Stealthy: Storyteller Overland Stealth Mode 4x4

The Storyteller Overland Mode Stealth is a fantastic adventure van that is well equipped and well stocked by its owner, Darrin. The van itself is fantastic. We rented for 4 days and stayed 3 nights in state parks and one night at a brewery. We didn't go as much off grid as we originally planned due to an injury that happened before the trip. Instead, we went for 1 day at Franconia Notch and 3 day son the Maine coast.

Even though not really off grid, we didn't plug in the whole time and refilled the water only once (at a campground). The electrical system is great. We ran the fan, refrigerator, water pump and heat as needed, lights, and recharged our phones and gadgets each night. We also used the microwave and induction stove 1 or two times a day. The power system never went below 70% and was always recharged with our daily drives of 2-4 hours. It is so much nicer than a generator. Definitely what I will get if I purchase a van.

The storage space under the bed is large and very useful. It was our first time in a van, and we brought more stuff than we needed. However, a road bike with the front wheel off still fit easily below the bed along with our other stuff and the stuff already in the van (see below).

We never used either the indoor or outdoor shower because they were available at the campgrounds we stayed at when needed. The cassette toilet was handy (essential) at night. We used other facilities during the day. We washed dishes and brushed teeth in the van, using the diesel-fuel-powered water heater and internal fresh water supply as needed. We emptied the gray water once at a dump station at a campground and the cassette toilet once into a toilet. That was all easy and great.

Our 30 year old son met us one night and slept on the Groove Lounge. He is 6'1" and it was barely long enough for him. He brought camping air mattress and a sleeping bag and said it was better than sleeping not he ground, but not as nice as the bed. My wife and I slept very well in the bed. One night we were not flat and there was a little rolling to the back, but it didn't impact sleep too much. The mattress had nice firmness. We are both about 5'7" and the sleeping space was long enough. A lot taller and you might be a little compressed vertically. The window shades took a little figuring out to know which went where, but when in place made the van super dark. The insulation was great at eliminating campsite noise, and the fan and windows made ventilation good and the van a comfortable temperature without AC. The cabinets overhead were a bumping hazard, but are soft and we learned quickly to be careful.

The van drives like a truck, as expected (we had never driven a sprinter-class van before). The driving position is very high and we felt like we were driving a go cart when we returned and drove our Highlander. I didn't mind it, but my wife felt a bit uncomfortable on narrow rough roads. The road noise was a little more than I expected, possibly because the tires have pretty aggressive tread. It wasn't bad, but is definitely noisier than our Highlander. It was not loud enough to make it hard to listen to vocal recordings, but we did have to turn up the volume.

There is a flip down table that is very nice for cooking outside. There is an electrical outlet near it that made that easy. There isn't a lot of counter space, as expected. It is nice that the sink has a cover and so can double as counter space when needed. The refrigerator worked great. In fact, the initial setting of 7 was too cold and froze some things that were right against the freezer. We only used the freezer for gel packs for our cooler for the way home. Those were frozen very solid, so it definitely works. It is pretty small, however. There is one small shelf in the refrigerator that pulls out when you remove things from the shelf below. Other than that the space was easy to use efficiently (milk has to be stored lying down).

The van has at least 2 internal double AC outlets and at least 2 double USB-A power ports powered by the Li battery system. There are also two USB-A ports up near the bluetooth player. We never did use the player, but we did use one USB-A port near it because the other USB-A ports have always-on bright blue LEDs. I have a pet peeve against those, so simply plugged my own multi-port USB adapter into an AC outlet and kept the built-in USB-A ports closed.

The van is equipped with lots of safety features like adaptive cruise control and lane departure (but not lane holding). The cameras made parking and getting into campsites very easy, even with a bike rack on the back. I really like the 20-foot length as it can fit into a regular parking space. Our hitch-mounted bike rack made it too long to fit in a regular parallel parking space, but we were able to find places with 2 spaces in a row that worked, and most pull-in places were just fine.

The van has 3 USB-C electrical ports in the front of the van and Darrin has an adapter in the cigarette lighter port that provides 2 USB-A ports for use while driving. It is equipped with Google play and (probably the Android equivalent), so we didn't make much use of the built-in navigation or audio. There is a tray on the dash with a lid to house your phone, but mine overheated when in there (it was a hot sunny day). Unfortunately, Mercedes doesn't have a way to get your cable out with the door closed. Having the door to that tray open didn't impact visibility, so we mostly kept it open.

The van was very well equipped: quality linens and cooking utensils, paper towels and toilet paper, coffee, tea and sugar (which we don't use), and a bunch of other things. There are chairs to sit on the roof and games for the campsite. We didn't use those and in retrospect should have asked not to take them since storage space is a premium.

Darrin was very flexible in the pickup and drop-off and gave us a good tour of the van. The only think he forgot to show us is where the fuel tank filling was located. It took us a few minutes and some googling to figure out that there is a small door just behind the driver's side door that hides the fuel cap. You can't access it or even see it with the door closed.

We had an amazing time in Stealthy, and Darren is an amazing host who pays attention to all the small details. It’s amazing that Darren is so knowledgeable of the Storyteller Overlands, he works with them day in and day out. You can tell that he’s passionate about these machines as he knows so much about the secrets to using them. If you’re looking to rent this as a trial before you buy, it’s a great idea to do it with Darren!!!!! Literally, this camper van is impeccable (our pictures don’t do it justice because we have kids stuff everywhere!).