Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **benjamin** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:04 pm

If I am in the wrong place with this thread I am sorry. I have 2 kids that camp with me almost all of the time. Being a family of four we will not fit in a TD and most of the time I do not see this being a problem. But I have to know are there others who camp with the TD and take there kids and if so how do you pull it off? Where do you put them? Most of the time I will have the larger camper but with the price of gas I can not justify even starting up the Suburban to move it let alone take it any were. So we have been talking that if we get the TD done by the end of summer maybe we could use it but that brings up what to do with the kids.

by **mikeschn** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:24 pm

When we had 2 kids with us, we put them in a tent! Their bones are young enough to sleep on the damp ground with rocks in their back! No way were the adults going to sleep on the ground!!!

Mike...

by **campadk** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:31 pm

We have my son 1/2 time, so he comes with us on some trips. He is 13 so its no problem for him in his own tent... in fact he enjoys having his own space, he just loves camping!

If your kids are younger, you might have to draw straws and one adult sleep with a youngin or two, the other gets to watch 'Finding Nemo' in comfort in the tear with one of the kids

Now as Mike mentioned... sleeping in the tent maybe a bit hard on the back.. unless you have a good mattress. I suggest you 'load' the straw draw beforehand

If your the perfect parents however, you'll let the kids have the tear and you'll sacrifice for the kids.. ha ha!

by **Rob** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:35 pm

Benjamin-
When I was 3 years old the family travelled from Maryland to California in a 16' Shasta trailer. My brother was 8 and my sisters were 10 and 12. My folks and the dog slept inside, the kids outside in sleeping bags on a tarp under the stars. It took us two months to cross the country because we travelled one day and stayed for two. That gave the kids an opportunity to burn off some energy. We had done quite a bit of camping on the east and west coast before then, and since. If it rained the kids were allowed to sleep inside, but we usually didn't want to due to our independence.
Rob

by **benjamin** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:15 pm

The wife and I were talking that may have to be the case. With the age of my daughter she may not be willing to stay in side with her brother so it may come down to one night the women get the ground and the next night the guys get it. That is even if the thing rolls by the end of summer but it will come up next year as well. If we stay in the truck and pop up there wont be a problem but we shall see how the summer plays out.

by **theborgs** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:58 pm

We have 2 kids, 4 and 8. We are trying to come up with a plan that would have a slightly taller roof and working in two hanging cots. In in the front and one in the rear. That would not leave a lot of head room for the adults and at this time we do not even know if it would work. If it does we will post pics!

by **mikeschn** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:01 pm

theborgs, welcome to the forum... I think

You're not going to assimilate us are you? :lol:

The teardrop that Andrew and JimQPublic are working on has a lot of potential for you as well. Have you seen it?

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 4922#24922

Mike...

by **David Grason** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:06 pm

campadk wrote: I suggest you 'load' the straw draw beforehand

You're surely NOT suggesting that we be dishonest with the younger ones, are you? What kind of example do you think that would set?

:twisted:

Actually, it's a damn good idea. Just don't get caught! :thumbsup:

by **theborgs** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:17 pm

Vary cool!!! :applause:

I love the idea of putting the bunks in front. With the kids being short we could stick to the 5'wide idea and just make it 30 in. longer. :twisted:

When the grow to over 5' they can sleep out in tents. I love it! It keeps with the shape of the teardrop but gives you the exter sleeping area. When the kids out grow the space we put up doors and have some where to store more gear. Thank you for the idea!

You're not going to assimilate us are you?

No worries about that we like the teardrop shape much more then the cube!!

by **Woody** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:18 pm

SImple solution, when we camp the wife and I and two kids 6 and 11 plus dog. My son and I sleep in the teardrop and the wife and little one sleep in a three room tent with the dog. Everyone is happy and so far no problems

by **benjamin** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:28 pm

That would be a thought. We had talked about leaving out the kitchenette for a while. We would frame for it and put in what would be the uppers but that would allow us to do some thing like that it would just mean one of the kids would be next to our heads and leave the other to fall on up in the middle of the night. When they got older we could remove the bunks, slide out bed back and install the lower cabinets. We had even talked about making the cabinets removable and just pull them out and night kind of a transformer. My son 9 sleeps in a tent by him self now. He wouldn’t have a lot of time in one of the bunks that is even if he makes it through the summer in one. He is really big for his age. He looks like a 5th grader. Any way we had talked that for a trip or two we may be able to share the bed with the blond one. Yes the blond one she is a monster and yes I can say that about her. She is the one we are running into problems placing being only 5. (Just shy of 6) We had talked about a fold down bunk but with the TD being only 4’ high it just sounds like it would be a bit tight. It is looking like some one on one time with the kids in a tent.

by **jimqpublic** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:40 pm

I was fascinated by teardrops and thought one would be perfect for my wife and me. Then we were working on a baby and I was still thinking a 5x10' teardrop with a crosswise bunk for the child. We decided that we wanted two kids though so that would have been just a temporary solution.

In the end we got the Chalet because it would sleep all of us.

We could have gone with a teardrop though- it wouldn't have been used for sleeping though. Instead it would have been storage for the camping gear, kitchen, and a great lounge/dining room. Not a bad idea as it would be light, easily towed, easily garaged, etc. If well insulated it would be a decent respite from the noonday sun. Good modern tents are great and go up easily so not a big problem when sleeping. To be honest if it came down to a raging gale the four of us could sack out in the teardrop and/or car overnight if we didn't want to deal with a tent.

What I find with our Chalet is that it's somewhat redundant. I really like cooking outdoors so I'm always ducking in and out to grab food and supplies. I wish I had a teardrop kitchen!

by **campadk** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:54 pm

David Grason wrote:
campadk wrote: I suggest you 'load' the straw draw beforehand

You're surely NOT suggesting that we be dishonest with the younger ones, are you? What kind of example do you think that would set?

Actually, it's a damn good idea. Just don't get caught!

No silly... the draw of the straw is with your wife! :lol:

by **benjamin** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:00 pm

I can not justify buying another camper. I just paid off the big thing. I have the pop up covered it is a fully loaded Coleman Utah with a lot of extras and it is just too big for some applications thus the intro of the tear drop. My coupe will pull it if I empty the thing out but when I am done it is one heavy bed and it just does not look right behind it. I will find a way to make this work. Maybe she can stay with grandma those weekends. :roll:

by **robfisher** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:32 pm

When presented with two new kids I threw this thing together. It works great.

<IMG SRC="http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL348/902034/1845024/89391636.jpg">

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Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

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