Stargaze From Bed: Campinawe Lightweight Off-Road Camper Trailer Pops Top to Night Sky

Lightweight camping trailers can make overlanding and outdoor adventurers more comfortable, and allow for longer stays in the woods, desert, mountains, or wherever you like to go when it’s time to get away.

The Campinawe is an exciting new entry into the hot lightweight camping trailer marketplace from a company that has its feet planted in a history of custom trailer construction with its eyes set on the future.

The Campinawe lightweight camping trailer is the product of two companies coming together. Croft Trailer Supply has been building industrial and recreational trailers since 1939. For 25 years, Infusion Design has helped create products for companies such as Learjet, Ranger Boats, and Airstream.

Now they create one intelligently designed, easily towed, versatile, and comfortable trailer perfect for those outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy the freedom of extended and/or off-grid travel with comfort and convenience.

Campinawe Capability

It may not look anything like the dozens of other lightweight camping trailers you’ve seen before, but don’t let the angular styling of the Campinawe fool you. This lightweight camping trailer offers durability, capability, and ease of use rather than just another pretty face.

A peek underneath the Campinawe reveals the sturdy backbone the lightweight camping trailer is built upon. The chassis is fabricated from welded steel that’s then powder coated.

The frame is all 7-gauge steel. The floor and bed surround are made from 11-gauge steel. Welded and powder-coated 10-gauge steel make up the fenders and integrated entry step. 

Designed for rugged roads, or the lack of them, the Campinawe features an independent-suspension torsion-style axle with a 3,500-pound gross axle weight rating (GAWR) slung underneath the steel frame.

The high-clearance torsion axle combined with 28.9-inch — ST235/75R15 — tires wrapped around 15-inch steel wheels provide excellent chassis articulation, smooth ride quality, and a very generous 18 inches of center ground clearance.

Extreme Exterior

A variety of proprietary custom laminated panels are used to create the Campinawe lightweight camping trailer based on their usage and application. These panels range from nine-layer plywood with veneer faces, for interior cabinetry, to custom five-layer composite panels for the body and shell.

All body panels exposed to the exterior are covered in Kynar (a resin-based metal coating) to protect the finished aluminum from weathering.

Construction of the Campinawe lightweight camping trailer is not your average splash-and-dash RV build. All the joints and seams are interlocking, bonded, and reinforced with 11-gauge steel powder-coated brackets atop core reinforced plywood stingers — like a 3D puzzle. In addition to the bonding process, mechanical fasteners provide secondary reinforcement throughout.

According to Campinawe, the Kynar skins give the trailer’s exterior panels a temperature performance range of -40 to 250 F degrees and incorporate a proprietary makeup of stabilized material layers that are resistant to warping, rot, decay, mold, mildew, and deterioration. The Campinawe has panel configurations (depending on use) that range from R insulation values of 2 to 16.

However, rather than use traditional R values quoted by many other recreational trailer builders, the company looks at overall environmental performance of the interior as if it were an automobile or aircraft, managing both temperature and airflow to the benefit of energy consumption and passenger comfort.

Campinawe asserts this approach increases the temperature-regulation performance of the trailer dramatically over traditional methods.

Creature Comforts

Abundant in its cargo and living space, the Campinawe lightweight camping trailer also offers features and equipment that makes living in the Campinawe a pleasure that adds to the outdoor experience you came for.

With interior dimensions of 11 feet long, a 5-foot 1-inch width, a 4-foot 7-inch height, and the bonus of a roof section that opens up to the sky, the Campinawe trailer has a roomy feel inside its 14-foot, 10-inch overall length.    

Sleeping accommodations are taken up a notch from what you’ve likely seen in the majority of lightweight camping trailers on the market today. Instead of the traditional trimmed-down “RV-queen” mattress usually jammed into a cramped interior, the Campinawe delivers a full queen-size mattress. The 60″ x 80″ bed is capped with a gel-infused memory foam topper.

Storage space is as generous as sleeping space. The Campinawe lightweight camping trailer offers more than 58 cubic feet of dedicated storage for all of your outdoor and travel gear.

Lounging, cooking, and eating in between outdoor activities in the Campinawe trailer’s non-convertible — fixed bed and seating space — interior is comfortable for two adults. Amenities for food storage and prep include a YETI cooler and Kovea mini butane cook stove.

Sunbrella-material-covered cushions are UV-resistant and help keep the upholstery easy to clean. And accidentally tracking in the outdoors won’t spoil your day because the commercial-grade vinyl floor liner is easily removed and cleaned.

Some of the other trailer support system highlights that make habitation enjoyable are a 72aH/266wH battery, 110V city-power port, LED lighting, integrated USB ports, a collapsible sink, a portable toilet, and 10 gallons of onboard water with a spray system with interchangeable heads for cleaning just about anything.

A privacy tent for remote bathroom and shower capabilities is also available for the Campinawe lightweight camping trailer.

Easy to Use

The Campinawe is easy to tow, easy to operate, easy to park, and easy to store. Weighing in at only at 1,910 pounds (dry weight) and with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 2,990 pounds, the Campinawe lightweight camping trailer can be easily towed by a wide range of vehicles.

Standard equipment such as an 18-inch adjustable/removable 2-inch receiver hitch and quick release coupler mean just about any vehicle with a Trailer Weight Rating (TRW) of 3,000 pounds or more can take you and your fully loaded Campinawe trailer on the outdoor adventures you’ve been waiting to enjoy.

Set up once at the desired location is simple and easy too. The Campinawe trailer features integrated dual rear corner leveling stabilizer jacks and an adjustable-height hitch-jack to make trailer leveling a breeze in any campsite or off-grid terrain surface.

And its rear galley/kitchen with plenty of storage and table space is revealed by a rear lift-up hatch and swing-out door makes meal prep easy.     

Trailer storage when it’s not in use is a no-brainer. The Campinawe lightweight trailer is also compact, with exterior measurements of 14 feet 10 inches long, 7 feet wide, and 6 feet 11 inches tall, allowing it to fit inside most standard suburban garages. No need to pay expensive storage lot fees.​

Campinawe: Options, Standards, and Sky

Electrical power when parked in an improved campsite or off-grid in the middle of nowhere — our personal preference — is easy to access via standard shore power or the house battery. One of the many options available — and one we would surely check the box for — is a RENOGY 100-watt/12-volt foldable solar panel system.

For long-term overlanding adventures, the RENOGY system can provide power-on-demand and keep your house battery fully charged.

The list of optional equipment available for the Campinawe lightweight camping trailer looks like the credit roll at the end of a blockbuster movie. Some of these options might be a must-have, depending on your needs.

There’s an AC system that would be handy for warm-climate adventures. And the side-mounted spare tire — standard is under-frame mounted — option would be smart for any serious off-road driving. You can get dual batteries, single or dual articulating side tables, roof rail system, awning, trailer brakes, or a bike rack. The list goes on and on.

Of all the Campinawe lightweight camping trailer’s numerous well-thought-out and skillfully crafted features, our favorite is one of its standards. It’s also one of the things that make the Campinawe unique.

The lightweight camping trailer has a large front hatch that opens to provide unobstructed access to the sky. It’s perfect for getting a cool breeze to flow through the trailer’s interior during the day or stargazing from the comfortable interior.

Pricing starts at about $31,000. For more details, check out the Campinawe website.