The Hatchling Teardrop Trailer

Here's a new model that I've been wanting to build for a while. It's sort of in the size and tradition of a teardrop, but in Casual Turtle Campers style - dead simple, cedar, domed roof, lots of windows, etc. In fact, it's quite a bit roomier than most teardrops - and by leaving the entire trailer area as living space, the cabin feels damn near palatial! Not really, but it is a nice little space that two people and a couple dogs could be perfectly comfortable in.

As an unsolicited build, I had planned to insulate and finish out the interior myself - but then I thought it might appeal to someone looking for either a dead simple, lightweight little camper, or someone looking for a project. One could add nothing to it and have a very comfortable, capable, simple camper - or features could easily be added to their desires - storage, gear hooks, bed platform, etc. And I'm perfectly happy to discuss building out an interior for someone.

Here are some of details... It's built on a very nice, custom 5'x8', fully boxed trailer frame with 13" tires from a great manufacturer here in northern Colorado. The cabin's frame is mostly western Hemlock (1.5"x1.5"), with Western red cedar siding. The bottom of the cabin has a 90 mil PVC membrane covering, and the roofing is a fully adhered, 60 mil, ivory-colored TPO membrane - thermally welded at the seams. It has four opening windows with screens, and two large fixed windows (forward bulkhead and door) for pretty good through-visibility. It weighs 840 lbs, with about 110 lbs of tongue weight. There are more specifications/details on the website - casualturtlecampers.com.

I really like this camper, and I can see using it just as it is - or with a more developed interior. Either way, its a great platform for someone looking to get into a very easily towed, comfortable, unique little camper. At 840 lbs, this model could work with a wide variety of tow vehicles. The forward bulkhead is short enough (66") to tuck in well behind most crossover and small SUVs. I even towed it around town with our little Subaru Impreza.

I've included a couple photos of myself in/around the camper - I'm 6'2" and 195 lbs, for scale. As a shell version, the walls and roof assembly are left open, showing the OSB roof deck's bottom side - though it could easily be insulated and closed in. If anyone has any thoughts/ideas/questions please email me at casualturtlecampers@gmail.com. I'd be happy to discuss this camper or something similar/different that you might be interested in. And I'm also happy to discuss full or partial delivery from Fort Collins, CO for a nominal mileage-based fee.

Thanks for having a look - and please share it with anyone you think might find it interesting.