Casita Spirit Deluxe
In early January I made the trek from California to Rice, Texas to purchase a brand new 17 foot Casita travel trailer.
After over a year of sleeping in the back of the FJ Cruiser I decided to up my game and get a small trailer. Weight was a big consideration since I would be towing it with the FJ. I had been reading about Casita’s for quite awhile. They are one of the more practical and durable trailers you can buy. A Casita is made with two fiberglass shells that are bound together. This makes them less prone to leaks and close to indestructible.
Casita’s are made by a small family owned business. Another one of the reasons they have a cult like following. There are no dealers so if you want one you need to make the trek to Rice Texas.
One of the last photo’s of the Casita in stock form. I would eventually add a 6 inch lift, shocks, replaced fantastic fan with MaxAir, paint the cabinets, add 200 watts of solar panels, 1000 watt prosine inverter, BlueSky charge controller, 220 AH AGM batteries, ORB speakers with subwoofer, truckers 3 layer foam mattress made to size, replaced warm white LED’s with cool white, removed all the decals and removed air conditioner.
I got some grief from people when I removed the air conditioner but if you do 99% of your camping off grid an air conditioner is just a box full of bricks on your roof. It towed much better afterwards. I don’t camp in the humid east where an air conditioner is almost essential. Out west it most always cools down at night and if its too hot in the day you can always increase your elevation.
Right after I got home I painted the cabinets and installed some ORB speakers with subwoofer. Casita has a good online and off line community There are all kinds of mods you can make to these trailers to get them closer to what you want. There is also a fairly large number of people that full time in Casita’s.
Here I am in a discreet spot on the shores of Mono Lake. Not too many rigs could slip in and quietly spend the night down here then enjoy sunrise on the waters edge.
This was a great set up with the FJ Cruiser. There are many times I wish I still had it.
This was a great little trailer for mild off road boondocking. It was just capable enough to get into those spots the other 90% couldn’t make it to.
This shot was taken at Pyramid Lake in Nevada. The night before an unexpected storm rolled in and served up some interesting weather all night long. I heard hail ding off the fiberglass walls, winds howled, the trailer rocked and later I watched as snow flurries scattered the light of my flashlight as I looked out the window.
This night would prove to be the end of the honeymoon between me and the Casita. The side bed just wasn’t wide enough to sleep on in cold weather. I would inevitably find my self leaning up against the wall and that single fiberglass shell in the cold was like resting on a block of ice.
After this I started sleeping on the main table which converted into a bed. Although this gave me a lot more room for sleeping it also meant that the side table would have to be my new work area. This just wasn’t big enough for me. I wasn’t bold enough to cut out the preformed fiberglass dinette section and build something more to my liking. If I had this may have worked for me.
Even with a suitable layout you would still be left with the interior rat fur 🙂 To make the Casita more cost effective they opted to have just one exterior wall with carpet on the inside as opposed to two walls with insulation between them like most trailers.
While this does work to some degree it’s not as effective as having insulation and visually you either go with the flow or keep lights turned down low.
Pro’s and Con’s of the 17 foot Casita
Pro’s
Lightweight and nimble
Don’t need a big truck to tow it.
Able to back into spots the bigger RV’s can’t get to.
Great quality for the price
Has everything you need to be comfortable out in the boonies.
Holds it’s value.
Con’s
Fiberglass interior makes mods difficult.
Carpet on the interior walls
Single Shell
Casita Gear
Following is a list of gear I acquired to make the Casita more functional for my style of camping.
Dexter axle 3 inch lift
2 100 watts Solar Panels
1000 Watt Prosine Inverter
Blue Sky Charge Controller
Little House Customs Shocks
In Conclusion
The Casita is a capable and cost effective platform. There are times I wish I would have just stopped trying to up my game at the FJ Cruiser/Casita set up. But my experiences in the cold and the lack of a good place to work lead me off in another direction. I know of many that full time in a Casita but ultimately I felt like I needed more room. Five years from now, after I have gotten rid of more stuff, I may find myself back in a Casita being pulled by 4WD SUV.
