The lovably rugged Trailpod camping trailer flips the calendar back to a simpler time, a time when the off-road teardrop trailer was a small, ageless and affordable gateway to global adventure. But the tiny tear is more than meets the eye, concealing a modern, zero-wood build below its classic aluminum skin. Trailpod lets you spec it out from Sunday morning Cars & Coffee tagalong to Mad Max survivalist pod, ensuring you get exactly the capability you need without overspending. It’s already a modern classic.
There was a time, not long ago, when the off-road-readied teardrop trailer would bring a twinkle to the eye and crick to the neck of even the least adventurous onlooker. There was just something instantly novel and alluring about it, an unspoken cool fator that could inspire even the homiest homebody to plot out a grand overland adventure across murderous unimproved terrain. At that time – say, a decade and a half ago – such teardrops also served as an attainable entry point for RVing, overlanding and wilderness adventure.
Things have changed. Off-road teardrops haven’t lost all their cool factor, but the market did explode to the point of erasing their novelty and creating bigger, less attractive designs overbuilt into all means of odd shapes and styles. A comfortable majority of the newer trailers really lack the timeless simplicity that has made the teardrop an enduring design icon for closing in on a century.
And the prices – you’ll have an easier time going out today and dropping $50,000 on a small off-road ‘drop trailer than finding one for $10,000.
That’s not to say things have gone all bad, though. While teardrops have gotten bigger, more complex, less lovable and more expensive, they have seen a marked improvement in materials and durability with the growth of zero-wood composite construction, galvanized steel frames and advanced terrain-smoothening suspension systems. So while you might be spending more up front, you can rightfully expect to wring more years of adventure out of that ready-for-anything teardrop buy.
Trailpod
Where Trailpod, a young teardrop builder from South Africa, grabs one’s attention is in bringing things right back to 2010 or so with a classic-but-rugged off-road teardrop shape and style. It’s trailers are clearly upfitted for all-out off-road exploration, without feeling gaudy, excessive or purely exhibitionist.
What impresses us even more is that while the Trailpod appears to utilize the simple alu-skinned wood-body construction that dates back to the teardrop’s earliest days, it actually features a wood-free foam-composite body below that aluminum outer skin, eliminating the rot, mold and general corrosion that can deteriorate wood bones. On paper, it’s the best of old and new.
The Trailpod camper actually started out even more traditional. Born during the idle depths of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the original design featured a dramatically arched, perfectly curvaceous form that even our most fervent “That’s not a teardrop!!” commenters would embrace without question. It wore a skin made from surplus aircraft aluminum that shimmered so brightly you could almost use the sidewall as a big mirror.
Trailpod
That was the prototype, nicknamed “Tintin,” and after some in-field testing, the Trailpod concept evolved through several additional prototypes into a more ruggedized, modern design that also weighs less. It’s still plenty curvy but features a shortened, micro-camping form framed out by vertical front and rear ends. It measures just 3.5 m (11.5 ft) in total length, making it one of the shorter teardrop trailers out there following loyally behind the bumper of road-legal vehicles.
The Trailpod tares in as low as 420 kg (925 lb) in its lightest narrow-bodied, non-braked spec. Named the Trailpod Lite, this base model still features an off-road-prepped build founded on a galvanized off-road chassis and riding 195/80 R15 all-terrain tires wrapped on 15-in steel wheels. Rubber and leaf-spring suspension options are available.
Trailpod
The narrow body measures 1.2 m (3.9 ft) across, while the optional wide body stretches to 1.4 m (4.6 ft), adding 30 kg (66 lb) to the dry weight. Because the track extends out past the body, total trailer width checks in half a meter (1.6 ft) wider than the body width.
Beyond that, the Lite base spec is super simple, allowing buyers to save money and equip it to task themselves. It comes standard with a single door, window with mosquito screen and blackout shade, roof vent, 205-cm-long (81-in) double mattress measuring 115 or 135 cm (45 or 53 in) in width depending on body width, a suitcase shelf, two rechargeable lights, and roof rails.
Trailpod
From there, buyers can pick and choose add-ons from an à la carte options list, including a lithium battery, toddler bunk bed, side-mounted fluid canisters and a side-mounted kitchen box, or they can step things up to the Cricket model. The Cricket features the same body and frame as the Lite but packages in a multitude of additional standard features, including a 100-Ah lithium battery, second entry door, side-mounted mini-kitchen box, solar charger, internal cupboards, and more interior/exterior lighting.
One thing conspicuously missing from the standard feature and option sheets for the Lite/Cricket teardrops is a tailgate galley, a teardrop tradition. For that, buyers can step up to the Trailpod Max, which measures the same 3.5 meters long but has a wider 140- to 154-cm (55- to 61-in) body and adds a tailgate galley.
Trailpod
The galley is more of a structural design, without any inbuilt cooking, plumbing or refrigeration equipment, but provides a full-width counter plus cabinets and cubbies. It looks like you’ll have to keep your cooler or fridge box in the tow vehicle, as there’s no large lower storage area to accommodate it. In place of the side kitchen, the 550-kg+ (1,213-lb+) Max has a fold-down side shelf for extra work/storage space.
Trailpod
Trailpod pricing starts at ZAR189,681 (approx. US$11,650) for the Lite model, R224,480 ($13,800) for the Cricket, and R257,600 ($15,825) for the Max.
It’s usually European or Australian campers that send pangs of envy reverberating across the USA, but those converted US prices for a compact, ultralight trailer with no-wood construction and proper off-road spec definitely have us yearning for a South African micro-camping experience. We’re going to cross fingers that Trailpod becomes the next South African trailer maker to cross the Atlantic (without jacking prices up much from those exchange figures).
Source: Trailpod
