We are thinking of going to Alaska with our 195.  We have heard that window breakage is not uncommon on some of the roads in Canada and/or Alaska and the 195 has a front window.  We are thinking about installing a "security film" on the front window to prevent breakage, or, if breakage occurs, the loss of the front window. Has anyone tried this? and can you tell me if the film can be applied to the outside of the window or just the inside?

BDF S8MC Window Film Security and Safety Clear 8 Mil

I don't think a film like that will last long on the outside due to UV degradation of the plastic. If it's on the inside it wont do anything to reduce glass breakage from gravel/rock impacts, and probably not a lot even if you did install it on the outside.

How about adding a layer of polycarbonate on the outside? Cut to size to fit inside the window frame and maybe attach using strong magnets through the glass so you can just remove it when you get back from Alaska. Polycarbonate (Lexan) is super impact resistant.

If the front windows are breaking into small pieces they are tempered glass. Tempered glass can break from a very small rock chip, and may not break immediately. That is because the surface of tempered glass is in about 10,000 psi of compression, while the bulk of the interior of the glass is in tension.

That is created by rapidly cooling hot glass so the outer surface freezes first which the interior cools and contracts more slowly. That creates a very strong glass sheet because glass is very strong in compression. But if you cut through the very thin surface compression layer, say with the sharp edge of a rock, and expose the tension layer, the glass sheet will release all that tension and instantly turn into hundreds of small glass fragments.

That can happen immediately after the surface gets impacted, or later after the cut or scratch has time to open up enough to expose the liner compression layer. That is why car windshield are laminated, not tempered glass while side windows, which are not exposed much to rock strukes, are tempered.

And why we didn't allow installlatin crews to walk on our solar modules. when installing them. Too easy to get a little rock stuck in their shoes and come back the next day to dozens of broken solar modules.

All that is by explanation of why the front windows are breaking, and why a protective cover of some kind would be a good idea especially for a trip to Alaska