For years, Land Ark RV has been creating towable shelters that blur the line between tiny home and camping trailer. With the all-new Travel Trailer, it makes a purposeful step over to the latter side, designing a one-of-a-kind geometric space that encourages rootless travelers to homestead the wild for as long as they'd like. It combines a multifunctional, efficiency apartment-like layout with a smart, hand-selected feature set that pushes toward off-grid levels of self-sufficiency, supplying its own electricity, water and waste management.
Land Ark is still conceptualizing exactly how it's going to make the Travel Trailer as self-sufficient as possible, estimating certain specs out with a "subject to change" or "to be determined" asterisk. For instance, it's still finalizing the electrical system, weighing a 1,200-W array of newer solar panels with improved shade performance against a 3,800-W array of more traditional panels. It will match batteries accordingly, with plans to pair roughly 600 Ah of lithium units with the 3,800-W option, should it go that way.
As for water, Land Ark is looking to augment a 378-liter-plus fresh water tank with a rainwater collection system. An onboard multi-stage filtration system will offer full purification capabilities, eliminating microorganisms right down to tiny virus size.
When we saw Land Ark's description of a self-sufficient trailer, we were expecting it to follow Living Vehicle's lead in offering a WaterGen RV water-making system. Not limited to rainy days, this solution pulls water out of the ambient humidity, then filters it for drinking, washing and other daily tasks. It seems like it would be a good option for those who live in sunnier climates with little rain, including some areas in and around Land Ark's home state of Colorado.
While it will offer more self-sustaining capabilities than other trailers, Land Ark's new trailer won't be fully self-sufficient in the strictest sense. Certain equipment, including the tankless hot water heater, will tap into two 30-lb propane tanks, which will have to be filled up occasionally back in civilization to keep the trailer running smoothly day to day.
As usual, Land Ark gives its towable a distinctive look, slicing the body into a sharp-angled, almost-trapezoidal polygon. It's quite similar to previous models but not exactly an identical shape or size. The tightly rippled, black corrugated aluminum further distinguishes it as a true Land Ark.
Land Ark adds in an inviting welcome by way of a fold-down front deck space framed by warm ambient lighting. The sliding deck door and the conventional door around the other side offer easy entry and exit.
The kitchen is located immediately across from the deck entry, supplying residents with an invisible dual-burner induction cooktop below the porcelain countertop. It also has a convection/microwave oven, stainless steel sink with pull-out faucet, and 150-L dual-drawer yacht fridge/freezer. A flip-up countertop just inside the doorway extends overall prep space, making it easy for more than one cook to do their thing.
The versatile rear seating group transforms from a dining area and TV lounge during the day to a pair of bunk beds at night. The pedestal table lowers to join the L-shaped sofa bench in creating one twin bunk, and the second twin bed lowers down from above, opening up views to the overhead skylight in the process.
More space-optimizing multifunctional design is found in the front master bedroom, where Land Ark integrates a workstation into the base of the Murphy bed. Simpler than Living Vehicle's hardware-loaded design, the bedroom office features a drop-down desk with plenty of elbow room left behind by the folded bed. An Ottoman with internal storage doubles as a desk seat.
Even the bathroom gets in on Land Ark's clever, flexible design. The split-compartment dry bathroom is awfully cozy when all closed up but expands out into the hallway via the door, which opens and secures to the closet. The bedroom door closes to complete the expanded bathroom space. This provides plenty of space for using the toilet and vanity/sink area without impacting the separate walk-in shower.
The waterless incinerator toilet adds to the trailer's self-sufficiency, eliminating the need for a black holding tank by burning waste to ash with a combination of electrical and propane power. The trailer does come with RV water and sewer hookups for trips to the campground.
Other planned features include an electric air conditioning system and automatic leveling.
The 26.8-foot (8.2-m) Travel Trailer rides on 34-in all-terrain tires cushioned by a dual axle-less independent suspension. Initial estimates put dry weight at 6,500 lb (2,948 kg), leaving 3,900 lb (1,769 kg) of payload before hitting the 10,400-lb (4,717-kg) gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR).
Living Ark plans to manufacture a limited run of Travel Trailers this year, with units starting at US$220,000. Build spot reservations are available now.
Source: Living Ark
