The younger generation?

[working on it]

Frankly, I'm surprised at the growing interest shown by the younger folks; they weren't exposed to the small trailer boom of the postwar years. I became infatuated long ago, in the waning years of the "golden age" of teardrop construction after WW2. I was born in '50, lived all of my life in the DFW area, and saw plenty of trailers built by aircraft workers (using their wartime skills and surplus aluminum) that lived in the area. DFW had a lot of aircraft/defense industry in the '50-60's era. Many a TD was built in the backyards of those skilled men (and women...my Grandmother was a riveter during and after the war, though she never built a trailer, darnit). As I previously related in an earlier post, having seen many homebuilts, I wanted one as a kid. After the Scouts, as an adult I stopped pup tent camping (camped in my car, mostly) in the mid-late '70s, and having lost the camping bug, I never got around to building or buying one. Only after my wife returned from a Crypto-zoological expedition, sick, and with all clothing and the inside of her tent wetter than the outside, did I revive the dream of a "hardtop" tent. For her (at first). So that's what I built. We already have a factory built tagalong, but it can't go where tents can (and it is a business trailer, only). I rejected canvas pop-ups as an intermediate step between tents and full-size trailers, since my neighbors in the last few decades have had much canvas rot away...besides, to be true to the memories of the postwar TD's, I had to try a 4x8 plan (the original size, pretty much). Since I am not a woodworker, and I wanted to build strong, bolts and thick (unbent) plywood were my choice of materials. Thus my TTT differed from the idealized memories, but in form only, not purpose. But, during my long build, whenever I talked to those a generation (or two) younger than I, none had ever seen an old-time TD, maybe just a modern TAB or Casita (born in Texas, you know). Now finished, my (supposedly my wife's) TTT will be used to get back to camping, but in a way I dreamed as a boy. I sorta wish I had kids to do this, at an earlier stage of life, but I (we) had better do it now, while we can.

[dguff]

I don't see any need to appeal to any group to get into teardropping. If anyone of any age is interested they will find us and find a way to get involved. We should not have to recruit, the lifestyle is there for all. I do need to refute Slowcowboy's comment about the average age of teardroppers. His comments are based upon two very small gatherings with many of the same participants for the two years. Definitely not a representative sample and typical of his gross generalizations. Since 2005 I have been to about 15 large gatherings (over 60 teardrops) and another 15 or 20 smaller gatherings (20 to 40 tears) and I would say the average age of the participants is at least 55. I don't see this as any kind of problem or issue. It is what it is. So be it!!

Jerome

[Catherine+twins]

Okay, I'm 52, hardly the "younger" generation, but I have 11-year old twins (twelve next month), so I will stand in momentarily for the 30-somethings.

My grand-parents had a tent-top camper, with room for a family of 5 if one kid slept on the floor. My grandfather built it in the 40s. When my parents married and spent their first summer together camping in a canvas umbrella tent (my dad was doing field research for his PhD in geology--in the Colorado Rockies, of course!) with a new-born baby, Grandpa gave them the trailer. We camped in it every summer until I was 11, when the frame of the trailer got broken on a really bad "road" (cow trail), my parents divorced, my dad married a non-camper, and life as I had known it ended. (It's okay, my step-mom and I are really good friends now, but she never did take to camping. She and Dad took a number of separate vacations so she could cruise and he could camp.)

Anyway, one of my first purchases in my early 20s was a tent so I could go camping again. An old canvas umbrella tent, in fact, for rather glamorous remote car camping with a bunch of friends who had similar tents and styles. I soon decided that I didn't like sleeping on the "floor" any more, so I bought a cot. And a chair. And a table. A kitchen set up. I was a single woman with a big station wagon, and later a cross-over SUV, just for my camping stuff. No room for anyone else, just my stuff! And that worked in my 20s and 30s.

At 40 I had twins, and suddenly I was filling the car just with their stuff. No room for my glamping stuff. We went on one camping trip with my big old canvas tent, my cot, their little air mattresses and sleeping bags, a much reduced kitchen, and a fence (transported on top of the car) to go around the front of the tent to keep them in control. (They still got away from me for a while! Fortunately my "village" was there to help me round them up.) It was exhausting!!!

I bought a used pop-up trailer. My Subaru could barely pull it, its canvas was rotting, and so was its plywood floor. We used it for 2 years. But setting it up and taking it down was, you got it, exhausting!

We have toned it down since then. I bought a nylon tent and reduced our tent weight by about 60 lbs. We are wall-to-wall air mattresses and cot (I'm really too old to sleep on the ground now), but happy. Ricky got into scouting for 4 years, so we have kept camping, but we have done most of our camping in sites with picnic tables. I don't bring my kitchen set up any more, other than a Coleman stove, gear box, and small ice chest. We buy our food supplies in the town nearest to our camp site.

It's still exhausting!

I was thinking of building a tent trailer, like my grandfather did, when I found this site. But I liked the idea of a teardrop or a small camp trailer (more likely the latter, with 2 kids). So Penguino I was born. It really only got used for one full camping trip, and blew over on the way to the second. However, it got USED a LOT! Dear son claimed it as his "man cave" ("BOY CAVE!" dear daughter and I reminded him many times!). It became his club house, with the boy twins down the street, as it sat in our driveway, in various stages of completion. Now he is getting rather impatient that the Penguino II is not completed yet, because he needs his boy-cave space!

Anyway, I took July off, but got back to work on P II today. Ricky, at a guess, will build his own foamy man-cave camper as soon as he has his own car in 5 or 6 years. (Patsy wants my car eventually, so she will probably want my trailer, too. Then I will start working on my "retirement" teardrop rather than a family trailer.)


We're having fun, and we fully intend to keep on camping! In COMFORT!

Catherine

[absolutsnwbrdr]

I still act like I'm young, so I'll speak for the Generation X and Y folks. Up until I had the resources, I never would have dreamed of getting any type of RV or teardop. My young body didn't care about staying in Tent City. My 42 year old self is saying that a mattress sounds pretty good. My younger self wanted to hike and canoe as far away from people as possible and enjoy nature. Seems like a majority of the teardrop community loves get together and gatherings. I wouldn't have been able to afford one 20 years ago, as most younger people live paycheck to paycheck and can't reach in the pocket and rub 2 nickels together. Is it crazy that I'm building one, even though I've never seen one in person, yes? But, that is my youthful spirit taking a chance. I believe that vintage teardrops will become popular with younger hipsters as they get jobs and can afford it. You're all only as old as you act, so do a naked Chinese fire-drill around your teardrop next time you're in camp.

I think that this is one of the big reasons - finances. Yes, teardrops are inexpensive, relatively speaking. But to a kid right out of high school, or a starving college student, a tent is a whole lot more comfortable because of how cheap it is

There are a "few" people younger than me building TD's or interested in them. I am 34. And I am probably a little too wild for most people that own TD's. So we will see how this "gathering" thing goes.

I just hate to see something cool like TD's go away after a while.

James, I commented on your Facebook post and saw that you're friends Kate and Jeremy? Tell em Zach says hi, and ask them about the crazy Chesapeake Tearjerker Gatherings and how many times people have needed help back to their teardrops at the end of the night! I'm the youngest teardrop owner (30) at the gatherings up in this area, but damn those 'older' folk know how to have a good time!




I do a lot of camping in the summer, about 5 or 6 trips with the Tearjerkers, and a lot of the weekends are boondocking trips with friends. My friends all thought I was crazy to build my own camper, but after seeing how well I sleep after a long night around the campfire, they've all taken an interest in them. I helped my buddy build one for he and his wife, and another friend is building one with her boyfriend right now.
Its spreading

[Kharn]

We're both about Zach's age, teardrops appeal to us because we want to actually be in the outdoors when we're camping, we don't want to sit around watching a 42" TV on matching recliners inside a Class A while telling all of our friends we're camping on Facebook. Being off the ground, dry, able to set-up/break camp quickly, having air conditioning for those Maryland summers and hauling around a lot of gear (most of which we'd never dream of bringing if we had to load it into the truck each trip) are all facets that appealed to us when we were considering what path to take. Being able to build it myself is just a bonus.

[jseyfert3]

Had to jump in here, cause I'm building one, and I'm 22. I just finished my Associate's Degree, so I'm halfway through college. Been working a full time job as a security officer for the past 3.5 years, which is how I bought my used car and they bought my house in August of '13. Yes, I own my own house, no co-signer on my mortgage, so if that ends up being a bad idea, I'm the only one who "sinks". Anyhow, I decided on a teardrop for a couple reasons. First, I never heard about a teardrop until I happened to pick up my first copy of MAKE on a trip with my GF. What's inside but this article, which is about a teardrop made by a member here on TnTTT. I thought it was kinda cool, but didn't think much of it initially. Fast forward a couple weeks and I'm talking with my brother and Dad at my brother's house, and internships come up. My brother says they are big at interns, and mentions I have a good chance of getting an internship since they like him there. I think that's a great idea, get an internship, which my dad says is an unbeatable point once I graduate with a BS degree and go looking for a job, plus I'd get to possibly work with my brother and could perhaps stay at his house. So I say "need free labor in exchange for a place to stay?", and he replies by saying they've already offered that to my younger sister...also their farmhouse upstairs is torn out and not rebuilt yet, and when rebuilt will only have two bedrooms.

Stick with me, I'm getting there...

So a little later, I figure if I had a pop up camper, I could live in it over the summer during the internship, parking it at my brother's place. No bathroom, but a place to cook and sleep if I wanted a little privacy, and just run an extension cord out for my laptop/cell phone. I also started thinking about teardrop trailers. In the end, I wasn't seeing any pop-up campers for sale nearby that were light enough for my 2005 Kia Spectra which can tow 1600 lbs max (listed at 2k but max tounge weight is 160 lbs). A lot of those they pack loads of things into like showers and toilets and microwaves that add a lot of weight, and I would only buy used, not a new one. I was looking in the $500-800 range. So in the end, I decided to build a teardrop. If I get that internship, I'll have my own place to sleep at my brother's farm, but would be able to take showers, eat, etc inside the house. So that's cool, plus a teardrop can come in well unter 1000 lbs, which is the trailer brake limit according to my owner's manual for my car.

In addition, both me and my GF like camping, and having a bed and an insulated, hard walled place to sleep beats out a tent and sleeping pads. I personally think having a TD will get me out camping more, cause with a busy work/school scedule, having a camper I can hook up and go when I have a day or two free, which contains everything I need but food and clothes, beats packing my car with pillows, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, camp stove, etc. Also I'd imagine you don't get sleepless nights due to nearby thunderstorms causing wind that moves your tent around so much you can't sleep...at all...

I grew up camping in a pop-up camper with my family. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy camping by tent as well though, I took a 1600 mile round trip up to the north shore and spent a week camping, from my motorcycle. This was tent camping, and space was limited to my two 40 L side cases and my 50 L top case, as well as strapping stuff to my back seat. And I loved it. But that wouldn't work with my GF, there wouldn't be enough space for a long trip. And I definately don't want an RV, I don't go camping to watch TV (I don't watch TV anyway, but you get my point).

Anyhow, bottom line, I'm 22 and building a 5x8 TD. Just bought the trailer, hope to have it done by spring for camping. I plan to do the Australian Sportsman profile on mine. I think teardrops are cool looking, although I can't ever remember seeing one in person before.

Well, my fiancé and I are 28, and we are building (completing) our own. We have no plans for kids, love the outdoors (places you can't get to with an rv or big trailer) and are tired of sleeping on the ground (me more than her - she's tough).

I wonder if we're the youngest teardroppers on here?

Sorry, nope. Although I haven't bought anything but the HF trailer and started assembly of that, so I'm not sure if that makes me a teardropper or not yet.

[Catherine+twins]

Cool! I wish I had caught the bug at your age!!!

Catherine

[eggsalad]

Let me add in another factor: towing. Back in the day, the family car (almost universally) could tow a small camper. Nowadays, most family cars aren't rated to tow a thing.

(I've ranted in other threads about cars without tow ratings. I tow with one anyhow, because I feel comfortable doing it. But because modern family cars now say "do not use your car for towing" in the manual, it scares people off.)

So if you want to tow a teardrop today, now you have to think about buying a new family vehicle, maybe a minivan or SUV. That puts people out of financial range.

Just another wrench in the works.

[grant whipp]

This is an interesting topic ... don't know how I missed it (but kind of, I do ... we were still on our cross-country vacation when it was started!) ... ...!

A long time ago, I used to worry about the same thing ... who's going to keep the teardrop flames burning when all of us old baby boomers are gone? I haven't even thought about it for over 10 years, now, because after hosting and going to so many gatherings over the years (not to mention selling parts and providing lots of support and advice to all manner of younger-than-me "generations"), I've discovered that there is nothing to worry about ... ...!

We've had young folks at our gatherings from the beginning ... and those with little kids at that time, well, now those kids aren't so little and have teardrops of their own (usually the ones they grew up with 'cause Mom & Dad have gotten a newer/fancier one). There have been several VocEd and shop teachers over the years that have had their high school students build teardrops as shop projects and then take them to gatherings where they catch the social part of this affliction. A bunch more high school students "discovered" teardrops on their own and built them as "Senior Projects" (Ladybug Lydia from up my way is just one fabulous example). And today, well, we (Teardropping as a whole) are all over Facebook, Twitter, and all manner of other "young folk" social media!

Like anything else, at any time in our lives, if we are interested enough and want it badly enough, we'll find a way to obtain it or do it ... it doesn't matter if you are 16, 21, 28, 35, 47, 55, 67, 73, or even into your 80s (just look at Roly, fer cryin' out loud ... ...!). And, just like a lot of other things in life, not everyone is going to "get" what Teardropping is all about ... we're a very small niche in the world of leisure time activities!

I was 31 when I started my first teardrop, and I'd wanted one since I was 21 ... I'm now 61 (with a great-grandchild on the way!) and have absolutely no plans to leave Teardropping for anything "bigger and better" (although you will see us from time-to-time in our little restored vintage canned-ham Caveman Camper). At least one of my daughters wants a teardrop, both of her daughters want one, and if I have anything to say about it, I'll gladly share the lifestyle with my great-grandchildren when the time comes!

So, give the younger generations their due props ... they're out there and they're interested ... and I have every confidence that, just like "us", they'll find their way ... ...! We've got nothing to worry about ... ...!

CHEERS!

[Vedette]

When I was young and saw my first TD "I Wanted One"! to pull behind my Street Rod to Rod Runs!
BUT, to afford a Street Rod and be able to attend events with it, and still be able to feed my 3 kids and pay my mortgage, we had to camp in an $18.00 pup tent (that I purchased 40 years ago this year and still have it!)
Well now at 61 like Grant, I still think I am 18 and love the idea of tent camping......BUT one camping season in our new Teardrop and I am convinced it is the ONLY way to go Sandi has also been a conversion factor. Although she was a good sport about camping all over the country with me fo 9 years. she too love our new camping style.
This just makes our camping future a major part of our life plan!
Can't wait to see you TD'ers out there somewhere!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[Dirtyfootcamper]

I myself am 27 and my fiancé is 24 We got a teardrop two years ago and absolutely love it!! I have many plans for the trailor an am constantly thinking up new ideas and possible modifications I can do. I originally planned on building but without a garage and limited time at the time, I went out and got a manufactured one. I still plan to build one day but we would need to get a house before that could ever happen.

We have it stored at my parents house for the winter and can't wait to do some work on it this spring so that we can take it out as much as we can next summer. We don't have any children, though we do have a 6 month old Boston Terrier that we plan on taking with us on our camping trips.

I have many friends who love my trailor and would love to own one of their own but in my opinion there are a few reasons why the younger generation isn't so prevalent in the Teardrop community. 1. They cannot afford to build or buy one. 2. They live in places where it would be difficult to store it. 3. They feel its easier to pack a bag, tent and cooler in the car and spend a weekend camping in said tent.

[Vedette]

Dirtyfootcamper
I don't know where you are from, or what you tow with.
But if you truly love to camp, you guys should hook up your new teardrop and hit the road! See as much of the country as you can before your kids come.
It will give you memories that you can hold on to until your retirement when you will once again be in a similar position.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[Silvrzuki77]

Just turned 30 here. My TD is mostly done but its camp and trail worthy. My son's 2yrs and 4yrs old love the thing. Its getting tight already and I have a third on the way. So the littles guys might get to tent it soon. Kids love tents anyways lol. It is pretty awesome when people see me coming down jeep trails with the hummer pulling a TD and their jaws drop!!!

[Dirtyfootcamper]

Dirtyfootcamper
I don't know where you are from, or what you tow with.

I live in Western Washington. Grew up in Arlington and currently live in Everett. My Tow vehicle is a 2012 Ford Escape. I own a pinecone Teardrop that we took out numerous times over the past summer on weekend getaways and then took it to Montana for a week and a half in July/August. We love going to Montana and seeing the spectacular sights and driving around all the scenic highways. we stayed in a friends driveway in Anaconda for a few days, before we headed to Clinton for a music festival... It sure gets hot in Montana during July/August, and that sun never seems to go away! haha

Bryce

[bobhenry]

We can tow doubles here in Indiana and we have a couple with several kids so mom and dad have a camper and the kids have theirs too. They connect them with a drawbridge and a nylon tube that is kinda a huge slinky. The kids have to exit thru mom and dads trailer.