Avoiding Hail Damage - Advice?

h2opup

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Joined
Apr 18, 2024
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Oregon Coast
I am wondering if anyone uses a physical means of protecting their campers (and trucks) during hail storms. I live in coastal Oregon, so not a big problem here, however it seems like large, damaging hail storms are not uncommon in MT, CO, TX, and other places where I may be wandering soon...

During a visit to Austin earlier this year, I heard about people there putting inflatable cushions or pads on their cars and trailer/camper roofs during hail storms. [I believe this was true, and not merely Urban Legend - lol].

I'm not seeking a bubble-wrapped life, but several posts here mention camper roofs sustaining hail damage, and I am concerned about possible hail damage to solar panels.

Apart from watching the weather and avoiding the situation as best as is possible, does anyone have a clever solution? Or do folks just buy insurance and leave the rest up to fate?

Thanks in advance.
 
I was also concerned about hail damage to solar panels................................until I visited many active mountain fire lookouts that also serve as communication sites. Most, now have large banks of solar panels. I've not seen a broken panel on mountain tops so I figure they are pretty darn tough. And I've put them on two camper roofs and drove over 235,000 miles without damage. Knock on wood, of course.
 
I have lived in "Hail alley" for 63 years and while I am an avid weather watcher I don't lose sleep over Hail storms. Typically Hail storms are confined areas of the storm that cover small areas. I have seen storms cover 1/2 Mile wide or less. With todays technology from weather.gov tracking hail storms is easy. I have actively dodge large thunderstorms while both camping and driving with that said Insurance is our answer. "Hail Alley" encompasses a large swath of CO, KS, NE and WY. As you say Texas is also included.

See this map: Hail | National Risk Index

Colorado is notorious for frequent and large hail up and down the I-25 corridor pushing out east over the high plains. I purchased an Alaskan camper from Pueblo CO in 2016 that had significant hail damage but luckily no leaks The camper was sitting in a storage lot for a couple of years and just happened to be in the path of a severe hail shaft. This was some large hail probably > 2-3 inches.
 

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I also live in CO front range and it hails a lot.. but like it was said before, its usually pretty isolated. My camper is a 2014 and it is pretty dimpled from hail, but not issues. Heavy blankets can help protect from hail, but just better to find some cover if possible..
 
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