@true_north_overland
To our fellow adventure enthusiasts,
I want to share our story with others interested in the overlanding adventure trailer market to hopefully help you to make the best decision for your needs and save from going down the same road we did.
I am the type of person who does excessive research on every item I purchase, I want the best bang for my buck, drives the wife mental cause I will go on for months before deciding.
When we began the research into adventure trailers at first, we were taken back at the price of these little trailers as compared to a full-size trailer. We figured that we could build something to suit our needs for much cheaper. After putting together, a very extensive list on materials required, cost of those materials, factoring in labour we could not do ourselves and labour we could it quickly became obvious why these adventure trailers are costly as they are and didn’t seem to make sense to build one on our own.
And so began months of research and price comparison, do we go used, do we go new, sleep-in trailer, sleep on trailer, etc, etc…… The options are endless. Ultimately what we found is the long-time adventure trailer manufacturers have the market in the bag in terms of R&D and bells and whistles. After making all these comparisons we believed we had a decision made. We chose to go with a Canadian made trailer manufacturer because we really do try to support Canadian and local whenever possible.
We had two comparable trailers in mind and a friend recommended the trailer we now own, although this was not the trailer we chose to go with initially. We decided on another. This friend asked why we made the decision we did and ultimately the decision was based on price. While the price was comparable between the two, the one, we chose had all those bells and whistles, hot water system, water tank, electrical, fancy decal package. We said this is the best bang for our buck as the other does not come with all the fancy pants stuff.
We asked the company if they had a trailer we could see in person as the pictures on their website didn’t really show the details that well. Sadly, they did not. We were convinced this was the trailer for us after a solid year of research, so we put down our non-refundable deposit and settled in for the seven months wait.
During this time, we attended an outdoor expo and one of these trailers was in attendance, so we excitedly intruded on the owner’s campsite to have a look at what we were about to purchase. We looked it over thoroughly, thanked the owner and went on our way. We made it less than 100 yards, looked at each other and I’m pretty sure we both sputtered the same words “ahh crap”.
The trailer we were about to purchase and put that non-refundable deposit on was 100% not going to work for us at all. Yes it had all the fancies, water tank, hot water, built- in stove, blah, blah. What it did not have however was an ounce of functionality, little to no usable counter space, tiny fridge with tiny freezer hardly large enough for a bag of ice, nowhere to store dishes, pots, pans, dry goods, cannot use annex because of short tent height, so on, so on. It did have a storage compartment that you could keep all the previously mentioned items in however the access doors where not wide enough to accept a standard size tote. Really this trailer was fancy and seemingly had all the boxes checked but ultimately IMO an engineering design fail.
It was clear we would be walking away from our deposit! UGHHHH.
At this same outdoor expo, we bumped into another trailer manufacturer and the one our friend recommended we check out to begin with, that is Beaver Built Adventure Trailers. We very quietly checked this trailer out, went discussed, came back, went discussed and so on for the next two days of the expo. I then proceeded to eat crow pie. The friend who recommended this builder was also friends with the owners of Beaver Built, he months before gave them my honest feedback. Which was: they missed the mark on market research and pricing as the trailer was same price as competitors with none of the fancies.
Turns out the design and functionality of the Beaver Built trailer is leagues above any other on the market for the cost by a long shot. Yes, you may not get hot water or a built-in stove, but you have a ton of storage for oh I don’t know, your camp chairs, clothes, pots, pans, dry storage, a real fridge/freezer; you know all the stuff you are likely going to want to haul in your trailer, plus a ton of usable counter space. In fact, I would say it is more functional and has more storage than trailers double its cost. Yes, it doesn’t have all the fancies a trailer doubles its cost does but it could, and by the time you add everything the top dogs have it would be cost comparable. Cost comparable with more functionality and storage than the top dogs!!
Turns out Beaver Built has crushed it on the R&D, functionality, and cost comparison in this market. At this point it should go without saying we chose in the end a Beaver Built Mahksis, which I might add we received a month later and still earlier than the trailer we had now been waiting six months for.
We have currently owned the trailer for six months and are ecstatic with our decision. Firstly, we ended up with one big thing the other did not have and did not know we needed and that is a galvanized steel frame. Why does this matter you ask, no rust! Check competitors reviews, year old trailers with rusty frames, 30K + trailer and a year old with rust on the frame……. Really!?!?
Second thing we got but didn’t know we really needed……. A suspension capable to crush every bit of terrain we have thrown at it and from outing one we have put it to the test…..FULLY!! Again, check competitors, you will not get a comparable frame and suspension unless you spend twice the cost of a Beaver Built.
In closing we are very excited to get making memories and are very confident that with our Beaver Built trailer we will be doing this for years and enjoying every minute of it!!
Brendon & Kristin from Calgary
My family recently bought an adventure trailer. The first time we took it camping was game changing. We had so much more room to put our food, clothes, pots, pans, etc. and we could even bring more than usual like more clean water and food. My Mom had so much more space to cook yummy food and any time she put something away or cleaned up she started to dance because it was just so easy. Our trailer made camping so much more fun, and we love it so much.
Quinn (age 11)
I recently purchased one of Beaverbuilt trailers first trailers. I live in Ontario and had to have the trailer shipped let me tell you Jack and Morgan handled it all! The trailer showed up with no issues and the trailer was amazing the workmanship was great and bullet proof. The build quality was second to none.
The best thing about Beaverbuilt trailers is Jack and Morgan treat you like family from the beginning to the end and beyond! I think of my trailer as a family building freedom machine! I love it!
Jeff from Ontario