Trailmaster's No-Frills Pioneer Is an Optimized Take On Mobile Living: Might Be Perfect

Folks, Trailmaster Industries is an Australian crew in this business for one simple reason: they love the outdoors. And when I say love, I really mean it. Best of all, their gear is available across a range of prices and capabilities, but all are designed to make it to your destination in one piece. It's not clear when Trailmaster popped up on the market, but once we get to know their most expensive camper trailer, the Pioneer, none of that will matter.

That's right, the Pioneer is the most expensive of the three available Active Pods. Yet, with an asking price of under $14,600 (Australian), this $9,800 (American, at current exchange rates) piece of equipment may prove to be the gear you need for extended weekend getaways. Before you go on, take a quick look at the image gallery.

Now, allow me to set one thing straight. Any sort of camping and off-grid gear to come out of Australia is tuned to survive some of the harshest landscapes on the planet, and all that seems to be true with the Pioneer. For example, the suspension on this thing is an independent trailing arm setup from Tuffride. EFS shock absorbers complete the picture. With the 3.5-ton OzHitch coupling, you know this bugger will be right behind you as you romp through rock gardens, across riverbeds, and over grass-filled meadows.

As you can see, the Pod is divided into three parts, a low section, a top portion, where a rooftop tent is added, and the rather barren center segment. The latter may not appear to be much, but that's just the beauty of this segment; it leaves plenty of space to bring along tools, gear, and even toys like kayaks or e-bikes.

One thing you need to understand is that the Pioneer is a trailer that's built up on other models in the Trailmaster lineup. This is the reason you'll see a resemblance between the three available units. With that in mind, let's explore the lower part of the trailer. It's here that we find a massive storage bay for all your stuff.

That's right, the part of the Pioneer is nothing more than a storage area. However, there are clear benefits to the "pod" design. Because it's built from tough composite materials, everything you store here will come out the way it went in. Then there's the ability to accommodate an array of items because of removable partitions that allow you to play with spatial configurations. These dividers are to be used as tables later on, so modularity is at the center of functionality. At the front of the trailer, another storage space is found, suitable for things like gas tanks.

The upper section of the Pioneer is actually built upon the Discovery model but extended to create that gap in the middle that I mentioned. Now, this upper portion is suitable for a rooftop tent. But if you're not planning on sleeping in a tent during your adventures, take it down, and add whatever you need. You could extend the toy-carrying capabilities to fishing poles and wakeboards or strap some solar panels to it. Do as you wish with this one. Again, you can do the exact same thing with the sides of the construction.

Finally, let's talk a bit about the Pioneer's limits. You already know about the sort of suspension it can handle, but in all, it weighs no more than 540 kg (1,190 lb). As light as it is, it can accommodate up to 710 kg (1,565 lb) of payload.

What does all this mean for folks like you and me? Quite a whole lot, actually. Bring that rooftop tent, kayaks, wakeboards, portable power generator, you name it. With $10K, you can easily pick one of these up and join your off-griding brethren. Sounds a tad too good to be true? Well, it might be, and one major downside is that Trailmaster is an Australian crew, and I've yet to find an American dealer that brings these over from the Land Down Under.

The good news with such a machine is that you stand a chance of using it on American roads. What I mean to say is that campers are often made to road standards of the country they're selling in. Because the Pioneer is a bit less than a classic RV, some of those road standards are bypassed. The only system you may need to tamper with is electrical.

My only question is why Trailmaster isn't serving up Pioneers all over the world because these things look amazing and give lovers of off-road exploration the chance to catch the wave for low bucks, even if you have to ship yours over from Australia. No matter how you look at it, the Pioneer is worth considering for a subsequent travel trailer purchase.