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RV review: 2023 Taxa Mantis 5.2

Tony Barthel

Today’s review is of the 2023 Taxa Mantis 5.2, a single-axle adventure trailer that I’ve looked at before. For 2023 the Mantis has undergone some scrutiny from Garrett Finney, the NASA designer behind all of Taxa products.

I have really liked the Mantis in the past as it is. It had a very innovative design already and then they just upped the game.

What it is already

The Mantis is an unusually-shaped trailer that features large windows and a pop top, much like one of those VW vans of the 1970s. Up front there is seating across the trailer. In back there is more seating in the form of a u-shaped dinette.

The sink and two-burner propane stove in the Mantis is on the road side of the unit along with the bathroom which has been reconfigured. On the camp side is a low bench on which you can put a cooler of your choice including something like the Dometic CFX3 75DZ that I reviewed.

Storage is highly unusual in that you essentially have cubbies all over with milk crates that slide into them. This means you can bring them out and load/unload easily or even have alternate crates depending on what you’re doing.

The trailer is built with a space frame of steel which both gives it a solid structure but there are also attachment points placed all over the frame, which is visible from the inside. You can mount things to these points as needed such as bungie cords or nets. For example, you could use these to hang pots, clothes, curtains but also hang a hammock. No, seriously. You could hang a hammock.

Changes for 2023

The first thing that’s changed is the bathroom situation. The optional bathroom has been replaced with a place to put a portable cartridge toilet like the one that I reviewed. The nifty thing about this is that you can stow the toilet in a wooden ottoman so now it’s a place to put your feet or is another seat. Well, it’s a toilet. I guess it’s another seat by definition.

This leaves space for the second big change to the Mantis. In the place where the toilet had been in previous models, you can opt in a table. But not just any table, a Lagun table with a mount that lets you use it as a work station. In fact, you could mount it at a height that would enable you to use it as a standing desk. This makes so much sense.

I actually had to rip out furniture in my own new RV so I could accomplish this. Here it’s simply an option.

There’s also a metal drop-down pan that serves as the base for a shower. When it’s down it’s where you stand. A curtain hangs from the ceiling to finish the shower stall and the shower head extends from the side of the sink.

But you can flip this pan up and now you have a metal counter extension of sorts that also has a drain. The leading edge of this is angled so if you do have water here it will naturally flow into the shower drain. I told you Garrett was a NASA-level designer.

The kitchen, too, has received a rethink with adjustments in the design to improve its usefulness.

Another area that’s received attention is cargo carrying functionality. The seating areas have been designed so that they are better able to flip up to accommodate cargo. That means you could bring your bikes or other adventure gear and that large rear hatch in the Mantis will facilitate loading and unloading.

Building the Mantis

The Mantis looks unusual but it’s built differently as well. Some things we’ve seen before like a powder coated steel chassis and torsion axle independent suspension.

The walls are aluminum composite and painted with a substance called Kynar. The hinge for the pop-up roof is made of stainless steel so it should be around for as long as you want. The interior is made primarily of Baltic Birch plywood. The flooring in this trailer is a nickel-patterned flooring which is pretty impervious to damage. There’s even an 8’ awning.

All over the Mantis are metal brackets and attachment points where you can hook bungees and attach things. I have often liked the idea of flexible spaces and surfaces and the ability to define uses yourself and Taxa agrees based on what I see here. In fact they’ve taken it further than I could imagine.

The windows are dual-pane flip-up European style polycarbonate panes with day-night shades and screens built in. The windows can flip up to be perpendicular to the trailer wall and you could literally leave them open and use this as a pass-through to hand things to people outside. There’s also a large hatch in the back with struts for either loading or just leaving open.

Heat and hot water come from a Truma AquaGo system which is essentially continuous hot water and heat in a single unit.

There is an automatic brake system such that you don’t have to install a brake controller in your tow vehicle which can be a big advantage on some vehicles.

There is an air conditioner and it’s a window-style air conditioner and you have to push it out when you get to camp so that it will drain and there’s a large metal door on the outside to protect it when it’s in transit.

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Garrett Finney - NASA designer

Speaking with Garrett Finney really gave me a perspective into the thinking at this company. Unlike so many RV executives, Finney actually uses his products. In fact, the sales offices of the team are located in Mantis trailers. Seriously, each member of the sales team has an office in a Mantis.

Finney believes that the idea of these trailers is to be in beautiful places and you can take these to fairway beautiful places. They’re also designed with typical campgrounds in mind where the priority on windows is to the camp side of the trailer.

Storage, surfaces and anything in these trailers almost invariably serves multiple purposes. It’s clear that nothing in these trailers is there on accident. There is an intentionality to the design and materials used. For example, the sliding cabinet doors in the kitchen are made of the same material as cutting boards because they are cutting boards.

In summary

I was boondocking at a brewery (there’s a shock) and there was a couple next to us doing the same thing. They had two children and were living full time in their RV, a Taxa Mantis! Seeing how they used the various spaces in the Mantis both during the day and the night really gave me a lot of respect for that trailer. They also reported to me how much they liked it and how well built it was.

I have liked the Mantis since I first looked at it and the changes they’ve made for 2023 just make it that much better. The idea of using a Lagun table to make a sit/stand desk is absolutely brilliant.

Another thing I like is that this will fit into most garages but offers a lot of functionality and usability. You can take this on a longer adventure or just a few day getaway. With the easy flexibility of this design it would be a good choice for both. Then just back it into the garage and take the crates into the house. As mentioned, having different crates already ready already (hehe) for differing adventures would make a good design that much better.

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