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Previous owner of two different Airstream trailers here, the last was a 1999 Safari 25'. It weighed close to 6800# loaded, if I recall. Towed with a 3/4 ton Dodge diesel for around 10 years. Ended up with Airstreams because of previous bad experiences with stick-built slide in campers that I had to repair myself (water leaks, delamination, rot).
When I decided to upgrade to a trailer from a slide in camper, there was no way I'd ever go stick built again. Back in the early 2000's, you could still buy Airstreams (used or new) for affordable prices. You could buy a lot of RV's for affordable prices back then! Aside from Airstreams, there really weren't a lot of choices in trailers that would not self destruct in a few years. There were some fiberglass trailers out there, I even looked at a couple (Bigfoot and Casita), but they did not have the space or features I was looking for. I ended up buying our 1999 Airstream Safari used for less than $15k, it was five years old when I purchased it. We sold it in 2013 due to a move out of the country and did not have an RV since.
In 2019, we had returned to the mainland US and started looking for another RV. It was now a very different world, in terms of choices and prices. I've been a sailboat guy nearly my whole life and know enough about fiberglass to believe in it as a great material for RV construction and understand how to work with it after many years of boat ownership. Strong, unaffected by moisture, almost indestructible and relatively repairable. We looked at Airstream's fiberglass trailer offering (the Nest) as well as the aluminum skinned Basecamp and the Bambi's. The goal was to stay under 22 feet, find something preferably with double axles and not have to tow with a heavy duty pickup. Bottom line was....the bottom line. These trailers were nice, but they were coming in at $45k and up and were mostly single axle. And, having owned the aluminum skinned Airstreams in the past, I am all too aware of how expensive they are to repair and how easily damaged the skin is. Think tin can.
A look at the Olivers was next. Loved them and were really impressed with the engineering and overall designs. But. We just couldn't even come close to affording one or justifying that kind of money for a trailer. One evening we were out walking our dog in our neighborhood and came upon some neighbors with an E19. They were unloading and cleaning out their trailer and we were able to take a peak inside (this was about a year before covid). We really loved it, and I especially liked that you could get a 19' fiberglass trailer with double axles. I figured, like all the other trailers, it would be too expensive. But we looked up the website just for kicks. We could buy a well equipped 21' for right around $40k. And the weight: We could tow a 21' with a half ton truck or even some SUV's. After looking at the other comparably sized and equipped trailers that seemed like the perfect combination of everything. We love the chance to customize the build too! Honestly, I could have easily lived with an E19, and in many ways preferred that size, but we compromised and settled on a 21C.
It took us about a year to pull the trigger and we ordered in late August of 2020. Our unit is now in production and we're getting photos - so exciting! Delivery should be next month sometime. It was kind of long road to get to our Escape purchase but I think we will finally have our perfect 'final' trailer. We definitely considered a lot of other setups but stick built trailers did not even get a glance. Really looking forward to fiberglass trailer ownership and all the advantages that go with it.
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