Black Sheep Campers: An Honest Review for Renters

There is no staffed desk. Handover is a self-service lockbox: you collect the car from a lot using access instructions sent to you, at either the BSI bus terminal in central Reykjavik or Keflavik Airport, with a free shuttle running from BSI. Returns are flexible and can be done around the clock, which suits odd flight times.

This convenience is also the operator's weak spot in reviews. The most recurring complaint by far is confusion at pickup — the car parked in a lot near BSI that is hard to find, PIN or access codes that read as confusing, and instructions that sometimes arrive late.

Because every vehicle is an SUV rather than a built-out van, there is no built-in kitchen, no water tank or sink, no toilet, and no standing height. Cooking is done outside, camp-stove style, using the included kit: a travelling stove, kettle, pots, a pan, a coffee press, plus knife, cutting board, cutlery, cups, dishes, and dishwashing supplies.

Cold storage is a passive cooling box, not a powered fridge, so plan food around ice rather than a compressor unit. Sleeping is either in the back of the vehicle or in the hard-shell roof-top tent, with a mattress, two sleeping bags, two pillows, sheets, and two bath towels included. A GPS-equipped Android tablet, WiFi hotspot, extra bedding, a 400L roof box, a jump-starter, and an additional driver are paid add-ons rather than standard.

There is no diesel or parking heater in any vehicle. A 220V electric heater is provided only from November 1 to April 15, and it needs a campsite electric hookup to run — it will not heat the car while you are parked off-grid. The two camping chairs and table that come with summer rentals are removed in winter.

This matters because a minority of reviewers find sleeping in the back of a small 4x4 too tight or too cold, even as many others praise the roof tent as warm and comfortable. The website's winter inclusions are described as unclear, so confirm exactly what heating and gear your dates include before booking a cold-season trip.

Insurance is sold in three tiers, and the base all-in price already includes CDW, third-party liability, and personal accident cover. The catch is the self-risk: on the Standard tier it sits around ISK 360,000 (roughly EUR 2,400-2,500). Buy-up tiers lower it — Premium adds Super CDW, Gravel, Theft, and Sand & Ash protection (reducing several excesses toward zero), and Platinum takes Super CDW, Gravel, Theft, and Sand & Ash all to ISK 0 with no deposit. Treat the exact ISK figures as approximate. Black Sheep's own FAQ recommends adding Gravel plus Sand & Ash protection for Iceland.

On the direct site no deposit is taken at booking — full payment is due before pickup — but a security-card imprint or hold is taken at handover, and its size varies by the insurance tier you choose. Bring the payment card and be ready for that hold at pickup.

The most repeated positive is responsive, friendly staff — fast email and WhatsApp replies and flexibility at pickup come up again and again. Travelers also praise how fully equipped the campers feel: bedding plus a complete cooking kit leave people feeling self-sufficient for a full Ring Road trip without buying extra gear.

The 4x4s themselves earn good marks for reliability and value, with reviewers noting the Duster and Jimny handled Iceland's terrain fine and ran economically. Sleeping comfort gets more praise than you'd expect for a sleep-in-your-4x4 setup, with the roof tent in particular called warm and comfortable, and many travelers describing pickup as easy once the detailed instructions are in hand.

Self-service pickup and lockbox confusion is the single most recurring complaint: the car left in a lot near BSI that's hard to find, PIN or access codes that read as confusing, and instructions that can arrive late. Some older Dusters are reported to show tire-pressure warning lights.

A minority find sleeping in the back of a small 4x4 too tight or too cold — a real trade-off of the format, even though warm-sleeping praise is more common. The most pointed single review is the Oct 2025 Trustpilot one-star over a moldy roof-top tent, where a refund was refused because the problem wasn't flagged during the rental. Several travelers also note the website's winter inclusions are unclear.

Across Google (4.9 from 148), Trustpilot (4.5 from 39), and Northbound (9.1/10 from 103), Black Sheep reads as a genuinely well-liked small operator whose weak spot is the handover logistics, not the vehicles or the people. The vehicles are described as reliable and the team as responsive; the friction is almost entirely at the self-service key-box.

There is very little discoverable Reddit or travel-forum footprint for the Iceland operator, so the picture leans on these review platforms rather than deep community discussion. One disambiguation matters: this is blacksheepcampers.is in Reykjavik, not the unrelated France/Switzerland company at blacksheep-van.com.