The Little Guy Shadow Is a "Lightweight Camping Companion" Under a Retro Teardrop Disguise

Little Guy Trailers and partner Xtreme Outdoors have been offering and expanding the Little Guy towable lineup for years now, establishing themselves as a powerful presence on the North American market. Their target customer is the weekend warrior, occasional adventurer, or off-road enthusiast who favors compactness and ease of use over all the bells and whistles, including enhanced comfort, of larger travel trailers.

All Little Guy trailers bear the motto "I go where I'm towed" and it speaks volumes to the mission of the entire lineup: compactness, robustness, light weight and high towability, and basic features that might allow even extended stays at camp, if you don't mind roughing it a bit.

The Little Guy Shadow is part of the family of larger towables offered by these two companies but it's still a teardrop, so, compact enough to be towed with your daily driver. It features the Little Guy easily distinguishable design: inspired by 1940s teardrop trailers but adapted to modern demands, with diamond-plate fenders, a roof rack that could hold a pop-up tent, tailgate galley, and a surprisingly versatile cabin.

The 2024 model, which is toured in the video available at the bottom of the page, is described as the "lightweight camping champion," offering sleeping for two, a surprising amount of storage space, and more comfort that similarly-sized trailers. All this comes wrapped in a package that can easily be towed by any small SUV or a 6-cylinder car.

The fact that this teardrop has extra features is apparent from the exterior. Besides the Little Guy standard roof rack, metal fenders, and the diamond-plate metal storage box on the tongue that holds the propane tank and the battery that runs lights and appliances inside, it also features an exterior TV rack, electric plugs, and an outdoor shower plug.

A nice touch is the magnetic door stopper on both access doors, keeping them in place and preventing damage to the trailer itself in windy conditions.

The Little Guy Shadow sits on a custom welded chassis, with a single Dexter Torflex axle rated for 2,800 lbs (1,270 kg). The dry weight is 1,760 lbs (798 kg), but maximum payload is 3,000 lbs (1,361 kg), so it's more than enough for you to pack everything you need for your stay.

The trailer is 14.4 feet long, 7.6 feet wide, and 6.2 feet high (4.3 by 2.3 by 1.8 meters), offering an interior height of 3.11 feet (0.95 meters). The frame is lightweight and the brakes are electric, ensuring easy handling no matter the terrain – however, the makers underline that the Shadow is not made for extreme off-roading, which, as you know, entails better specs than what you're getting here.

Inside, the Shadow offers a queen-size tri-fold mattress that can comfortably sleep two adults and one dog. The novelty comes here in terms of the double functionality of the space: whereas most teardrops only feature a bed, the bed in the Shadow transforms into a couch during the day, turning the entire cabin into a living room, a dining area, or even a mobile office.

Once you fold up the two individual mattresses into a couch, you get two swiveling tables with a dropped floor that doubles as footwell and additional storage. In fact, the builders have included storage wherever they could find a spot to include it: under the tables, under the mattress, on both walls in the cabin, and in the galley.

The Shadow also offers a Bluetooth radio, a TV set (the same one you can move outside on the included rack, for al-fresco movie nights), a hidden pull-out table that could probably fit a laptop, plugs and LED lighting, and integrated cupholders.

The galley at the rear is miles away from what we've seen in other Little Guy Trailers units. It's still compact, but it includes more of the necessary items to actually do some cooking and not just boil an egg, if you're so inclined. There's a two-burner gas cooktop, a sink fed from a 10-gallon (38-liter) onboard freshwater tank, considerable meal-prep space on the countertop, integrated cabinets and deep drawers, and even an ice box.

The Shadow doesn't have a proper kitchen like you'd get in larger travel trailers, but it's enough to get you through your vacation.

The 2024-model unit so enthusiastically presented below is the standard version. Optionally, the Little Guy Shadow can be specced with the Rough Rider Package, which enhances its off-road capabilities, the 100W Flexible Solar Panel Package, or with silver or white walls. Pricing starts at $31,200, but new units can be had for as little as $26,000 with special offers or $21,000 on the secondary market.