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nuCamp RV T@B 400 boondocking edition review

Tony Barthel

Today’s RV review is of a 2023 nuCamp T@B 400. If you’ve been RVing for any length of time you’ve likely seen one of these and you can’t miss them. They have the iconic shape associated with a teardrop trailer but are significantly larger.

These are, by no means, your grandparents’ teardrop trailer. Aside from their having the shape of a teardrop, they are actually a full-fledged travel trailer. Further, these are fairly high end in both build quality and features so they’re not the camper to seek out if you’re looking for something really inexpensive.

2023 updates

For 2023 nuCamp has taken this iconic trailer and made just enough changes that it actually substantially changes how useful these are. Something I see in vintage trailers is an incredible use and flexibility of sleeping spaces and that’s what you get here as well.

The front dinette has been altered such that the backrest of the dinette, which faces the very front of the trailer, can flip up and become a bunk. It’s a great idea that I have seen in a lot of vintage trailers and have wondered why I haven’t seen it in anything current.

So to make a bunk you just fold up the backrest of the dinette and two legs flop down for support. Then the base of the backrest slides backwards and you have your upper bunk. Lastly, a gate is available for the front of the upper bunk if you have younger campers with you.

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Unlike so many bunkhouse trailers this bunk is essentially invisible if you don’t have any need for it but fully functional if you do. It’s not taking up space needlessly when it’s not being used. I really like this quite a bit.

Imagine a camper who has grandchildren, for example. If they only come with you once in a blue moon you haven’t bought an RV with dedicated space for sleeping that you only use infrequently. This is an outstanding solution.

When this is a dinette you’ll find it incorporates a Lagun table mount for the very square table. The Lagun mount is unique in that it’s not just height-adjustable but swivels around so you can accommodate just about any size person in here and move the table so those sitting in the back can easily get in and out. With the height adjustability you could also use this space as a little office or a dining area.

Kitchen

There have also been changes to the kitchen for 2023, most notably that fact that all of these campers now feature a 12 volt Isotherm refrigerator. This isn’t as large as the fridges in some RVs, nor is this RV as large as some RVs. But the Isotherm fridge is really efficient.

Fridge aside, you also get a round sink and a two-burner propane cook top as standard. A microwave is available but as an option and there is no oven whatsoever unless you count that optional microwave.

There are a surprising number of drawers and cabinets for a trailer this size and I love the positive latch mechanism. This keeps those doggone drawers and cabinets from becoming projectiles on the roads that make you almost consider getting some sort of military vehicle rather than a normal car.

Geez Louise, America, some of the highways I’ve traveled are so horrible I’m surprised that the cabinets in my own trailer are still up there when I get to camp.

Oh, and on the subject of the cabinets here the drawers feature soft-close mechanisms and all the cabinetry really has a high quality feel.

Unique stuff

I wrote that this is a high-end trailer and it’s not cheap. But there are some really nice features starting with the furnace/water heater which is an Alde unit that handles both. This Swedish device provides what is called hydronic heating which means, essentially, it’s continuously heating the space silently. It also provides a relatively unlimited source of hot water.

Another unusual feature is the air conditioner which sits under the road side of the dinette rather than being plopped on top of the trailer like so many other RVs. This provides a much smoother roof surface which does help with aerodynamics and just looks better to me.

The windows in these are the acrylic dual-pane models that incorporate both a bug screen and night shade in the frame of the window. For 2023 the stargazer window, a large vertical window that follows the slope of the back of the trailer, is made larger. The bed is in the shadow of this window inside so you could open the window for airflow or to share how loudly you snore with the local bear, leaving them wanting to applaud but frustrated that they can’t. You know, because they’re bear.

Another nice thing is a little cubby by the bed, which occupies the entire back of this trailer. It’s effectively in the pointy end of the teardrop.

Inside that cubby is a switch to operate the inverter and another to turn on/off the lights. There’s also a household outlet that is attached to the inverter so you could run a CPAP machine overnight from battery power.

Boondocking and travel access

Speaking of the inverter even the base model of this trailer comes with a 1200 watt unit that powers the plug in the cubby next to the bed and another that operates the TV. Priorities. The nuCamp T@B 400 also sports at least a 100 amp hour lithium battery and the battery is mounted in the back under the bed rather than out on the tongue of the trailer. There is a single 100 watt flexible solar panel on the roof to top off the battery.

You can also opt for a more elaborate system that consists of a 400 amp hour lithium battery pack along with a 3,000 watt inverter that powers all the outlets. Unfortunately there’s still just the 100 watt solar panel but you could bring along something like the GoPower Duralight solar suitcase which should make the situation better.

There are no slides so this trailer is useful any time.

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Conclusions

The build quality and features of this trailer are absolutely high end but that also means that a small trailer isn’t going to carry a small price tag with an MSRP that’s up in the Airstream realm. As always, you get what you pay for.

There are some disadvantages to these trailers including the fact that outside storage is pretty limited.

I do like that there’s a metal box at the front of the trailers included with the Boondocking package that holds the propane tank (single tank) but can also hold a generator on top and features steps on each side. You can also get this metal box as a standalone option.

Having seen so many vintage trailers with similar bunk situations I am happy to see this finally coming back in 2023 and they’ve really done an outstanding job with the implementation here. This also greatly expands the usefulness of this trailer without any down side, other than the cost of putting this system in.

Interestingly I’m seeing more and more RV companies doing whatever they can to support boondocking. The reason you’re going to see this is that the RV manufacturers know how constrained camp sites and campgrounds are. The growth that they’re eyeing is the boondocking market.

We have a whole resource center for RV boondocking.

I know a lot of solo campers and couple campers for whom this trailer would really be an ideal choice. It’s relatively small and light, well made and now offers much more flexibility for accommodating sleeping arrangements. Nice.

Tomorrow we’ll look at another new nuCamp option that could be a logical alternative to this depending on your style of camping.

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