Trailer + roof tent for 2013, or teardrop for 2014?

[Kharn]

I've wanted a Weekender since discovering the world of tiny trailers, but having tent camped for two seasons, my girlfriend and I are getting tired of sleeping in a ground tent due to the usual disasters that seem to target people in tents. The extra effort of gathering all the camping gear from its various hiding places, packing the truck after work, arriving after dark and having to set up with flashlights and headlamps and the river that always seems to spring up directly underneath the tent regardless of how carefully we select the spot on the parking pad have been detrimental to our camping experience and we'd like to find a solution.

I would build a Weekender this fall/winter, but our garage is packed with my lawn equipment and my plan to build a shed this summer has been delayed until at least the spring due to more critical house projects. So one option is begin building a tear next spring/summer, hoping to have it campable late in the 2013 season, if we're lucky, but spring 2014 if anything delays the project. Unfortunately my basement isn't laid out very well, and 4x10' sheets of plywood could not negotiate a critical turn.

The other option is a small expedition trailer and roof top tent, like schaney's Explorer Pod build. I could do the large plywood cuts on the driveway and handle the trimming, fitting, primer, first paint coat, biscuit and kreg prep, etc, in the basement without much difficulty, and then assemble it on the trailer over a fair-weather weekend with two more coats of paint once assembled to seal the seams. Being able to work in the basement regardless of weather would be a big help, and the smaller scope of construction would mean a high probability of being campable in early spring. The roof top tent purchase would be a bitter pill to swallow, they seem to average $1k+, but the total build cost seems to be about the same between the two options. If we ever decided to upgrade to a tear, we could sell the trailer and keep the RTT for housing additional campers or sell it separately, depending on circumstances.

So it boils down to: Should we camp another season in a ground tent to have a teardrop in 2014+, or compromise and have a heavy-duty tent, but sleep off the ground and our gear always packed for 2013+?

Any thoughts?

[jss06]

Ask yourself if you will be happy with the tent.

Since you say it will be a compromise, I would wait and get what you really want.

[Oldragbaggers]

Option 3, find a cargo trailer and do a conversion. Since it's already "dried in" you could work on it outside and just throw a tarp over it to keep it nice.

[JuneBug]

Option 3, find a cargo trailer and do a conversion. Since it's already "dried in" you could work on it outside and just throw a tarp over it to keep it nice.

+1 on this idea!
A roof top tent is still a tent! I watched someone set one up in broad daylight and the process seemed to go on forever (over 30 minutes). If it rains and gets wet, you still have to unfold it at home and dry it out, and then if you don't want to schlep it around on top of your car, you have to unload it. They don't look very stout in terms of high winds. After many many years of backpacking and car camping, I hate, hate hate the sound of flapping tent material all night long. If you have to get up in the middle of the night, it is a long way down to the ground by way of a ladder.
But, that's just me. I do know someone who has their roof top tent mounted to the top of an expedition box on a trailer. He loves it and has used it for years.

Sympathies on the whole packing process. When we are loading bikes and camping gear for the weekend, it takes longer than the drive time to our destination.

[Lgboro]

You will need to consider the tow capacity or your tow vehicle as well. I would hate to get my project completed only to find my car wouldn't tow it safely.

[Kharn]

I'm not too worried about the TV, it has the factory Class IV hitch package.

Another option came to mind today, just building the gear trailer without the expensive fancy tent on top. It'd let us keep most of the gear packed full time (just add food/water and go), plus bring along a big deep cycle battery and propane tank, while still using our current ground tent. Being able to power lights, fan and CPAPs without having to bring a ton of AA and D batteries, or hand-carry a deep cycle battery to the tent, would be pretty nice. The propane mounted on the trailer would let us hook up a tree for a lantern and cook top without worry of the dog tipping it over with her wire.

[Oldragbaggers]

If your main concern is keeping packed and ready to go and getting your bed up off the ground, but you're still comfortable with the idea of the canvas, why not get a pop-up? Honestly, they can be had off of Craigslist for cheap and if and when the time comes that you've had it with that and you're ready to move on to building something more ideal you can always tear it down and you have your frame, plus whatever other parts you can salvage off of it.

[Kharn]

I'm leery of pop ups since my neighbor keeps his pop-up in the garage, and his Mercedes on the driveway.
Really, I'm itching to build something when I'm cooped up in the house for the winter.

[pete42]

I'm leery of pop ups since my neighbor keeps his pop-up in the garage, and his Mercedes on the driveway.
Really, I'm itching to build something when I'm cooped up in the house for the winter.

don't be afraid of pop-ups when we went from Tent, which I still have to a pop-up it was like night and day.
you still have to dry them out if they get wet but the comfort over a tent is not to be over looked.
I have owned two pop-ups the last one I sold when I got a big travel trailer now I wish I had not sold it.
now I don't own anything but the afore mentioned tent a coleman igloo type.

I am all up in the air on converting a cargo trailer what size 10, 12, 14 foot how wide 6, 7, 8?
today and last couple of days I have been feeling fine but health figures into my decision as well.

I would go for a cargo trailer you will have fun building and stay nice and dry when camping
everything will have it own place in the trailer so no need to pack and unpack stop along the way
in rest stops for a nap all safe and sound inside your own moving house.

what ever you decide have fun and we like pictures


pete

[BrwBier]

in the end only you can decide, but, teardrops are sooo cool and if that is what you really want then anything else will only be a disappointment. I wanted a teardrop and just never got started on it and then it was our anniversary and we rented one for a long weekend. Well there was no looking back, I started on building one and still had to tent camp one more season, but now we have just what we wanted and I don't envision ever being without it.
Brwbier

[rowerwet]

most tent trailers I have known have met their death by a family of mice, squirrels, etc moving in. they love the tent it makes a great place to play and start a family, probably why your neighbor keeps his inside. The easy fix for any tent trailer or other place they are getting into, is to get some expanding foam and some steel wool.
make the steel wool the right size to fill any holes they can get in through, then pull it out, squirt foam around the sides of the hole, push the steel wool in and cover it with foam. the rodents don't mind chewing foam, they won't eat through steel wool. (I think it must be like what chewing aluminum foil is for us)

a roof tent does seem to have a long set up time, there are plenty of videos on youtube, you'll notice the manufacturers skip ahead in time to make it look quick. On our recent camping trip we got an inch of rain, the tear was dry and we slept fine. the tent campers in the campground all woke up very wet. the only thing we had to dry after our trip was the awning.
I found the tear was super easy to pack, we just put everything (chairs, awning, etc.) inside, no real work to make it all fit.
the weekender is meant to build quickly, of course the finishing is what takes the long time, my tear isn't finished on the inside, I don't think it needs to be for camping, after all it is a plywood tent, I don't plan on living in it. the outside is finished, and the galley was finished to what we needed to go camping, I can finish the rest someday.

[bc toys]

Kharn it sounds like you know what you want to do but if it was me I would move the lawn stuff in the back yard cover with a good tarp and start my build . So do what you feel is right and be happy with what you do.

[Kharn]

Kharn it sounds like you know what you want to do but if it was me I would move the lawn stuff in the back yard cover with a good tarp and start my build . So do what you feel is right and be happy with what you do.

I'm pretty protective of my tools, I'd never sleep if I had to leave my Deere stuff under a tarp in the yard.

I am holding out hope for a decent shed deal on Craigslist or close-out from a big-box retailer, October is when they usually go on clearance to make room for Christmas trees and other holiday merchandise. Luckily I don't have an HOA so I could erect just about any structure without a hassle.

[rowerwet]

if you go through my www album and check the dates I managed to have a sleepable tear in a few short weeks, in spite of 3 funerals in 2 months and plenty of rain. my building was all done under an 8x8 canopy in the back yard. If you are going from a tent, how fancy of a trailer do you need? mine is rather basic for that reason, if I ever get the urge I can make it pretty on the inside, right now it is about function and does the job with comfort. Good luck whatever you choose.

[markhusbands]

"I watched someone set one up in broad daylight and the process seemed to go on forever (over 30 minutes)."

I'm currently using a car mounted roof tent and I'd say it takes ten minutes to set up, at least in its basic configuration. It has a second "bottom tent" that does add some time and fuss. My plan is to build a simple teardrop this winter and put the roof tent on the tear to sleep four.