[teacherman]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

A quick review of the Hideout construction:

Wood Frame, aluminum siding, hand "stuffed" fiberglass insulation, "minimalist cost equipment" in an entry level trailer. that means, low cost construction, low cost equipment, few amenities, minimal "overbuild" in any of the trailer systems...

You made a comment that "the Jayco seems lighter". It's aluminum construction with fiberglass laminated walls, etc.

There's really no good way to compare one type of construction to another and have them "equal out on a scale of good to bad"....

As for the "polar package", "Arctic package", "cold weather protection package" or any other name the marketing section might give it, it's nothing more than a layer of bubble wrap and a 2" heat duct into the area around the holding tank valves to keep them from freezing. It works "extremely well" as long as the temperature stays above about 25F. Below that, all bets are off !!!! Remember, R7 walls, R14 floors and R25 ceilings do precious little when you have R1 windows in every room and 3 (or more) 14" square holes in the roof. There's no such thing as a "winter ready travel trailer" until you get into the "above 100K price range. All of us face the reality that camping in cold weather is expensive, impossible to do without shore power or a generator and even then, when the weather is bad, there's virtually NO space inside to "relax and ride it out" especially with a 5 year old sharing the space.....

I'm not trying to damper your plans, and I'm not suggesting that the Hideout line is any less functional than any other trailer brand, but you can't compare a Hideout wood frame trailer to a Jayco aluminum frame trailer and you "shouldn't wish for a cold weather package that's effective. Ain't gonna happen......

Now that's the dose of reality I was hoping to get. So many factors to consider, and I'd forgotten about aluminum frames. I've got some more research to do, it seems. I know the cold weather package is no panacea, buit I suspect it's better than none at all.
We go look at some models this Saturday.

Thank you, JRJTH!