Hi everybody, I've been an occasional lurker for a few months and decided to join the action.
I've wanted a teardrop since discovering the world of tiny trailers and reintroducing my girlfriend to camping, but having tent camped for two seasons, my GF 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. We usually camp in state parks and boondock on occasion, but no great expeditions through Moab, off-roading, etc, we mainly go camping just to unplug for a few days, so rather pedestrian when compared to many ExPo members.
I would build a teardrop 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.
The other option is a small expedition trailer and roof top tent, probably built on a Harbor Freight 4x8 trailer shortened to 4x6'. 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 RTT purchase would be a bitter pill to swallow, but the total build cost seems to be about the same between the two options (mainly due to lower amenities on the RTT build). If we ever decided to upgrade to a teardrop, we could sell the trailer and keep the RTT for housing additional campers or sell it as a package, depending on circumstances.
So it boils down to: Camp another season in a ground tent to have a teardrop in 2014+, or compromise and have another form of tent, but sleep off the ground and our gear always packed for 2013+?
Any thoughts?
I've wanted a teardrop since discovering the world of tiny trailers and reintroducing my girlfriend to camping, but having tent camped for two seasons, my GF 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. We usually camp in state parks and boondock on occasion, but no great expeditions through Moab, off-roading, etc, we mainly go camping just to unplug for a few days, so rather pedestrian when compared to many ExPo members.
I would build a teardrop 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.
The other option is a small expedition trailer and roof top tent, probably built on a Harbor Freight 4x8 trailer shortened to 4x6'. 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 RTT purchase would be a bitter pill to swallow, but the total build cost seems to be about the same between the two options (mainly due to lower amenities on the RTT build). If we ever decided to upgrade to a teardrop, we could sell the trailer and keep the RTT for housing additional campers or sell it as a package, depending on circumstances.
So it boils down to: Camp another season in a ground tent to have a teardrop in 2014+, or compromise and have another form of tent, but sleep off the ground and our gear always packed for 2013+?
Any thoughts?