Let's see your poor-man's RV

[bajakirch]

I couldn't let the guys in the RV thread have all the fun.

So if you're like me -- you enjoy the outdoors experience but just don't/won't/can't pony up for the RV -- let's see your tent or campsite photos.

Here are a couple of mine.

On the top, my former camping domicile. This is where I learned the load-bearing capacity of my tent. Apparently, it's 6 inches of snow.

On the bottom, the replacement, in more temperate times.

[detdrbuzzard]

my poor mans rv is a '97 safari minivan. if i go to the campground i pay for electrical and plug in my battery charger to power my interior electronics

[Bumblebee]

My poor man's rv is a Kelty external frame pack. Stored inside is a 0F down sleeping bag and a sheet of 6mil plastic painters drop cloth. A fold up camp stove and a few other items and I can go anywhere as long as I want. (The record so far is 46 days solo backcountry)
In the event of weather, I set up my Kathadin 2 person(1 person plus equipment) A-frame tent. It's a little heavier than the dome tents however it's pretty much everything proof...QED.

if i go to the campground i pay for electrical and plug in my battery charger to power my interior electronics

Two words: Solar Power
A few more words: Change or replace everything that's 120VAC to 12VDC. Inverters are nice too though they're power hogs.
Next year I'm putting 1 or 2 panels on the roof to cut generator run time to near zero.

BTW, what's a campground? 

[LOKi]

Speaking of solar power. I got one of those 12v panels for charging game feeders for my boat blind. The engine on that does not charge the battery anymore. At first I wasn't sure if it worked or not. Last time I touched that boat was the end of duck season in January. Thought I would give it a crank this weekend and the battery had a full charge. No gas in the engine but it cranked like it was new. In short they work. So instead of a trickle charger that plugs in you can put that panel where it gets the most sun and put it on the battery.

Tent setups. I like this one. Out on the duck lease there aren't many places to set up a tent. Actually there are non. On top of that no new structures are allowed by Conocophillips (the lease owners). We lucked out and found some 4x4 posts that used to be a building. Sense we have the right to be there and there was once a building we got some 2x6's and plywood and built up the deck. We stay there occasionally but my friend also has a camp about 1/2 mile from this point. We usually stay at his camp for duck hunting.

On this trip we where just fishing. This was around Halloween. I remember throwing a shrimp out into a little hole behind the platform and pulling out 3 or 4 fish while setting up the tent. This from the actual platform. One fish was small enough to drag across the marsh so I didn't have to set foot off of it. The rest of the fish where caught from paddle craft. An 8lb redfish can get a 60lb kayak up to about 3mph in deep enough water.

Pictures:
1) tents set up. Mine is the one closest to the camera. Note the fishing poles leaning on the tents.
2) fishing from my pirogue (it got stolen last year  )
2) the fish we caught.



 

[detdrbuzzard]

don't know if the solar panels would work bumblebee. amp #1 is 1100 watts, amp #2 is 350 watts, and the radio itself is 200 watts. i have a 12' subwolfer running off amp #1, a pair of 6x9's and two 8" subs running off amp #2. all factory speakers are powered by the radio. finally post #2000

[LOKi]

don't know if the solar panels would work bumblebee. amp #1 is 1100 watts, amp #2 is 350 watts, and the radio itself is 200 watts. i have a 12' subwolfer running off amp #1, a pair of 6x9's and two 8" subs running off amp #2. all factory speakers are powered by the radio. finall post #2000

How loud do you need your stereo when your camping? You throwing raves? 

[detdrbuzzard]

somebody's gotta bring the party to the campgroung actually it's not that loud outside the van and if you match your speakers to your amp ( s ) right you'll get clairty

[bajakirch]

LOKi:

Right here's what you need:
http://radio-weblogs.com/0117280/stories/2004/01/21/theCampanoe.html

These were built (all 25 of them) where I live.

[Bumblebee]

don't know if the solar panels would work bumblebee. amp #1 is 1100 watts, amp #2 is 350 watts, and the radio itself is 200 watts. i have a 12' subwolfer running off amp #1, a pair of 6x9's and two 8" subs running off amp #2. all factory speakers are powered by the radio.

Good grief! You need a nuclear power plant, not solar panels or generator. Your radio alone sucks more power than everything I own combined by a factor of two. If I went completely insane and turned everything on at once, I can't pull more than 100 watts, maybe 110 watts on the extreme outside, even if I wanted to. (excluding the low use 120VAC air conditioner and microwave which is seldom used) Heck, my refrigerator pulls an offensive whopping 10 watts and then only when the propane is firing.

If you ever want to get around power requirement needs, you'll have to think outside the box. Once you quit looking at things in terms of society's extremely high energy wasting 120VAC standard, you can go 12VDC and get some nice stuff. You won't be able to cause an earthquake half a mile away without the subwoofer while keeping an entire national forest awake at night but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy music without it. There are some really nice quality low powered speakers out there.

Just a different way of looking at things...

[detdrbuzzard]

i do have two 12v coolers so i don't need to carry ice. when i had a full size van other than the radio all other equipment was double. it was soo loud that with the volume on three you couldn't hear the passengers but you have to think about your hearing or lack of it from loud music

[Bumblebee]

it was soo loud that with the volume on three you couldn't hear the passengers but you have to think about your hearing or lack of it from loud music

That sounds like the Technics stereo with 12" speakers I had in a previous life plus an amp and a couple 15" and 8" speakers several others had. At university we set it all up outside the honors house one afternoon for the get together. I had a recording of a distant thunderstorm and played it for a few minutes between class sessions with the volume at full. The sound bounced off the building walls and students were looking up trying to figure out where the thunder was coming from on a severe clear afternoon.
The best part was the next day in class when my meterology professor mentioned something about going up on the roof to figure out where the storm cloud was. That lead to a discussion about clear air weather phenomenon including clear air lightning. After class I told him it was a special type of thunder called Technicsumulus. It took him a minute to figure it out.  

To this day I still wonder how we all managed to get away with the things we did without having the words "permanent expulsion from all higher education institutions" stamped on our school records.

[LOKi]

that is awesome bajakirch

[n5tbu]

my poor mans rv is a '97 safari minivan. if i go to the campground i pay for electrical and plug in my battery charger to power my interior electronics

Me too,in my '05 Astro and the 2000 Astro before her!
Rear seat is my sofa,I sleep in a bag with feet under the seat and the TV goes on a shelf placed across the arm rests of the front seats.Electric heater goes between front seats.
Apt. refrigerator goes behind rear seat.

[n5tbu]

I also like to use this rig:

[detdrbuzzard]

my poor mans rv is a '97 safari minivan. if i go to the campground i pay for electrical and plug in my battery charger to power my interior electronics

Me too,in my '05 Astro and the 2000 Astro before her!
Rear seat is my sofa,I sleep in a bag with feet under the seat and the TV goes on a shelf placed across the arm rests of the front seats.Electric heater goes between front seats.
Apt. refrigerator goes behind rear seat.

i take out the center bench seat and put the rear bench seat against the left side of the van. it seem to give me more space. now that you have to have a  hdtv there is no need to take the old analog tv with me