Today’s RV review is of the Armadillo trailer. What’s an Armadillo, you ask?

There are absolutely RVers who want something that’s as simple as possible and the lighter the better. For some of those perhaps the Armadillo trailer might be a good choice.

Some folks might remember the Boler trailers from the past as a very compact and light weight single-axle fiberglass trailer. In some ways you can’t help but draw similarities to the Casita and the Oliver lines of trailers. This is a similar idea in that the exterior is made of two fiberglass “tubs” that are attached in the middle.

This is not unlike the historic U-Haul trailers that we’ve looked at in the past, except that the haves were side-to-side rather than top-to-bottom.

This is the way that boats are made and the advantage is that there are fewer opportunities for leaks to develop in this kind of construction.

There are a number of floor plans that are comprised in the Armadillo and Backpack models, which share an exterior shell but different interior layouts.

But let’s look at the Backpack model with the front kitchen as that’s my personal favorite.

You can get these trailers without any toilet, shower or even hot water provision if you so choose. As mentioned, to some, simpler is better and super simple is best.

But that front kitchen model does feature a portable toilet in a closet so while there’s no black tank, per se, you still get the five gallons in a cartridge toilet and you could get more than one additional cartridge if that’s a priority for you.

Up front there’s a two-burner cook top, a stainless steel sink and a small 12 volt DC refrigerator. By my thinking this would be a great refrigerator for all those outdoor kitchens that offer 120 volt AC refrigerators.

The entire back of the trailer is a big U-shaped dinette. When you fold the table down it becomes a big king-sized bed which is quite a feat in a trailer whose exterior dimensions are often significantly smaller than the actual tow vehicle.

For anyone who remembers the Boler trailer the interior was basically like a car headliner so all the cabinets and such had to mount to the outside of the trailer, essentially. Armadillo is particular about this kind of thing so their trailers do have a layer of insulation and an interior wall and the cabinets inside are mounted to that interior wall.

“This week we have five of our favorite fiberglass egg trailers”

— Tony Barthel

Colors of the rainbow

Those cabinets are all made of Arborite which is a man-made material. Armadillo makes no illusions about these being some fancy wood from some exotic place. However, since this surface can be covered in almost any image or pattern the customer wants, you can have the cabinets take on the color of whatever wood you prefer, if that’s your choice.

Armadillo will work with you not only on exterior color but also finish on the cabinets. In other words, anyone who hates brown everything in an RV could have fuchsia everything in and outside an RV. Your choice.

And while on the subject of color there’s a color changing LED strip around the belt line of this trailer. So it’s kind of a bit disco-ey and not to my taste but I believe you can also set it to a single color and just leave it there.

As long as we’re outside Armadillo has done a number of things that are very worth noting.

The company uses a Dexter TorFlex suspension system.

There is a huge optional drawer that slides underneath the trailer. This stainless steel drawer is literally as long as the body of the trailer with a flip-up section and two open sections. This is a brilliant idea!

The bumper of the trailer swings away like a door to let the drawer open and on that bumper is a receiver hitch for the spare or, perhaps, lightweight rack to hold a bicycle or some such thing. It’s absolutely ingenious.

Once that tire’s out of the way you’ll see an optional outdoor shower with hot and cold water, assuming you chose to option this with a water heater. This is the only shower in the trailer and you might consider a privacy tent if you’re planning to fully utilize this feature. Or not. Impress your fellow campers at your own discretion.

Another thing that really caught my eye is the optional canvas awning which is a super light awning and folds out to be longer than the trailer itself. Essentially it’s sort of like a tent in its design and the light weight doesn’t stress the fiberglass shell. There’s also a batwing awning that covers both the side and far of the trailer and the company also offers a Rhino roof rack system.

As with the construction style Armadillo sort of steps up the way they do things by offering a variety of colors and finishes in their trailers. For example, you can get the lower portion of the trailer in all sorts of colors and they also offer a variety of wheel choices.

In its simplest form this is a really basic trailer. The water heater, air conditioner and other features you might take for granted are actually options on this trailer. But it’s also small, light and well built and gives the buyer a lot of choices of finishes and colors.

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