Thanks, I appreciate the honest input. It shouldn't take so much to build a worthy 10' - 15' off road trailer that can sleep 2+ and have an outdoor kitchen and make it semi affordable. My gripe is they shouldn't cost twice as much which it seems they do. I'm not ready to buy yet so I will continue to research. I really wish they would schedule an Expo East in the Southeast like Atlanta or Birmingham so I could attend and get a good look at what all there is out there to offer. I don't think they realize how many people in the country they leave out when they only schedule two a year, one in the East and one in the West. Why not schedule 5, one in the Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast and Midwest.
It's like the going to buy other any mass produced off the shelf production line product which is built utilizing volume to leverage material costs and a marginalized population providing labor under" closely" monitored conditions, and then comparing price to a hand built small scale product from a boutique.
Not even the same thing by any measure.
I will say that if you have access to a modern sheet metal shop, and possess some skills you can probably build one that is 90% of the quality but less than half price assuming you don't value your time in the equation.
I like the trailing arm suspension the Aussies are using much better then the Timbren or other torsion axles, but that is a personal opinion founded in conjecture. Beyond suspension, the galvanized frames are hot shit, but once you get above the chassis there isn't anything extra innovative in any of them. Craftsmanship for sure, but not so much innovation.
Glue and staple "RV" like the NoBo? Not for me thanks, I can see them deteriorating at an exponential rate with even mild off road use. As soon as they get softened up, water penetration is going to come into play immediately and the whole rig will be roached in short order.