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Traditionally lots of nomads bop from spot to spot on public land (mainly BLM) down south around the CA/AZ border: American Girl Mine BLM, Mittry Lake / Kool Korner, Quartzsite, Kofa, Ehrenberg, Parker, etc. I can't speak to stealth camping in SoCal but I maintain a list of laws affecting...

Downside to that is no passthrough to the box. I drove an NPR on a house move one time (when I was marred) and loved it.

Have you tried pickup at Walmart where you order online and they bring to your car? They will also straight up mail stuff to the house for free over $30 or something. Coffee, paper goods, etc might work well that way. When I used to have a house I'd have WM deliver 50# bags of dog food to the...

LED lights and phone are easy and cheap to power, so that's good news. Could do that off a handheld battery pack. Laptop charging can be tough or easy, depending on power consumption and when it's charged. I have an old business-class laptop that SUCKS power like crazy, and a refurb...

Somewhat perversely, most of them don't charge that well from panels due to: * current limits * voltage limits (for MPPT-equipped versions) * low internal voltage for 3S lithium packs dragging down solar panel output. The last issue can be circumvented by adding a DC-DC converter between the...

Same with my barn-sized Promaster. I tend to go far out enough that the other vehicles I see most often are UTVs, ATVs, dirt bikes, and the occasional Jeep. If I'm right off a forest road I might see normal road vehicles.

Counterpoint: spent the last couple of months boondocking northward in UT from St. George to Logan. The only place employees were not masked was one NAPA parts store. Otherwise 100% masked employees everywhere I went. Outdoors folks aren't masked. Some percentage of people in enclosed...

Sorry, I thought a forum was a participatory thing.

My own crystal ball isn't shiny enough for such bold predictions. There are people who benefit from a dose of discipline to develop into full adulthood. There are people who want the college money, security clearances, or training the military offers. There are people who feel a duty to...

A panel or two and a roof vent will do the heavy lifting of evacuating the hotter air. Solar generators do work but are a convenience purchase, very expensive for what they provide. And, as they used to say on SNL, they are neither solar nor generators. Wind turbines have proven to be...

Snowbird to where it's cooler (latitude or altitude). Increase ventilation. If in low-humidity areas, run a swamp cooler. Shadecloth.

One of the SD benefits is a single overnight stay required for residency. Whole month required if you want a carry license with full reciprocity, though.

I'm not still not particularly worried that rules-obeying folk will be banned. In some areas the campers are mainly retired wealthy folk in huge 5ers. Those folk belong to Escapees which has a legal/lobbying arm. If those people start to get banned then I'll start to worry. If folks want...

I live in a van and spend most of my free time boondocking in BLM/NF "dispersed camping" areas. 14day stays in a geographical area are the typical policy, although they are set by each ranger district. It's not like you have to stop camping, you usually have to move the prescribed distance...

There have been boondocker reports that BLM rangers have run off vehicles with commercial signage. The stated reasoning was commercial activity is not allowed on BLM land w/out a permit. Food for thought.

There were several Odysseys at the last few RTRs. TPMS could be as simple as low air pressure, but could also be failing TPMS/valve. I think a new one was $30 for my tire. OBDii codes can be checked with a $10 bluetooth dongle that talks to your phone.

Based on GVWR it might have to be commercial ($$$) insurance. Depending on the state, when you get it converted you may be able to registered as an RV for cheaper rates.

I mean to say that in a parallel setup, depending on the wiring, one of the two batteries in the bank can be overworked and one (the daisy chained one) underworked. To make them work together like one big battery and last longer they are paralleled together but the wires leading to the rest of...

Looks like a palace to me, man! Have you heard of folks with hard floors like that using rolling office chairs to scoot around inside (to avoid stooping)? I've read one can get better performance/balance out of a 2x12v parallel bank by pulling the pos off one battery and the neg off the other...

I'll try to remember the quote in Dangerous Liasons: "What I'm saying is given certain elementary precautions you can do it (or not) with as many [pirateboxen] you want in as many ways you want". :-) I don't have any particular insight into why people trust corporations more than people...

My 6" memory foam (full size) was something like $80 off Amazon. Best bed I've ever slept in.

The two ideas don't have to conflict. :-) It's a losing battle worthy of Sisyphus. Good opsec/comsec requires understanding, interest, and discipine. Most humans lack those properties. There is a saying about teaching a pig to sing: it accomplishes nothing and annoys the pig. I'd say...

Well, there's no expectation of privacy in public so there's not a lot one can do about it. There are countermeasures but I am not that interested. I spend most of my time in the desert or in forest. I think the whole idea is analagous to the use of shopping rewards cards. Am I willing to...

American religiosity has a strong Calvinist component. When this intersects with socioeconomics, Calvinists believe (to oversimplify) rich folks are rich because they are the Elect pre-chosen by gawd. Poor folks' poverty is evidence they are not among the Elect, and can therefore be...

I've got a spare bike reflector in my bag I could mail you. :-) #truestory

The alternator can get hurt when folks idle the engine to charge the house bank; in the absence of cooling airflow from forward motion the alt overheats and dies early. If one drives normally the alt will safely help out with bulk charging, especially early in the morning. If you want to...

Have you cut the roof for the Maxx yet? I am happy with mine although the initial cost was $$$. Are you planning on installing an isolator/solenoid for alternator charging, too? It's simple, cheap, and makes an excellent partner for solar.

Excellent advice. I hear some folks have been run off BLM land for having "advertising" (logos/decals) on their vans. Magnetic sign might get around that, I guess.

White preserves stealth and reflects heat. The vast majority of vandwellers live in white vans.

Another vote for OsmAnd+. I have also used CoPilot some years ago; worked fine. Also, google maps will allow you to d/l map tiles when offline.

For folks who are vehicle-mobile or vehicle dwellers, pressure canning is low tech, low cost, and shelf stable. Small used canners and jars are available at thrift stores for cheeeeep.. You may have to replace the gaskets/seals, and do look for one that has the pressure regulator (the weight)...

He didn't claim that.

> Anarchy is unrealistic and just not in our nature as animals. Thinking back, did you get government approval for your most recent breakfast choice (pancakes or eggs), bedpartner, or interstate travel plan? If not, did you use force to do those things, or injure someone/something else...

I'd suggest having a camelbak or similar water setup configured before arrival; the desert is not playin'. A big floppy hat and sunglasses for the intense sun, even in winter. A bicycle would be helpful for folks on foot. There are miles between the areas of activity and the areas one can...

[deleting because I am stupid]

Holy crap, that guy was emotionally abusive. Sorry that happened to you. Remember it says a lot more about him than about you. I had a girlfriend that was conventionally hawt (underwear model for catalogs), and also a clueless narcissist. She say stuff like "People ask me why someone like...

I'm not sure what that means. In my case it's been about a year when my last (and best) relationship came to a natural end. I'm probably older than most on the forum, and over time I have come to believe that the cost/benefit of sexual relationships just isn't a good deal. I haven't done it...

Cheap, simple, and terrific. My "kitchen" knife is a mora.

If I could only have one: multitool with locking blade and belt clip. In reality I typically clip carry a small lockblade (~3.25" to be safe in all states) and have a SAK and leatherman in my day pack.

A small stove (particularly propane or butane) can be stealthier: lower light levels less smell quicker deployment and repacking

It seems to me you wanted one service (refundability) but bought a different, less expensive one. Hopefully it was not too painful of a lesson. Greyhound is terrible at hiding stuff, by the way; they put it under "VIEW ALL FARES" and "VIEW FARE TYPES".

It's a little odd for the post to get eviscerated. It's not like the rest of the threads are in a peer-reviewed journal.

I do not wear my dog tags. One of my buddies was assigned to run the machine for a day, so he made a set for himself. His religious preference was "I AM MY OWN GOD".

I just use wood in mine, hence the soot. I have used alcohol and coleman stoves with no sooting

The thing that kills me about sit/lie and related laws, is that they bring real hardship on people for the flimsiest of reasons. Chiefly aesthetics and preventing homeowners from having to think of anything beyond their front manicured lawn. A rant-in-progress is on my blog.

I cut the fuel holes in mine I like your bolts idea. They collect so much soot I found I needed to put it in a paper bag or something to keep my other stuff from getting sooty

I was at a thrift store last year and found a classical parlor (3/4) guitar in playable condition for $10. It's some kind of Sears guitar from the 70s. It had steel strings on it but I put on nylon. Feels pretty good, plenty of room on the fretboard. I had a Martin Backpacker before that I...

Most of the vandwelling-related forums have a marketplace subforum, but I think craigslist would be easier. The trick will be figuring out how to find converted vans, since there is no name for DIY campers. Here's a craigslist example around Santa Fe to give you an idea of how to craft more...

Calibre converts .epub to .mobi or whatever format you want, effortlessly. The new Kindle "format" isn't a format at all. It's a metainformation package. There is no book there. So tell Amazon to download "for loading by USB" to an e-ink reader and open in Calibre. DeDRM will strip it...

OP, the real decision is e-ink (terrific battery life, looks like paper) or tablet (multimedia, sd card expansion, maybe gps, other uses than reading). I own both backlit and non-backlit e-ink readers and use them both (not on trains though). I love e-ink readers but if I had to have one...