Airstream Nest

TwinStick

Explorer
Not for nothing but I wrote an extensive letter & e-mailed it to Airstream about 10 yrs ago. I told them of the growing interest in "high ground clearance" campers that were able to "get off the beaten path" or down a family members rutted dirt road, to get to their pond. I even asked if they could lift one of their existing designs, like many manufacturers do. There response was short & IMHO, in more ways than one. Basically their response was:

No, we have no interest to lift our existing campers due to liability reasons & "high ground clearance" campers is not a market we are interested in getting into. I think this is sad.

We ended up getting this, for $14,500 brand spanking new. 13,500btu a/c, 2 burner stove, microwave, small fridge, toilet, sink, tiny tub & shower, tons of storage. 3500lbs



THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT AN OFF-ROAD CAMPER. But it sits high enough that I can get well off the beaten path & stay in comfort. We have 2 ARB's & 2 Honda eu2000i generators. We can be self sufficient for a good while. Yes, I did have to modify some interior things & make them more HD, because these thing are made cheap. We seem to have worked all the bugs out. We absolutely LOVE it. You certainly can NOT go bouncing down a rutted up dirt road with it, but you can go slow down the same road & get there just the same. For the price we paid, it is the best bang for the buck for us anyways. We open & close 2 doors & we can be in bed sleeping. No slide outs, which is just the way we wanted it. Queen short bed- no fold down of dinette to sleep on. We have a nice 9" thick Denver pillow top foam mattress. VERY comfy. Got the mattress for free from dealer because the front window leaked. They replaced it 4x before they got it right & had it for 7 months of prime camping season. The free mattress was our compensation for the inconvenience. We are happy.
 
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calicamper

Expedition Leader
It's not so much about ruggedness it's about longevity of the product with the ability to traverse varied terrain. I'm not a regular in the atacama desert but I know fire roads in the SE US that would shake it to pieces. So for 41 grand it's not so much I want a bad *** overlanding trailer with a microwave and a leatherette sofa as it is how much time is it going to spend traveling to and from a certified AS dealer for fixes when they could just beef up some things here and there to justify that price tag.



Very true. We were shocked when we saw the basecamp in person for the first time. The online pics were very deceiving on the size. The reality check was when they told us it was 41k as that's within 5k of a brand new class c. Can't wheel it but oh that ac when it's 109* outside!

My wife and I are Airstream target customers. And to tell you the truth I cant ever picture us finding their products acceptable due to cost. Just way too many decent builders today at a fraction of the cost. I really honestly can say Airstream better remake its self or in 10-15yrs theyll be bringing up the rear behind other brands. I can see us Flying to France and buying an awesome Pogo 30 to upgrage our 1985 tubby sailboat so we can race on the bay with friends. But I cant see us dropping Airstream $$$$ on a camp trailer when we can have a nice 16-18footer for dramatically less $. Yes I can see us having both boat and rv trailer.
 

Silverhorse

Adventurer
I wouldnt put to much hope in the Nest for offroad use.. I spoke with Airstream this morning about an issue with my Excella. They wouldnt give me any specific info on the Nest, but from the designers video it doesn't even have a full frame
https://vimeo.com/132292473
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Airstream has a web page for the Nest up now
https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/nest/

The price has swelled to $46k, but that’s well-equipped. In the long list of items included in the Nest, I didn’t notice any optional equipment.

Here’s the link to the brochure so you don’t have to sign up
https://www.airstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Nest-by-Airstream-Brochure.pdf

The brochure lists the outside dimensions to be 16ft 7in long, 7ft 1in wide and 9ft 6 in tall. It might just fit in a high cube shipping container if you remove the standard rooftop air conditioner.

Photos show stuff hanging down below the frame rails, so you’d need to add some sort of underbody protection if you plan to drag the Nest over the rocks.
 

workerdrone

Part time fulltimer
Swapped out the original torsion axles on our '76 Airstream caravanner and got several inches more ground clearance.

Slow and steady with a high traction tow vehicle and it would go a lot of places - hasn't everyone seen all those old photos of the Airstreams traveling all over Africa and the world?
 

vintageracer

To Infinity and Beyond!

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