Skip to main content

Taxa Outdoors’ Rugged Mantis Travel Trailer Just Got Even Better

For decades, the best option for hardcore, adventurous campers was a classic teardrop trailer. The 21st century opened things up, bringing a slew of ingenious new manufacturers, all building capable, lightweight, rugged travel trailers ready to go anywhere. New for 2019, Taxa Outdoors — one of our favorite towable brands — returns with a redesigned flagship model.

The most noticeable thing about the refreshed Mantis is its size or, more specifically, lack thereof. While the model gets a 12-inch bump in length up to 19 feet, it’s still incredibly compact with a footprint that can be stored in most 7-foot garages. At roughly 3,000 pounds, it’s towable by even moderately equipped trucks and SUVs. It all rides on 15-inch steel wheel all-terrain tires for a comfortable ride that’s capable of venturing off-road when necessary.

Inside is a surprising amount of elbow room. The pop-up roof guarantees plenty of headroom with comfortable seating for six. After dark, the Mantis will sleep four with a comfortable full-size bed/couch at the rear and bunk beds at the front. The rugged, military-inspired exterior belies a premium cabin. The long list of features includes a birch plywood kitchen with a Dometic Combo 2-burner sink and stove, plus ample storage. A 6,000-BTU air conditioner, oversized fresh and gray water tanks, exterior hot/cold shower, 8-foot patio awning, and 12-volt USB outlets throughout are all standard. Buyers can even upgrade to a 78-liter refrigerator/freezer and a wet bath with a shower and cassette toilet, making the Mantis a real off-grid camping solution.

Taxa Outdoors first made industry waves with the pared-down Cricket. The mid-range travel trailer was instantly recognizable for its quirky, asymmetrical shell. It was a love-it-or-hate-it design. For us, it was love at first sight, which is why we still rank it among the best ultra-light travel trailers. That Taxa managed to engineer a boatload of storage, features, and usability into the Cricket’s 15-foot shell proved the company knew how to build a legit towable for the avid outdoorsman. The redesigned Mantis builds on their years of research and development, making their already great flagship product even better.

The 2019 Taxa Outdoors Mantis is available with a starting price of around $37,500, but a fully loaded model pushes closer to $40,000. That might seem steep, but for a durable, well-designed adventure trailer, it doesn’t get much better.

Not sure which model — teardrop, ultra-light, or full-featured Airstream — is right for you? Kick the tires with a multi-day RV or travel trailer rental to narrow your search.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mike Richard
Mike Richard has traveled the world since 2008. He's kayaked in Antarctica, tracked endangered African wild dogs in South…
The Winnebago Revel is a Beast of an RV that can Off-Road Anywhere
Winnebago Revel

We’re living in a Golden Age of travel technology for car campers and road-trippers. Trailers and RVs have never been more capable than they are today. But, if you want to get seriously off-road without the inconvenience of towing a separate trailer, you needn’t look further than Winnebago’s latest creation.

The Winnebago Revel is, in a word, a beast. By the numbers, it’s designed to be seriously off-road capable. Built on Mercedes-Benz’s legendary Sprinter chassis, the Revel puts out 325 pound-feet of torque via a 3-liter turbo diesel engine. The on-demand 4WD technology offers a hill descent mode and high/low range to ensure you’re able to get wherever you need to go, no matter the terrain. The standard trailer hitch allows you to haul plenty of additional gear as well.

Read more
Don’t let rain dampen your trip: Tips for camping in bad weather
There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong gear. Stay camping in all weather with our top tips
Best Tips for Camping in the Rain

The path of the committed outdoorsman is paved with poor weather, sodden trails, and tents being battered by the elements. Camping in the rain isn't top of many people's agenda, but in my opinion, some of my best nights sleeping outside in a tent have been camping in the rain. The sound of raindrops bouncing off your flysheet and the comfort of a warm, dry sleeping bag after a long day on the misty trail is a personal favorite.

Keeping yourself comfortable when you're camping in the rain requires practice. It's important that you have the right gear, but it's more important that you know how to use it so that your camping trip doesn't become a washout. Here are our top tips for camping in bad weather — if such a thing exists.

Read more
Set yourself up for success on your next long-distance hike
Like any endurance event, preparation is key to making your next long distance hike the best yet
Two people hiking the W Trek in Chile, mountains in the background.

Completing a long-distance trail is the ultimate aim for many hikers. While long-distance means different things to different people — for some, it's being out ten hours at a time, while for others, it's hitting the AP trail over the course of multiple months — there are some universal truths for anyone who wants to push their hiking further than ever before. I'll look at plenty of these universal truths shortly, but if there's one that you can't escape, it's this; this hike is going to be tough.

Endurance events like a long-distance hike take planning and training — no one thinks you can run an ultra-marathon without training, and long-distance hiking trails can be just as tough and even tougher. When it comes to how to prepare for hiking these long distances, most people focus on the physical attributes they need to develop. These are important, sure, but I like to think of my preparation as being a three-pronged approach, each of which is just as important as the others; physical, tactical, and mental. Here's how I prepare for hiking or any other endurance events.
Let's get physical
The physical attributes of training can be broken down here into two main categories; cardio exercises and weight training. To build your aerobic baseline — your cardio fitness — you should spend sustained periods of time in low-to-mid heart rate zones, either running, walking, or biking. While it's important to get your heart rate elevated to pump the blood around your body, getting it too high can actually be counterproductive to developing your cardio baseline. You want to stay in what your smartwatch would tell you is zone two — can you hold a conversation but feel a bit breathy? Perfect. Mix it up, and don't forget to add some hills into your training; just remember to control your breathing and slow down if you have to.

Read more