"the luxury tent"

[Mary C]

when telling people what I was planning to build i got dumb founded stares and lots of comments and the best thing I could say was mine was a hard tent and sleeping off the ground on a nice thick mattress. I didn't have to get on my knees to crawl into it and all i had to do was open the door and get in. there is no set up tent time. If I get to a campsite after dark all I have to do is climb in no more setting up the tent in the dark. I actually have friends saying yea not a bad idea. I can't wait till I get to show them mine.

Mary C.

[Lonnie Mac]

Well, been renting a TD for a while now. Finally got a start on the build!

The funniest thing I always get from others that I discuss the whole TD thing with, is that oh, you ain't gonna like that, you will be wanting an RV and wish you hadn't wasted your time.

Ha!

[indycamper]

I tend to tell folks that it's a bedroom on wheels, with cooking stuff in the back.

This afternoon someone ran over to me as I was leaving the campground and asked "is that one of those things like they had in the 40s? What's it cost? Where do you buy them?" He was very excited to have finally seen one! His wife wasn't that excited, inching the car along until he had to pretty much run after it!

[Gladtobehere]

I only have a 5x7 so it is literally a queen size bed on wheels. No kitchen under the hatch just a little storage space and an instant seat for the first beer. Yes, it was the setup/takedown time that drove me to a tear. However, I have a dream for an Alto. A standup teardrop made entirely of aluminum. Push button setup. Gorgeous and made in Canada.......You can tell by the price.

[Woodbutcher]

Most people that I run into are genuinely interested in what this thing is. Many can't believe I sleep in it. I travel with my dog sometimes and have been asked if it's where the dog sleeps? I say yes, she is on the right side.
I usually tell people, "bedroom up front, kitchen in the rear, and the whole world is my living room" Most people love the little trailers.

[Nobody]

I've always told folks that my TD is only one step up from tent camping but, it's a biiig step

[pete42]

Twice a year for the past 4 years I head over to my closes state park just to see if an owner of a TD is there
I've missed him once in the past 4 years, seems he takes a week off in the spring and again in the fall just
so he can relax from the stress of work
Now he takes other vacations but they are with his family and they like hotels/motels and lots of things to do,
so he spends his two weeks in camp alone just him his radio and his TV and teardrop trailer,
well not quite alone there is always someone at his site looking at his tear

[robfisher]

I've always told folks that my TD is only one step up from tent camping but, it's a biiig step

Forgot just how big that step really is until this last week. Went tent camping down in Moab, UT for Jeep Week. 19 degree mornings in a tiny backpack tent, trying to get dressed without freezing to death. It just wasn't in the cards to pull a tear as I was riding with someone else. My tow vehicle was in the shop. Won't do it again. There's always next year will be my motto.

I love my tear!

[Shadow Catcher]

What I find interesting is the number of folks that have some idea of what a teardrop is, then I get to explain ours is a large teardrop with all the things a conventional RV has minus an inside toilet or shower. Only once did some one come over and ask if it was a cricket, close but it is a grasshopper design.

[DMcCam]

Hey Mike, It's funny, I thought you had sighted Thomas's L.T. teardrop, 'the Luxury Tent' in your neighborhood! I too thought it was one of the best descriptions of the essence of a Teardrop Trailer; the perfect name.

Cheers,

Dave

[JuneBug]

I have tent camped for many many years and have ALWAYS hated the sound of the tent fly flapping in the wind. This past November we were camping with friends at Seminole Canyon State Park, about 20 miles from Del Rio, TX, on the US-Mexico border. Trees are few and far between and windy to really windy is normal out there. We had quiet and therefore great nights sleep in our van*, and all of our friends who were tenting had 2 miserable nights listening to their tents flapping in the wind. Being inside a van or teardrop also means you don't have to listen to annoying neighbors in adjacent campsites (unless you have the windows open for ventilation--but that is a different story).

We have rented a teardrop before (a Little Guy 5 Wide) and I really enjoyed the snugness of it; it did not feel claustrophobic at all.
And, as Tom Bodette said, it all looks the same with the lights out.

*I think of our van as a teardrop with an engine. We take out the rear seats and put in a sleeping platform with storage underneath. The square footage and layout are just about identical to the typical teardrop (5 x 7), each sleeper has his/her own door (a must), and there is a hatch in the back! This will do until I get around to retirement in July and am considering building a VERY simple teardrop then.

[campmaster-k]

I just tell people that Teardrops are good, tents are bad.

[Martinjmpr]

I think "luxury tent" is a good way of putting it.

I've described ours as a "hard-sided tent."

We talked with a guy at a KOA last year. He said he and his wife had started with a tent, then went to a tent trailer, then a bigger trailer, finally up to one of those huge motor homes.

He said it was a PITA to maintain and he wished he could convince his wife to go back to something simple so they could just enjoy camping instead of having a motor home, which is like having another house + another car to maintain.

I like the "social" feeling of the teardrop. It forces you to be outside. When we go to KOAs we usually park next to a big motor home or 5th wheel and it's amazing (and a little depressing) at how often people just sit inside their RVs with the AC on watching TV. Might as well be at home!

[Shadow Catcher]

I have occasionally said "think of it as a hard sided tent".

[2bits]

I thought you were talkng about my old girl too, then I read on and it still fits. The name of mine was coined by my ex girlfriend who spoke very matter of factly and described it as a luxury tent and I said wow... I think you just changed the name and the "LT" was born...