Taxa Cricket trailer owners

[Ken Thompson]

Any here?

[Nick Gatel]

There aren’t many of these out there.

Some thoughts you might want to share with us.

What interests you about them? How do you envision yourself using this? What are you looking for in a trailer?

Having spent a few thousand nights in campers over the past 40 years or so, I might be able to provide some insight. Just like backpacking, everyone is going to have their own style and camping goals, so there is no universally perfect camper.

[Ken Thompson]

Former Westy owner.

Former van camper owner.

Former pop up owner. Hated the flapping sides.

Former home built teardrop owner. Miss the kitchen inside for poor weather. Being able to stand up would be nice.

Quite a few Crickets out there now that they have been around since 2011.

Their website is ridiculously lacking information wise. Interested in hearing about issues with build quality. Accessories are not listed anywhere. The design has changed a bit every year. Want to hear what people who own/ed them like and don’t like.

Closest dealer is 1.5hr away. Don’t want to head that way uninformed.

[Nick Gatel]

Ken,

A while back an acquaintance of mine was interested in one of these. We couldn’t find a dealer within 200 miles of Southern California. The closest one that had the Cricket Trek in stock was in Phoenix. But we did as much research as possible online, which was very, very limited. I bet there are well under 500 units in operation in the US. Like you said, the lack of specs is pitiful.

The construction of the body appears to be pretty darn good. Sides are R-6 insulation, but that doesn’t do much good if the roof is left up and it seems it would be hard to get around inside the camper with the roof down.

The Cricket Trek seems to be the most popular now (they keep changing models), and has the most amenities. It is the model I would be most interested in, if I wanted a Cricket. List price for a Trek is a few dollars shy of $30K, but one could probably negotiate down around $25K maybe a little less. Not a lot of trailer for the price, but if it fulfills the needs well, it might be priced right for some folks. I bought my huge 26′ camper for $23K new.

So here’s how we camp and what I look for in a camper to fit those needs that the Cricket does not have. This may not be appropriate for you at all. We rarely camp where there are hook-ups. We often camp in dispersed sites. If we go to a campground, it is usually one that only has water (not at the site) and maybe a bathroom or pit toilet. We often camp for 2 – 3 weeks at a time, and almost every December for 2 – 3 weeks when the temperatures often dip just below freezing at night.

Living Space: Although we don’t spend much time in the camper, it is nice to have lots of room inside when the weather gets bad.

Because of the bed in the Cricket, I bet your Westy had more “living” space. Plus if you need to be inside during bad weather, the counter space in the Cricket is only 12 sq feet, and a good portion of that would be taken up by a two burner propane stove.

Sink: I’ve had campers with a single sink. I much prefer a double sink. For us it would be a deal breaker… we even remodeled our first tent trailer and installed a double sink. The single sink in the cricket looks really small, like a bathroom sink.

Propane: The Cricket is not plumbed for propane. This wouldn’t work at all for us. Propane is just too convenient with large tanks onboard, which leads to the refrigerator.

Refrigerator: We need at least a 3.0 cu ft fridge in a camper. Small tent trailers have around 1.9 cu ft, but our last tent trailer (a high wall) had a 3.0 and we eventually replaced it with a 3.5 cu ft. The Trek comes with an optional AC/DC fridge (no propane), which is really just a cooler. Volume is only 1.4 cu ft. I have seen some 3.0 cu ft fridges in Westys. 1.4 cu ft would be okay for some beers and soft drinks and maybe a couple steaks.

Water Heater: Cricket has a 2.5 gallon electric heater. Both our tent trailers and our current travel trailer had 6 gallon propane water heaters. Ample hot water for a couple showers and dishwashing at the same time.

Furnace: is important for us in cold weather. We don’t use it a lot, mostly to warm up the camper and then we switch to an Olympic Wave 8 catalytic heater. The cricket doesn’t have a furnace. One would need something portable like the Olympic or a Mr. Buddy Heater. The Mr. Buddy units do use quite a bit of LPG compared to our Olympic.

Battery: Unless one camps in campgrounds with electrical hook ups the fridge and water heater needs to run off the battery. The website says 3 days of battery (again no specs), but you aren’t going to get that running the fridge, water heater, water pump, and lights. The battery is stored inside the camper, meaning a more expensive AGM battery, unless the storage compartment is vented for a flooded battery, which I doubt. There is room for two batteries.

Weight: is always a consideration. We had to buy a new tow vehicle to accommodate our current trailer (that was planned and purchased before we bought the trailer). The Cricket has a base weight of 1,500 lbs, but that is stated for all 3 models. I bet the Cricket Trek is more like 2,000 lbs with all the options, which would only leave 500 lbs for cargo. 125 lbs of that would be used up by the fresh water tank if one traveled with a full tank of water.

Parking: An advantage of a tent trailer is it can be parked in a garage and I saw many people claiming the Cricket can be parked in a garage. That is a dubious claim. It is 6’9″ with the roof down. Most garage door openings are between 6’8″ and 7′. With a cargo rack I bet it won’t fit in most garages.

Axles: Has torsion axles, which I don’t like (our first trailer had them). I prefer leaf spring hung tube axles.

Awning: Critical item for us. We spend most our time outdoors and almost always cook outdoors even in bad weather. The Cricket awning is basically a flat tarp and not attached to the side of the camper — can’t be with all the angles. I would hate that. An attached RV awning really works best… if you get a good one.

Shower: Need one for extended trips. The Cricket has an outdoor shower. Not good in winter. No way you could build an inside shower, like we did in our first tiny tent trailer. Our next two trailers came with showers.

Toilet: Has a Porti-Potti. They are okay, we had a battery operated one in our first tent trailer. In the Cricket there would be no privacy.

Fresh Water Capacity: is a big deal for us, because we camp for extended periods. The Cricket has a 15 gallon tank. That is small, but would work for a weekend if one conserves use. One reason I bought our current trailer is the 100 gallon fresh water capacity.

Gray Water Tank: Has a 15 gallon tank. Probably okay for a weekend. What would one do for a week? There are simple ways to offload gray water, but something to keep in mind.

Just some things that are important to us, and may not be of any importance to you.

 

[Author]

Posts