Brookfield, Wisconsin based REV Recreation Group announced today plans to add an assembly plant and component warehouse in Decatur, Indiana for its Lance Camper line of travel trailers. “With the growing interest in and demand for travel trailers, our Decatur facilities will help to better serve those dealers in the Midwest and in the East,” said Mike Lanciotti,president, REV Recreation Group. “Adams County is known for its loyal and diligent workforce, many with expertise in RV manufacturing; we look forward to more employees joining the Lance team.” This expansion will create mor ..read more

Having owned a teardrop trailer for a couple of years, I’ve got somewhat of a baseline to gauge others. I always thought mine was a well-built, solid unit that was put together well and one I felt confident in recommending to others. I found out this week I was quite naive on what a well-built, solid teardrop was. That’s because I met this. The RŎG 12RK is the initial offering by Elkhart, Indiana based Encore RV. Encore RV founder, Rich Schnippel has over 20 years of experience in the motorsports/cargo trailer, RV, and marine industry.  Schnippel has worked for some of the top manuf ..read more

After several years in the making, Uniontown, Ohio based Xtreme Outdoors has announced the Little Guy Micro Max to its Max line of trailers. The Micro Max could be considered the runt of the Max litter, with big brothers Max and Mini Max previously introduced in 2017 and 2018, respectively. I first saw the prototype of the Micro Max at the manufacturers open house in Elkhart, Indiana back in September of 2019. As we know, the pandemic hit not long after that and turned the world, and RV industry, upside down. But with supply chains slowly starting to get back online, Xtreme Outdoors has raised ..read more

At first glance, you may look at the Jayco Jay Feather Micro 12SRK and think it’s another boxy teardrop trailer…or as some refer to it as a “boxdrop”. But upon further inspection, it’s anything but typical. Inside the 12SRK, instead of a typical wall to wall mattress, you’ll find a jack-knife sofa that converts to a bed with a comfortable 6’4” length. Having owned a traditional teardrop trailer in the past, you don’t always want to lay down when you climb inside to take shelter from a rainy day at the campground. And underneath that sofa, you have full access storage that’s accessible from in ..read more

It’s been a while since we’ve had advertisers on The Small Trailer Enthusiast, but I want to welcome back to the fold two previous advertisers, The Teardrop Shop and Lance Camper. The Teardrop Shop has been on the scene for nearly 10 years and is an online, one stop shop for all your teardrop trailer needs. From awnings to covers and everything in between, they’ve got it. But they carry accessories not only for your small teardrop, but for also larger teardrops like the Little Guy Max, T@B 400, and r-pod. The categories on The Teardrop Shop are endless. And I’m finding they have a lot of grea ..read more

Shipshewana, Indiana based KZ RV recently debuted three new floor plans to the Escape lineup with the HATCH. A cross between a small travel trailer and a toy hauler, the HATCH is geared to those who bring along their non-motorized toys to their camping adventures, such as bikes and kayaks, as well as an incredible amount of storage for just your everyday camping gear. Looking at the mid-sized E17 HATCH, you’ll find the front two-thirds of the trailer is typical of what you’ll find in a small trailer in its 22’ hitch to tail length, with a front east-west queen bed, kitchen, bathroom, and ..read more

There comes a time in the life of most tent campers when they start to think, “It’s time to get off the ground”. I’d venture to say some of you can raise your hand to the affirmative with that sentiment. While it’s uncommon for a tent camper to jump right from their $89 tent they got at the big box store into a $400,000 42’ diesel pusher, it’s not uncommon for them to jump into something that’s not that much larger than the tent they’re leaving behind. Some folks just like small spaces, whether it’s on the ground or on two wheels. One such trailer that fits that mould is the lightweight a ..read more

Recently while traveling from Indiana to South Dakota for vacation, I had an 1100 mile (each way) chance to observe on the highways what people were camping with. One thing stuck out: There are a lot of Forest River r-pods out there. Just on the trip out from home to our Custer, South Dakota base for the week, I encountered roughly 10 r-pods in that two-day trip. And it should come as no surprise, as the r-pod has been the number one selling small trailer under 20 feet for a few years now. I don’t know all my r-pod floorplans from the outside, but one of them I did see on Interstate 90 in Sout ..read more

So we’re on our fifth week of stay at home. Campgrounds across the country are closed. RV manufacturers have shut down, either voluntarily or via a state mandate. It’s the time of year where we’re supposed to be de-winterizing and pulling those tarps off for another season of camping. But we know life put the brakes on that for a while. Some of you have decided to make lemonade out of this big lemon we’ve been given and have been setting up your campsite in your driveways and backyards. The rest of us wait patiently for the all clear for our campgrounds and RV parks to open so we can salvage s ..read more