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Small but mighty - the Flagstaff ePro e12sA "squaredrop"

Small but mighty - the Flagstaff ePro e12sA "squaredrop"

Tony Barthel
RV Review, Overlanding RV, Travel Trailer Review

More than a teardrop but sized like a teardrop - 2025 Flagstaff ePro e12SA

Flagstaff ePro E12SA RV review

Today’s RV review is of the 2025 Flagstaff ePro e12SA. Essentially what we have here is a teardrop trailer but one that offers more than what many teardrop trailers offer while not being much larger than a typical teardrop. There are some people who call these squaredrops because the back isn’t a teardrop, but is squared off. Okay.

But if it’s a teardrop you’re interested in, this might be a much better choice. The 2025 Flagstaff ePro e12SA offers more features but is really strong in the build quality department. However there are also reasons why this might not work for you and we’ll share those too.

Start at the road with the Flagstaff ePro e12SA

No matter what RV you’re buying I always recommend starting at the road and here you’ll find Flagstaff using 15” all-terrain tires. These are also set a bit higher so those who are looking to go places that might not be on a map might find this is a decent choice. These are mounted to a Dexter torsion axle suspension which I think is one of the best suspension systems for smaller trailers. Why?

The better a trailer’s suspension absorbs the jars and jolts along the road the less shaking that goes on inside. You could take two equally well made trailers and the one with the better suspension is likely going to last longer. So this torsion axle suspension really does provide better absorption than the leaf springs many RV companies are still using.

To that Flagstaff adds a tire pressure monitor system so you are aware of the inflation and heat of your tires as you’re towing. I think this should be a requirement and your tow vehicle likely has this type of system depending on how old it is.

Something else I really like on this trailer are that there are chocks built into the suspension system so you stabilize the trailer and also keep it from rolling. There is one on each wheel and I wish more trailers had this. Including my own.

Moving up from the frame know that Flagstaff does their own wall lamination in-house using man-made materials and a premium vacuum process. We have a podcast comparing RV construction types and why it matters. Something they do that’s also unusual, Flagstaff uses vacuum laminated aluminum-framed roofs as well.

Another bonus is that the windows used here are of the frameless variety which means less maintenance required but they look nice, at least to me. If you’re getting the impression that I like the way these are built, then I guess I’m not such a lousy writer after all despite what my college journalism professor claimed. Jerk. 🤓

What’s inside the Flagstaff ePro e12SA

This is not the place where you’re going to host a huge party but there are some things in here that put this a step above most teardrops. At least to me.

The main living space here does have a gaucho couch which runs along the road-side wall. This is also the only sleeping space. You could probably sit 2-3 people in here and there are some cabinets on the camp side and a vertical cabinet on the nose of the trailer by the entry door. On the subject of the cabinets they are hardwood cabinet doors.

The gaucho couch-o is framed in welded aluminum which is another plus.

But you’re not holding a dance part in here unless it’s Barbie doll dance party.

On the subject of that couch-o, er gaucho, there is a flat shelf that pulls out so you can use the seat and backrest cushions to make a place for two adults to sleep. I wish I had measured how long this was.

While some campers might think the bed in this is impossible to make, I counter with the RV Superbag. With that you completely eliminate the headaches of making the bed in here.

Adults can sit on the couch without fear of getting an unplanned hair cut from the high-performance MaxXair fan on the ceiling. And that fan can provide a significant amount of air flow which would be nice when the temps are just right and you open one of the windows and let the air flow through.

Something you won’t always find in smaller teardrop trailers is air conditioning but this one has it. But, rather than put it on the roof, the AC unit sits below the couch-o (now I’m starting to like that term).

This uses a portable JBL Bluetooth speaker speaker as the audio system that has a charging mount built into the wall of the trailer. I much prefer this to a standard built-in audio system - these usually sound better and they’re much more practical. This kind of situation sounds great to me. 🔊

Kitchen in the Flagstaff ePro e12SA

Like most teardrops the kitchen is outside and at the back of the Flagstaff ePro e12SA. There is a big hatchback-style door at the rear which reveals a small 12 volt fridge and a sink. There is actually a water heater which isn’t typical of teardrop trailers so the sink will provide hot and cold water.

Cooking is accomplished on an included flat-top griddle (think Blackstone but from an RV company - RV stone?). This mounts into a rail on the side of the trailer adjacent to the rear kitchen and it taps into the trailer’s propane system. I was surprised that this small a rig includes two 20 pound propane bottles.

There is a Thule awning so you could use that and the hatchback door to have a roof over your head but if you enjoy cooking in only the clothes you were born in, you better either be far, far off the grid or really brave.

Something I did notice in the model we saw - there is a 12 volt bar-sized fridge but it didn’t seem to have a provision for a freezer. So that gets us into things you might not like.

However the microwave in this RV offers convection function so it may be one of the only teardrop-style trailers out there where you could bake or do other oven-related things.

Why you might not like the Flagstaff ePro e12SA

There are some inherent aspects to teardrops that are also here and while I like this better than most teardrop trailers, my job is to be realistic. Well, my job is to be a looker atter of RVs. I like it.

But this does not have a toilet in it. Now there are ways around that, of course. And I’m not talking about doing what the bear do in the woods. Well, not entirely.

You could get portable cartridge toilet like the Camco portable toilet that we have. If you are camping alone, as I suspect many owners of these will do, then you could have that toilet inside the trailer with you at night so long as you don’t open the couch-o.

Good thing there’s that MaxXair fan up there, right?

But another way to handle this, which is what we did when we went tent camping, is to use a privacy shelter like the SylvanSport Privy Bivy and put that right outside the door with the potty in it.

This could also serve as a shower facility, depending on where you’re camping. There is a hot and cold outside shower on this trailer with a tankless propane water heater so the Privy Bivy could serve as a whole bathroom facility.

Now before some of you write hate mail, I always recommend following the practices of Leave No Trace so your use of the outside shower should follow those guidelines.

A couple more things - you know that even though there’s that roof you’re still cooking outside so if you camp where it’s really windy or super cold that might get annoying. But some people don’t care or they just camp when the weather suits their clothes, as Jimmy Buffett sang.

Also, when the couch-o is deployed as a bed there is limited space between that and the wall of the trailer and, of course, you can’t stand up in here unless you’re a little person.

Boondocking in the Flagstaff ePro e12SA

One of the nice things about a trailer like this is it really is well suited for off-grid camping. There is a 200-watt solar panel on the roof as standard and you can opt for a second one. These two would likely more than compensate for the 12 volt refrigerator and provide plenty of overnight power for the furnace or even the inverter if you want to use that to power something like a CPAP machine.

Oh, there’s an 1800 watt inverter so you could charge electronics or plug certain things into the household power outlets even if you’re far away from civilization. Although, really, I’ve been to lots of cities and I’m not so sure about this whole civilization moniker.

My thoughts on the Flagstaff ePro e12SA

I’ve done a lot of reviews of teardrop trailers in the past and there isn’t much you can do differently in this space, so kudos to Flagstaff for doing things differently enough that this really does stand out.

Overall I really like the build quality of the Flagstaff product as well. This isn’t going to be the cheapest teardrop you come across but it certainly is better made than many of these just because many RV companies feel people buy small trailers for price along and I think some just love the adventure of a trailer of this size.

I also believe that something like this is going appeal to some people with smaller tow vehicles and it certainly won’t take as much of a tow vehicle to find adventure here as it would with something much larger. Of course, we always recommend using our RV towing guide here so you have your real numbers.

Another thing I really like about these is that even on their most affordable models Flagstaff and Rockwood are still creating custom manuals for these. We have a story and video about these manuals here.

We also took the factory tour to watch ePro and GeoPro trailers get built - join us in Millersburg for that (virtually, of course!).

One thing I would do differently is that I would use a portable 12 volt cooler in place of the bar-sized fridge. Like the Bluetooth speaker, a portable cooler could serve a lot more use cases.

Of course, as always, I appreciate your comments and input. I know a trailer like this is going to have big appeal to some but that’s a certain set of overlanding enthusiasts. But, for that audience, this thing is a home run.

This is also the same trailer as the Rockwood GeoPro G12SA trailer. Here’s our article about why RV companies have multiple names for the same product.

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