I, like many of you, dream about owning a tricked-out Sprinter or Tacoma and living on the road. But that鈥檚 not possible with a full-time job and limited funds. So听I鈥檝e been exploring alternative options for weekend adventuring.
Most recently, I came across , a company that makes well-built and surprisingly affordable teardrop-style towables. Instead of the outrageous $20,000 price tag you see on many teardrops, its听trailers are usually well under $10,000鈥攁nd often in the $5,000 range. Curious to see how well one worked, I called the company and asked for a demo. My wife and I have been using it for the past three听months.听
Driving
I first found Hiker Trailer at last year鈥檚 Overland Expo West, and its听headquarters is in Denver, Colorado. In February, my wife and I visited听while en route to Jackson Hole and picked up the demo. (There鈥檚 now a rental program, too, so you can try before you buy.) We tested a听 , which is the mid-tier and most popular option. It costs $4,700 for the base and weighs 780 pounds, so you can tow it with a Subaru. However, our demo came with several additional goodies鈥攕olar panels, an awning, a heavy-duty axle, a rear galley-style door, and roof rack components鈥攚hich drove the weight up to 1,300 pounds and the price up to about $9,000.听 听
On the road, the trailer was simple to pull, just like a small U-Haul. There was zero fishtailing, and because I drive a Toyota Tundra, which has a large towing capacity, we often forgot we had a trailer attached to the back. The only caveat: we did find听it听hard to back up. The Deluxe is听fairly long for its size and can jackknife due to its听single axle. That said, if you get into a backup bind, you can unhitch the trailer and move it easily by hand.
Exterior
The rear swing-out door on our model opens up to reveal enough storage for a tricked-out camp kitchen plus several Rubbermaid bins. Below that听door听there鈥檚 an integrated receiver hitch, where we attached a 听for a long weekend of mountain biking in Utah.
Up top听we also had a 听and racks where we hauled our skis on the way to . Both of those sat on a听, which also held a 听swing-out awning that provides 270 degrees of protection. Our Foxwing came with the , so we had zip-on tent walls that hung down from the awning and effectively tripled our living space. The awning and walls held up well to rain, and the awning itself created a lot of shade during sunny afternoons in the desert.
For solar, we had听two 20-watt 听panels听mounted to the trailer鈥檚 front storage box听and another 40-watt portable Zamp panel kit that we could deploy at camp. All the panels听hooked up to an inverter and charged a battery that ran the trailer鈥檚 electrical system.
Interior
The five-by-eight-foot queen-size bed in our trailer came with a four-inch memory-foam mattress that was almost as comfy as our bed at home. With a down quilt and some sheets, plus a small听portable space heater, we stayed warm while camping in snow and near-freezing temperatures in Montana, Utah, and Arizona, despite the lack of insulation in the walls. The trailer and doors are sealed incredibly well to keep out the elements, so it鈥檚 important to crack a window or run the included venting fan at night. While it isn鈥檛 intended to be a winter camper, you can make it work in cold temperatures. It鈥檚 certainly nicer than a tent.
There are integrated lights in the rear hatch and above the bed that run off the solar panels and the included car battery. It was nice to flip a switch and be able to cook at night听or read before bed without having to fumble with a headlamp. There鈥檚 also a power strip in the rear hatch听and USB ports above the bed, both of which made charging gadgets like phones, cameras, and computers a听breeze. We never drained the battery when听just charging gadgets, but we did run the battery dry one night by using the听space听heater. If you鈥檙e in a campsite with an electricity hookup, the electrical system can be plugged in.
The Competition听
There are a lot of other high-quality听camping trailers out there, from off-road听expedition-style trailers like the听 that starts at $18,500 to听the ' that starts at $44,383. But in terms of amenities and intended use, the closest competitors to听Hiker Trailer are听, , ,听, and . The average base price of those trailers is $12,031, and only the American Teardrop Falcon comes anywhere close to the Hiker, with a starting price of $7,445.听None of these trailers offer much more in the way of amenities (like a sink, standing room) than the model we tested, and in some cases, they offer less. The Sylvan Sport Go is an innovative, super-cool camping and gear-hauling trailer, but at $9,995 you don鈥檛 even get hard-sided walls. And while it鈥檚 true that听a Hiker Trailer鈥檚 price can add up quickly when you start adding accessories听like a solar-powered electrical system, roof rack, and custom cabinetry, that鈥檚 the case with all of these brands as well. 听听
Should You Buy One?
While testing, I was constantly trying to figure out where the Hiker fits into the long list of adventure-vehicle options outside of听its immediate competitors.听If you already own a truck, something like a slide-in camper from could be more versatile and give you some additional living space (with room to stand), but you鈥檙e going to spend a lot more there as well. A camper shell and a sleeping platform or will give you a lot of the benefits of a Hiker Trailer, albeit with fewer amenities and less storage space.听听
Here鈥檚 what finally sold me: the organization and ease of use. My wife and I left our demo full of camping gear and parked in our driveway, ready to go at a minute鈥檚 notice. That鈥檚 not something you can do with a truck and rooftop tent, where to need to reload all your bedding and听camping supplies. You could, in theory, leave a fully packed slide-in on your truck, but that听would eat gas. You could also build out a camper van, but then you鈥檝e got another vehicle to maintain.
More simply put, if you want to camp a lot, want a setup that鈥檚 easy to use and pull, and don鈥檛 want to take out a second mortgage, there鈥檚 currently no better option.听