"jkm7680" (jkm7680)
03/30/2014 at 19:57 • Filed to: Stealthcamplopnik
1
43|
"jkm7680" (jkm7680)
03/30/2014 at 19:57 • Filed to: Stealthcamplopnik | 1
| 43 |
Anybody got any stealth camping stories, or experiences?
I'm tempted to get a Van, and go on a roadtrip across America with the Lady Friend and sleep in the middle of the cities, where we normally could never afford to live.
It probably won't happen, but it's a nice idea.
Oh, and this van really clean, I'm not thinking of buying. But I just thought I'd share.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volkswagen…
beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:03 |
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I knew an Irish guy who did this for a couple of years while working in Australia after his Visa had run out. Though I suppose he was less "Stealth Camping" and more "Homeless Itinerant"
JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:03 |
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I've always had a dream of buying a manual diesel 740 wagon (outfitting it with a small military surplus mattress, wifi, mini fridge, and curtains—leaving room for plenty of storage and lounging space) and travelling the country. Really pretty easily done, too! Alas, my fantasy of hobodom is not shared by many.
Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:06 |
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Took my Protege5 to Ocean City, MD for this car weekend they have every year and a friend has a house there. Group of close to a dozen guys usually went and I was newest to the group. The house was a bit over booked on space so I did what anyone would do. Back seats go almost flat, the stock cargo cover takes car of back couple feet and I attached a blanket from the cover to the back of my front seats. Throw down a sleeping bag and good to go.
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jkm7680
> JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
03/30/2014 at 20:07 |
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I've had the same idea, I wanted to tour the United States in some sort of vehicle, with a mattress in it. When I tell people, they think I'm nuts. Haha.
Another one is to buy a Touring motorcycle , and travelling around with a buddy.
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jkm7680
> Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
03/30/2014 at 20:09 |
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Haha, How was it in there?
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jkm7680
> beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
03/30/2014 at 20:11 |
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Haha, I'd have to leave work for quite some time to make it possible, and paying bills would start to dig into my savings.
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Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:17 |
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Not too bad honestly as I'm not that tall, sleeping a little bit curled was actually plenty comfortable. Going to sleep no where close to sober certainly helped things I imagine Lol Also, you can only sleep in so much as it was summer and with the sun comes the heat. Always makes for a good story.
McMike
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:18 |
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A very good climate control system is present in this car and the AC blows ice-cold.
Interesting, since there is no AC compressor.
Other assorted used car dealership quotes that made me giggle.
The engine sounds, runs and feels smooth and provides abundant power. This engine is very economical (and with the rising gas prices, that's no small deal)
It has the 1.9l DigiJet engine, that had 86bhp when it was new. "Abundant" is funny. Also 17/20 mpg isn't "very economical." Maybe compared to other RVs....
Full campers have a LOT of bits that need to be sorted out (3 way fridge, water pump, gas stove, etc...) Whoever looks at this thing better make sure it all works before even thinking about paying this kind of money.
Seam rust and head gaskets are the Achilles heel of these things. A fresh coat of paint would make me nervous. I'd be willing to bet the rust wasn't properly treated, and it will start bubbling through in 2-3 years.
This is a base-model late-83 Westy. (they switched to water cooling in mid 83)
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jkm7680
> Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
03/30/2014 at 20:19 |
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Haha, I'm around 6'3 so I might not fit easily in much. Possibly a wagon though. If I was near a power source, I would just plug a fan in and stick it through the window.
Singhjr96
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:20 |
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Me and my friends are going down to a campground. My dad has a van which has the seats stripped out in the back for hauling stuff. We will use it to haul supplies down there to the site, along with another car. We will use the van and sleep in it. We will transfer the stuff into the car while we are there. Then we will Re-transfer the stuff back into the van and put the people in the car when we are leaving.
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jkm7680
> McMike
03/30/2014 at 20:21 |
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Yeah, I've known that dealership, and they Bs quite a bit. They claim to sell "Rare Low Mileage European Cars."
Yet they still have this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-F-350…
Which is a Metro Bus access van.
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jkm7680
> Singhjr96
03/30/2014 at 20:22 |
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Sounds nice! What kind of van is it?
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beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:25 |
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find one of those fancy office jobs that let you work from home. Then all you'll need is an internet connection.
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McMike
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:25 |
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Damn, I hope the engine runs better than that coat of tire shine.
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Singhjr96
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:25 |
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1999 dodge grand caravan. Both back seats stripped out leaves like 10 feet of space in the back, maybe about 6-7 feet across. We're going down to a place called salt lake park or something like that. it's in the Seattle area. We could rent cabins but that's no fun.
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jkm7680
> beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
03/30/2014 at 20:27 |
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Haha, If I ever get to that point in my career, I'll take it. I'm not too sure if the Lady is going to like the idea of stealth camping though.
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jkm7680
> Singhjr96
03/30/2014 at 20:28 |
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Sounds fun! No bugs crawling all over you, that's the best part.
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jkm7680
> McMike
03/30/2014 at 20:28 |
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Haha, It probably will run like Crap. The drivers are absolutely insane with them.
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Singhjr96
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:43 |
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Yep, only thing is you're not safe from bears.
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beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:43 |
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It'll be hard to justify $20k on a camper when that could be spent on some really nice hotels.. even though you could sell the camper when you're done and make most of the money back.
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jkm7680
> Singhjr96
03/30/2014 at 20:46 |
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Holy shit. Lock the doors!
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jkm7680
> beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
03/30/2014 at 20:47 |
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Yeah, I was thinking of just buying an old Ford Econoline, throwing an extra battery, mini fridge, chemical toilet, microwave and that kind of thing in it.
For around $6,000 for a van, no clue about gas.
Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:49 |
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When I got out of the Army, I had saved up 3 months of vacation time. I hopped on the FZR 1000 and headed wandered the United States. Camped out for the most part, stayed in hotels every now and again if the weather was exceptionally bad. Mostly used National Forest land for camping; it used to be that you head down a secondary road, then got off that road and out of site in the woodline, you could camp for free. Not sure if that still holds true or not. But I went through Upstate New York, Florida, Washington, Texas, and most of the States in between. It was a truly inspiring and remarkable experience. 16,000 miles all together in those three months.
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jkm7680
> Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
03/30/2014 at 20:52 |
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Awesome story! I'd love to do that some day. Did you carry a tent around?
Thanks for serving!
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Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 20:57 |
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Eureka Timberline, 0 degree peak bag, Therma Rest, light cookset, couple changes of clothes, expandable baton, tools, camera, all that kind of fun stuff... had a tail bag, saddle bags and a tank bag. I got so that I could have the tent set in under 2 minutes.
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jkm7680
> Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
03/30/2014 at 21:04 |
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Wow, lot of respect for doing that!
Must have been Amazing to see the United States that way.
Good bike choice also!
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beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 21:42 |
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That could work.. though I wonder how long the stealth camping will last until you decide you want a hot shower. not to mention the legality of stealth camping in certain areas.
Good luck to you though, it sounds like fun to me.
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jkm7680
> beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
03/30/2014 at 21:49 |
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jkm7680
> beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
03/30/2014 at 21:51 |
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Yeah, I've got a gym membership with Planet Fitness, where I belive you can visit any location nationwide, which means showers.
I'd probably be doing it in the next 10+ years so I would have enough money to afford to leave work for a while, but Thanks!
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beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 22:01 |
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ha. I'm never going to use my gym's showers again. It's a 24hr gym and too many couples have been caught banging eachother in there late at night.
deekster_caddy
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 22:06 |
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I have a friend who used to go to ski areas and sleep in his roof box on top of his car overnight in the parking lot. Stealthy enough for you?
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Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
> jkm7680
03/30/2014 at 22:24 |
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It really was. Rekindled my respect for Humanity.
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jkm7680
> Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
03/30/2014 at 22:53 |
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You should write a book about your experience, it would be a great read!
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jkm7680
> deekster_caddy
03/30/2014 at 22:56 |
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Haha, that must have been cold up there. Good idea though, reminds me of the camper special from Tguk.
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jkm7680
> beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
03/30/2014 at 23:01 |
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Haha, I luckily haven't had to experience that sight so far, Haha.
I have seen people showing up drunk as hell in the middle of the day though.
Übel
> jkm7680
03/31/2014 at 13:11 |
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I've done a bit of research on living in a van, and this guy is doing it better than anyone I know of: http://www.youtube.com/user/LivingThe…
I can't be bothered to find then, but I believe he has a few episodes specifically on stealth camping and how to do it. In general, he's really well organized and remarkably sane for a man living in a van.
There's one other guy making van living videos on YouTube, but his most watched video is of him eating vegetables off the floor of his Vanagon Weekender, so I tend to not give his ideas much credit.
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jkm7680
> Übel
03/31/2014 at 13:29 |
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Thanks for the tips! I'm not planning on livng in a van, but just a a little cheap fun for a roadtrip. I will deffinately check out that channel on Youtubr though.
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Übel
> jkm7680
03/31/2014 at 13:33 |
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Yeah, but I figure van living is just van camping for a long time, so advice should transfer between the two!
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jkm7680
> Übel
03/31/2014 at 13:37 |
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Yeah, I appreciate the advice a lot, it would be for a coast to coast roadtrip for around 3 months or so, which I would do between jobs, or once I save up enough to be able to afford it.
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deekster_caddy
> jkm7680
03/31/2014 at 15:11 |
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It blocked the wind (mostly) and he had a good sleeping bag. He was a bit of a nut though. He had a subaru outback wagon but he was also very tall and couldn't get comfortable inside.
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jkm7680
> deekster_caddy
03/31/2014 at 16:10 |
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Haha, Sounds interesting. Not very good if he was claustrophobic.
Imagine if somebody tried to steal the car, they would be in for the surprise of their life.
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deekster_caddy
> jkm7680
03/31/2014 at 23:09 |
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It was definitely a car nobody would worry about having stolen, very jalop!
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jkm7680
> deekster_caddy
04/01/2014 at 05:58 |
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Haha, especially if he kept a gun with him. Just crawl out of the both and point it in the window.