Seeking Suggestions, Thoughts, Recommendations on RV, camper, van, teardrop, etc

[Larry J]

I've been driving around Maine the last two weeks on a wildlife photography adventure in my 2000 Golf turbo-diesel. Love the fuel mileage, but not suitable for my needs. (That is so difficult to admit.)  Been tent camping and staying at hotels.  Don't mind doing so, but need another vehicle to access these gravel roads. Initial thought was a used Outback for ground clearance and AWD. Thinking of going beyond that and getting something one person can boondock in for a few day to cut down on campsite rentals. Expect to be heading to western U.S.  Here's a short list of needs.

AWD, 4WD or limited slip rear end
Toilet
Sleeps at least one.
Boondockable for a couple of days.
Power to recharge camera battery and laptop every other day
< $13k ?
20 mpg hwy if possible.

Thanks.

 

[Shadow Catcher]

A teardrop and Outback play well together http://adventuretrailers.com/trailers/teardrop built for serious off road http://www.tinycamper.com/. Ours is set up with solar that supplies all our needs.

http://www.tnttt.com/ The Teardrop & Tiny Travel Trailer forum  is a good forum and many have made their own trailers

 

[Larry J]

Thanks for the reply.  Have been thinking about my needs over the past few days.  It rained all day today.  Poured at times.  How comfortable/roomy is a teardrop when it rains.  Cooking would be difficult or impossible, just like tent camping, unless there's somewhere to hang a large tarp.  Toilet in your teardrop?

 

[Stephen S.]

Thanks for the reply.  Have been thinking about my needs over the past few days.  It rained all day today.  Poured at times.  How comfortable/roomy is a teardrop when it rains.  Cooking would be difficult or impossible, just like tent camping, unless there's somewhere to hang a large tarp.  Toilet in your teardrop?

A large freestanding canopy is a good way to expand the living space of a teardrop. If you get one that the trailer fits under and has walls, you can sit beside the trailer in camp chairs, and get to the "chuckwagon" kitchen without getting wet.

Google "teardrop camper canopy" to see a lot of options, including using a blue tarp.

 

[UTTransplant]

In addition to our "regular" travel trailer, we also have a Bunkhouse brand camper. It was designed for motorcycle camping, and is a popup with a very small box. The opened up version is large - king sized bed and a "dressing area" about 6x6, big enough for a couple of chairs and a table. We also have an attached awning (aka "den") that is another 6x6. I tow it behind my Subaru Forester without any problems. For a toilet, we use a portapotty. For charging electronics, we have a Stanley batter pack that can be recharged through a 12v adapter in the car. We just returned from using the Bunkhouse while my son's family used the travel trailer.

The trailer comes standard with a motorcycle plug so you have to mod the wiring to the 4 pin flat system cars use. But the entire thing weighs around 500 pounds fully loaded!

 

[Stephen S.]

The trailer comes standard with a motorcycle plug so you have to mod the wiring to the 4 pin flat system cars use. But the entire thing weighs around 500 pounds fully loaded!

I bet you could tow a Bunkhouse with a Smart Car.  ;D

 

[Mopar1973Man]

Here is a solution for power.
http://articles.mopar1973man.com/members-rides/17-mopar1973man/479-rv-solar-power

As for the tow vehicle and RV. There is a lot of options for RVs and tow vehicles. But the problem is the smaller you make the RV the less water and holding tank space you'll have. So consider the size and water capacity. As for tow vehicles I tend to favor diesel because they are more efficient hands down over gasoline when towing or not. Even with my 8,000 pound RV (16,800 pounds GCW)  with the diesel truck I still get 11-14 MPG towing but in the mid 20's just driving the truck around. So look at you options and consider your weight to tow vehicle power properly. Very common for people to buy too big of RV and tow within the upper margin of the tow vehicle and end up fighting the setup.

 

[blw2]

Don't know if you'd find the off road capability at the price point, but I like the idea of the class B's on those sprinter chassis for the application you describe.