ManleyORV
Rugged. Reliable. Ready.
Evening everyone,
Being fairly new to the expedition/overland/offroad/jeep trailer market, I wanted to pick your brain. We spent a considerable amount of time (over two years) designing and testing our trailer with the ideology of taking the iconic 1/4 ton military trailer and updating, improving it and including accessories that most military trailer owners longed for... such as a lid, rack and tailgate. We wanted it to be a replicable, manufactured, modular product where accessories could be ordered and added at a later date. This would also allow us to produce these on a larger scale, thus keeping them in-stock and curbing the normal lead times for a one-off trailer.
We are getting quite a few inquiries with customer's wanting water tanks, propane systems, slide-out kitchens, battery systems, etc. Is this truly where the market is? I thought that the largest segment of the market is like me, just a guy and his dog that is going camping for a long weekend and needed something to put all his gear in because it won't fit in his 2-door Jeep? Or the guy taking his family camping over Memorial weekend and he'd never fit the bikes, luggage, camp stove etc. in his FJ with his wife and two kids in it?
Guys like him and I don't mind filling up a cooler with ice, we don't mind using a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot on it to wash dishes, or using the tailgate to cook dinner on our coleman stove. Guys like him and I also want to be able to use a trailer to run to home depot or to haul a dirt bike when we are not camping thus increasing it's functionality and helping justify the cost. This is the market that I thought was underserved and what we built our business around.
Just curious what everyone thinks? What are your necessities for your trailer? What are you using it for... just camping? How long are you going out for? Do you require a kitchen, plumbed propane and water, and electricity for your ARB Fridge?
Granted we have gotten a lot of positive feedback on our trailers and a lot of kudos for how we designed the trailer and our business. But I just can't help but wonder every time I get one of these phone calls about a built-in kitchen if I am the type of customer that is actually in the minority? I could see if I was spending a month at a time camping, how some of these things might become a needed convenience, but how many people in the US are spending that amount of time out in the wilderness at one time?
Any feedback or thoughts you could offer would be greatly appreciated! Not really looking to talk about my product or company in specific, but moreso the expedition/overland/offroad/jeep trailer market in general and what you, as the customer are looking for.
-Josh
Being fairly new to the expedition/overland/offroad/jeep trailer market, I wanted to pick your brain. We spent a considerable amount of time (over two years) designing and testing our trailer with the ideology of taking the iconic 1/4 ton military trailer and updating, improving it and including accessories that most military trailer owners longed for... such as a lid, rack and tailgate. We wanted it to be a replicable, manufactured, modular product where accessories could be ordered and added at a later date. This would also allow us to produce these on a larger scale, thus keeping them in-stock and curbing the normal lead times for a one-off trailer.
We are getting quite a few inquiries with customer's wanting water tanks, propane systems, slide-out kitchens, battery systems, etc. Is this truly where the market is? I thought that the largest segment of the market is like me, just a guy and his dog that is going camping for a long weekend and needed something to put all his gear in because it won't fit in his 2-door Jeep? Or the guy taking his family camping over Memorial weekend and he'd never fit the bikes, luggage, camp stove etc. in his FJ with his wife and two kids in it?
Guys like him and I don't mind filling up a cooler with ice, we don't mind using a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot on it to wash dishes, or using the tailgate to cook dinner on our coleman stove. Guys like him and I also want to be able to use a trailer to run to home depot or to haul a dirt bike when we are not camping thus increasing it's functionality and helping justify the cost. This is the market that I thought was underserved and what we built our business around.
Just curious what everyone thinks? What are your necessities for your trailer? What are you using it for... just camping? How long are you going out for? Do you require a kitchen, plumbed propane and water, and electricity for your ARB Fridge?
Granted we have gotten a lot of positive feedback on our trailers and a lot of kudos for how we designed the trailer and our business. But I just can't help but wonder every time I get one of these phone calls about a built-in kitchen if I am the type of customer that is actually in the minority? I could see if I was spending a month at a time camping, how some of these things might become a needed convenience, but how many people in the US are spending that amount of time out in the wilderness at one time?
Any feedback or thoughts you could offer would be greatly appreciated! Not really looking to talk about my product or company in specific, but moreso the expedition/overland/offroad/jeep trailer market in general and what you, as the customer are looking for.
-Josh