ABOUT

Krystal-Zack-RV

Going Bigger, Bolder With a Lot More Fun

Zack Eichler and Krystal Fitzpatrick are overlanders, storytellers, and builders who turned a former military M1087 FMTV into “Bantha,” a go-anywhere, off-grid tiny home on wheels that doubles as a rolling invitation to adventure and community. Their travels, photos, videos, and book capture not just how to build a truck like Bantha, but how to build a life that’s bigger, bolder, and a lot more fun.

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About Zack and Krystal

Some might call them “rogues” who make their own rules. Zack and Krystal are the kind of couple who look at a 6x6 military truck and see a blank canvas instead of a surplus vehicle.  Bantha, their M1087 FMTV with factory slide‑outs, began life as a retired Army communications shelter and is now an overbuilt, off‑grid tiny house designed to go almost anywhere and feel like home when it arrives. They didn’t just “buy an RV.”

Zack hunted down a Bantha from a private seller, then dove into a ground‑up conversion to turn it into an expedition rig with a rugged exterior and an industrial‑meets‑luxury interior. From the outside, Bantha still looks like a serious military machine, but inside you’ll find a thoughtfully laid‑out living space that expands when the slides are cranked out by hand, creating a shockingly roomy home once they’re parked in camp.

Their story has been featured across the overlanding and tiny‑house world, inspiring people who thought “that’s crazy” to quietly start wondering, “could we do that too?” Between their YouTube channel, social posts, and public appearances, they’ve helped redefine what’s possible with FMTV platforms and big‑rig overlanding.

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 Life with Bantha 

Bantha is a 1990s‑era Stewart & Stevenson M1087 FMTV, originally built as an expanding shelter truck in the U.S. military.

It’s huge, slow, and incredibly capable, earning its Star Wars‑inspired name from the lumbering but fiercely loyal Banthas that carry Tusken Raiders across harsh desert planets. On the road, Bantha typically returns 5–6 mpg, which means Zack and Krystal are very intentional about their routes and their pace.

That slower, deliberate style has become a core part of their philosophy: move with purpose, stay long enough to truly know a place, and prioritize experiences over mileage.

When they stop for the night, the truck’s expanding sides slide out to create a wide, comfortable interior that feels more like a compact apartment than a camper.

From remote desert tracks to forest trails and festival grounds, Bantha lets them carry their home, their work, and their creative studio wherever the next story is waiting.

Work, Creativity, and the Book Roots, Community, and Giving Back Why People Follow Their Journey
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Work, Creativity, and the Book

Zack and Krystal don’t just travel in Bantha; they’ve turned the entire journey into a platform for storytelling, creativity, and teaching. Their videos, interviews, and long form features walk through everything from the technical side of converting a military truck into an expedition rig to the very human side of what it means to live full time in something that gets 5–6 mpg. They’ve also written a book that shares the mindset and the methods behind making a leap like this, how to sell the dream, manage the fear, and navigate the path from “normal life” to life in a 20,000-plus-pound rolling tiny house. It’s part how-to, part love letter to overlanding, and part permission slip for couples who feel the pull toward a bigger adventure together. Along the way, they’ve appeared in tiny house media, off-road and overland publications, and enthusiast communities where Bantha regularly pops up as the reference point for what an M1087-based overland build can be. Their rig has inspired other builders who are now openly citing Bantha as the starting point for their own “blank canvas” truck projects.

Get the book today!
Krystal-Fitzpatrick

Roots, Community, and Giving Back

Off the trail, Krystal has built a parallel career as a “Manufacturing Matchmaker,” connecting manufacturers with high precision solutions and helping students discover modern manufacturing careers. She’s worked with manufacturers, education departments, and industry partners across the U.S., bringing the same energy she brings to overlanding to real-world workforce projects and technical problem-solving. That mix of rugged travel and professional expertise means their community spans campsites, shop floors, and classrooms. Whether they’re at a festival, an overland meetup, or on a Zoom call from a remote campsite, Zack and Krystal show up as approachable, funny, and unpretentious guides to a lifestyle that could easily come off as intimidating.

Connect with Krystal on LinkedIn
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Why People Follow Their Journey

People connect with Zack and Krystal because they prove that you can be both practical and wildly adventurous at the same time. They’re transparent about what it actually takes, time, effort, money, problem solving, to build and live in a rig like Bantha, while still keeping a sense of humor about breakdowns, bad fuel economy, and learning things the hard way.For some, they’re the “someday” inspiration, the couple in the huge green truck that makes you dream a little bigger when you see them roll by. For others, they’re a blueprint: proof that with enough determination, creativity, and teamwork, you really can turn a military truck into a tiny home, hit the road, and write your own story along the way.

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