What is a Teardrop Trailer and Why You Might Want One

Do you sleep in that thing? Does it expand? These are some of the most common questions teardrop campers like us are asked. The answers are yes, we do and no, it doesn't. However, to quote Dr. Who, "It's bigger on the inside".

This is our home away from home. It is a Camp-Inn 560 Ultra camper. Trailers like this are called Teardrops because traditional designs have a tear like shape to them. This particular model is a little larger than your typical teardrop so the folks at Camp-Inn nicknamed it a Raindrop. We love our little camper and thought we would take some time and share more about this trailer and teardrop camping with you.

Early Teardrops

http://cj3b.info/Owners/Shank/Shank.html

Teardrop camping has been around since the 1920s and saw some real popularity immediately following WWII when raw supplies were in abundance and soldiers returning home were looking for more convenient ways to bring their families camping. However, over the years trailers got bigger and more luxurious and the teardrop fell out of favor. They still had their fans but more and more people moved to larger travel trailers and full fledged RVs.


Teardrop Benefits
In recent years, teardrops have been gaining popularity as more and more people rediscover these wonderful little trailers. There are several benefits to the teardrop style trailer that have people singing their praises. So, why a Teardrop over a traditional RV or Travel Trailer?

• Cost of operation. Teardrops are very light and easily towed behind a 4 or 6 cylinder car. This can be very economical and much cheaper to haul than a large travel trailer or the cost of fuel for a Class C or Class A motor home.
• Camping locations. Trees can cause real havoc (and damage) for larger RVs and so they are often stuck in flat, barren spots at campgrounds. Since teardrops are small, they can often take advantage of much more scenic tent sites.
• Teardrops encourage you to be outdoors and enjoying nature. RVs encourage you to be indoors enjoying luxury. 
• Off site storage. Teardrops fit inside a garage with ease. RV often require off site storage that can get VERY expensive.
• Mobility. If you are in a class a/c motor home and need to run into town for something, you have to unhook everything and drive into town or tow yet another vehicle for your local errands.
• Cost. Teardrops are significantly cheaper to buy than big Class C or Class A motor homes.
• Maintenance. The larger the rig, the more maintenance you will have and the more money you will spend on upkeep. Teardrops are fairly simple devices and do not require much maintenance.
• Resale value. Teardrops tend to hold their resale value very well when compared to travel trailers or Class A/C RVs.

Camping is about getting closer to nature, not hauling your living room to a new location. For us, we are there to camp and enjoy the outdoors. Our trailer gives us the convenience of an RV but brings us closer to nature like a tent. In fact, we have had all the necessary gear (tents, chairs, air mattress, cook stove, lanterns, and more) needed for camping for years, but we rarely camped because it was too much hassle to load/unload, set up and tear down, clean out the car and the tent after each trip...uh, I am tired just thinking about it. With our trailer, we can load and and be on the road in 15 minutes or less. Once at the campground, setting up camp takes all of 10 minutes and we are enjoying nature.

Now, I am not against Travel Trailers or RVs, they are wonderful and pack a lot of luxury. They can be a great place to sit out nasty weather. They provide full restroom facilities, showers, full kitchen and more. If you are on the road or camping for an extended period of time, they can make those trips very enjoyable. Likewise, if you have small children having the extra room and bed space can make a family trip quite fun and possibly save a marriage.  

However, for us, smaller is better. So let's take a tour around our Camp-Inn 560 Ultra trailer...

 

If you have any questions about our little trailer, please feel free to ask in the comment section below. Stay tuned for more ramblings where I will share more about our adventures in our trailer and anything else that comes to mind.

For now, see ya round the campfire...
Jay T.