Cool Tears now has a blog and a shop with fun t-shirts and bumper stickers. In addition, if you are interested in keeping up with the teardrop world on your phone, check out the Teardrop Nation app for both Apple and Android devices
March Cool Tears and Tiny Campers Magazine
The latest issue of Cool Tears and Tiny Campers is now available online and in print. This issue discusses the split of Little Guy Worldwide and Pleasant Valley Teardrops (the original maker of the Sunflower), Matt Gideon's modified T@G camper, and a teardrop trip down Route 66.
Excellent Hitching Tips from Sean and Kristy
My Airstream friends from the Long Long Honeymoon have a great video up about their six best hitching tips. These tips focus on their 25 foot Airstream Classic travel trailer, but their tips can benefit anyone who tows a camper. While most teardrop trailers under 1,500 lb. will not have brakes and won't need anti-sway bars, any way that you can be safer on the road will be appreciated.
The best thing about the video is hot and sexy intro.
Here are a few of my own tips for hitching up your teardrop trailer.
1. Stay focused
When hitching up your camper, pay close attention to what you are doing. Don't get distracted by partners, children, pets, neighbors, your phone or another task. Focus on getting the hitch coupler fully around the hitch ball and locked down. Make sure your chains are crossed and completely hooked and locked onto the hitch receiver. Double check your wiring connections, lights and signals.
2. Watch your weight
Because most teardrop trailers are on a single axle, any weight that is put too far towards the back can make the trailer fall backwards or tilt dangerously toward the rear. In addition, too much weight towards the front can make it more difficult to hitch up correctly. In fact, we will load our heaviest item (our ice chest) onto the front cargo rack after we are safely hitched up.
3. Double, triple and continuously check your connections
When you are towing, being a little OCD is a benefit. Every time we stop at a gas station, restaurant or campground, we check our electrical connections, the hitch ball and the chains. Sometimes we will each do our own check in case someone misses something. If you are a first time teardropper, having a written checklist with you is also very helpful.
The best thing about the video is hot and sexy intro.
Here are a few of my own tips for hitching up your teardrop trailer.
1. Stay focused
When hitching up your camper, pay close attention to what you are doing. Don't get distracted by partners, children, pets, neighbors, your phone or another task. Focus on getting the hitch coupler fully around the hitch ball and locked down. Make sure your chains are crossed and completely hooked and locked onto the hitch receiver. Double check your wiring connections, lights and signals.
2. Watch your weight
Because most teardrop trailers are on a single axle, any weight that is put too far towards the back can make the trailer fall backwards or tilt dangerously toward the rear. In addition, too much weight towards the front can make it more difficult to hitch up correctly. In fact, we will load our heaviest item (our ice chest) onto the front cargo rack after we are safely hitched up.
3. Double, triple and continuously check your connections
When you are towing, being a little OCD is a benefit. Every time we stop at a gas station, restaurant or campground, we check our electrical connections, the hitch ball and the chains. Sometimes we will each do our own check in case someone misses something. If you are a first time teardropper, having a written checklist with you is also very helpful.
Featured Teardrop: Tiny Camper Company
There are not many teardrop trailer builders who go from hobbyist to philanthropist in just a few years. Joe Tyquiengco of Tiny Camper Company went from building teardrop trailers for himself and a few clients to providing several campers a year to homeless U.S. veterans. The company has also raffled off their trailers to raise money for sick children.
The Tiny Camper Company, based in Florida, is a family-run business that builds several different types and sizes of teardrop trailer. The trailers veer toward the styles of the 1930s to 1960's with retro details and classic lines.
Currently the company has six teardrop designs, including the Canned Spam standy trailer which is tall enough for someone just under six feet. Each trailer can include options and upgrades like AC and heat, front cargo or roof racks, TVs, hanging cabinets, and painted frames. The campers range from $2,750 to $5,300 without the upgrades.
For a straightforward teardrop trailer with galley, the Simple Sleeper and the Simple Sleeper Basic are built on 4x8 trailer frames and both weigh under 700 lb. They each have a NOCO Marine Electric 110 volt outlet and a back shelf. The Koa Teardrop is a simple design with a galley and two doors on a 4x8 trailer frame. Each of these campers can be upgraded to a 5x8 trailer frame for $750.
If you like nostalgia in your camper, the Retro Vintage Teardrop has a 1930s vibe with vintage Ford fenders and tail lights. The Retro comes standard on a 5x8 trailer frame. The Serro Scotty Replica has white aluminum, a squared off rear galley and only weighs 750 lb.
For issue #51 of the Tiny House Magazine, I interviewed Joe about his new 5x8 Canned Spam standy trailer as well as his Trailers for Troops program. Every year, he and his Trailers for Troops representative and manager, Micah Jones, choose several homeless veterans to receive a pro bono teardrop trailer. Many of these veterans are either living in their cars or on the street and suffer from PTSD-induced illnesses. The teardrops give them a more secure and comfortable way of life.
Photos by Tiny Camper Company
The Tiny Camper Company, based in Florida, is a family-run business that builds several different types and sizes of teardrop trailer. The trailers veer toward the styles of the 1930s to 1960's with retro details and classic lines.
Currently the company has six teardrop designs, including the Canned Spam standy trailer which is tall enough for someone just under six feet. Each trailer can include options and upgrades like AC and heat, front cargo or roof racks, TVs, hanging cabinets, and painted frames. The campers range from $2,750 to $5,300 without the upgrades.
If you like nostalgia in your camper, the Retro Vintage Teardrop has a 1930s vibe with vintage Ford fenders and tail lights. The Retro comes standard on a 5x8 trailer frame. The Serro Scotty Replica has white aluminum, a squared off rear galley and only weighs 750 lb.
For issue #51 of the Tiny House Magazine, I interviewed Joe about his new 5x8 Canned Spam standy trailer as well as his Trailers for Troops program. Every year, he and his Trailers for Troops representative and manager, Micah Jones, choose several homeless veterans to receive a pro bono teardrop trailer. Many of these veterans are either living in their cars or on the street and suffer from PTSD-induced illnesses. The teardrops give them a more secure and comfortable way of life.
Photos by Tiny Camper Company
The Sunflower Goes to Death Valley Without her Owner
Sometimes you have to let your teardrop trailer have all the fun. While I was busy working and taking care of my mother, my husband, and our friend Andres, took the Sunflower down to Death Valley for a winter photography trip.
Along the way they stopped at the funky International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada for the obligatory shot of a teardrop trailer among junk cars. They also stopped in Rhyolite, a former ghost town that was once owned by Charles Schwab. The town is now home to the Goldwell Open Air Museum and features modern art such as the ghostly "The Last Supper" and the "Lady Desert: The Venus of Nevada."
Our intrepid photographers stayed at the Furnace Creek RV Park for a week—a campground that can fill up rather quickly when Death Valley is in the '70s and the rest of California is experiencing rain and snow.
Along the way they stopped at the funky International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada for the obligatory shot of a teardrop trailer among junk cars. They also stopped in Rhyolite, a former ghost town that was once owned by Charles Schwab. The town is now home to the Goldwell Open Air Museum and features modern art such as the ghostly "The Last Supper" and the "Lady Desert: The Venus of Nevada."
Our intrepid photographers stayed at the Furnace Creek RV Park for a week—a campground that can fill up rather quickly when Death Valley is in the '70s and the rest of California is experiencing rain and snow.
Photos by Andres Leon Photography and Harry Thomas