Ch. 1: What is a "SquareDrop" Camper?



For the past several years we have been dreaming of hitting the open road and taking in some of what this continent has to offer.  Many of those folks currently on this style of living can be found at Hitch Itch.  I highly recommend you visit some of those travelers as they will give you good information on gear, camping tips, and useful websites.  It is also nice to live some of what they are doing through their blogs.

In preparation on making some big decisions for our journey, a couple of years ago, Christina and I rented a 34 foot Class B motor home for a week.  We spent two nights at the F1 track near Austin, Texas, attending the Willie Nelson fourth of July picnic and then traveled to the Amarillo area to camp at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  The motor home performed flawlessly, but I was disappointed in how it drove and the lack of maneuverability in congested areas.  You really have to plan getting in the gas stations and parking lots when in this size of rig.  The mileage of 6 miles to the gallon was also a drag on my enthusiasm for ownership; not to mention depreciation of the future purchase.     

A few weeks later we rented a small tear drop camper from a dealer in central Texas and went to a music festival in South Austin for the weekend.  What is a tear drop camper?  Generally it is a bed and kitchenette on a small trailer.  The front is round and the back comes to a point. When viewed from the side it looks like a tear drop laying on it's side; hence the term "tear drop camper".

The rig is very easy to tow as most weigh less than 1,400 lbs and are a quick set up.  It only sleeps two with each person having a door and window on their side of the bed/camper.  The back hatch opens up to reveal the kitchenette.  Most have a plug in cooler and microwave along with a sink and a two burner stove.  Just the basics.  But if you have clean facilities, what more do you need.

We loved it and upon returning it to the dealership we inquired on the purchase of our rental.  The owner advised that he would sell us the used one for $11,999; which is real close to Twelve Thousand Dollars.  I responded with the question of how much is a new one and he pointed to one next to us stating $13,999; which is really, really close to Fourteen Thousand Dollars.

A little dejected by the cost of something so simple, Christina and I began to entertain the idea of building one from scratch.  We figured we could accomplish this for less than three to five thousand dollars and that would be a huge savings.

In the following Build Blog Posts, I will go over the process of building the camper and include links to the products we liked and used.


Next post; the creation of our SquareDrop Camper. 

Comments

  1. Gerald NehmanFebruary 15, 2019 at 12:37 PM

    I went through similar decision making, looking at slide-in (or truck) campers. A decent one used was minimum $6000. Anything less represented a complete do-over. I'd already done that twice, dealing with rot and leaks. Also, most slide-in campers require that I climb over my wife to use the potty. My wife always wants to know how much I spent building my own. I always say $1500. I'm sticking to that figure despite her skepticism. Jerry

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