Airstream>>

I applaud your enthusiasm and wish you a great experience in finding your AS, but I had to laugh when you decided to dismiss the first-hand experience of the Lance owner who went through the same hail storm as the (possibly totaled) AS. Maybe there was luck involved, but his report was based on ownership, not marketing or heresay.

I have owned three truck cabover campers and one travel trailer. None were Lances. After owning an Alaskan cabover hard side popup camper that enjoys some of the same construction techniques of an Airstream, I learned from real world experience (not marketing hype) that there is a real value in some construction techniques over others. After ten years of ownership I lost $500 in depreciation when selling it. Of course the new ones kept going up in price but to only lose $500 from purchase to sale in ten years is something that I doubt Lance nor most any other manufacturer can boast about. And basic maintenance cost me $2 over the ten years as I had to replace the four seals for the hydraulic list mechanism. Each was $0.50. Not too shabby for ten years of RV ownership!!!! I doubt a Lance could match that!

I am happy for that Lance owner and his view on his Lances (non) damage. But his assessment of the situation and mine would not be the same as it relates to the daily ownership (apart from hail storms) of the type of trailer I would be most happy with. He did not mention if there was colateral damage to any cars, trucks, etc. that were also in the path of the hail. Or more particurarly his tow vehicle. Anyway glad you got a laugh out of it. Keeping it friendly is good. Laughing even better at least according to Dr Oz.