why build a teardrop in the first place?

[nrody]

Some of my fondest and first memories as child were camping out of a modified vw beetle that dad removed the back seat and boot from and made a sleeping platform for my sister and I in the early 60's. We were under 5 years old. We progressed to a vw van and tent camping. Then a 67 chevy with a Pilgrim overhead camper. Years and years of rock hunting west of the Mississippi and thousands of pounds of rocks, plenty of potty stops behind sagebrush. Then good old pbs and Huel Houser. One day my ex came home and said he found a teardrop we should go look at. We went to look and the lady said "if you get it out of here it is yours" need I say more! It was christmas time so we gave them $100 bucks for the kids and hauled the tear home. I got rid of the husband and kept my trailer It sat for about 10 more years and now is coming back to life. The new axle has arrived the new floor and tongue are ready for welding and lots of other parts are just waiting to be installed oh yea! new tires too! My credit card is getting tired but I am not. And with all the advise and support from this forum I anticipate success very soon.
Thanks everyone See you out there soon!

[Py0tr]

I don't think my parents ever camped in their lives, but I started in cubs and moved on through to scouts, then Rovers and finally was a Scout leader for a while.

Camping simply became something i did. I am a bit of an organisation freak and so gradually over the years I collected together a pretty comprehensive set of camping gear.
My first wife thought "roughing it" meant that room service stopped at 10pm, and when I met my current partner I thought I'd made the same mistake twice

However, a few selected video clips, and lots of internet browsing, later "we" decided that if "we" had to go camping it needed to be with a comfortable, dry bed.

Needless to say, "we" are absolutely in love with our "Scoot" and wouldn't ever consider a holiday without him.

I bought a trailer because I am a great teacher, a reasonable cook and even, on occasions a bearable father, but a builder..not a chance! Some things I leave to professionals.

[2bits]

My dive into the teardrop world began as a means to an end. I have always loved the outdoors and wanted to camp, but had zero desire to buy, pack, setup, unpack, then, tear down, pack up and load up massive amounts of camping gear just to sleep on the ground and not see the stars. To me camping should be a vacation, time off, relaxation and so many people were working so hard at it that way.

I wanted something exactly like the teardrop, A "Luxury Tent", but I never heard of them. I don't watch TV so I am one of the few who never saw the RV crazy show, until well into my teardrop build. I just wanted something that I did not have to set up and was lightweight. I also wanted to build it because I just like to build things and things that are pre-built are usually over priced and under built. So my first stumblings were plans for cabover campers. I liked the concept, no trailer at all, but in hindsight, my truck would have struggled with it, with the wind and weight being in the truck, rather than being towed behind it, but that was my first idea.

I have built cool cars all my life and like cool stuff, and I run a car club similar to this forum and one of my forum buddies replied that I should check out Teardrop trailers so I credit him for showing me the concept and he even had his own plans drawn up, but never built. he currently has outfitted his 4x4 suburban to camp in, but he lit the fire and I did some Google searching and found this forum and once I saw the cool designs, that was IT, I knew I was made for it.

All the reasons that you listed in your first post, just solidified it...I am just so grateful for me taking that chance and exiting the office environment a couple years before and learning carpentry by doing it for a living for that one year. I would have never attempted it with out that experience and knowledge and kudos to everyone who does!

[DMcCam]

We became aware of these little gems when I stumbled on a TV show one Sunday afternoon. I then did an internet search to find another clip to show my wife...she loved the whole idea at once. It fit everything we wanted to change about our camping experience.

Other than a few vacations with her father's small travel trailer, we have been tent campers. His trailer was old, had nothing but plumbing issues and the beds were made for much shorter persons. You needed a good size vehicle to pull it and its interior design was very awkward.

Once we found this amazing forum and looked at all the fantastic build journals, it seemed like something we could do too. Then after visiting our friends Debbie and Randy and their wondrous 'Monstro' woody teardrop we started making plans for our own.

Teardrops seem to fit anyone who is pragmatic about their camping vacations. Those who want to spend as much time as possible enjoying the natural settings that draw them. To that end, these little trailers make camping so easy that even someone who never liked the idea of 'camping', often end up purchasing or building one and joining in on the fun. We can't wait to have ours built.

All the best,

Dave

[the other side]

pete42- If I were you I wouldn't give up! It took me like 3 years to figure out what I could do to get us camping again, and find something that was do-able for my daughter situation (the one that still camps). There are so many different styles out there that I wouldn't be surprised if you discover one that could work for you!

[atahoekid]

so why am I building a TD? First of all I am done with tents. I own several tents and I don't like setting up any of them. In fact, I get so irritated with setting up a tent, I'm shocked that my wife goes camping with me at all. Oh, and we also have a dining fly to set up. That's an even bigger pain in the a$$.

I also don't yet want a huge RV. Maybe when I'm ready to retire and live in it for months on end and finally get to see all of this great and beautiful country but not yet. My neighbor has a 28 foot Airstream. Really nice, but there are campgrounds we don't go to when we're out together because it is longer than can fit in some campgrounds.

Last reason, I am a hands on kind of person. I like building stuff. That's my hobby. Remodeling our house is an ongoing project, I rebuilt our bathrooms, installed hardwood flooring throughout the house and our kitchen with cabinets and all, I've got plans to build a kayak and a paddleboard, I've built furniture. Building a tear drop just seemed like a natural extension and I will add some skills by learning how to weld the frame. This will be fun!! As someone else mentioned, this also gives me a chance to see exactly how it was built and exactly what materials went into it. I plan to build it to last, to my own likes and dislikes