I have an XHA1 and I’ll tell

I have an XHA1 and I'll tell you what I would not do, I would not depend on it's plastic body to survive a drop, especially if taken to a ski hill and it was frozen. Static shots would be fine, I've done that using hand warmers wrapped around the tape and battery compartments. I've also had the humidity warning go off while I was recording in a green house. Great camera but it's not a sports camera. Besides, you don't want HDV tapes, go for a CF or SD camera and get a metal body. The Canon 60D was similar to the T3i except the T3i (4 and 5 too I believe) are plastic bodies.