Yeah, the price in 145 is nuts. Pure price gouging. It may be top in its class, but come on. It’s a two person trailer for goodness sakes. The mantis and many others though will not be great for ski trips though since none of the water systems are winterized. And do you really want to cook outside in a blizzard? So many unrealistic requirements. Maybe get a basecamp x. Won’t fit in the garage, but it’s four season and looks cheap now compared to the crazy prices from imperial and others.
Need help: Which trailer works best for us?
- Thread starter goodol
- Start date
rehammer81
Active member
Have you looked at the Ember trailers. I have not seen one in person but have done as much research as I can online. I've been on a long hunt for an off-road trailer that meets a lot of wants but doesn't cost the absurd prices we are seeing. I'm not saying the Embers are cheap and they are not up to the off-road durability of some of the more exotic small mfg rigs. They seem to me to fall in an in-between zone between the Indiana U.S. junk and the exotic players. They are trying to have better build quality and weather proofing. There is a factory tour on YouTube.
Owner experience on the Facebook groups has been a mixed bag of reliability from what I have seen. They do seem to have a pretty good frame, a bit more capable suspension, better than average wall construction, and have supposedly gone to the Truma climate chamber and proven they are good down to 0*F. Like I said, not cheap but not $125k either. They have some bunk models that would probably work great for the kids.
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Owner experience on the Facebook groups has been a mixed bag of reliability from what I have seen. They do seem to have a pretty good frame, a bit more capable suspension, better than average wall construction, and have supposedly gone to the Truma climate chamber and proven they are good down to 0*F. Like I said, not cheap but not $125k either. They have some bunk models that would probably work great for the kids.
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I love this trailer:
mammothoverland.com
Aircraft aluminum type build with a King Size bed and a fold down bunk all in a box that is only 9’ long x 57” high and the track width is only 86”. This is accomplished by building the box over the wheel wells and incorporating that space into the cab. Most king size teardrops are 96”(8’) wide which is a bit too wide. You could sleep 3 comfortably 4 squeezed before having to use a rooftop tent.
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Mammoth Overland – Off-Road Overland Trailers
mammothoverland.com
Aircraft aluminum type build with a King Size bed and a fold down bunk all in a box that is only 9’ long x 57” high and the track width is only 86”. This is accomplished by building the box over the wheel wells and incorporating that space into the cab. Most king size teardrops are 96”(8’) wide which is a bit too wide. You could sleep 3 comfortably 4 squeezed before having to use a rooftop tent.
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Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
I think if one is okay with the look and feel of an Elkhart interior rv type design and you can get one with solar and Lithium w/ inverter under 60 k then the Ember should be considered. Personally they are to heavy and Murphy beds and coaches are not my thing.
calicamper
Expedition Leader
I love this trailer:
Mammoth Overland – Off-Road Overland Trailers
Aircraft aluminum type build with a King Size bed and a fold down bunk all in a box that is only 9’ long x 57” high and the track width is only 86”. This is accomplished by building the box over the wheel wells and incorporating that space into the cab. Most king size teardrops are 96”(8’) wide which is a bit too wide. You could sleep 3 comfortably 4 squeezed before having to use a rooftop tent.
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If I were solo… This would still not be of much interest. Everything is outside except horizontal sleeping inside. I’d get a midsized truck with a very basic cap/pop up. Which could carry gear, be stood in, etc.
Even my wife and I before kids Triathon trips and sailboat racing the midsized truck with basic cap / pop up would have been absolutely perfect. With kids big fat nope… We have lasted 11yrs with a 4x6 lifetime tent trailer two queen bunks on each side of the 4x6 floor. Today it doesn’t really work very well too little separate bunk space for teen / pre teen. Which need their own bunk space be it a cot, bunk-0-cot, bunk beds err something. Yes in some regions tossing a tent out is fine. But future trips are headed to places where weather and bear restrictions can be limitations to tent use.
Another thing there are “RV resort” families today that specifically travel to “parking lots, resorts” for the parking lot experience? Which case the migration to bigger RVs is the natural progression given your space inside your walls is all you get.
Vs families like mine where we camp for Mountain Biking, hiking, sailing events in remote state parks lakes etc. Where fitting into a tent site is more or less the best rig size to have. Which also means it needs ability to open up door and floor space to haul said stuff during transit. Which leaves the small toy hauler or hatch/hybrid type designs as really the best options. Once at camp they provide secure bunk space and a place to hide from occasional weather or bug events, but outside of that we aren’t going to be just hanging out inside the trailer. We can do that at home which is a nice place lol
rehammer81
Active member
Yep. I agree. An Ember is not what I really want. Currently exactly what I want doesn't quite exist and the closest offerings are apparently no less than $100k to have it behind my truck. I would like a mix of the Kimberley Karavan and/or E3 Kruiser, the X145/X195/Roamer X/Roamer 1.
Key items for me:
-no fabric walls
-north/south queen bed
-good insulation to control climate in both very hot (AZ) and cold conditions
-outdoor kitchen with a grill instead of stove
-small indoor kitchen (bad wather)
-waterless toilet (probably composting)
-large lithium power bank with substantial solar
-full 12V off-grid functionality
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Key items for me:
-no fabric walls
-north/south queen bed
-good insulation to control climate in both very hot (AZ) and cold conditions
-outdoor kitchen with a grill instead of stove
-small indoor kitchen (bad wather)
-waterless toilet (probably composting)
-large lithium power bank with substantial solar
-full 12V off-grid functionality
Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
calicamper
Expedition Leader
Yep using the Mantis size as a template I can see it being possible in 19ft and 7ish ft wide. With corner bed if your two up being able to slide bed section over for twins and middle pass thru would be ideal. The soft sided pop up stuff could easily be designed with a hard sided pop/fold up. Or just make it fixed box height. However!!! Having lower wind profile definitely has its advantages in travel mode especially when you consider the wind events and extreme weather that definitely can park a 9-10ft high RV box..
Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
blacklbzbeauty
Active member
As you already know, there is no perfect trailer. Life is a compromise.
calicamper
Expedition Leader
$140,000 I can buy this boat and…. Same one they sell new today. Cruise Croatia for 2-3 seasons and sail it back to the west coast for $140,000. The duel carbon wheels cost more to replace than 1/2 the materials cost to build those trailers.
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rehammer81
Active member
Absolutely true. Just have to find the one that checks enough boxes to satisfy yourself.
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goawaymore
Member
Due respect, but you're comparing a used high production sailboat (a new Elan is probably closer to $250K or higher in sail-away trim than the $140k you mention) that is designed for coastal family cruising to a new off road capable, low production camper. The sailboat is really nice, but it's not designed for getting well off the beaten path. Sailboats have exactly the same issues as campers in cost vs materials and capabilities. If you are looking at nice used campers that don't have any added features over stock (like a used Airstream), then your sailboat comparison is valid. If you are looking at an offshore capable sailboat with higher grade materials, features, and capabilities, then you see the exact same eye popping costs. High end materials and systems are expensive today. Scary expensive. There is no escaping that.
I agree with everyone that the costs are really hard to wrap your head around and to make sense of. Especially when there is a leap of faith for a brand new untested design. I've got a deposit on a Kimberley Karavan. Took many many months to get my head around the cost. I can make it work now that the kids are out of the house (but couldn't have 10 years ago), and there is a proven track record of Karavans lasting for decades after being used hard in some reasonably demanding conditions/locations (and I'm not looking for it to do anything beyond that). Overpriced? Well, they're definitely not under-priced or inexpensive! But I get great features, function, and support, along with a track record of holding value and performing as promised. I can live with that trade off. These newer ones are a slightly greater leap of faith since there will definitely be growing pains that go with the first models of any vehicle/boat/camper/etc as all the bugs and unknowns are worked out. But, if they check all the boxes you want checked, and you have faith in the builder and components, then you have to be honest about your own calculation of value rather than what the final cost is. Added function and capabilities have a cost.
And price gouging is a tough term without knowing a lot more info. These are expensive components and systems. Read some of the amazing builds on this forum....many hundreds of hours of build time. Be honest about the cost of those hours and you start to realize why custom builds are even more expensive than these. Going back to Kimberley, they've built hundreds of units, so they have a pretty stable cost (ie. they generally know the cost to build, cost to maintain the company, cost to ship into the US, and cost of added profit). For these newer campers that are on the build of unit 1 or 2, those are likely all still numbers that they are guessing at (ie. it wouldn't surprise me if they have no real idea what the labor cost to build each unit will/should be, and the cost to debug/fix/modify the first 10-15 units is). So while this could be companies just trying to maximize profit, there is also a decent chance that it's companies trying not to lose their shirts by building new higher-end models. Unfortunately, it's hard to know for sure until these have all been on the market for a couple of years!
vintageracer
To Infinity and Beyond!
Trails by day and Hilton at night.
For a $100K you can travel for a hell of a longtime (Probably Years) doing trails by day and the Hilton for Momma at night!
For a $100K you can travel for a hell of a longtime (Probably Years) doing trails by day and the Hilton for Momma at night!
FordGuy1
Adventurer
calicamper
Expedition Leader
Off shore level boat its definitely rated for that. I bet you think a charter production hull is more of shore capable than a hull built for single owner use and fully proven in off shore racing and trans ocean trips?
I race big ocean events and the “Owner” hulls by Elan are definitely respected ocean boats. The lower cost high production less structured charter hulls still see lots of ocean miles but definitely aren’t built to the same level..
Oh and I’ve been involved in custom built ocean boats. A box on wheels most definitely is not even remotely like any engineered certified yacht. Especially when they are just bolted together stuff by a few guys with rented shop space.
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