Thoughts on Yellowstone Park

[Vman455]

What you need is a box truck that converts to a van, like the ambulance in The North Avenue Irregulars.

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by JSH

I'm not trying to hide the van in the woods. Just looking to make a parked vehicle look less noticeable.

I was looking for that middle ground, like a light blue top with fern camo down the sides. And a duckduckgo.com/?q=magnetic+stick-on+sign that says something like Smokey's Bait & Ammo Shop for when it's downtown.

[Piotrsko]

Well the sucessful traditional method of hiding things in plain sight is: make them look like they belong there. Convert an ambulance, clean it of city or corporate logo's, but leave the basic graphics in place. You'd be suprised how many we have in various parking lots doing whatever when they are here in Reno. And they are pretty much left alone by enforcement officials. Probably the same thing for boonies: dark green and tan with reflective strips all over. Close inspection gives you away, but if you don't attract that inspection, success.

Box trucks and vans are limited to industrial areas at night, but fuel stops and parking lots will work.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Well the sucessful traditional method of hiding things in plain sight is: make them look like they belong there. Convert an ambulance, clean it of city or corporate logo's, but leave the basic graphics in place. You'd be suprised how many we have in various parking lots doing whatever when they are here in Reno. And they are pretty much left alone by enforcement officials. Probably the same thing for boonies: dark green and tan with reflective strips all over. Close inspection gives you away, but if you don't attract that inspection, success.

Box trucks and vans are limited to industrial areas at night, but fuel stops and parking lots will work.

I know some people like ambulances but they are too wide for my use. They don't fit down narrow forest roads. They are also poorly laid out for living in. All the external compartments make them narrow inside.

As to vans and box trucks being limited to industrial areas - yes they fit in there. They also fit in residential areas. Lots of tradespeople take their vehicles home at night.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by JSH

I'm not trying to hide the van in the woods. Just looking to make a parked vehicle look less noticeable.

The fern overspray isn't meant to hide you from deer, but to look like it belongs to one of the local yokels.

[Piotrsko]

Originally Posted by JSH

I know some people like ambulances but they are too wide for my use. They don't fit down narrow forest roads.

As to vans and box trucks being limited to industrial areas - yes they fit in there. They also fit in residential areas. Lots of tradespeople take their vehicles home at night.

People living inside things and narrow are relatively exclusive. I used to have a stocker surfer van conversion. Just a bed and a porta potty and some underbed storage for the stove, food, and clothes were pretty much what fits for me. As far as the trades people go, everyone knows the vehicle after the first time it parks there, AND there aren't people living in it.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

People living inside things and narrow are relatively exclusive. I used to have a stocker surfer van conversion. Just a bed and a porta potty and some underbed storage for the stove, food, and clothes were pretty much what fits for me. As far as the trades people go, everyone knows the vehicle after the first time it parks there, AND there aren't people living in it.

My wife and I will be living in our next campervan full time - counting down to summer 2023. Plenty of people live in single wheel axle Transit and Sprinter vans. Efficient use of space is key.

Whether everyone knows every vehicle depends on the neighborhood. In a subdivision like mine where everyone has a garage and driveway and very few people park on the street? Yes - a new vehicle will stand out. In older neighborhoods where almost everyone is street parking in a different spot every day often blocks from where they live? No, people don't keep track vehicles. Same with downtown areas where parking usually free after 6 pm.

The key is not looking like someone is living in the vehicle. You park at night, stay in the vehicle, and leave early. No light visible from the outside, no noise, and never park in the same place twice.

Stealth camping is not the preferred way to spend a night but it is good to have the option.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

Plenty of people live in single wheel axle Transit and Sprinter vans.

Often they're roomier than some single-room apartments.

Stealth camping is not the preferred way to spend a night but it is good to have the option.

Might be better than blowing money on hotels.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Often they're roomier than some single-room apartments.

Don't know about that. Even the extended Transit is only about 75 sq ft. That is smaller than any apartment I'm aware of.

The smallest apartment I've known someone to live in was a friend's 99 sq ft apartment in Japan. His young coworkers were SO jealous because they lived in corporate owned barracks.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by JSH

Don't know about that. Even the extended Transit is only about 75 sq ft. That is smaller than any apartment I'm aware of.

The smallest apartment I've known someone to live in was a friend's 99 sq ft apartment in Japan. His young coworkers were SO jealous because they lived in corporate owned barracks.

That's 10x10. Does the night stand double as a commode?