Classic Trailer with Offroad Design (Escapod Teardrop Trailer Tour)

jen is going to be taking us through the teardrop trailer known as the topple one from escapod i'm also going to share three things i like about this trailer and three things i think could be improved and then i'm also going to share with you five other campers on the market that are similar to this trailer but different budgets different features just to help you find a trailer that meets your needs hey there i'm jen co-founder of escapod trailers we have one of our rental trailers this is an original topo series trailer it's kind of our tried and true teardrop trailer off-road ready with a torsion axle 17-inch wheels 31-inch tires i am standing behind our galley i think our galley is one of the things that our customers love more than anything on this trailer this is a standard feature that you're looking at so if you order one of our topo series this is what it comes with you've got a two burner eno stove we have a 6000 and 8500 btu burner on this stove everything here locking drawers we're also using hdpe material in the galley because it is exposed more to the elements this is something that's used a lot in the boating industry and just holds up really well so when you rent from us your trailer will come with pots and pans utensils plates dishes everything that you need while you're at camp the yeti cooler 65 liter on 500 pound locking drawer slides there so this also just slides into place can tuck away there really nicely a few other kind of notable features um we repurposed both of our cabinet faces we found that once you were at camp cabinet faces just ended up being in the way so we figured what can we do to put this material to use and get them out of the way so this side turns into a cutting board when you are packed up and ready to go slide that in there and you can keep everything nice and secure in that compartment this one you'll see is missing and that's because it is set up on the side of our trailer over here so this is at a really comfortable kind of counter height on the topo series trailer we have a 21 gallon water tank underneath this is an option it's an add-on upgrade and then of course an on-demand water heater so what i most commonly use this table for is setting up a little dish washing station here the bpa free hose here just connect everything's on quick connects so you can pop that on on and off really easily when you want hot water if you just want to use cold water you can then put this on there you have a nice cold water source for rinsing off everything there some of the upgrades on this model we have shifted over to more of a bed liner material on our front fenders from diamond plate we also started galvanizing our frames this year instead of doing a powder coat on that just for increased longevity and durability over the years the shower box we make ourselves in-house so it's an aluminum box that is powder coated we've really liked this because it's a little more streamlined thin profile so when you're looking through your rear view mirror you can see behind the trailer a little better than some of the plastic boxes that are on earlier models so some things to note of course we've got insulated doors double doors on all topo series trailers a few little touches here we install metal plates on the corner of the door with a magnet catch here so we actually 3d print that in-house and then when you open your door it just hits that magnet catches really nicely and stays open doesn't bang around when the wind starts blowing all of our trailers come with a an on-board battery charger charger the no code genius 10 so you got a little shore power port there you can charge your trailer up front a few different options here this trailer comes standard with the tongue deck you can add a 160 liter roam box on top they actually make a really nice molle panel for in here as well that you can bolt different materials to this is a great utility space just to store bulk goods mallets extension cords hand cranks for the rear stabilizers that sort of thing fully waterproof seals up nice and tight with these latches upgrade options here you can do our aluminum tongue box that is a fully integrated enclosed tongue box you can put drawer slides in there to carry a secondary fridge or cooler if you are camping with a family and you need more than can fit in that 65 liter yeti that comes standard and then on this rental we do have two six volt batteries in series to create a 12 volt system there is a master power switch here so you can shut everything down and conserve battery while you're in transit and then power everything on just by switching it to that green button one other feature on this trailer uh is the 100 watt solar panel that we have mounted on the rear hatch that will charge your trailer while you are in transit as long as there is sun on it it's charging right now plugged into the trailer there so welcome to the cabin inside the original toppo series trailer this is also kind of a simple teardrop style but with some really smart design solutions one thing that you might notice is the notch here that we have this upper cabinet that extends a little bit further into the cabin and then this is a little bit more recessed we originally had this come the entire way out here and found that this was exactly where you needed to pull your knees up in order to sit up and get in and out of the cabin um or to roll over when you're sleeping at night so we just notched that out we have two nice cubbies here and then of course all of these cabinet doors lock in place so you just pop this out twist and those pull to open one thing that we've loved we're not super into having tvs and electronics inside of a teardrop but we know that every now and again if you're escaping a storm you might want to have a place to put a laptop be able to watch a movie and wait out a storm so we've created this little mount for your laptop to go there and can still kind of sit back comfortably inside the trailer every toppo series comes standard with a four-speed max air fan for nice air circulation it is only on an exhaust setting or a circulate setting so with the lid fully closed it'll still circulate the cabin air you can also vent it to pull the cabinet out when sleeping at night we do recommend that you run it on the low setting on exhaust it helps pull out some of the moisture that's in the cabin and helps reduce condensation so little tips tips and tricks for life on the road um the other thing you'll see back here we have a nice leather surface on this headboard so this is just a great place for devices you've got usb charging ports on either side a nice led light strip on the back here that is completely adjustable so it has preset brightness settings a hundred percent down to ten percent you can turn it completely off um and then of course up top here we have a 9 inch by 41 inch stargazer window kind of the perfect position for a little bit of added headroom when you're in a seated position but also positioned so that you can look at the night sky when you lay down to sleep at night a couple other features to note in here we have a little bit of headboard storage so inside here there's more storage camp chairs fit great back here but you can use it really for extra bedding whatever you want and then this is the insulated window cover that we have for the star geezer so that helps it creates a blackout environment so it helps you sleep better at night also adds a layer of insulation and helps manage condensation so you don't end up with any drips on the forehead while you're sleeping there everything in here is baltic birch it's really nice beautiful bright wood that provides makes a space feel a little bit bigger inside and then the way that our cabinet structure goes together the wood that is here actually extends all the way into the cabin or into the galley so it creates a lot more structural integrity of the trailer the cabinet structure actually goes in place onto the floor and then the walls go up around it and creates a really rigid structure that can handle pretty much anything you throw at it the three things i dislike about this trailer now it's a teardrop if you've watched our channel before you know we're pretty much obsessed with them i think they're the best trailer on the market in terms of how they function outdoors how they integrate into your garage and towing capacity and all those things so i'm really going to be nitpicking here so the first thing i'm going to nitpick at is the galley height now many of you in our video where we took out the escapod commented that may's face was too close to the burner the galley looked too high and yeah they were right in some sense that when you lift a trailer this much for off-road use it does bring that counter higher than your typical counter at home now if you're going out only a handful of times a year i think it's worth the sacrifice to get out there to those distant locations where nobody's going but if you're going out as much as us just like your ergonomic workstation i think you also need an ergonomic cooking area because you're going to be using it quite often you know me i'm a bit old school so number two i would like room to carry water jugs i've had issues in the field with water tanks especially once they get half empty sometimes it's hard for the pump to grab that water i'm jacking up the side of the trailer to get it to move over to reach that pump so to me i like a more paired down trailer without water but i do understand water is a necessity for a lot of you and i honestly cannot think of a third so i'm gonna have to get really nitpicky here and i would say it's the light switch they made this really neat light switch that is portable so you can take it to your side of the bed for sleeping but if you have little kids like us that thing is roaming around everywhere and getting lost and we had a lot of trouble finding the light at night but that's something you can easily secure that to the wall if you have kids so you don't have that issue now for the three things i like about this trailer and honestly it's everything this is a great all-around trailer but if i was going to really pick three things that stand out number one it's the birch something about this wood any trailer that's lined with birch although it costs more to manufacture a trailer that has birch in it the feel the warmth and then in terms of lights escapod unlike other trailers does not put lights up top shining down at you they have them kind of rolling up the birch and it gives it kind of this nice movie theater environment and that warm birch kind of reflects that light back at you it's one of the most comfortable cabin experiences i've had number two it's just the multi-purpose designs the galley cabinet area that turns into a table outside the galley cabinet area that turns into a cutting board the laptop stand at first i thought all these were gimmicky but when using them in the field they really enhanced the experience and number three it's a teardrop teardrops have been around since the 1940s and there's a reason for this this in my opinion is the best camper for a minimalist camping setup it just makes sense for inclement weather setting up quick tearing down quick towing garage ability i could go on and on check out our videos on that as a growing family yeah there's some other trailers but if you're just a couple it's hard to point you in any other direction i just love everything about them if the top of one from escapods a bit out of your budget i have a walk through a link below of the bushwacker teardrop it is one-third the price of this it comes with its issues but sometimes that might be okay for the price point a similar trailer in features and price is the bean trailer but where it differs from the top of one is how it's built it's built using composite materials versus traditional teardrop manufacturing i'll have that walkthrough linked in the description too if you like teardrop trailers but need a bit more space for the growing family the kids we have a trailer with bunk beds and that is the colorado teardrop i'll link that walkthrough in the description below and then you have the most sold teardrop trailer in the industry one you can find at a common rv lot and that is the tag boondock i'll have that walk through in the description and what about building your own have you ever thought about building your own teardrop trailer from the ground up i'll put a link in the description of a video talking about the pros of building your own teardrop and some options for how you can get started and maybe teardrops just aren't your thing after watching this video well fortunately for you we have a ton of other walk-through videos of small camper trailers from pop-ups to off-road trailers to small camper trailers that people live in full-time so check those playlists out if you are on the road with your trailer be safe out there and we'll see you in the next episode