Build Your Own (Stylish) Teardrop Trailer

The nearly century-old teardrop pull-behind design gets a sleek, stylized upgrade by (of all people) a boat builder.

With its smooth curves, flared edges, and shiny lacquered finish, the Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) teardrop build looks more like a yacht than a camping trailer. But that’s the whole reason CLC founder John C. Harris decided to develop the teardrop build kit his company launched this year.

“What if we take the same boat-building materials and techniques we’ve been refining for 25 years and build a teardrop trailer?” Harris posed on CLC’s website. “And the same sculptural approach that we bring to boat design?”

The result is a camper that looks unlike any other, with some solid utility features to boot.

Chesapeake Light Craft Teardrop Trailer

CLC notes on its site that do-it-yourself teardrop builds have been around for a while. The site notes DIY ads dating back to the 1930s.

The technique of combining marine-grade plywood with epoxy has been used in boat building since the 60’s, and it’s highly effective for the do-it-yourselfer. While it’s likely to have been applied to trailers in the past, this is a slick design.

There are certainly some outlandish and gorgeous custom builds out there. But the CLC kit looks great and fairly easy to build.

And the price is very reasonable for the average Joe.

Customers have a range of options, too. You can buy the plans alone for $1, or buy the entire build kit with materials for $2,000 — cheaper than most retail options. That doesn’t include the trailer itself.

The basic build is an 8-foot-long, 5-foot-wide “canned ham” design. CLC claims anyone — pardon, any two people — up to 6’6″ can stretch out comfortably on the queen-size air mattress the trailer accommodates.

An optional galley kit fits in the rear, and additional upgrades like storage box and roof-rack kit are available.

Interested in building your own semi-custom teardrop? Check out CLC’s website and build options.