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Post by imthebestgigolo on Feb 16, 2009 9:53:36 GMT -5
Hi all, Long time Bonnaroo-attendee and Inforoo reader but first time poster...most of my questions had always been quickly answered by reading up until now.
I have attended the past four Bonnaroo and this year will be my fifth, however each year camping takes its toll on me more and more. Although I can generally handle the heat, my girlfriend is highly succeptible to sun poisoning and suffers from extreme heat headaches, which can make the farm quite the miserable experience for her.
Although our ideal plan is to rent a pop-up camper or RV of some sort, we are finding that this is a bit too expensive. However, her grandpa has a large Caravan that is in pretty good condition and he would probably let us borrow it. The back seats can be removed so we could sleep in it and have decent cover. We would bring a tent just to keep all of our stuff like a cooler and things in. Has anybody camped in an open-backed van before? If so, was it better than camping in a regular tent? If you guys haven't, do you think this is a good idea or should I look for some other alternatives? Thanks.
I camp in a pick-up with a topper. Just throw a mattress inside to sleep on and sometimes pitch a tent to store gear. I also have a hammock for sleeping outside but have found it stays cooler longer inside the truck so I can get a few more hours sleep. It's much better than a tent IMHO but not near as good as a pop-up/RV with a generator and A/C.
Make sure you have some way to shade the van like a canopy or tarp with an airflow gap. This help it from becoming an oven during the day. Worst case you can run the Van and it's A/C for a while (just make sure you have enough gas and aren't killing the neighbors with the exhaust.)
For minimal expenses, this works very well for me but it depends on your GF's heat tolerance on how well it will work for you/her. This allows for a good nighht's sleep but the day are still hot so she may have to visit the air conditioned tents (Cinema, etc.) now and again if her condition is that bad.
Last Edit: Feb 16, 2009 10:22:53 GMT -5 by troo - Back to Top
Post by imthebestgigolo on Feb 16, 2009 11:06:02 GMT -5
I'm just curious if sleeping in a situation like this would help us to get a few more hours sleep and not wake up with heat headaches in a pool of sweat. Handling the heat when we are seeing great music is easy, we just chug water. It's the sleepy-poo time that I'm worried about - if we sleep in this van will the extra wind flow let us sleep till at least 10 or 11?
I'm just curious if sleeping in a situation like this would help us to get a few more hours sleep and not wake up with heat headaches in a pool of sweat. Handling the heat when we are seeing great music is easy, we just chug water. It's the sleepy-poo time that I'm worried about - if we sleep in this van will the extra wind flow let us sleep till at least 10 or 11?
If you can sleep til 10 or 11 at bonnaroo you are my hero. If you want extra wir flow set up an air mattress under your canopy outside your tent. from my experience this lets me get and extra hour, but still never see 10 or 11.
I has problems sleeping past 7am in the hammock (or tent.) In the back of the truck I can sleep until 9 or later. It has helped immensely with staying up fpr late night Sat and feeling good on Sunday ( a big problem my first couple Roos.)
with some fans and ice buckets, it may well be easier to keep the inside of a van cooler than a tent. I've never tried it myself (at least not in the sort of heat there is down there), so hopefully someone around here has a little more experience with that type of thing.
this was actually my idea for roo this year, we were going to put ezups over the van and try to sleep a few extra hours with the ac on. Ez ups are okay (400 at chad's camping in nashville), but you have to have a generator, and i wouldnt recommend it unless u have a nice quite yamaha or honda generator
what has worked for me in the past was sleeping on a cot off the ground. getting off the ground made an immense difference in heat dissipation, and putting a cool, damp rag over my face helped also
I slept on a cot the first few years (before I got my hammock) and it is much cooler than a tent. I still think inside my pickup truck bed stays cooler longer as long as it is shaded with a canopy/tarp with adequate air space. Here's a sketch of my set-up.
I slept on a cot the first few years (before I got my hammock) and it is much cooler than a tent. I still think inside my pickup truck bed stays cooler longer as long as it is shaded with a canopy/tarp with adequate air space. Here's a sketch of my set-up.
your set up last year made mine look like something a bum setup in some city park
Post by noeysasquatch on Feb 17, 2009 16:10:37 GMT -5
i went down in a big touring van last year, but did not sleep overnight in it. We put up a tent to sleep in over night, but if any of us were tired at ll during the day or couldnt get enough sleep we would sleep in the van for a little bit and it worked okay. It was easier to stay sleep in during the heat of the day than our tent.
Post by DystopianDream on Feb 21, 2009 18:53:18 GMT -5
Last year I camped out of my bus--which is probably the same size as your van.
Set the back of the bus up with an air mattress and some blankets, had a shade tent attached to the back door--opened up the back hatch, side door, all the windows, etc, and it was a pretty cool set up. As long as you've got airflow and a comfy set up--you're set
Watchin' a stretch of road, miles of light explode. Driftin' off a thing I'd never done before. Watchin' a crowd roll in. Out go the lights it begins. A feelin' in my bones I've never felt before...
sang_xcx
Inforoo Influencer Efficient Sangry Panda
I camp in a pick-up with a topper. Just throw a mattress inside to sleep on and sometimes pitch a tent to store gear. I also have a hammock for sleeping outside but have found it stays cooler longer inside the truck so I can get a few more hours sleep. It's much better than a tent IMHO but not near as good as a pop-up/RV with a generator and A/C.
Make sure you have some way to shade the van like a canopy or tarp with an airflow gap. This help it from becoming an oven during the day. Worst case you can run the Van and it's A/C for a while (just make sure you have enough gas and aren't killing the neighbors with the exhaust.)
For minimal expenses, this works very well for me but it depends on your GF's heat tolerance on how well it will work for you/her. This allows for a good nighht's sleep but the day are still hot so she may have to visit the air conditioned tents (Cinema, etc.) now and again if her condition is that bad.
when you are doing this do you get to park in with the tents?
I had that same basic setup as Troo this past year and it was so cozy!We extended it to be 3 ez-ups of shade with walls of shade as well with a bamboo mat on the ground.It was pretty tight.
Instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.
Instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.
yeah, 4 ezups and lots of rugs, it would have been more badass, but our rv broke down and we had to make due
the only thing im changing this year is the rugs, im trying to find some astroturf to take, last year the rugs got a little wet and smelled awful on sunday morning, and i still cannot get the smell out
Instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.
yeah, 4 ezups and lots of rugs, it would have been more badass, but our rv broke down and we had to make due
the only thing im changing this year is the rugs, im trying to find some astroturf to take, last year the rugs got a little wet and smelled awful on sunday morning, and i still cannot get the smell out
we used the rubber liner from my friend's pick-up truck. Not terribly pretty, but it worked fabulously
