Casual Turtle Campers, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, has created the Terrapin, a portable tiny home inspired by the design of boats and small trailers that were popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
The designers created the Terrapin as an alternative to larger campers that can be difficult to transport. The Terrapin is simple, lightweight, and durable.
The Terrapin is transported on a 5-foot by 8-foot trailer frame and weighs just 1,360 pounds. Its aerodynamically sloped roof is covered with a tough, waterproof TPO membrane. While the Terrapin looks like a camper, its design is more like that of a boat.
The frame of the Terrapin camper trailer is built with Western hemlock harvested in northern Idaho. The exterior cladding of the portable building is made with Western red cedar, which is attractive and lightweight, has a low rate of shrinkage, and resists damage from moisture and pests. The interior floors and cabinets are made with stained beetle kill pine. The bottom portion is made from aluminum. The underside is sprayed with a truck bedliner undercoating.
The portable home is well-insulated and has seven windows to let in natural light and ventilation. It has both interior and exterior power outlets, extra head space in the galley kitchen, storage space, and a dinette area that folds down to convert into a bed. The camper does not include amenities such as plumbing, gas, heat, or a bathroom. This allows it to be much lighter than other campers.
Casual Turtle Campers also creates other customized trailers, including the Half Shell and Original Cabover fifth wheel style cabs that fit over the rear of a truck. They are also designed to be simple and to make efficient use of space.
Peter Pavlowich began Casual Turtle Campers by creating slide-in campers that could be transported on truck beds. The campers are custom built one at a time according to the buyer’s specifications.