right here, you have a nice black cover for your stove, a three-burner stove that opens up like so. This will give you additional countertop space. The AC is noisy. You may be able to hear it, and I will turn it off as I’m standing right under it. So, you might have been able to listen to that difference in sound once I turned it off. It is a drop-down AC here. They’re using a GE air conditioner, and with this size camper, it’s just a drop-down AC, and this space will all get cooled by this one AC. The only place you have a door is to the bathroom, but even still, the AC is so close to this bathroom; leaving that door open will also keep that cool.
So, there’s your GE AC, and the ceiling height here to the AC is probably about 6’5″. I would say let’s go with 6’5″. I went on my tiptoes, and my head did touch it, so I’m going to say 6’5″. Probably about 6’6″, no, probably 6’7″ without the sky or without the AC where that area is. Right here, you have your oven. It’s a nice basic… It’s industrial-looking with that oven. It is a Dometic-style oven underneath here. Let’s pop these open. Sometimes, it’s hard to find the right way to push on this to get some of these open, depending on what they are. Yeah, this one does not want to go for me for whatever reason.
But you can see your water pump down underneath there. Again, that insulation on the water lines. And then the same thing underneath here in the sink. You have a three-filter filtration system right there. So, those are where the filters will go, and then you have your water lines, and you can see that insulation on the lines there. And then more underneath here. Now, as we’re going through this camper too, I want to know your thoughts, so make sure to let me know down below in the comments what you think about this travel trailer and what your thoughts are on it, how it looks, how it feels, your opinions, different things like that.
And then underneath here, I don’t know if I could do it with one hand. H, it’s going to be tough. Yeah, you have a latch right here. You can see it. That’ll block this from coming out, but this does slide out, and you have those trays for additional storage. The outlet is right here in the kitchen space, and that’s the only outlet in this area. Yeah, nothing along this wall and nothing in the ceiling. Oh, is this another… Oh, I missed the light right there. There are so many different switches. Now, you can see that light switch right there.
This microwave is interesting because it is not a traditional microwave. You can see the controls right here. Right away, I might have difficulty understanding how to use this. There’s no like adding a 30-second button. There are no time buttons or functions, so it’s slightly different. It’s using a Dometic refrigerator. Love how the panelling matches the colour here on the Dometic fridge. They also could have gone with black, which would have looked equally good when you had your refrigerator and freezer. Again, remember that when I turned that AC off, it was just running off the battery system. So this camper’s designed for boondocking and things like that. Storage space all up through here. Pop this open, and you can see your storage. You have all these different storage compartments throughout this area. Again, another huge window. You have this table here. This table is interesting because it drops down and makes it into a bed about 6 feet long. But check out how easy this is. I wish every single camper had something like this in it. You flip this up and push this down. Most of the time, in campers, I don’t show the table in the down position because it just takes too much time, energy, and effort, and it takes both my hands to do it. But not this one. It was that easy, and then getting it back up was just as easy. I mean, that is sweet. I love that, and I seriously wish every RV had that function. Now, when that table’s down, you can take these cushions here, put them on top, and that will fill in that space to make this into about a 6-foot-long bed or so. It’s over 6 feet long and comfortable. These are very plush cushions. White people are more susceptible to getting dirty, so you must be more intentional about keeping them clean. But nothing wrong with being able to see the dirt, so you know that it needs to be wiped down and cleaned. Sometimes, down underneath here, you have your remote meter. This looks like it’s for your solar components; you have an outlet underneath the table. Underneath the seat is your 400 amp hour battery, so that is where the battery is. It’s a Renogy battery, and your disconnect switch is underneath it. Underside, this site is your inverter. So this is your 3,000-watt Renogy inverter underneath that booth dinette. So, it’s a very high-end power system that you’re getting in this HQ19.
Then, as we return to the bathroom, we see it’s a nice-looking bathroom with much floor space. It’s pretty decent. You have this really big bowl sink here, and that is just a massive sink. You can see all the space there and this huge wall-to-wall mirror. It needs a little cleaning on there, and then you have this mirror right here with a light bar around it, and it does swivel around. It has a zoomed-in mirror. Storage space up above. Only one single light in the ceiling. It has an LED light underneath the mirror, and your toilet is right here. The toilet space is tight because you have these bars.
When you close this, you can see a latch right here, keeping it open. Flip that up, and this allows it to slide. That’ll free up your shoulder space when you’re using the toilet. Toilet paper will go above your head, so it is a curious spot for the toilet paper roll as you will have to either get off the toilet or move the toilet paper if you sit on the toilet or reach over your head. It’s one of those different options there for you to use. And then right here, this is neat.
You have a washer-dryer combo unit here in this space. It’s so nice that they added that in. I did not expect to see that, and that’s pretty cool. You have your outlets here. Comes with a couple of different things here. I don’t know what they anticipate people to use these for, but you have those there nonetheless. Light switches here, and then your shower. The big base that you have here in the shower. You could fit two adults standing side by side in here if you want to. It might be tight for two adults.
The ceiling height is about 6 feet to the right, so it is a little tight. And then it’s about 6’1″ to 6’2″ in that shower. So, for some perspective, let me show you what I look like in this shower, being 6’1″ with my shoes off, and you’ll see that my head gets a little tight in here. So my head is touching the ceiling at its lowest point, and I can stand into the skylight, but it’s close, and, with being this close to the ceiling, I will have to duck down to get under the showerhead. It does have an adjustable height showerhead, and it’s all, you know, nice-looking appliances or fixtures here. But this here does not want to go any higher than that. I guess you can tilt it down and go like so, so I think that would get you close to getting under it if you’re 5’8″, 5’9″, or so, but not super tall. You do have the light in here, and you have the max air vent fan. And check out how nice this door is for the shower. Reminds me of, maybe, something on an airplane. It’s not a nice door, nonetheless. And then your drain there is in the corner, so something with where that drain location is, too, definitely going to have to make sure this camper is level as right now slanting backwards, and all the water would want to pool up in that corner if you’re not level.
