Airstream Base Camp 20 review
Today’s RV review is of the Airstream Base Camp 20. When I was first looking for the trailer one of the considerations was the AirStream Basecamp. The Basecamp is the most popular Airstream trailer and is both a major departure from what Airstream normally offers but also fits into the line pretty well.
Airstream Basecamp
The Basecamp is Airstream’s single-axle trailer that has been marketed to the outdoor adventure folks. What attracted me to the trailer was the flexible space in the back and the large windows in the front. You could stand in the kitchen and there’s a huge wraparound window on the front so you could see everybody out there waiting for whatever you’re cooking.
I also liked the back door which enabled you to stuff bicycles or kayaks or others things into the trailer and bring them along with you. Years later I’m still trying to figure out where to best put our bicycles and am not happy with any solution I’ve come up with so the bicycles stay home more than they travel.
The Basecamp has grown quite a bit with a new Basecamp 20 and 20XL models now available. Not only are these versions longer than the inaugural Basecamp trailers but they’re also taller and wider. That means additional headroom inside but also additional liquid capacity.
For example, the first Basecamp, which is now called the Basecamp 16, featured a fresh water tank and a combination gray and black tank. This larger model features three tanks, fresh, gray and black and additional capacity.
More space, more size
Fresh water capacity increases from 21 gallons to 27. The former 24 gallon combo tank now becomes a 28 gallon gray water tank and a 21 gallon black water tank. I’ve found that what brings me in from boondocking isn’t power at all, but water. When I run out of fresh water or have filled either gray or black tank (usually its’ gray) then it’s time to come back to the civilized world and be sad.
With the additional space there’s not just more liquid aboard but much more seating or sleeping area. In place of the front kitchen, which was in the rounded nose of the trailer and the thing I loved most about the original Basecamp, is now seating which can be converted to sleeping.
The galley has been moved to the side of the trailer and continues with a small sink and two-burner stove. On the opposite wall is a 12 volt compressor refrigerator and there is the option of a microwave which would call its home in the space above the fridge.
The microwave is an option, though, as is an air conditioner but if you check the box next to air conditioner in the option sheet then that air conditioner would be a 13,500btu model with a heat strip.
This trailer features a Truma Combi eco plus heater and water heater combo system. The heater runs in gas mode for self-sufficient use, in electrical mode at the camp site, and in mixed mode when outside temperatures are low. Combi eco plus uses very little electricity. In summer, Combi eco plus heats just the water without running the furnace.
There are also 12volt tank heaters so you can keep your liquids in liquid state when shuttling down the road and the cabin heater is also ducted to the water tanks so they’re warm when you’re inside the trailer and are warm as well.
What hasn’t changed is that this model features a back door that lets you load bicycles or kayaks or whatever adventure gear you like. The door, in the center of the back of the body, can also be left open for ventilation when the weather suits you and there’s a screen that goes over the space to keep you and the annoying bugs separated.
I also think its brilliant that there’s a white board on the door as you can write down where you are while at camp so you have a point of reference in an emergency or also share where you went for the day with whomever you’re camping with. On the door, too, are several pockets with bungee nets.
Along either side of the back of this trailer are benches that can either be two single beds or, by lowering the tables that go between them, one large bed. Under the camp side bench is storage and under the road side bench is that water heater.
I haven’t slept in one of these but the cushions look pretty thin so I can imagine you’d want to do something so you wake up ready for the day instead of ready for a chiropractor. This sleeping system is one of the things that took the Basecamp off our list. Well, my wife told me the sleeping set-up was a hard no.
Rounding out the interior is the bathroom which is a wet bath. Being an Airstream much of the interior of the bath is made of the same sheet aluminum as the rest of the interior and exterior so it’s pretty waterproof.
That interior is something you either love or don’t and I’m in the “don’t” category just because bare metal in an interior doesn’t appeal to me. But there are plenty of people on the other side of the fence and this is subjective of course.
The exterior, too, is exactly what you’d expect of an Airstream being sheet aluminum riveted to the frame underneath.
Airstream claims the shape is conducive to reducing aerodynamic drag and I have no reason to doubt them.
In summary
There is a lot I really liked about the original Basecamp which carries over to the newer, larger model. The back door, cargo carrying space and rugged build were high on our “good” list. But the thin sleeping cushions and wet bath were on our “bad list.”
It’s also good to note that there are two versions of the Basecamp 20 - the regular and the “X.” Adding an “X” to the name gives you ore aspects of the trailer designed for off-road function. This follows the lead set by the 16 which is still available in both standard and “X” models.
Another thing I like is that there’s a large, optional, outdoor tent that essentially doubles the “interior” space of the trailer. This tent slides into a rail at the top of the trailer and I just like it.
I can see why this trailer is so popular, though. Combining the flexibility of the interior design and overall styling plus Airstream’s reputation is a good combination of factors to make this a popular choice.
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