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Go RVing/Camping
That_Guy
I don't wanna be that guyRegistered User regular
I don't wanna be that guyRegistered User regular
You should go RVing or camping. Really, it's a lot of fun. There are literally thousands of State and National parks that you can camp at. Most are pretty cheap and have all kinds of stuff to do. If you like hiking, sightseeing, boating, mountain biking, or just being alone in the middle of nowhere, there is a campsite with your name on it.
This summer I bought a 2004 Dodge Durango and a 2017 Forest River Cruise Light Camper. I got back from my first camping trip today and loved it. It wasn't perfect and it was a fair bit of work, but I really enjoyed myself. Overall it was a great experience. I went kayaking, swimming and just relaxed. You can read all about it in my H/A thread.
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240258/i-bought-a-truck-and-a-camper
So get out there and have fun. Be sure to come back here and tell us all about your travels. Vacation photos are STRONGLY encouraged.
This summer I bought a 2004 Dodge Durango and a 2017 Forest River Cruise Light Camper. I got back from my first camping trip today and loved it. It wasn't perfect and it was a fair bit of work, but I really enjoyed myself. Overall it was a great experience. I went kayaking, swimming and just relaxed. You can read all about it in my H/A thread.
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240258/i-bought-a-truck-and-a-camper
So get out there and have fun. Be sure to come back here and tell us all about your travels. Vacation photos are STRONGLY encouraged.
https://www.youtube.com/hesthatguy | https://www.patreon.com/hesthatguy | https://steamcommunity.com/id/ThatGuy3141/
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Leaks in the roof, air ride suspension issues, transmission issues, battery issues, some of the cabinets are falling off, etc. Maybe the issue is he bought a fixer upper, but it’s sort of made me nervous to jump in. Especially because you can’t get a normal tow, so if things go south you could be stuck for a long time.
Also curious what price range you should expect to get started.
I can say though, that if your willing to drive one to the mountain, it is by far my favorite way to go skiing/snowboarding. So much room to get ready. Have a nice, easy, possibly warm, breakfast on the way up. Easy lunch area, with expanded lunch options. It’s a real blast.
I did a LOT of research and shopping before deciding on a trailer. Full on motorhomes are great on paper but the moment you slap a sleeper on a truck chassis you add $25k to the cost. You're also pretty limited in your mobility once you get to where you are going. In my case I was looking at spending less than $20k on the whole lot. For $20k I could have gotten a early 2000s motorhome with a lot of the same issues you are talking out there. It just wasn't worth it in my price range. On the other hand, a trailer (either standard or 5th wheel) offers a lot more flexibility and a significant savings. My 2017 trailer was less than $15k. My truck was only $3700. I got both off CL. With a trailer, you can detach it from your truck and still do stuff with the truck. With a motorhome you're either stuck where you make camp or have to tow around ANOTHER vehicle. And that's just more money you're spending.
For example, when I made camp on Wed I realized I had forgotten to bring mayo/mustard for sammiches. I had already detached the trailer from the Durango so I just drove up to the nearest gas station and picked up what I needed. No muss, no fuss.
Does the trailer you picked allow people to ride in it while driving? It is a much nicer ride for long distances being able to sit at a table. I wouldn’t miss having to be in a separate area, but I feel like the wife and kid would prefer the ability to do stuff.
In both cases, you have a large vehicle you don't use often and you have to store. If you store them wrong, you can easily destroy the tires (this happened to my family, the trailer sat for over a year and it killed all four tires the first time we took it out on a trip), plus issues like dead batteries or whatever. You can also get obnoxious things like wasp nests, those fuckers love to build in aggravating spots. Both are heavily vulnerable to strong winds as well, so you NEED to be an attentive driver with both of them.
More specifically, trailers need a vehicle capable of hauling them and, I would consider this ABSOLUTELY mandatory, training for pulling a trailer; if you already have a good truck, this actually works in your favor. Decently parking a trailer and then unhitching and setting it up is a pain in the ass. You cannot utilize that trailer space while driving; anybody in there if a wreck happens is almost certainly going to be severely injured, at a minimum. So don't do it. The upside is you have a vehicle to use when you arrive somewhere, which is great if you want to pop into a local town for a meal or get groceries. And trailer upkeep is relatively simple, as you don't have a motor vehicle attached.
An RV, however, is relatively easy to park and is easier to set up. It shares some of the things that a trailer does (water hookups, electricity, etc), but you don't have to deal with the hitching/unhitching crap. The RV space can be used while driving, even if everybody has to keep their seatbelts on. Being built on to a hauling vehicle means you also always have a generator handy. But modern RVs are built pretty cheap and there's a lot of structural stress there from driving, and you have the normal vehicle upkeep issues as well.
Ultimately, I would say the duration of the trips and family size are the big deciding factor. If it's always just going to be weekend trips and/or fewer people, get an RV and put bikes on/in it. If it's going to be longer trips/more people, get a trailer because than you won't mind nearly so much how much time gets burnt up with setup.
Having dealt with both situations, what's my choice now? My normal car with regular camping gear. Immensely cheaper to get together, a fraction of the upkeep of a trailer or RV, the setup time is completely comparable and you don't have to worry about damaging multi-thousand-dollar equipment, and good camping gear is actually going to probably outlive both trailers or RVs. Using a trailer/RV feels way too much like just dragging a hotel room around for me to enjoy it, and dealing with all that equipment-related stuff was way more stress than I wanted to deal with on what is supposed to be vacation. And with camping gear, you have an infinitely larger selection of places to go; you can virtually always go to the same places as a trailer/RV, plus a virtually unlimited number of places they can't.
Plus, I've never been a in a trailer or RV that didn't feel absurdly cramped, as opposed to just being able to step outside a tent and have all the room you could want.
But my ultimate suggestion? Rent each setup for a vacation or two and see what works best for you. It costs a fair bit to buy a trailer or RV, renting them for a couple trips is well worth the experiment to see if you even like using them.
It's mostly families, and it's also a lot of $30-50k trucks pulling $??? trailers. It seems super fun, but I feel like you'd need to go with a bunch of people to make it worthwhile and it seems daunting to get started with all of it.
It'd also buy a lot of AirBNB stays - I did a recent trip on my motorcycle down to NC and we "camped" at someone's nice AirBNB house near the roads we wanted for a song. 35L backpack and a pair of 30L saddlebags.
If I wanted to be at a campground I'd be tempted to just throw camping kit in a small utility trailer alongside my bike. I did learn my lesson and I'm looking at small trailer setups-- no desire to be taking my bike on the interstate again (my ass was fine, even on a sport bike, but my ears are still ringing even with earplugs).
You also tend to need a specific vehicle type for these as almost no vehicle rooftops are designed with those weight limits in mind.
A recent thing I've found out about are tents that attach to your trunk, though. You hook it up to the back of your car and now you've got that whole back of the car you can use for storage or a sleeping area, rather than having to switch between the two. The prices are also very comparable to regular tents and they're mostly generic hookups that work for most SUVs/hatchbacks and even potentially trucks with bed covers.
For the most part, passengers are not allowed to ride in the back of a trailer or fifth wheel while in tow. Everyone has to ride in the truck. In doing my research I found Jeeps to have a pretty limited towing capacity. Most are under 3000lbs. A fully equipped "apartment on wheels" is generally going to start around 4000lbs. My "light" camper weighs in at 4500 unloaded. My Durango maxes out at ~8000lbs since it has the tow package and the 5.7l HEMI.
Once Ford puts out a proper electric version, I'm thinking hard about that. 5x8 enclosed trailer for my bike plus kit, plus whatever storage in the bed of the truck (maybe throw a cap on it, too).
A Uhaul 5x8 enclosed trailer is maybe 900 pounds empty, bike is 500-600? And weight of whatever kit. I think it shouldn't kill range too badly to where it'd need the full F-150 electric.
Hmmm.
I hasn’t thought about that. Very interesting for a replacement to our existing tent if does for some reason.
We have a forester, which is factory compatible with some of the rooftop ones (weight limits).
But honestly we’ve got our car camping/tent system down pretty solid now.
The Jeep gets towed, it’s not doing the towing. I guess Jeeps have the ability to completely disengage the transmission, so you can tow them without needing a special trailer (just have to hook the front up to the back of the RV).
I’m definitely going to get something in the next year or two, but I’m just sort of getting a feel for things right now.
I’m also thinking I’ll need to find someone to share with, since I’m realistically only going to be using it a few times a year. I feel like as long as you aren’t planning on using it during the obvious holiday weekends, a shared setup is a great way to maximize use and cut down on costs.
Also, the one other thing I learned from camping was a little bit of foraging; I'm not exactly survivorman, but I did learn how to find blueberries and rasberries when I was young, as well as the dangers that come with both (the best blue berries are always either in prime bear country or sitting on a cliff face while rasberry thorns can give you the most painful scratches when it's hot). Later on I learned about jewel weed and that stuff made dealing with all manner of irritations easier.
For first time campers I'd carefully consider when to go; In ontario late spring/early summer you can get utterly swarmed by differing waves of insects ranging from the tiny but maddening blackfly (which can swarm you to the point where you look like you've been in a coal mine and utterly infest your scalp), common mosquito, deer fly (they may look like houseflies but don't be fooled, they bite and it *hurts*) to the apex monstrosity: horseflies; these things will put holes in your shirt to get at your flesh and can take a more concerted effort to kill then you'd think.
Probably won't get to use it this year, now, but it needs a bit of cleaning and maintenance anyway, so the plan is to get it tidied up for next year.
https://www.howerbuilt.com/
* at least basically car-accessible (like you can park at least near the site, if not drive up; 4wd requirement is fine, just not humping my gear two miles up a trail)
* secluded enough I won't see other people from my site
* big enough for 2 or 3 tents for 2 or 6 people each
Seems like every time I try to go camping all the campgrounds I look at are catering to RV owners first, people with trailers or pop-up tents second, and people who actually want to pitch a tent and camp a distant 3rd. Or it's "There's a vaguely flat and clear area 5 miles up the side of this mountain. Watch out for cougars."
In my experience, if a campsite is something that can be reserved or viewed on a website, there's going to be a whole pile of campsites around it because more campsites=more money, so fuck your camping experience when they can cram another camping site or three in there and force everybody elbow-to-elbow to squeeze out some extra cash.
If you want to guarantee no people around (or at least in direct LoS), you're talking heading into areas without posted/paid campsites where you have to figure it out for yourself (either driving or hiking). Alternatively, maybe something on private land rather than public campgrounds? It will probably cost extra for the "premium" of not being stared at by strangers, though; I'm sure there has to be AirBnB stuff that is compatible with camping and is more secluded than a public campground. And you can roll the dice and try the off-season when few people are out there, but that's not ideal for a number of reasons.
From last weekend:
The approach to the pass:
The final push to the pass:
Getting away from an electrical storm afterwards:
Last year, due to covid, camping was about the only thing we could do. My son was 4 and my daughter was only 18 months old. We used Outdoorsy (AirBnB for campers and RVs) to rent a Revel camper van, complete with solar panels. While I love sleeping in a tent, my wife and kids preferred sleeping in the van (it was still dipping into the 30s and 40s at night up in the mountains, and snowed the first night there).
Overall it was a ton of fun. The kids played in the dirt, hiked with me, fell and scraped their knees, made smores and explored nature. We're going camping again next week up near Twin Lakes, CO (one of my favorite areas to camp). This time my dad and brother will be with us, so hopefully that'll help with craziness of managing small kids near open flames and nature in general.
Pics from June 2020.
The van:
Lots of playing in the rocks and sand:
Watching Dad make a fire (from a safe distance):
Sometimes you have to leash your daughter so she doesn't get too close to the firepit and the parents are somewhat distracted:
Little bit of snow isn't going to stop us from having a nice breakfast:
Ben painting rocks:
Adele along for Daddy's hike:
Dirty Girl:
I'll make sure to post some pics after the trip next week.
That used to be my go-to method of finding a "site for tents". Then I went on a trip to a place that offered both RV and primitive sites but upon arrival it turned out the entire campground was one big, open grassy field with notional "sites" subdividing it. Some of them had electrical hookups, some did not. So our primitive site was just in a segment of the field between RVs that did not have an outlet. Or any sort of shade, much less privacy. Then the next place I tried after that did at least have some trees between sites but - despite it being a primitive site - you could either have a fire pit or not put your tent on asphalt but not both as the "site" was effectively a driveway with a sand pit (and removable fire ring) at the end.
So now I look for places that explicitly describe the site size (as opposed to the amount of parking) and, ideally, have a map so I can see whether I'm camping in the woods or a parking lot.
Sadly my wife is not a fan of hiking with any sort of load so, unless I want to haul both our gear, trail-side sites are mostly not viable. Maybe I'll look into AirBnB or see if there's some camping equivalent.
I’m not sure if the options in Georgia/SC/NC specifically, but generally if you drive around on backroads in NFs long enough you’ll find a pullout and a fire ring. These are also usually pretty isolated.
Bears and cougars are at that point your problem, though.
There are basically no reservable campgrounds I’ve ever been to that don’t have at least a chance of awful neighbors. Sometimes you get lucky and people are quiet/respectful but that’s the exception not the rule.
There also is a third option which is a normal passenger van with some RV conversion stuff. There are some models that there are modular RV conversion stuff you can put in when you are going camping and remove and use like a normal van when not. My brother was looking at some of these that have seats that basically drop totally flat so lots of space inside for a couple people if you want something a bit more secure solid shelter than a tent. Also you can get tent options that go over the rear gate and or roof tents for extra space. These are also a lot easier to deal with so you are not stuck with storing an expensive vehicle you can only use when actively camping.
Our Van and the mentioned bivy tent
Our Van with a nice trailer (Family outing), this was 10-15 miles in and up logging roads, single lane dirt road. Sadly this area is probably all charcoal now. We had a ATV stop by and ask us how we actually made it up to where we got, was an experience for sure. EDIT: I should add that at this spot over 3 days and 2 nights we saw a grand total of 4 people all just passing though on an ATV or jeep.
So basically I don't want to die of heat stroke or bear attack. Any tips for keeping cool and also keeping bears away?
Bears want your food but don't want anything to do with you otherwise. Don't leave food outside, including trash in a bin, and you'll be fine.
"I don't have an RV/camper. Sleeping on the ground in a tent is uncomfortable."
But have you heard the good news?
Hammocks!
Better than tents in every way. Smaller, lighter, significantly more comfortable.
Worried about rain or want some privacy? Put up a tarp!
Bugs? Bug net! They both easily hang from trees!
Meanwhile a few carabineers mean everything you want is in reach while you snuggle up in your sleeping bag. Camping hammocks also squeeze in to a small, squishy bag. When hung up the bag doubles as a spot to put your drink, kindle, etc. Rechargeable string lights hanging above can provide softer, more even light than a lamp.
Just look at this 100% serious, completely unbiased video that's definitely not a joke
Hammocks! Available in your local hammock district now!
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But in all seriousness, if you've wanted to camp and want to take a simpler and/or cheaper route, hammocks are a great option. I know I'd never considered it until I stumbled across some picture of a camping hammock setup. It's the opposite direction of RVs and campers, letting you take a much smaller amount of stuff in a tiny vehicle if desired. My own inefficient setup fits inside a tupperware storage box. People comment on my sites and say they like my minimalist arrangement but the reality is I'm just super lazy.
Just be sure to use the straps that normally come with camping hammocks and not rope. The latter can be a lot harsher on tree bark. And if you're going to have a cool night, bring an insulation pad.
Oh man, when I was a boy scout backpacking with a hammock was great. A hammock with a 6' or 7' square tarp was barely 2 lbs. compared to like 10 for my share of a tent. Left a lot of room in my pack for more snacks.
There's a lake? If there's power, you can bring an A/C, though acquiring one by next week might be slightly shorter notice.
Between jump in lake when hot, and cool a room in which to sleep, you'd probably be pretty comfortable.
I doubt a swamp cooler would work all that well, by a lake in woods sounds too humid.
I have not but I did watch the trailers and I can see what you're getting at.
This for sure - please, please, please, use the tree straps for hammock camping. No rope or cordage for the hammock itself, for the love of FSM no nails or eye hooks, anything that as it penetrates the tree bark into the trees and can and will kill them. For a rain tarp or bug net, yeah you can get away with a thinner high line wrapped around and tied off to the trunk to hang that stuff, but again no nails, eye hooks etc.
They are going be something like this, not super expensive unless you get into the higher end stuff like ENO systems.
https://www.google.com/search?q=hammock+tree+straps&oq=hammock+tree+s&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0j0i457j0l6.3470j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Another option might be BLM/public land. Don’t know what that’s like out east (we basically don’t have any in Texas, but there’s TONS of free open public land out west), but if you look up some boondocking guides, you can probably find some good spots.
And speaking of Big Bend, here are some photos and video I shot last time we went there (way too long ago… stupid pandemic!) and here’s me at Canyonlands NP, probably my favorite national park I’ve visited. It’s truly spectacular, and not so obnoxiously overcrowded like Arches or Zion.