Now that we've spent about a hundred days/nights in our Nordic Tug (since the end of September 2014! Can you believe that??), there are a few details in Nordic Tugs that we think Airstreams should have.
1. Locking cabinet/drawer pulls
Obviously, the real wood (sapele) cabinetry in the Nordic Tug is great but not an option for the standard Airstream, due to cost (and weight), but these locking drawer and cabinet pulls are SO much better than the 5lb/10lb RV latches on the cupboards in the Airstream.
They're essentially a push button style pull. When pushed in, the hardware is flush with the cabinet and the cabinet or drawer is locked.
To unlock, just push in and the pull pops out for easy use as a handle.
When you're ready to get on the road (or sea) again, a quick push in and the cupboard is locked.
The problem with the latches in the Airstream is that they're supposed to be strong enough to keep the doors and drawers closed while under way, but they aren't and they don't. In both Airstreams we've owned we've had drawers come completely out during travel (denting the floor, spilling the contents, breaking the drawer) as well as cupboards opening during travel (spilling/breaking dishes all over the floor, covering the interior with walnut oil, truffle salt, and Sriracha). We are NOT the only ones this has happened to. At all.
We've replaced a couple of the 5lb latches with 10lb latches, and that helps, but it's a little annoying to have to yank so hard on the cupboard to open it during normal everyday use.
This push button locking option would be a great solution to the clunky issues surrounding the Airstream cabinet and drawer hardware.
2. Better LED fixtures
The LED fixtures on the Nordic Tug are great and the light from the LED bulbs in them is so nice you'd never know they were LED. I kept asking Steve (our Nordic Tug dealer) when we were first looking at this boat "These are LED? Really?" and then thinking he must have been mistaken when he said "yes" … even the third time. It took me a few times touching them after they'd been on for hours to really believe it. (Sorry I doubted you, Steve!)
I think the LED fixtures in Airstreams are the original halogen fixtures, but retrofitted for LED "bulbs." The frosted glass shows the little square-gridded "bulb" right through, and doesn't soften the light enough. If you have warm LEDs in the bedroom, for instance, and a white bedspread, you'll see yellow splotches of light on that bedspread when the lights are on, which is…um…not awesome. If you have the cool LED "bulbs" the whole inside of the trailer takes on a lovely "operating room" vibe. Anyway, we think these LED fixtures by Imtra Marine are KILLER. (I'm not sure of the exact model we have, but here's one example from the Imtra Marine website.)
3. Flooring
We LOVE the flooring in our Nordic Tug:
You might think this flooring is WAY too heavy and expensive for an Airstream, but hold on there. It looks like the traditional boaty wood floors, but it's a product called Amtico, and it's a synthetic flooring that's pretty much indestructible, and simulates teak & holly, cherry & holly, or mahogany & holly, depending on your wood preference). Seems like it would be perfect for Airstream's "land yacht" concept. Here are two links: Link 1 and Link 2 to sites with some photos and info about it. I couldn't find it, specifically, on the Amtico website.
Anyway, it's gorgeous, it looks and feels like wood (even when you're down on the floor cleaning up that spilled glass of red wine), AND it's not going to dent or be affected by moisture like real wood floors.
If we ever decided to build/design an Airstream from scratch, I would definitely borrow all three of these things from our Nordic Tug.
