In our journey to downsize, we looked at quite a few small travel trailers. The number one requirement was the camper had to be lightweight. Specifically, we were looking for travels trailers under 3,500 pounds. Between all the research, visiting dealers and attending RV shows, we got to check out quite a few small travel trailers under 3,500 lbs. This is a round up of some of our favorite small travel trailers.
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Small Travel Trailers Under 3,500 lbs (A-Z)
Alto Teardrop Camper Trailer by Safari Condo
The Alto by Safari Condo is by far our favorite teardrop camper. Kait’s aunt and uncle own the R1713 and let us film a walk-through of their teardrop trailer. We’ve met a few architects that love this small travel trailer for its unique design.
GVWR: 2,500 lbs
Website: http://www.safaricondo.com/en/
Basecamp Aluminum Travel Trailer by Airstream
The Basecamp joins Airstream’s line of aluminum travel trailers. This small camper comes with a decent sized wet bath and a wrap around window in the galley.
GVWR: 3,500 lbs
Website: https://www.airstream.com/
Cricket Off-the-Grid Camper Trailer by TAXA Outdoors
We briefly thought about the Cricket for full time RV living and quickly dismissed the idea. It is still a pretty cool lightweight trailer that’s great for those off-the-grid adventures. This small travel trailer’s big selling point is the “NASA inspired design”.
GVWR: 2,500 lbs
Website: https://taxaoutdoors.com
Eriba Touring Trailer by Hymer
This lightweight travel trailer is not yet available in North America. We got a chance to peak inside the 15′ and 19′ models at the Pomona RV Show. The European design and window placements let in quite a bit of light.
GVWR: Unknown
Website: http://www.gohymer.com/
HC1 Fiberglass Camper by Happier Camper
The HC1 is the Lego of small travel trailers. This fiberglass camper is so modular, you can make it into almost anything you want. We haven’t seen any other lightweight campers quite like the HC1.
GVWR: 3,500 lbs
Website: http://happiercamper.com/
Lance 1475 Travel Trailer by Lance Camper
Before Lance released the 1475, we considered towing the Lance 1575 behind a Jeep Wrangler. This small travel trailer doesn’t have any slides. The most notable feature are the large windows by the swivel chairs.
GVWR: 3,500 lbs
Website: http://www.lancecamper.com/
Other Small Travel Trailers
There are a few more travel trailers worth looking into if you’re in the market for a small towable RV.
Bean Trailer is based in Utah. They are new to the travel trailer scene making trailers with a fiberglass shell that have a GVWR of 1500-1700 lbs depending on the configuration.
Website: http://www.beantrailer.com/
Casitas is based in Texas. They have been making lightweight travel trailers since 1983.
Website: http://casitatraveltrailers.com/
Oliver Travel Trailers is based in Tennessee. They make double-hulled fiberglass travel trailer that are heavier than other options listed in this post. If staying under 3,500 lbs isn’t a criteria for you, then check out the Legacy Elite II travel trailer.
GVWR: 7,000 lbs
Website: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/
Scamp is based in Minnesota. They make fiberglass campers to order at the factory and use only suppliers based in the U.S.A.
Website: http://www.scamptrailers.com/
Rent a Small Travel Trailer
Trying to decide on the right camper for you? Check out small travel trailers for rent on Outdoorsy (affiliate link).
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on April 12, 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Missing Escapade campers made in Minnesota
What do you know about “T@B”’s?
You should check out the Egg Camper. They’re made in Michigan, just outside of Grand Rapids. Unibody fiberglass construction, engineered by a former boat manufacturer. When we camped at an RV park, the gentleman next to us had one. I was commenting how cute the trailer looked from the outside with its yellow awning, it really looked like an egg! He let us take a look inside. It was so well-thought out on the interior. Easy to clean boat quality fiberglass. The bed was east-west, instead of north-south to save on space. Wet bath was roomy. Just the cutest little camper. Only 1,700 lbs dry weight. You can tow it with an SUV. He’s had the Egg Camper since 2014 and absolutely loves it.
What about the Bowlus Road Chief?
You left a number of great trailers off of your list, including the A-Scape (by A-Liner), the “Lil Snoozy,” the Runaway, the Lil Guy, the Travel Lite Express 14, The R-Pod…and more that are targeted for your age, wealth (or lack of it) and skill level.
Why no mention of the Nu-camp 320 series or the 400? They all fall within the targeted weight range and, by the looks of these other campers, are equally, or better, constructed. The problem with most of these trailers mentioned here is availability. I live in the Panhandle region of Florida and you are lucky to find anything beyond the behemoths that people seem to want in this area with the possibility of a few T@Bs. I am very interested in the Alto, but the price of one combined with the costs of traveling expense (are they only sold in Canada?) makes it way out of my league. I wouldn’t even know where to travel to see some of your other suggestions, certainly not within 500 miles of me. The Lance looks interesting, but judging by the video, the build quality doesn’t seem up to the T@B. I currently own the 320 s and tow it easily with a Toyota 4Runner. You can configure it for a North/South bed arrangement or an East/West. A 320 s is well below the 2,000 lb. mark. If I ever get the money together, I would trade the 320 s in for a T@B 400. Having owned a Nu-camp Cirrus truck camper before downsizing to the 320 s, I have been made very familiar with it’s components used in the 400, as the Cirrus had the same construction, windows, flooring, Alde heating system, and the nifty fold down sink in the bathroom. I wish campers like the Aldo were more accessible, as the videos of them frustrate me knowing they just aren’t available for me to even look at in person.
The build quality of the Lance should not even be questioned by someone who obviously has not done their homework! I will leave it at that…
Love the videos, especially the Alto review.
We own a Tesla Model X and are looking at the best option for towing. We are looking to rent an Alto 1713 like your relatives have. We haven’t been able to find any here in Florida. Any recommendations?
Contact Safari Condo, maker of the Alto, and they can put you in contact with owners in your area. There is also a Facebook group that you can follow. We bought an Alto. There is a wait involved, and a road trip to pick it up. We used the wait to time exchange rates to leverage our payments and make them go further, and the road trip was an excellent opportunity to get to know our new little camper. The Facebook group has all sorts of great recommendations on how to do it.
There are Alto owners who tow with a Tesla. AFAIK the only place to rent one is in Durango CO.
What would you recommend for a middle age couple (both about 5’7″) and two young labradors? I want to use my Mercedes 2006 ML350 4Matic (gas) to tow. We’ve always gone tent camping & love BLM land. It would be great to have a shower capability & possibly Heat/AC so we could go in the winter too.
Thank you,
Fred & Gladys (really)
Hey guys – because RV/trailers are such a personal choice, we don’t make recommendations to people. Our advice is to go shop around and see as many as you can. Eventually one will stand out above the rest. I also have no idea what the tow capacity is for your Mercedes so make sure you research that and take it into consideration (with the trailer fully loaded, water, gas, etc.).
We’re in the same boat Elyse. The GLK 250 diesel, 2 adults and 2 dogs.
My husband and I have a 16 foot Casita spirit. 1970 pounds. We travel with 3 dogs. We love the design- no wasted space. Shower, toilet, fridge, sink. Room for a microwave. TV is wall mounted on a swivel.
Are there any lightweight (<3,500lb) travel trailers that don't require the people to crawl over each other when getting into or out of bed? I don't mind crawling in or out. But when the bed is oriented across the trailer, someone is going to have to crawl over their bed mate. Getting up in the middle of the night to pee? Tough luck.
Why don't customers call out the manufacturers for turning a blind eye to this inconvenience?
Yes…we found this one but didn’t like the quality of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pncnTv8Pg7Q
The big reason why most manufacturers do have a North/South bed is because of how small these trailers are. Having the bed up against the wall is the best use of space, rather than needing an area to walk around each side.
The R model altos sleep in the bumper to tongue orientation on a king size bed. Getting in and out is even easier if you sleep with only one cushion at the top and leave it in twin bed configuration at the bottom. A very versatile little trailer.
We have a T@B travel trailer, a little over 2000 pounds, 15 feet long including the tongue. The dinette makes up into a large bed but a number of owners have made modifications so there are two single beds with a walkway between. I wish manufacturers would recognize that lots of people would like this configuration in a small camper.
Great summary of options under 3500 lbs. Now that we only have one kid living at home we have gotten rid of our HUGE SUV and daydream of camping in something that our Wrangler and Crossover can tow. Thanks for the links, have a feeling the yard work is going to have to wait!
My wife and I looked at all of the trailers mentioned plus many more and wound up with a Vistabule. Hands down the most space-optimized package we found, incredibly efficient and at 1600lbs very easy to tow. I definitely recommend adding it to the list!
This is my favorite for aesthetics.
http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/recreational-vehicles/clc-teardrop-trailer.html
My 6’3″ husband tells me I can build it for when I want to run away and go solo.
I am so happy to see you guys downsized. Your old RV seemed very “grandma in Florida” whereas the new one is more “young people hitting the trail”.
Your final step will be when you start modding out an off road truck with camper shell!!!
Thanks Cathy! That’s quite the tiny trailer. Just find a friend who’s taking their RV camping and hook that up to it! Funny, we’ve actually talked about looking at putting together a truck camper for our next rig.
We built a teardrop a number of years ago, designed by my engineer husband. We were able to pick up period reproduction hardware from a local enthusiast who had purchased the extrusion molds- lots of fun, easy to tow. Our daughter & he are going to refinish it & she will be using it with her Subaru.
We bought a Gulfstream Vista cruiser 17 RWD a year ago and love it. We have a Honda Ridgeline V6 to pull it. The trailer is lightweight and we get up hills very easily. Best of all the quality of the trailer is high, much like the Lance trailers.
That’s fantastic – always great to find something that really works for you and is high quality.
In July, 2015 we purchased our very first RV – a Scamp 19 ft. “fifth wheel.” Because of its ball-type hitch which is sort of a cross between a goose-neck and fifth wheel hitch, purists frown upon calling it a fifth wheel. But, considering its interior layout, those familiar with RV’s would surely consider it to be a fifth wheel.
We absolutely love ours. It’s light (under 3,000 pounds), easy to tow, has a wet bath (though somewhat cramped), an ample dinette area and plenty of storage. With over 45 nights in it thus far, we find it to be plenty spacious for two people – especially the bed area (just huge the way we have it set up). However, when the time to take off full timing comes in two years, we will be upgrading to something larger, likely a smaller Class A.
Good luck with your new rig!
We’ve seen a couple of those Scamps – back when we lived in a sticks and bricks, one of our neighbors had one. Makes me wish I had kept my truck! I’ll be curious to see what you think if you end up moving to a Class A or something similar. Thanks Peter!