Reporting for duty

[swashbuckler]

Hello community of what seems to be exclusively middle-aged men,

I am a young man, and a professional student. I am currently living happily in my home town of Phoenix with my beautiful wife, but will likely relocate to Albuquerque to continue my training in July.

Growing up, my family had a junky Starcraft pop-up trailer for our regular trips to various fly-fishing locations. It was awesome.

In my adult life, I have attempted a single camping trip with a tent. It ended with me sleeping in my car, and driving home at first light. My wife, to my knowledge, has no history of camping, but she thinks TD's look awesome. So do I.

My plan: a HF 4x8 12" tires with a wooden frame widening it 5 feet, sandwich walls of foam, wooden frame, and 1/8" Luan. Same for the roof. Painted exterior for economical reasons. Gally with light weight hatch. All pulled behind my Scion xB (not rated to tow anything).

Please poke holes in my plan, then tell me how to fix them. Alternatively, stay silent and watch me flounder.

-Joshua

[ssrjim]

There are a ton of us here in Phoenix so I'm sure you can find answers to your questions locally.

Welcome and food luck.

[Shadow Catcher]

We were in a discussion with My daughter yesterday and with plans to camp in Lake Superior Provincial Park this summer, she commented that we used to disparage those camping in RV's as not real camping. To my knowledge we did not while she was growing, up but she has a valid point. It was only after we had an empty nest that we could afford the teardrop and riding lawn mower and...
There are certainly those in the community that are a good bit younger but I would guess that many are too busy to really post a great deal AND with age comes a wealth of experience. Experience in many cases gained by learning lessons the hard way.

[bobhenry]

Not rated to tow




Mine !

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And our campin buddies

[Oldragbaggers]

I'll cop to being middle aged, but not male. Welcome to the forum. Building a teardrop is a lot of fun, and a great family project. You'll find all the help and ideas you could ever want on this forum. Enjoy!!

[droid_ca]

Welcome aboard, this is a great forum...as for poking holes in your design my only suggestion would be to fill them with windows or it could get a little drafty and bugs might get in

[CliffinGA]

Welcome to the forum, and I'm not middle aged by a long shot, my body is but I don't hold that against it ! The best advice I have is to meet up with some of the great folks in Phoenix and look at their different styles of tears and make sure that this is what you want before you start building.

Cliff

[mezmo]

Hi swashbuckler/Joshua,

Welcome to the forum to you and your wife.

If you like having friends of all ages, this is a good place. The most common
elements are; loving camping, camping 'economically', and enjoying building
your own camping vehicle/unit. Add a high level of friendliness and willingness
to share tips, and offer advice and encouragement, to go along with that. It does
skew a bit towards older/middle age men, but I think that is only because TDs
and TTTs and building things are more often something we/they are familiar
with - But - once a younger person [or anyone of any age], of any gender [and
nationality - there are numerous forum members from around the world,
of all ages], finds out about 'the open secret' of TDs and TTTs, and the fun
of building, they are hooked, and enthusiam ensues. Everyone is welcome,
as long as they want to participate in a positive and friendly manner. Just
read and follow the forum's rules and their spirit - very simple to do. It is
also very tolerant and supportive of variations on the theme of TDs and TTTs.

Since you asked for comments/suggestions:
[There are a wide range of views on these, but these are some basic recommendations
that I'd offer to anyone asking.]

-Do build a 5wide versus a 4wide. Most feel the extra foot of width
is well worth it. 'Excess' space [within reason] can be ignored, needed space that
is not there is always apparent.
-Do use two doors. It will always make using the TD extremely easier. There is the safety
factor of it, but the practical benefits - especialy of making the bed - of accessing
the interior seem self-evident to me.
-If you plan on paint on wood as your exterior finish, consider using the old-tech
waterproofing method of imbedding fabric [ususlly canvas] in a first paint or primer
coat, followed with a finish paint coat over that. The Foamie section has the most
info on that.
-Check out linuxmanxxx's thin SIP method in the Foamie section too. It's a strong
lightweight method, and it seems somewhat similar to the method you mentioned
mentioned.
-Lastly, build what you want, the way you want - after doing the quantity and
level of 'research' you are comfortable with. Just try to avoid any methods that don't
promise the build integrity and longevity you need.

Happy planning.
Happy building.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[swashbuckler]

Thanks for the welcome everyone. What a warm community.

I'm excited to join your ranks as a teardrop enthusiast.

[nevadatear]

Middle aged woman here. We were all thrilled to see how many young couples were at The Dam gathering last year, so you are in good company! Welcome! Get your self to a gathering to take a close up look at some TDs!

[Greg M]

OMG! I just realized... I am middle aged! NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!

Welcome Joshua you're joining a fine bunch of folks.

-Greg

[Dean in Ct.]

Welcome! You'll love it here! (I guess if I'm middle aged that means I'm gonna live to be 112! Nooooooo!)

[Mary C]

Welcome, there are a few of us old people on here but by the time you finish your build you will be considered middle age and when you contribute to the forum you could be considered old age so it is just how you look at it. so by the way thanks for the middle age compliment. As far as expierence building I am a young kid just starting too. good luck with your build.

Mary C.

[nhstt]

Not rated to tow




Mine !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


And our campin buddies

Can you pull two at once on the road is that Legal? looks awsome!