My household spent every week with the Taxa Outdoor Woolly Bear Overland camp trailer, and we beloved it. Camp trailers like this are an off-road-ready tenting choice with a number of storage, group, and different helpful options.
Camp trailers are nothing new. As a child within the Nineteen Seventies and Nineteen Eighties, my household had a devoted pull-behind trailer with all of our gear inside. Because it was principally surplus navy canvas and wooden, it wasn’t the type of factor you could possibly simply put in a backpack. Our trailer was a helpful clamshell that stored the gear dry and allowed us to haul round all of our stuff.
At present’s camp trailers supply the identical concept, however have developed into rather more ergonomic and helpful packages. The Taxa Outdoor mannequin we examined retails for about US$16,250 and options all-steel building with a full galley, a fridge/cooler drawer, on-board batteries, LED lighting, and a number of storage. A rooftop tent provides one other $2,900. We managed to load all of our tenting gear and meals for the 5 of us, with room to spare. Each spot on the Woolly Bear Overland is replete with tie-down choices.
Aaron Turpen / New Atlas
Curb weight for the Taxa Woolly Bear is about 1,400 lb (635 kg) as we had it. Manufacturing unit weight with out add-ons is about 1,270 lb (576 kg). Added to the usual gear on ours was a lithium battery pack and photo voltaic panel equipment, a powered cooler chest, and a 5-gallon water jug. With all of our personal gear added, the trailer weighed simply over 2,000 lb (907 kg).
That mild weight makes the Woolly Bear towable by almost any off-road-capable car. Most small SUVs, compact or midsize pickups, and even minivans have at the least that a lot towing capability. We used a 2024 Ram 1500 Insurgent, which is approach over-capable for this, however whose off-road prowess nearly matches that of the Woolly Bear Overland with its articulating off-road hitch. For weekend getaways or overlanding adventures, it is good.
Aaron Turpen / New Atlas
Storing the trailer is simple as effectively. It’s lower than 11 ft in size (10 ft, 8 in / 325 cm) and about the identical top as a Subaru Forester, with a wheel monitor about equal to that of a Toyota RAV4. The higher rack on the Taxa Woolly Bear is adjustable, and ours was set at in regards to the mid-point. Including extra cupboard space beneath the highest rack (and optionally available tent) is feasible by eradicating bolts and adjusting the rack’s top. Overland fashions have floor clearance that’s higher than most off-road autos, because of the trailer’s axle-less design utilizing a Timbren suspension arm.
Our time tenting with the Taxa Woolly Bear took us to the Snowy Vary Mountains close to Laramie, Wyoming. With lodgepole pines, winter-fattening wildlife on the unfastened, and clear water lakes, it’s a gorgeous place. We discovered our spot, parked, and began organising camp. We had been interrupted midway by way of by a younger bull moose wandering by way of to eat the ripe currants off bushes that had been scattered across the space. That put some pause in our setup time, however whole precise work to get arrange with the Woolly Bear trailer was about 10 minutes.
It was throughout setup that I spotted a devoted tenting trailer is one thing we’d been needing for a very long time. It simplifies storage of substances and makes organising a lot quicker. Reducing the stabilizing legs of the Taxa requires just a few cranks with an included deal with. Leveling by eyeball was easy. The 2 rear legs elevate the again to degree, whereas the aspect legs present side-to-side leveling. My 14-year-old daughter was capable of run the crank with out hassle.
Aaron Turpen / New Atlas
A ladder is deployed for entry to the rooftop tent. The tent is unlatched with 4 clasps and pushed up. The built-in pistons do the remainder of the lifting, and a bar inside is pulled up into place. A bar on both finish of it snaps into place to carry it there. The Taxa tent is now prepared for occupancy. Most rooftop tents work on an analogous precept. With about an inch and a half of padding within the flooring, although, this sleeping association is much superior to the bottom for these of us stepping into the creaky-bones section of life.
Probably the most helpful portion of a camp trailer of this design, although, is its galley. The Taxa Outdoor setup consists of a number of storage for cookware and small meals objects in addition to a two-burner camp range and its equipment. Propane from a small canister in one other storage compartment hangs on the entrance of the trailer (above the dual on-board batteries that cost from the car).
Aaron Turpen / New Atlas
LED lighting makes discovering and utilizing issues straightforward. Storage under the galley is the proper place for non-perishables. The sliding cooler drawer permits fast entry to extra meals. All of this storage is sealed and lockable. It is also bear-proof, although that half wasn’t examined in our time with the trailer (regardless of the myriad bear warnings the Nationwide Park Service had posted all around the campground).
With a straightforward tow, a complete lot of helpful storage, and a “go wherever” design, the all-steel Taxa Outdoor Woolly Bear Overland is a superb instance of what these devoted journey trailers can do. Far inexpensive than an RV and rather more able to getting locations as effectively, these rigs are an awesome choice.
Product web page: Taxa Outdoors Woolly Bear
