Hello from the south

[rhltechie]

Hi All,

I am an avid tent camper for the moment. My partner and I really love to go camping while taking our kayaks. Although I love it, I find myself going less frequently because of all of the hassle of the whole tent and setup..packing thing. I started looking for pop up campers about 6 months ago and found out they were just as much a pain in the a$$ as my tent with a very expensive price tag. I also would be towing with a 4x2 jeep cherokee, so the weight of most of the campers i found are a little too much. I came across a teardrop sight about the same time. I must admit I am not certain I am ready to drop 4-5K on a camper. I started seeing that so many people build their own but I have zero carpentry skills. I work in computers so electronics are really my thing. I guess I am struggling with the difficulty level that building one of these little guys versus buying. I started looking at the little guy brand as they are the cheapest i could find. only thing is it doesnt have a lot of what i want. the back hatch looks really small and i wouldnt be able to..my knowledge..modify it to my liking on the inside. i have come across home builts for sale but they are also expensive and i do understand its a labor of love so the price is fair, but out of my reach. I guess I am looking for a little advice as to where to start on my teardrop journey.

thanks,

R

[mikeschn]

Hi R,

Welcome to the forum. Start your journey right here: http://tnttt.com/viewforum.php?f=18

You'd be surprised how much you can get for a reasonable price.

Mike...

[mandy]

Welcome R.

Several people here have little guys that they have costumized. See CD's Little guy he fixed the rear galley to his liking.

Hope this helps.

Mandy

[rhltechie]

Thanks to both of you for your replies.

Mandy, would you have a link to the little guy you are speaking of? I did some searching on the forum but havent found it yet.

[Miriam C.]

to the playground R. I forgot to mention in the threads to have a look at Steve Frederick's build CD. It will go a long way to helping with the skills specific to Teardrop building.

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=11191

Enjoy!

[Cliffmeister2000]

Welcome, R.

I think you will be surprised how easy it is to build a simple TD. They get complicated when folks put their personality into their designs. But then, who wants a td without personailty?

If you forgo the galley, they are very simple indeed. Many of the small trailers here don't have a galley.

One thing to keep in mind, plywood comes in 4' x 8' sheets. If you keep the profile inside a single sheet of plywood, you will keep your costs down considerably. I made mine 10' long by 56" tall. I believe it more than doubled my plywood requirements. Now that it is basically complete on the outside, I realize it could have easily been 48" tall and I would not have been any worse off, and I'm 6'4" tall (39" sitting height).

If you get stuck anywhere along the way, this forum will always be your greatest resource.

[Mary K]

Hello, and welcome!

Dont worry about not having the skills, you will learn then as I did, trust me.

If you are not in a hurry you can break the cost down of building a TD over the months of the build.

Good luck, keep us posted on your progress.

Mk