Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

What a neat forum !...I've watched it for a few days & thought it time to jump in & join you smart people....My partner (background in boatbuilding)& I am are at the stage of design for the hatch in the fiberglass plug (original mold) How important is a sink to teardroppers? We can permanently mold one in or a recessed area, but this results in less valuable counter space. Also, drawers vs 'cubby holes' for baskets and/or tupperware containers. Any input will be appreciated. At this point, nothing is set in stone, but with fiberglass, apparently we need to do what is practical for most & go with it. Thanks !

Welcome, rv gal. As I'm not a teardrop user, I'll leave it for others to answer your question.

You may have noticed that there are plenty of other people here with an interest in boatbuilding and a good few with fiberglass experience, so plenty of us would like to see what you're doing. So I hope you'll post pictures of your plug-making - after all, the idea of a teardrop (or even a fiberglass teardrop) isn't new.

Andrew

RV Gal

I am using a pull out drawer to mount my sink in. I do not know if it is the best way, but I did save the counter space this way. I invite you to check my photos on the site listed below

Welcom. The folks on this forum are great.

kai

I'll be happy to round up some pictures this evening ...I haven't participated in a forum before & I may be a little slow here at first!

Sinks, If you feel that you need one,install one. I installed one in the galley of my teardrop my wife loves it. Some people would rather have more counter space. I made a plate that covers the sink in times when more counter space is neeed(cutting board) It does take space from the cabinet below. It does help when hauling stove fuel and torch fuels, if they leak the mess is contained.

IMHO you need a sink. Doesn't have to be a big sink, but at least a sink. With out one, you will have to carry a dish pan, which is not much fun, and takes up space also. I have had RV's that had the cutting board cover that Woody mentioned and that is a good idea.

Welcome to the group. I don't have a sink in any of my tears. I like to be flexible in my packing and storage area. A rectangular pan takes up little space when you use it as a container for other stuff while in transit. You also don't have to worry about leaks or splashing water around galley area. You can also take it elsewhere for washing body, shaving etc. I usually only have one pan to wash at a time and maybe a spatula as I use plastic and paperware for eating.

In my circumstance we're dealing with more of a "tiny travel trailer" than a teardrop - but I don't see the vital importance of a sink (or a built-in stove for that matter).

We do all our cooking and cleaning outside anyway. I want camping to be a mostly outdoor experience - well... with a cushy bed at the end of the day...

For cleaning dishes - we use a varient on the standard Scouts method. We bring along two plastic dishes. One with soap for washing and one without for rinsing.

We're typically doing that either on the picnic table or a small folding table - but the same could be done on the rear countertop of a teardrop pretty easily. Makes better use of limited counter space if it alternates between food prep, cooking and cleaning space. When the stove or cleaning bins aren't being used, they're easily stowed.

mkw

Hi RV Gal, and welcome!

I'd like to see some pictures too! As for the sink, we do ours in a square plastic tub also! I've thought a sink might be nice, but it would sure waste a lot of space.

Mike...

Hey there RV Gal! Welcome to the group! I am pretty new myself, and busy working on my first tear. I am located in Western Washington, just outside of Seattle.

I am going to be putting a Flamineta oven/two burner stove in mine as well as a small sink. I used to do the whole tent camping, set everything involved in cooking on the picnic table (if there was one) and clean everything under the spigot (if there was one) in a large tupperware container......but......I became enamored with the teardrop trailers, because I saw them as a way to fit all that cooking stuff that I really wanted right in the back! No having to set anything up on a picnic table anymore, just lift the hatch and your ready to go!! And, even though the oven is a wee bit extravagant, I love the idea of waking up some chilly morning in a beautiful spot off in the Cascade Mountains with a steaming cup of hot coffee and some fresh baked cinnamon buns! YUMMY!!!!! BTW, the sink that I am putting in consists of a metal mixing bowl from a local Fred Meyers store (only cost $5), which I plan to cut a hole in, using a bi-metal hole saw. I'll then run the waste water into a collapsible water container from go-rv.com ( http://www.go-rv.com/coast/do/catalog/p ... ageNum=408 ). The faucet is a hand pump faucet from JC Whitney ( http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Prod ... 11/c-10107 ). I don't mind having to pump the water out, I could always use a little bit of exercise, and it is one less electric item pulling from the battery.

Anyhow, good luck with the fiberglass tear, I am really looking forward to seeing some pics of the progress!
Amy

welcome to the group RV Gal,, First as to your quesions of sinks, its a matter of personal preference but for me it was not a priority, I use paper plates and my clean up is minimal,,I use the plastic wash tub wash and rince method and I save the space for something else like a coffee pot,,now we talking a real priority,,
next on your question on cabinets in the galley,,I would love to have really beautiful ones in the ggalley but alas I am not a cabinet builder,, therefore I opted for pull out baskets on a shelf, they actually work very good, when I am getting ready to go camping I pull 4 out on the kitchen cabinet and put in or pull out what I need for that trip, slide them back in and I am done, if you look at the shot of my tear on the hall of fame you can see the rear shot with baskets and also a/c in the top middle of the galley,
ok now get busy and join us at a gathering,,

chip

The lifting of a hatch, that unveils an awesome outdoor kitchen, is what hooked me on the teardrop.
I say, "What's a kitchen without a sink?"

My galley sink is a rectangular plastic pan sold in the stores as a kitty litter pan. It's large and when traveling it holds my Coleman® five gallon water tank. I omitted the built in sink mainly because of all the wasted real estate it takes up under the counter. Also many campgrounds won't let you drain under the trailer and you have to somehow catch the gray water. Just my 3¢

Denny

Thanks for the input...although a small molded in sink would look nice, we're leaning toward more counter space, too...what a great image of that first cup of coffee in the morning! Chip, your kitchen area looks very practical and user friendly. We're going with a little trailer which resembles one we saw on the net (teardrop 2000) but taller for interior height and more rounded. Apparently, posting pictures is a little more involved than I thought. I see some of you are using 'Yahoo' (?) so I'll do a little more research...Our fiberglass 'plug' is off to the people who know how to make it into an actual little trailer, so it'll be a couple weeks before we'll be starting the actual 'building' of the trailer..This is going to be an exciting adventure for us. And, yes, I'll be checking into the Northwest gatherings for next Summer. Getting back to basics in camping is inviting...

My sink shouldn't take up any of the valuable counter space, because it is going to be mounted on a slide-out that mounts under the counter. I haven't quite figured out all of the faucet details yet, it will need to collapse somehow.
If I end up scraping the slide-out idea, I'll be able to make an insert to give me the counter space back when the sink is not being used.