The Swiss Army knife of trailers—the Jumping Jack ‘Jump-Up’ tent trailer

Today’s RV review is of the Jumping Jack “Jump-Up” tent trailer. Now, to be very honest, this trailer barely qualifies as an RV. However, I could see it serving a lot of RVers very, very well.

What is the Jumping Jack “Jump-Up” tent trailer? 

Essentially, this is more than one trailer. At its core, this is sort of a utility trailer with folding sides. But the company has also configured a tent that fits into the trailer, which can be removed. That means you now have a utility trailer and a camper in one.

There are several sizes and models of these trailers available with both single and dual axles. 

But what really caught my eye is that, with the tent collapsed into the trailer, there are walls that fold over the top of the tent that enable you to still carry things. Not just little things, either, but things like kayaks, eBikes and even ATVs. 

We’ve seen this concept before in the SylvanSport GO trailer. But this is a larger version and that also means a bigger tent. 

As for being an RV, the tent itself sets up easily. You simply flip the sides over, which reveals the tent. Then you pull the tent up and it sort of springs into position pretty easily and quickly. Tents nowadays are so different than when I was a kid—but we just needed to keep the dinosaurs at bay. 

In some ways, this pops up like my Lippert Picnic Popup Gazebo, so it’s rather quick and easy.

The way the whole thing is configured, you’re sleeping on the folding sides of the trailer—so it’s rather stable. The middle is a well where you could put other things or just leave the space open. 

Inside the company has provided foam cushions. There’s even a little table that can pop up from the front of the tent space. Owing to the nature of this rig, the cushions can be washed by removing their foam cores and running them through your washing machine. 

Jumping Jack Jump Up tent trailer

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How can I camp in this Jumping Jack pop-up trailer? 

There are both joys and bummers with camping in a rig like this. What I like is that these are delightfully simple. You simply bring the things you want based on your own camping style. I also like that you can tow this with almost anything, and you can buy one of these for well under $10,000. 

So if I were to buy this trailer, here are the things I’d add to make it into a camper (assuming you had none of these gadgets already):

• I would use my Duxtop induction cooktop for cooking.
• As for keeping things cold, I would use my Alpicool portable 12-volt cooler.
• To power either of these things one choice would be the Jackery 1500 that I tested a while back. 
• For potty time I’d employ the Camco Travel toilet and put it in the SylvanSport Privy Bivy tent. 
• For water storage, I’d use the Dometic Go Hydration Jug.
• I have some more product reviews forthcoming about a portable RV shower. Also, I have gone nuts with Ryobi OnePlus battery-powered things including lanterns, work lights, vacuums and so, so many other things. 

Funny thing—I have all these gadgets. I wonder if there just might be a project I’m working on? Stay tuned!

More uses

A few more things to like about this trailer. One is that the tent is fully removable so you could use this during the week for construction projects, yard projects, and all those sorts of things. 

In fact, if you have a smaller vehicle like a Jeep, for example, you could pull this on the weekends as a getaway camper and then make up for the lack of cargo space by using this as your utility/hardware store trailer on weekdays.

Being low, this also could be stored in a garage, which would keep it in good shape. It addition it would also keep it out of the watchful glare of your homeowner association drill sergeant Oscar the Grouch kind of meanie. 

Those platforms that are used under the bed can also be set up vertically, so now you have a more capable trailer for hauling things like yard waste or that kind of thing. 

The designers of this trailer really must be quite creative. The table inside flips up easily and is quite sturdy but also convenient. There’s an outside table that is made out of the metal front of the trailer. The whole collection of pieces and bits that make this up seems to be of high quality but also really differently engineered. This kind of Swiss Army knife approach to things really appeals to me. 

Overlanding has become a big thing lately. A lot of people are spending a lot of money to go places that are barely places when it comes to being on any map. I’m a big proponent of things that can do multiple things, and a trailer like this is absolutely a multiple-thing-doing thing. 

More about these RV reviews

These RV reviews are written based on information provided by the manufacturers along with our writer’s own research. They are based on information from a single unit and may not reflect your actual experience. Shop your RV and dealership carefully before making a buying decision. We receive no money or other financial benefits from these reviews. They are intended only as a brief overview of the vehicle, not a comprehensive critique, which would require a thorough inspection and/or test drive.

Tony comes to RVtravel.com having worked at an RV dealership and been a life long RV enthusiast. He also has written the syndicated Curbside column about cars. He also works closely with a number of RV manufacturers to get an inside look at how things are done and is a brand ambassador for Rockwood Mini Lite with his wife, Peggy.

You can also check out his RV podcast with his wife, Peggy. 

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