Dan Robinson
To keep the discussion on topic, here are my thoughts on the issues at hand.
Hail shields:
I considered building a simple windshield guard for my car - the wire-mesh design on a aluminum frame attached to the roof rack and extending horizontally forward over the windshield, so as to not obstruct the driving view (I think Dave Lewison's shield is like this). I did some research on replacement costs for my windshield, and it was around $250-$300. I figured I'd have that much in materials and time invested in building a shield to begin with, so I decided against it. I'll just pay for the new glass myself if it gets broken. Plus, there likely will be fuel efficiency/drag issues to boot.
As far as hail goes, I wanted to avoid hail like the plague this season because I just bought a brand new car. The last thing I wanted to do was trash it with gorilla hail. No storm or tornado is worth doing $5000 damage to my new car, let alone totalling it. I took chances on muddy roads, almost getting stuck and losing at least one tornado intercept (Hill City) due to my reluctance to core-punch. I know the risks. Sometimes you find yourself on the wrong side of the storm, it happens to all of us. We ended up taking our chances at Hill City and punching through, on a hair trigger to turn around if it got too bad. We got through OK, but a shield would have made me feel better about doing it. I did not do it for the thrill of getting into hail, it was either that or lose the rest of the day's tornadoes.
The ironic thing is, I got two big chips in June from rock impacts that will need to be fixed before the cracks spread, so my windshield was damaged this year anyway without hail being a factor! The rock impacts happened in non-chase situations.
Weather instrumentation:
I'm already paying off debt for my camera and chase gear as it is, so economics demands that I use prudence in spending money on more sophisticated instrumentation. I use my anemometer for estimation purposes. I've found its margin of error to be acceptable within reason for my application.
Insurance:
I agree that claims should not be filed for most storm-related damage, namely common chase-related damage (hail dents, etc). I think we should bear those costs ourselves. The occasional auto glass repair/replacement is *usually* not that expensive anyway, relatively speaking, when you consider the cost of making a claim (increased premiums over time, legal risks, etc.) Those type of claims, if they continue to be filed, I think will eventually backfire with implications to all chasers. Likewise this is a concern with chasers using rental cars and turning them in with damage under the guise of a full coverage policy. It's going to backfire one of these days and result in lawsuits, bad publicity, another Wichita Eagle article, etc.
Hail shields:
I considered building a simple windshield guard for my car - the wire-mesh design on a aluminum frame attached to the roof rack and extending horizontally forward over the windshield, so as to not obstruct the driving view (I think Dave Lewison's shield is like this). I did some research on replacement costs for my windshield, and it was around $250-$300. I figured I'd have that much in materials and time invested in building a shield to begin with, so I decided against it. I'll just pay for the new glass myself if it gets broken. Plus, there likely will be fuel efficiency/drag issues to boot.
As far as hail goes, I wanted to avoid hail like the plague this season because I just bought a brand new car. The last thing I wanted to do was trash it with gorilla hail. No storm or tornado is worth doing $5000 damage to my new car, let alone totalling it. I took chances on muddy roads, almost getting stuck and losing at least one tornado intercept (Hill City) due to my reluctance to core-punch. I know the risks. Sometimes you find yourself on the wrong side of the storm, it happens to all of us. We ended up taking our chances at Hill City and punching through, on a hair trigger to turn around if it got too bad. We got through OK, but a shield would have made me feel better about doing it. I did not do it for the thrill of getting into hail, it was either that or lose the rest of the day's tornadoes.
The ironic thing is, I got two big chips in June from rock impacts that will need to be fixed before the cracks spread, so my windshield was damaged this year anyway without hail being a factor! The rock impacts happened in non-chase situations.
Weather instrumentation:
I'm already paying off debt for my camera and chase gear as it is, so economics demands that I use prudence in spending money on more sophisticated instrumentation. I use my anemometer for estimation purposes. I've found its margin of error to be acceptable within reason for my application.
Insurance:
I agree that claims should not be filed for most storm-related damage, namely common chase-related damage (hail dents, etc). I think we should bear those costs ourselves. The occasional auto glass repair/replacement is *usually* not that expensive anyway, relatively speaking, when you consider the cost of making a claim (increased premiums over time, legal risks, etc.) Those type of claims, if they continue to be filed, I think will eventually backfire with implications to all chasers. Likewise this is a concern with chasers using rental cars and turning them in with damage under the guise of a full coverage policy. It's going to backfire one of these days and result in lawsuits, bad publicity, another Wichita Eagle article, etc.
