We are very excited to announce the arrival of the lightest trailer that Airstream has ever produced and the newest member of our fleet: The 16-foot Airstream Basecamp.  Though it may be small, it has all the necessities for a comfortable glamping experience including a full kitchen, refrigerator with a small freezer, a bathroom with shower, and a convertible dinette to bed.  The Basecamp even includes extras like a microwave, screen door, security box, black out shades, air conditioner and furnace.  And because this is the newest Airstream model produced there are plenty of USB ports to charge all your devices (more than any other Airstream in our fleet) along with the usual outlets.  There are batteries on board, charged by roof-mounted solar panels, to power outlets and lights even when it is not plugged in.  Two of my favorite features of the Basecamp is the wrap-around panoramic windows in the front, allowing me to cook with a view, and the back door hatch which allows for a view from the bed/dinette area.  Once converted to a bed, the large platform can easily fit up to 3 adults, which makes this bed bigger than the bed on the 19’ and 20’ Airstreams.

The Basecamp weighs 3500 pounds fully loaded, so it can easily be towed by most mid-sized SUVs and trucks, like the Acura MDX, Lexus RX, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner, Mercedes GLK250, Audi Q5, and BMW X3.  It has a 22 gallon fresh water tank on board and a 29 gallon black tank, which allows you to go dry camping if you’d like (read all about dry-camping here).  Otherwise you can take the Basecamp to any RV resort for the full hook-up experience, with electric, water and sewer ports.  And because this Basecamp is the lightest and smallest trailer Airstream has ever made, pulling this trailer is no sweat and learning to reversing it is also less difficult.

Of course with the smaller package, there are some things that the Basecamp doesn’t have that other Airstreams include, like a TV and stereo sound system.  Also the dinette and bed area are one and the same so you must convert the dinette to a bed every night (or do like we sometimes do and keep it a bed, and instead eat al fresco at your campsite).  There’s also no inverter circuit, so if you are not hooked-up to electricity you won’t be able to use the outlets.  Thus if you are planning to dry-camp for long periods of time in the Basecamp, we recommend renting a generator from us, which will allow you to fully utilize the trailer.

We recommend the Airstream Basecamp for couples or for families with small children.  For larger families with older kids, we recommend that two to three sleep in the Basecamp while everyone else sleeps outside in a tent.

Also if you want to go to multiple campgrounds, the Basecamp is a convenient way to travel without having to set-up and break-down campsites every time you move.  This trailer is a great option for those who like the camping experience with a little less “roughing it” and a little bit more of the comforts of home.  To view more pictures and find rental availability, go here.