550 / 560 Why Buy A Camp-inn – Musings Of A Buyer

Having followed and read through most of the postings on the forum after I had stumbled over an article about teardrops while buying something at Camping World, I realized that I hadn’t seen any posting about what got people to make the buying decision. Lots of enthusiastic posts but nothing that might help an outsider understand the passion about Camp-Inn that is evident by the forum members.

So here’s a stab based on my experience.

I got interested in teardrops after seeing a magazine article about a Little Guy/Pahaque get together while standing in the checkout line at Camping World. I was picking up something for the utility trailer I use for art shows. Timing was fortuitous since I was just back from 10 days of camping in southwest Colorado on my annual fall photo trek. Camping in rain/sleet/snow wasn’t a ball of fun. So light bulbs started going off when I saw the article. Read it standing in the store. As soon as I got home I hit the Internet.

I don’t know how a company like Camp-Inn would have grown at solid rate without the Internet. Marketing costs without the Net would have limited their growth, or the growth of thousands of other companies. Makes it much easier to learn about products offered by various companies.

As all of you know the list of company built teardrops is rather small. As I looked at each site, trying to understand the differences, I started to quickly narrow down the list of what appeared on the surface to be the differences.

As a buyer I am willing to pay for value and quality. An example, I shoot with a 39MP camera and often a single image will be a stitched panorama of 3-7 images. Total size 600mb to 2 gigabytes. Big images, big sizes. And when I sell prints the buyers can see the difference in quality. Value is easy to establish as my prices support the quality but are not outrageous.

So just looking at the images and details of the various offerings it was pretty easy to start stack ranking the various players.

Then there are the forums like this one or others like Tear Jerkers and Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers. Lots of good information on TJ and T&TTT but somewhat geared to those that want to build their own dream.

But even on these sites a few things became evident. CI owners are passionate. If there is something they don’t like the factory responds. The factory participates on the forum. Check out the forum for the other guys. Pretty quite over there. Number of topics, discussions and replies is considerably less than the CI forum.

The search got narrower.

So I narrowed it down to CI. Looked at the website end-to-end. Probably drove the hit counter through the roof. Ordered an owners manual. (Cary said that was a bit unusual). Did some more research. Measured the garage. Measured the tongue height on the Yukon. Made a list of questions after building a spreadsheet with options and pricing. Asked buyer questions on the forum (thanks to all who responded).

Then called and spoke to Cary. Talked about what I thought that I wanted. Went through my short list of questions and had him send me a completed order form so that I could lock in the 2011 prices. Then I made an appointment to visit Necedah.

If you are reading this as a potential buyer of any type of gizmo, toy, device or whatever and you have the opportunity to visit the place it is made take the time to do it. I’ve owned a couple of airplanes (Mooney) and for one of them was able to make three trips to the factory while it was being built. Got to write my name on the inside of one of the skin panels that will be on that airframe for its life. By making the trip you get to meet the people, see what is that they do, see if they have passion or are they just cranking out work.

Think of it this way. If you have ever had a house built did you just sign the papers and then on moving day just move in? Or did you take trip to watch the progress and marveled at how it all came together? I’m in the latter group.

So on Friday, November 18th, 2011 I met with Cary in the town of Necedah (population 916) in the middle of cranberry farms and Air Guard bombing ranges. If you go a warning. Time flies when you meet someone that loves what they do, are proud of the product they are building and the people they work with it. It shows in Cary, Marty, Chris and the others that I met at CI.

Cary and I have lots of similar life experiences. Both of us fly airplanes, ride motorcycles, are inquisitive tinkerers and love history. So we didn’t start looking at trailers until we had been talking for an hour or more.

And then we got to the lookin’ part. I had not seen a CI, though there are several owners in Colorado. Just to busy with work. So here are my impressions.

My impressions

1. Pictures don’t do justice for the space inside and outside on a CI. The 560 was higher than I had imagined. The interior was larger than expected. Even though I know what a queen bed looks like in some ways the interior seemed larger than that. The ‘couch’ is really a couch. It IS comfortable. You can easily imagine sitting reading a book or watching a DVD on a rainy day with the rain drumming on the roof.

2. Quality of the finish is remarkable. In a former career I sold wood working equipment for Shopsmith. I’ve built some nice stuff in my time that I still treasure. But here’s one of the huge buying points for me. The quality isn’t just in the details that you can see. Yes the interior is spectacular. The exterior fit and finish are excellent. But it’s what you don’t see without making the trip to the factory that makes the product exceptional.

a. Wood Patterns – most places, shoot even some furniture companies, are not good at pattern matching. Think about two pieces of finish grade plywood. Put them face to face and see if the grain pattern is the same on the two pieces. If you laid them down on a tabletop would they complement each other? Highly unlikely EXCEPT if they were built by craftsman. Next time you are inside your CI take a look at the grain pattern on the left and right walls. Chances are the patterns match. That is a solid sign of quality and attention to detail.

b. Wood Finish – Ever notice how the wood that you see in the cabin and in the tail space has a depth of color? A good wood craftsman, and the folks at CI, get that look by spraying all of that stuff you see with multiple coats of finish. But one of the keys to making it look GREAT is to sand the piece between finish coats. That sets a craftsman apart from others who simply spray a single thick coat. But if you go to the factory, or the next time you are putting something in the front storage compartment, shine a nice bright light in there and you will find that it also has been spray finished. Could CI get away without it? Sure. It would cost less in labor and materials. Better yet look at a body still on the jig after it has come out of the spray/finish area and before it goes onto a frame. Look inside all of the corners and areas that get covered up during the build process. Quality….

c. Fit – Stuff like doors on cabinets, etc. fit exceedingly well. Again the attention to detail but also attention to reducing production time and effort. Look at something like the face of the cabin cabinets. Look at the grain patterns. Seem to match don’t they. Doors are made by a water jet cutter (think laser but using water). Computer controlled and makes a very fine cut. Position all of the hinges, number everything and at the end all of the pieces match and fit.

d. Fixtures and wiring – If you ever get a chance to tour an aircraft factory you will understand these comments. In an aircraft, space is at a premium. Weight is critical. Repeatability of installing wiring and components is critical to a smooth production process. Now look at the CI. Items like the wiring layout on the right rear wall area with the battery. Or the plumbing for the sink on the left side. How about the wiring for electric brakes? Easier to simply zip tie it to the under floor area but that exposes it to the elements. Look where CI put it. What about all of the wiring to things like interior and exterior lights? How do they do that and keep the sides aerodynamically smooth? At the CI factory look at something as simple as the thought and detail that went into providing a solid anchor for the license plate light and bracket. You won’t see most of this unless you see it in process on the production floor.

3. Innovation – As a buyer, for me it is important to see that a company is innovating. Similar to the saying of ‘publish or parish’. Talking with one of the guys in the spray area we started talking about HVLP sprayers. His enthusiasm over the system used at CI, how it allowed them to do a better, higher quality job and the investment made to make that possible was contagious. You can see innovation is small things, like taking suggestions from folks on this forum and turning them into optional products, to the innovation of a small gas engine powered wheelchair that has, in my humble opinion, a great opportunity for supporting and enriching the lives of returning wounded warriors.

After almost 5 hours of talking with Cary (seemed like only minutes) I made my deposit for a 560. I saw a company dedicated to making the best product they could, constantly working to make it better for the customer, innovating not just on the current product line but on an item that can make a difference in other lives. I found folks that were passionate about what they did. Paying a for a premium product when you can see, feel, touch the quality and craftsmanship to me is a no brainer. No wonder that like Airstream trailers you seldom see a CI on the used market. And if you do it is gone in a matter of days if not hours.

I look forward to a long friendship with Cary, the team at CI and other CI enthusiasts.

This and much more is why I bought a Camp-Inn.

 

Nice post sums up the Camp Inn Product.

I have often thought Camp Inn should put a PDF copy of the Owners Manual on the website I know it would have been on my read list right from the start of my research.

 

You know, sometimes I'm amazed at the simple and obvious things I never thought of. What a great idea - ordering the manual. (Especially back in the pre-forum days)

 

I asked Cary about the manual. A bit of technical difficulties at their end. But it is a good idea though $3 isn't bad and I got it in a few days. Cary, offer still stands if you want it to a PDF. I do a lot of Acrobat Pro stuff.

 

Nice Post Gary!!

Our journey began after Labor day weekend 2010. We had just spent the four day weekend in a cabin outside of the Smokies and realized we were tired of paying so much for hotels and this cabin for the little bit of time we spent during the day in them. We travel with our dog, Bonnie everywhere we go and finding pet friendly places was a challenge and pricey at times. We had gotten away from camping and realized we missed being outdoors. While traveling thru the park we started looking more at the smaller campers but really didn't see anything we liked until we saw a T@B. After researching this and others we stumbled on the Camp Inn site. We did the measurements in the garage as they size was the main reason of going with the Camp Inn. So basically within a few weeks of finding the site and chatting online with Cary we sent our downpayment site unseen based on the feel we got from Cary and the forum. Now just over six months of ownership and 41 nights we wished we could have found Camp Inn years earlier!

Jason

 

Very well said, Gary! You have eloquently expressed the sentiments of many on this forum, us included! You will not be disappointed. With each outing, we find that we love our "McNugit" more than ever!!

 

Gary,
reading your post was fun and your right about the wood grain - it is 27 degrees here but I had to go to the garage and check.
Owning such a good product sort of makes my buttons pop.

 

I invested in Uff Da Inn because of quality!
My past experience with tents, travel trailers, and 5th wheels has be very valauble.

Camp Inn quality shows in their website, various online forums, and touring the factory.

Marine and aviation products make the Camp Inn a surerior teardrop. The only comparision available would be from a few top notch home built craftsman.

 

We were backpackers and were basically sidelined by 2 things: 1) we have a small child and 2) my 39-year old husband ended up having a double hip replacement and can't sleep on the ground anymore.

Having camped a lot in my life, I wanted to get my son out camping. I had talked to Mick about little trailers (like a pop up or something along those lines). We live on a narrow gravel road, and I wanted to have something that we could fit in the drive (along with our 2 cars and Mick's fully enclosed 24' car trailer), that we would all fit in, that was simple (I don't want to have to deal with emptying waste, other than grey water, or have something so big it becomes a difficult chore). The pop up was too big, and I didn't like the idea of all of the set up, I didn't want anything that had a bathroom, and I wanted to keep things easy and closer to tent camping than RVing.

I came across Camp-inn through a web search. I wasn't thinking a teardrop would work for us, with a then 3-year old, but when I saw the bunks in the 560, my heart sailed. I knew that it was perfect for the 3 of us. In the future, when the inevitable happens and the lad outgrows the bunks or decides he doesn't want to sleep with us, we will enjoy the extra space. Let's face it, we get a lot of rain out here, so if you don't camp in the rain, you aren't going to get much camping in. In the last 24-hours, we have had more than 3-inches of rain in the valley. We like to hide out playing cards, reading, watching movies, etc. If we can, we ride out the storm and get out and play when it gets a little drier. The space in the trailer will certainly not go to waste.

The next thing was getting Mick on board. He told me to call the company and chat things over with them. I think I was on the phone 1.5-2 hours with Cary. Gary isn't kidding...I grew up with a lot of things that are shared interest of Cary's, and I felt so confident after that, that we were dealing with quality people and not somebody I should worry about. It is a lot of money, and 2500 miles away. Cary gave me the name of some folks out here, so we could see the trailers in person. That was all it took. Mick told me to call and order the next day.

We spent lots of time working out which features we couldn't live with out, and things we just wanted. I wanted to keep things simple, but comfortable. 6 months later, I loaded the lad and my mom up (Mick had to stay home to work) and we made the trek to MN (OR doesn't have a sales tax, so by picking it up in MN, my cost was lower with no sales tax). We picked it up in the middle of one of the biggest storms to roll through the mid-west in 65 years. Craig showed up in shorts and sandals (we were in goretex and leather shoes) and did the full run down in winds that were gusting easily up to 50mph with what we would call a shower. The bright side of the storm was that Craig detected a small leak in my front window, so we dashed over to WI to the Home Depot, and Craig fixed it right up. After that, we were off!

We have not regretted anything yet, and we are now 13 months into full ownership (from when we took possession). I am so happy with the choice we made and feel so thankful that we have been welcomed, with open arms, to this small but ever-growing community.

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Our journey to Camp-Inn started eight or nine months ago with a YouTube video made by a second owner of a preowned 560 Ultra. You’ve seen it if you’ve done any kind of search for teardrops on YouTube, it’s one of the first that will pop up. So today we’re thankful that a guy named Chris (Doggorunning) wanted to shoot a video with his new iPhone and used his 560 as the subject.

To that point I had only seen a few homebuilt or commercial teardrop trailers on the internet. I was intrigued, especially with a lot of the vintage styled homebuilts. But as dirty Harry once said “a man must know his limitations” so building my own wouldn’t be a wise choice for us. As I started looking at the different one off builders and commercial manufacturers I found certain things I liked from each but not enough from any one that made me want to consider theirs for our traveling adventures.

Hoping that there was something out there that would pique our interest I continued my internet search from one link to another to another in a pursuit of perfection... sounds like a Lexus commercial doesn’t it? Then I found it, the above mentioned video. I watched it at least a half dozen times just taking in the details of the design and admiring the craftsmanship. I shared it with Michelle and we both knew then we had found what we were looking for. What we didn’t realize at the time is that the way Chris talked about his new trailer and the company that made it with such pride that we were being handed the Kool-Aide.

There’s a lot more to the story and our journey to ordering our 550 Ultra but we just wanted to share how we got to Camp-Inn


Gary, great job!

 

Sounds like you wrote my story! I'm getting ready to call and start the order process...maybe tomorrow

 

Sweeney,

Welcome to the forum. You'll be impressed with all the knowledge and information the owners and hope to be owners have to share. As newbies, it's been quite the education for us. I can't imagine any other owner group being this well organized, not to mention the friendly lot they are... yet another reason we decided on Camp-Inn.

Everyone anxiously awaits to hear what new owners purchase. So let us know what you decide to get.

Ours is getting a little closer to completion. I didn't want to bore anyone with more build pictures, but I'll probably post a few next week. The doors should be on and I'm pretty sure we're the first to have the new style hinges, so we might show them off... I know, door hinges, big deal!

 

We signed up for the new hinges too. Looking forward to seeing them!
Thanks

 

Gosh, how am I going to keep up, I too will have to sign up for the new hinges. What other 2012 improvements are there?

 

AJ and Michelle

New door hinges...it is a BIG DEAL. One more proof point that the team at CI doesn't sit on their laurels (never did know what sitting on your laurels meant, can't say I have ever seen a laurel but I digress). Let's do a little analysis. Door hinges, nearly 500 units in the field. Gosh I don't think I have seen a single post here about door hinges. Why change them?

Because something wasn't quite PERFECT for Cary or Craig or one of the other team members. Sounds like something simple until you need to figure how to incorporate new parts and possibly a new way to assemble into a production line.

Another example of why I am buying a CI! Constant improvement...

 

I'm not sure what else Cary and Craig have in store for 2012. But, I Know Cary was very accommodating when I asked him to do a fan upgrade with a rain sensor. Camp-Inn now has their own version of the Fantastic Vent Fan 6000 and so do I. There I go again bragging and waving the CI flag... they just make that so easy to do.

 

At the moment the new door hinge designs are the only thing for the 2012 models. You betcha Slumry, we can do that on yours too, just shoot me a email on it.

We also have the new 6000 series fan option coming out very soon. AJ is getting the first one but we can offer that as a upgrade option to anyone else who has one on order. $80 upgrade.

AJ got to be the test case for both. This is why we don't have pictures on the website yet of either. We are waiting to finish his unit so we can have one to take pictures of with the new stuff. In the past the door hinges have been tested by building small wall sections so we could do our static load testing and such, but nothing really that could be photographed.

There are actually two versions of the new hinges. The standard hinge is being replaced with a different one of our own design. The Ultra models are getting something extra special though. This is what AJ and Ken are both going for (I know Gary got a peek at it too, so I am sure he is nodding in approval right now). These are pretty cool and you will have to wait to see the pictures as soon as we get them on AJ's (this will be pretty soon).

There was one other 2012 feature improvement. It was more under the radar because it is less obvious. We changed the door seal/ door latch arrangements on our units for the 2012s. We cut it in sooner though and did it as a running change. So, all the 2011s being built right now have this change already. Starlight has one of the first ones with this new setup. This eliminates the "car wash" leak our trailers have always had, water getting in around the latch on the door when large amounts of water are hitting the side of the trailer.

Gary has a good point. Something like this is not as simple as it sounds. With both hinges we had to reinvent the wheel a bit and come up with things outside the normal. These are not hinges that exist in a standard form anywhere else. So, of course one of the challenges is finding someone to make them the way we want. Fortunately we have a very good hinge manufacturer that didn't balk too much at our crazy ideas. For the Ultra hinge we did have to partner them up with another of our suppliers to completely do these.

The Fantastic fan however was about as simple as it gets. The people at Fantastic are, uh well, fantastic. They set us up with our own version of the 6000 series with a simple phone call. It didn't take long to get through our evaluation once we got them. We are also looking at the version with the remote that gives you a more variable speed control of the motor. We have one and are testing it, should be able to offer that too at some point.

Of course there are other things in the works right now, heck I just got off the phone with a supplier about one of them. But, all stuff I still need to be hush hush about. Some are a ways off and some not so far. A couple of them are being field tested right now by Jenn with her sworn oath of secrecy. Another good reason to bump into Jenn on her travels, get a peak at top secret Camp-Inn R&D projects.

Cary

 

Ok, so I shouldn't talk about the gull wing doors that automatically deploy the side tent when they open? OH NOOO!!!

 

Nice idea though