SAFARI COMPRESSION WORKHOURSE Utility Trailer reviews

I found this trailer to be the lightest possible for an all rigid shell: a 21 ft long trailer that can sleep comfortably 5 adults and be towed by a car/SUV of only 3500 lbs tow capacity. The 2 beds are really large (true king and queen sized beds), no trouble to sleep 3 adults (myself & my 2 young adult sons) in the king size. Plenty of storage above and under the beds, that’s one of the main advantage of the F2114 against its smaller brother F1713. A trailer with lots of windows all around, great for the look, ventilation and outdoor feel. I almost never had to use the air conditioning, even when 30 degrees outside during the day (I camp mostly in Canada) thanks to the many windows. If you power on the a/c, however, beware it is very noisy and use the small fan to push the cold air to the back of the trailer. You will not suffer from black water storage capacity (we can last 4 days at 4 occupants), but fresh water supply and gray water capacity will turn short after 2 days with some basic sparing will. Shades and mosquito nets are a breeze to use and very convenient. I noticed the comment from a peer about the front large window where you should not close the shade while traveling to avoid damaging/deforming the plastic: a true fact, but I never suffered from it. The fridge has large capacity and a separate freezer, it is great except that this fancy design European model (Dometic) cost me a fortune to fix after the end year (just after warranty ended) for a defective control panel (I assume I was the unlucky one…). The 2 burner stove is fine, although a bit small and there is no oven option. The combined air heater with hot water tank is simply great: works on propane or AC power, silent when run in eco mode, heats up well and uniformly the trailer (except for the bathroom). The trailer shell, made of plastic honeycomb sandwiched between 2 aluminum sheets, is simply undestroyable by weather. I have witnessed other owners with their trailer for over 15 years without any visible wear: looked like new. This material is one key to the trailer lightweight. However, this wall material provides minimal insulation, walls and floor turn very cold in cold outside weather and heating will try to compensate accordingly. At 2 degC at night, the electric heater could not suffice to keep the inside at 20 degC and had to switch to propane once in a while to catch up on temperature (1/3 propane tank of 20 lbs emptied that night). The floor material is also prone to permanent bumps if you drop heavy objects ont it (like a bottle of wine…) Safari condo shop fixed a few bumps for me for free by filling them with fiberglass putty underneath the floor mat. There is only 1 real place to fix this trailer, it is the Safari Condo shop in remote Quebec province 250 km away from Montreal: not convenient and you must make appointments months in advance. Service personnel is just great, however, and they have fixed several buggers for free for me over the years. Show less

I love my lightweight trailer. It is made mostly out of aluminum so no wood to rot. It's 17ft, has a separate dining and sleeping areas. The bed can be used as twins or, with cushions between as a king. We keep it as twins and use it as seating during the day. If we want, we can move the table between the beds so we can seat more than 2. To travel, the roof is down so it's more aerodynamic. When camping it's up so the ceiling is over 6ft high. Only caveat is that the washroom has to be used with the door to its cubicle open, so not for the shy. We've camped in a hurricane with it and not one leak! I really am happy with it! Show less

We were looking for a light weight, smaller, bumper pull. We found the Safari Condo Alto on line. We like units that don't look the same as all others. This unit is made in Quebec, Canada. I called and was excited to find that there were two units for rent at RV Rentals, Durango, CO. We could try this out before ordering a unit, waiting 6-9 months, and driving to Quebec to pick it up. Excellent idea. We made the arrangements and picked up our unit at the appointed time. As we were schooled in the unit, several times the phrase, 'known issue' was mentioned. Let me see if I can outline some 'known issues'. The unit has a great window in the front eating area. The window is plastic, not glass. It opens outward, has a pull down mesquitoe screen or pull up darkening screen. I asked that we keep the darking screen up, while traveling so keep the unit a bit cooler, nope not recommended, as the darking screen creates a green house effect and warps the plastic window. First red flag. Next I was shown how to turn the dining area into a queen size bed, and that there was a CO2 monitor underneath the bed/dining area. As we did this, the monitor alarmed, 'known issue', I was told to 'just keep the window open and it should be fine'. Second red flag. A couple more quirky things, if you want to use the microwave, everything else must be off, there is a toggle switch on the control panel near the door. So if you are cooking at night, better bring a lantern, which I had not. The water pump switch is located near the door as well, and must be turned on each time the bathroom is used to flush the toilet. Bed pads are 4" thick and very firm. Would suggest a air mattress on top. So, this is the story of the night. We settled in and were just getting to sleep and the alarm went off. I opened the door for a minute and went back to bed. A bit later, the alarm went off again. This continued. We then turned the vent fan on and kept it running all night. This trailer has a heater/air conditioner unit, and it was 42 degrees outside, so it cycled on and off all night long. The grandkids were hot in the front, we were cold in the back. The window in the back was open, set in the 'first track', which we were not aware of and thought it was broken, but in looking back it was probably set that way to keep the alarm from going off. There was little sleep that night. Alarms go off for a reason, and we were not feeling comfortable. The heater is under the back bed and is noisy and vibrates, the water pump has no housing and is under the other side of the back bed, again noisy. We had rented this unit for three nights, but returned it the next morning. While the rental agency didn't give refunds, our health is more important and they should not be renting units with 'known safety issues'. Show less

Unfortunately we never got to use it, other than in our backyard. These Travel Trailers are super light to tow, completely build out of aluminium, which means no rust what so ever. There is a 18 month waiting list at the company if you want to buy one new. Our trailer has every possible option, with the exception of the television. Show less