One of my favorite teardrop interiors. This lady teardropper is a real artist.
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Friday Teardrop Photo
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Unusual Gifts for Teardrop Trailer Lovers
For my birthday, my husband took a photo of the Sunflower and had a local artist create an illustration of my trailer with a beautiful, rustic frame. "Gladys Magnolia" aka Robin Ruybalid uses found objects and photographs and various techniques like screen printing and cross stitch to create her art. She is available for commissioned artwork if you want to see your teardrop in print.
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Other artists who use teardrops as inspiration can be found on art websites like Etsy. OffTheMapArt illustrates trailers using maps, WrightsJunktiques, who builds trailer models out of license plates and liltinpurse, who creates personalized teardrop trailer window decals.
Other artists who use teardrops as inspiration can be found on art websites like Etsy. OffTheMapArt illustrates trailers using maps, WrightsJunktiques, who builds trailer models out of license plates and liltinpurse, who creates personalized teardrop trailer window decals.
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Friday Teardrop Photo
Here is a very messy Sunflower at last year's Burning Man. For Burning Man we have some very specific items that we bring for shade, comfort and fun. These items don't usually come with us on regular camping trips.
Both our day and night clothes are kept in storage tubs and I scored a funky mirror at a garage sale that we hang on our heavy duty shade shelter.
Yes, those are watermelons under the trailer. They stay pretty cool in the Sunflower's shade and we give away watermelon slices as gifts.
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Off the Grid Rentals Rents Off-Road Teardrop Trailers
If you prefer rugged, off-road camping and don't want to buy a teardrop trailer just yet, check out Off the Grid Rentals in Orange County, Calif. This company might be one of the only off-road teardrop trailer rental services in the U.S. and they allow you to take their teardrop trailers onto the mountain and desert backroads of this beautiful state.
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Founder Nizar Najm founded Off the Grid Rentals when he could not find the appropriate rental gear for taking his children out into the California desert. This teardrop trailer, made by So Cal Teardrops, was CNC-machined to be overbuilt and the tires, body and suspension were designed to handle rough roads. The galley features a camp stove, an ARB refrigerator and plenty of storage space.
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The teardrop also has a rooftop tent option by Columbus Variant for additional sleeping space. Attached to any roof rack, the tent includes a 2.5 inch foam mattress and two entrances from the side and rear. The tent is opened with internal gas rams. Along with the tent rental, you can also rent an ARB refrigerator and a generator.
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The off-road teardrop trailer is rented for $170 a night and there is a two-night minimum. The roof top tent rents for $60 a night and the refrigerator for $20 a night.
You can rent directly from the company online.
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Founder Nizar Najm founded Off the Grid Rentals when he could not find the appropriate rental gear for taking his children out into the California desert. This teardrop trailer, made by So Cal Teardrops, was CNC-machined to be overbuilt and the tires, body and suspension were designed to handle rough roads. The galley features a camp stove, an ARB refrigerator and plenty of storage space.
The teardrop also has a rooftop tent option by Columbus Variant for additional sleeping space. Attached to any roof rack, the tent includes a 2.5 inch foam mattress and two entrances from the side and rear. The tent is opened with internal gas rams. Along with the tent rental, you can also rent an ARB refrigerator and a generator.
The off-road teardrop trailer is rented for $170 a night and there is a two-night minimum. The roof top tent rents for $60 a night and the refrigerator for $20 a night.
You can rent directly from the company online.
Photos by Off the Grid Rentals
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Friday Teardrop Photo
On the first day of spring, I thought I would put up this photo from Outpost Vintage + Thrift. Carolyn Felding of Ontario, Canada lives out of this colorful, 1960s era teardrop trailer during the summer and uses it as a mobile vintage clothing shop.
Photo by Outpost Vintage + Thrift
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Five Best Folding Tables for Teardrop Trailers
Unless you've built a custom table into your teardrop design, most teardrop trailers do not have a dining table. In fact, many teardrop trailer owners bring several tables along on trips to create a dining/food prep area that tends to be lacking in these tiny trailers.
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Of course, the best types of camping tables are folding versions, but you also want them to be lightweight, easy to set up and durable. They should also be easy to clean and should not take up too much space in a tight campsite, teardrop trailer bed or vehicle trunk. These are the five best tables I've run into over the years.
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Of course, the best types of camping tables are folding versions, but you also want them to be lightweight, easy to set up and durable. They should also be easy to clean and should not take up too much space in a tight campsite, teardrop trailer bed or vehicle trunk. These are the five best tables I've run into over the years.
Ozark Trail Fold-in-Half Grilling Camp Table
This is our personal cooking/prepping/dining table. We were looking for something that would be safe for putting our Coleman stove on as well as to use for both eating and prepping. We also wanted something very light and easy to carry. I can carry this table with one hand using the handy handle. It does take two people to unfold and set into place because of its ratcheting legs, but this table is really sturdy and has a little paper towel holder.
Alps Mountaineering Camp Table
The first time I saw this table was on a whitewater rafting trip. The guides pulled this miraculous little table out of a bag they carried on their shoulders, folded out the legs and unrolled and attached the surface of the table. It's small, but so light, you can afford to bring several of them along for food prep and dining. For their size, they are also pretty sturdy.
Available at CampSaver
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Westfield Folding Table with Storage Bins
This compact, folding table not only has some great storage space, but the legs can be adjusted to four different heights. The two cloth storage containers zip up to keep food and cooking items clean.
Eureka Catskill Table
Not only is this folding table large enough to seat four people, but it also has one adjustable foot to level it on uneven ground. This table also has some storage space underneath including two bottle holsters and a paper towel rack. It also has webbing for clipping on camping tools.
Ozark Trail Aluminum Side Table
I really don't know what we would do without a few of these little aluminum tables. We've used them for roadside lunch breaks, as cocktail tables, prep tables and even as showering and bath tables. They are super light and we just keep one or two of them on the teardrop trailer bed while traveling. They are indispensable for teardrop trailer traveling.
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Friday Teardrop Photo
This photo was originally posted by The Press Enterprise of Southern California. It shows the home built teardrop trailer made by Christopher Walker of Hemet, Calif. The article features the Teardrop Time Gathering being held this weekend at Lake Perris. If you are in the San Bernardino or Temecula area, come see some teardrop trailers.
Photo by The Press Enterprise
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Featured Teardrop: Teardrops Northwest
Teardrops Northwest not only offers several different sizes and price points, but this Salem. Ore. design and build company also offers multiple interior storage, galley designs and configurations. The company sells four models: the Sashay is a 5x7 teardrop for $7,900 for the basic model; the 5x8 Sojourn for $9,500; the Sojourn Plus (which has an extra six inches in width) for $9,900; and the Epic, a 5x10 teardrop with porthole window for $10,500.
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The teardrops are built with materials to withstand the Northwest U.S. climate and the chassis is made from 2x3 inch steel tubing. The interior is made from Baltic birch plywood and the doors include screened windows that come in various color choices. The company also offers three different exterior finishes and various colors.
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Interior options in the trailer include several cool features. The custom articulated mattress can be folded up into a sitting area and when laid out, the sleeping area is 57 inches wide and 79 inches long. The standard interior storage area can be upgraded with two additional configurations—one including a galley pass through. They also offer a swivel drawer with shelf under the inside LED reading lights to hold small items like glasses. Both the cabin and galley have a set of 110 and 12 volt electrical outlets.
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The galley designs include water tank holders and slide out storage and ice chest shelves that can double as cooking and food prep areas. On the photo below, check out the smart idea of using the bottom of a water container as a small sink or place to fill up a bowl or cup.
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The teardrops are built with materials to withstand the Northwest U.S. climate and the chassis is made from 2x3 inch steel tubing. The interior is made from Baltic birch plywood and the doors include screened windows that come in various color choices. The company also offers three different exterior finishes and various colors.
Interior options in the trailer include several cool features. The custom articulated mattress can be folded up into a sitting area and when laid out, the sleeping area is 57 inches wide and 79 inches long. The standard interior storage area can be upgraded with two additional configurations—one including a galley pass through. They also offer a swivel drawer with shelf under the inside LED reading lights to hold small items like glasses. Both the cabin and galley have a set of 110 and 12 volt electrical outlets.
Photos by Teardrops Northwest
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Friday Teardrop Photo
The wonderful site, Camping in the Old Days, had a photo of this modified popup teardrop trailer along with its lovely owner and her dog. Check out more vintage camping photos at Camping in the Old Days.
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50 Campfires
There seems to be a large amount of camping related blogs popping up lately and 50 Campfires is one of my favorites. 50 Campfires provides information, articles, reviews, recipes, and camping locations for car and RV campers in the U.S. and Canada. They also have a free magazine subscription that covers recipes, destinations and camper features.
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Photos and video by 50 Campfires
They don't feature many teardrops or tiny trailers, but they did have a 10 "groovy" teardrop post that featured a great tour video of the Vistabule. I also like their gear reviews, recipes and their fun "Get Toasted" logo.
Photos and video by 50 Campfires
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Friday Teardrop Photo
The Sunflower at Clearlake, California. I loved the sign and the beautiful pull over location. When we are towing the teardrop, we tend to go slower than surrounding traffic, and we do pull over to permit passing frequently. It's also good teardrop karma.
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Teardrop Trailers and Rental Insurance
In a previous post, I talked about insuring your teardrop trailer. However, what if you want to rent a teardrop trailer for a trial run or if you want to rent out your own teardrop trailer? What insurance issues should you keep in mind?
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Renting a teardrop trailer:
If you are renting a teardrop trailer for a test drive or weekend getaway, the liability coverage is tied to your tow vehicle and your existing policy. You should have liability coverage on your tow vehicle by law. Some rental companies will require that you show your proof of insurance and you can request that from your insurance agent. This proof of insurance is called a binder and can be printed or emailed to the rental company. The amount of coverage will depend on your type of insurance account.
Supplemental insurance might also be a good idea. This type of insurance might be offered by the rental company and it will provide additional coverage for bodily injuries or property damage if these are not covered under your current insurance. At the same time, you can also purchase Personal Effect and Personal Accident Insurance for your own personal possessions, e.g. just in case something is stolen from the rental trailer.
Renting out your own teardrop trailer:
Renting out your own teardrop trailer is a different story. Most insurance companies will not cover your trailer if you decide to rent it out to someone with an unknown (to you) driving history. For this case, you will need to contact a local insurance broker to purchase insurance specifically for renting out your trailer.
These types of brokers are familiar with businesses who regularly rent out campers, trailers, moving vans and other mobile units. The type of insurance they will recommend and sell you will have a different kind of liability coverage and will consider more moral logistics like the safety qualifications of your own trailer and the driving history of your customers.
I spoke to a representative at my own insurance company, Geico, and they said that if this type of insurance is purchased for a trailer—they will remove the trailer from the current vehicle insurance since they do not insure for rental businesses. Keep this in mind if you decide to rent out your personal teardrop trailer.
Renting a teardrop trailer:
If you are renting a teardrop trailer for a test drive or weekend getaway, the liability coverage is tied to your tow vehicle and your existing policy. You should have liability coverage on your tow vehicle by law. Some rental companies will require that you show your proof of insurance and you can request that from your insurance agent. This proof of insurance is called a binder and can be printed or emailed to the rental company. The amount of coverage will depend on your type of insurance account.
Supplemental insurance might also be a good idea. This type of insurance might be offered by the rental company and it will provide additional coverage for bodily injuries or property damage if these are not covered under your current insurance. At the same time, you can also purchase Personal Effect and Personal Accident Insurance for your own personal possessions, e.g. just in case something is stolen from the rental trailer.
Renting out your own teardrop trailer:
Renting out your own teardrop trailer is a different story. Most insurance companies will not cover your trailer if you decide to rent it out to someone with an unknown (to you) driving history. For this case, you will need to contact a local insurance broker to purchase insurance specifically for renting out your trailer.
These types of brokers are familiar with businesses who regularly rent out campers, trailers, moving vans and other mobile units. The type of insurance they will recommend and sell you will have a different kind of liability coverage and will consider more moral logistics like the safety qualifications of your own trailer and the driving history of your customers.
I spoke to a representative at my own insurance company, Geico, and they said that if this type of insurance is purchased for a trailer—they will remove the trailer from the current vehicle insurance since they do not insure for rental businesses. Keep this in mind if you decide to rent out your personal teardrop trailer.
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Friday Teardrop Photo
Another simple, but delicious lunch out of the Sunflower galley. Who doesn't love pickled okra?
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Featured Teardrop: Sun-Fun Campers
The teardrop trailer industry seems to be growing in Canada and even way up north in Saskatchewan. The Sun-Fun Campers company seems to be the only manufacturer of teardrop trailers in Canada and they offer their base teardrops for around $8,200 plus tax and shipping.
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The Sun-Fun basic 5-foot wide model has an open galley, a queen bed with storage, a front grill rack, an option for a bike rack and the simple exterior design can even be ordered with a promotional wrap. The new company is currently working on their new website and additional information on their teardrops.
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The Sun-Fun basic 5-foot wide model has an open galley, a queen bed with storage, a front grill rack, an option for a bike rack and the simple exterior design can even be ordered with a promotional wrap. The new company is currently working on their new website and additional information on their teardrops.
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Friday Teardrop Photo
This teardrop is owned by Tommy Doran of Fitness by Timmy in Louisiana. This homebuilt trailer advertises his personal training business and gives him a place to rest up after long workouts. There will be an interview with Tommy about his build next week.
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Tommy Doran's "Mobile Fit Club" Teardrop
On Friday I posted a photo of Tommy Doran's homebuilt teardrop trailer. Tommy lives in Louisiana and recently finished his teardrop which does accomplishes three jobs: it's camper, a mobile fitness club and a mini billboard.
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Why did you decide to build a teardrop trailer?
I was exposed to teardrop trailers by accident. I was an Assistant Scoutmaster for the Boy Scout Troop that my two sons were attending. One day my boss, who is a Scoutmaster in another troop, asked me if we had written plans for the patrol box kitchens that our troop had built. I told him I didn't know offhand, but that I'm sure we could search online for ideas. He and I did a quick search on Google, and it was in searching images for the patrol boxes that we found some pictures of teardrop trailers. Both of us immediately decided that was something we needed to look further into. The more I dug, the more I was hooked on them. I eventually found my way to the tnttt.com forums and from there I got even more ideas.
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Where did you get the idea for your teardrop trailer?
At the time, I could not fit such a project into my budget, but was still hooked. So I spent about five years drawing and redrawing plans, gathering resources for supplies, purchasing tools, and developing contacts with people who could give me great advice on how to build my teardrop when the time came. Eventually I was able to afford the build so I started making lists and ordering supplies.
The teardrop trailer is such a head turner on the highway. So it was the perfect billboard to help promote my business (it also allowed me to write off some of the expenses on my taxes for advertising costs). My hope is to bring it to outdoor health fairs and to other fitness events to showcase the fitness solutions available to others to help them on their journey.
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What were some of the struggles you had during your build?
At the time the biggest struggle was finding sources to purchase some of the more specialized equipment to build the camper. Once I started the build, developing my carpentry skills to that level of detail became the challenge. I have an at-home business as a Fitness and Wellness Coach with Team Beachbody, helping others reclaim their health through nutrition and exercise, as well as establishing themselves as coaches.
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Can you tell us about some of the teardrop features?
I call my teardrop the "Mobile Fit Club." I can prepare smoothies from the galley and I will soon be adding a projector screen to hang from the galley hatch where I can pop in a workout DVD like P90X or Insanity and let others come by to try the workout routines for free. The Mobile Fit Club is wired for both 110V AC shore power as well as 12V DC from a deep cycle battery. It has a Bluetooth ready car stereo in the galley, and coaxial cable hook ups in the sleeping area and the galley.
In the sleeping area there are two floor storage basements, one of which stores the externally mounted leaf tables for the galley area. The galley is a simple design. It has no water tank, and uses an ice chest cooler on a sliding tray and has a storage for a Coleman stove under the cabinets.
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Where are your favorite places to camp?
My wife Pam is not a tent camper, but loves the teardrop. I've only taken the teardrop out once so far, but I hope to introduce Pam to many of the areas that I camped out in while my boys were in Scouts. I really enjoy the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee as well as many areas in my home state of Louisiana. My goal though is to eventually make a run down to the Florida Keys.
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What has been the reaction to your teardrop trailer?
The reactions to the Mobile Fit Club have been nothing but positive from the design phase through the build, and now that she is finished and camping. I have family and friends who own larger RVs that really get into the little teardrop because of the efficiency of space and the ease of just packing up and hitting the road. I always have people waving to us on the highway, and have had to show it off more than once while stopping. It really is a great conversation piece that allows me to talk more about my business. I'm also able to help more people who I normally would not have been able to talk to.
Photos courtesy of Tommy Doran/Fitness by Tommy
Photos courtesy of Tommy Doran/Fitness by Tommy
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Friday Teardrop Photo
This steampunk teardrop trailer by Dave Moult in the U.K. has been flying around the interwebs like a steam powered dirigible. I recently wrote a blog post about the trailer on Do It Yourself RV. Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction and a type of cosplay that features the designs and fashion of the Victorian and Edwardian era combined with the technology of 19th century industrial steam-powered machinery.
Maybe one of these days I'll post a photo of me in my steampunk gear...maybe.
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Cool Tears and Tiny Campers March/April 2015
The latest issue of Cool Tears and Tiny Campers is now available for download. This issue includes an extensive build by Stephen Magiera, a unique wood teardrop by architect Greg Reddin, some beautiful photos of that glorious red teardrop on Route 66 and how to choose a teardrop manufacturer.
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You can view the magazine issue for free by clicking on the link or photo above.
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Friday Teardrop Photo
I found this pretty T@B and it's stylish awning on the Camp LeConte Facebook page. Camp LeConte is located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee—right next to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. They not only have a campground, but you can also stay in their safari tents or luxury treehouses.
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Nevada Teardrop Camping: Fort Churchill
Our year of teardrop camping in Nevada continued last weekend with a trip to Fort Churchill State Historic Park on Highway 50 near the city of Fallon, Nevada. While this area is only about 1.5 hours from our home, it's a really nice getaway into the Nevada desert.
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Fort Churchill was once an active U.S. Army fort built in 1861. It housed hundreds of soldiers and other employees of the fort. It was primarily used to protect wagon trains coming across the desert into California from the local Native American tribes during the Pyramid Lake War—which began when three men living at a nearby fort kidnapped several young Paiute girls.
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Thousands of dollars were spent building and maintaining the fort and while it also became a Pony Express station and a sight for sore eyes after the 40 Mile Desert, it was abandoned less than 10 years later. Many of the adobe buildings can still be seen up close and the state park has a campground, interpretive center, graveyard, river access and some amazing views.
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Out of all the places we've been camping, Fort Churchill might be one of my favorite campgrounds: it's small, but private with massive trees, large sites, fire pits, picnic tables and birds everywhere. It was dead quiet at night except for a few owls.
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Fort Churchill was once an active U.S. Army fort built in 1861. It housed hundreds of soldiers and other employees of the fort. It was primarily used to protect wagon trains coming across the desert into California from the local Native American tribes during the Pyramid Lake War—which began when three men living at a nearby fort kidnapped several young Paiute girls.
Thousands of dollars were spent building and maintaining the fort and while it also became a Pony Express station and a sight for sore eyes after the 40 Mile Desert, it was abandoned less than 10 years later. Many of the adobe buildings can still be seen up close and the state park has a campground, interpretive center, graveyard, river access and some amazing views.
Out of all the places we've been camping, Fort Churchill might be one of my favorite campgrounds: it's small, but private with massive trees, large sites, fire pits, picnic tables and birds everywhere. It was dead quiet at night except for a few owls.
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