After many years camping with a 87' Westy, we swiched to using a 05' Honda CRV. We bought a nice Coleman tent trailer as it would accomidate our children. It beat sleeping on the ground but was a pain to set up and offered no shelter from noise. After the kids went off to college, I started thinking about an inclosed trailer but was mindful of the 1500# rating for the CRV. I started thinking reardrop trailers looked interesting. Living in SoCal, I found out about LittleGuy trailers in San Diego (maker of the Meerkat and seller of different teardrops). Took a trip down to take a look first hand. I found that they also had a few T@G teardrop trailers they rent.(sadly no Meerkats). We rented the T@G for two weeks a made a loop up through Utah, CO, NM, and AZ. Wonderful trip, and learned, I'm glad we didn't buy a T@G. The bed was too short for 6'2" me. Also didn't like getting in and out in the rain, so ruled out buying a teardrop. I next came across the fiberglassrv forum, and started reading about different makes of FG trailers. While looking at ads, I came across a 97' LitBigfoot. It's like a 13' Bolar or other makes. We bought that and camped in that for three seasons. No bathroom. Has a small dinette up front. Towed nice with the 05' CRV. My parents were down sizing and so,
sold us their 07' CRV. It was top of line and low mileage, so seemed like a good upgrade. I added a hitch and tranny cooler. Even though the 05' and 07' CRV have the same engines/transmissions, the 07' didn't like pulling the BF. It would constantly be searching for the right gear, downshifting into a lower gear, and pulling high rpm. Indicated mpg dropped to 13-14! A big disappointment. As we were planning a CO trip, I started researching finding a different tow vehicle. Ended up getting a second hand 07' Lexus RX400h AWD from a retiring MD for $7800. It has the optional tow package and is rated for 3500#. It's much nicer than a CRV. Tows like a dream. At speeds under 25, will run electric, so in campground is whisper quiet. The drive train is like a Prius but with a 3.3 v-6, hooked to a CVT, and with an extra motor in the back for AWD. The window sticker says it should get 27-32 but real life gets 21-24 avg, and 17-18 towing. So, while we liked a lot of things about the
Bigfoot, I was still having a problem sleeping. The rounded corners of the trailer body made the bed too small for whoever was sleeping against the back wall. So, I started looking at other trailer designs, especially those with more squared off corners, so the bed would be an honest full sized. I wanted to keep the length no more than 16' and the weight as
light as possible. I found a
Trillium 4500 locally but it would have been a real fixer. And then I found an 2011
Escape 15a, near by and at a good price. The build quality is night and day better. Tinted, dual glazed
windows with pleated shades on guide strings. Thicker
fiberglass, with the seem having been glassed too. Well insulated. The bed is a honest full sized. The privious owner put in a memeory foam mattress. It is very, quiet. Sets up quickly. Tows nicely behind the Lexus. I did change out the 3 way Dometic for a TF 130 12 volt
fridge. This gained us another cu ft in the same space.
Escape only builds trailers to order and has a nice video on their web site walking through how they make their trailers. If I was ordering new, with what I know know, I would make some changes in how it's equipped but they are a well made trailer compared to other
fiberglass makes. We did save a boat load buying secondhand.
I wish we had found a
fiberglass trailer meet to attend before having bought anything but I think we now have a nice tow vehicle and trailer combo. One last thing. The previous owner had the trailer painted blue with quality aircraft
paint. It's not our first choice of color but you wouldn't believe how people stare and take pictures of it. Anytime we are getting fuel, we get asked about the trailer.
Escape would be smart to offer colors other than white!