Greetings from Northwest Indiana

[smythe012]

Howdy all,

I'm a new comer to the forum, so I figured I would say hello.

I've been scouring this site for the past couple weeks, trying to decide if I should build my own tiny trailer or hold off and wait to buy a pop up in the spring. So far here's my thinking:

-A tiny trailer can be a fun build to work on during the winter months
-It can be much more cost effective than buying a new pop up (depending on what you're wanting)
-A trailer can be towed behind my vehicle for quick weekend get a ways (around 1k lbs) compared to even the smallest pop up.

The primary downside is there's a great deal more space in most pop ups. This is big considering we have 3 labs that we'd like to take camping (maybe) or a kid in the near future.


I could extrapolate more, but I'm sure I will in the future. On a side note, some of your builds are pretty impressive and I appreciate all the public info.

-Adam

[ParTaxer]

A Skamp would be a good alternative.

[Roly Nelson]

Hi Adam, welcome to the forum. You mentioned 3 good points about enjoying a teardrop trailer. But there are more, many more. First of all, when you pull into a supermarket parking lot or a gas station, few people will come over and tell you what a beautiful little pop-up trailer you have. I find that sharing teardrop info with strangers, always brings a smile to my new friend's faces and strangely enough, a few times I have meet those same faces at one of our teardrop gatherings, with stories about how they found their perfect TD, or actually built one. How exciting is that?

If you check with some of the pop-up trailer owners they may fail to tell you how much time consuming it is to pack them for a camping trip. Also they are much heavier than a TD, plus there is the increased danger of water leaks when it is raining in the campground. Then, if they fail to set it all up again after they get home to dry it out, there is a great possibility that mold will form and the canvas and stitching will rot in time. I've met a number of folks who have shared that point with me. You will find that teardroppers spend most of their time outside of their rigs, cooking in the galley, and sharing the high points of their pride and joy. Wandering around a teardop gathering and admiring the many home-builts or restorations, makes instant friends, and who doesn't need more friends.

We all have different ideas about what a great time can be had in the "perfect camping trailer". To each his own, but I would like to encourage you to go ahead and build your own, believe me, it will change your life, plus open to door to attending wonderful TD gatherings and making a bunch of one-of-a-kind friends. Having never owned a pop up, I guess I am a bit partial to TDs, and I am sure the pop-up folks love their rigs, but may not use them as much as TDers do.
Roly.....Just my 2 cents. Remember, we are here to help, so just keep asking questions and we will answer them. (Some pop-up owners may respond differently, we'll see)

[Verna]

Welcome, Adam, from another Hoosier. You live in a wonderful state where there are many tear drops and tiny travel trailers. Look at the "Midwest" posts about our gatherings. A few hardy souls will gather for a weekend of camping in January at the annual Shiveree. There's a spring gathering at Shakamak State Park, the summer Crossroads of America gathering at McCormick's creek, and a fall gathering somewhere else. You'll find us camping most any weekend all over.

Whatever you decide to camp in is fine with us, but be sure to at least visit a gathering and introduce yourself.

Personally, I'm partial to tear drops :-)

[smythe012]

Thanks for the welcoming party!

Right now I'm in the preliminary stages (very preliminary) of designing a grasshopper-esque trailer. My wife and I are pretty serious tent campers already but are planning on having a kid in the next year or so. I was considering a pop up or tear drop so we could continue to camp with a little one (or one of our three dogs) with a little bit more comfort. We also like to camp in northern Michigan, where it can get pretty cold in the early spring or late fall (don't ask my wife about the 34 degree night I made her camp in).

I also am planning on using this trailer on some "whirlwind trips" around the midwest. I'm getting into climbing and there are some really great climbing areas 4-6 hours away from where we live. It seems like with a trailer of some sort, we could easily throw everything in the trailer, drive down after work on a Friday night and just crash when we get to our camp site.

I'm going to start generating a build plan and budget (budget is very important) what I'm hoping to create. I'm sure I'll post more soon, but I'll check the existing posts before repeating questions. Thanks ahead of time.