Keep in mind, even in a camo colored brown van, to park in such a way that
your reflectors don't reflect.

I usually pull off the road, then pull off the side road, then get behind a
tree or some such thing.

Karl Wolz

|-----Original Message-----
|From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
|Don Hanson
|Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 9:28 AM
|To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
|Subject: Re: Stealth Vanagon Camping
|
|  One consideration for Stealth camping ...
|
|  The color of your van.
|
|  Probably not as large a factor in urban stealth camping, though I'd guess
|it still has some degree of  relevance.
|
|  In a rural or public lands setting having an unobtrusive colored van for
|sure lets you avoid notice more often.  Escaping notice is escaping
|un-wanted intrusion.  If nobody sees you, they don't come bother you.
|
|  I would like to have a fancy bright shiny paint-job on my dull dark brown
|van,when driving down the highway or attending a Vanagon gathering.... but
|after owning mine,   Brown,  and using it in all it's "Dull
|Non-Splendor"..I've resisted the temptation to re-paint..
|
| When I've returned to my "camp" in many situations, I have really come to
|appreciate the way my low-key and backround-matching van does not stand out
|at all.  In the woods, it blends into the shadow and in open country it
|does
|not 'catch eyes' .   Camping in the desert southwest sometimes amongst some
|'normal' RVs...when returning from a bike ride or a trip away from camp...I
|can see the other vehicles from miles and miles away.  Not so the van.
|
|  People are pretty 'insecure' for the most part, away from their homes..
| The "herd-instinct" seems to prevail amongst us as a species. When I find
|a
|nice private, isolated remote campsite, I like it that way...but all too
|frequently, if some other camper should notice me, tucked-away in my
|solitary camping  'find', they will go to great lengths to 'snuggle-up' and
|camp  very nearby....even when there are hundreds of square miles of
|virtually identical and un-populated  terrain, much more easily accessed.
|They seem to end up waaay too close, almost every time.  So if you aren't
|'seen' you won't have Mom, Pop, 5 noisy kids and a couple of OHVs,
|generator
|noise, TV shows, etc.  You won't have people cozying up and then telling
|you
|to put your dog on a leash....Or stopping by or sitting in their chairs,
|staring into your camp because they don't know what to do with themselves
|after they've fiddled around with their rigs, etc etc...
|
|  Nor will you get some passing over-zealous public employee stopping,
|because he caught a flash of color out of the corner of his eye, and
|telling
|you..."You can't camp here"....or in some situations you may avoid being
|harassed by drunk H.S. kids on a Friday night or worse...best to blend
|in...
|
|  Don Hanson
|
|
|
|On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 6:44 AM, Brian Honan <cartruckbus@gmail.com> wrote:
|
|> I love the idea of an underground map that shows the best places to Ninja
|> camp across the US. There have been some great suggestions on the list
|> before. Like one guy stated he parked at a parking lot for the fairy in
|NY,
|> paid parking lot yet cheaper than a NYC motel. Half the fun of a westy is
|> finding cool places to camp. We have driven into the backs of over grown
|> fields late at night, rest stops of course and at  every wedding we go to
|> we  stay in the parking lot of the Hotel where the reception is being
|held.
|> Recently though while in Atlantic City, late at night after a show the
|wife
|> was on the GPS navigating while I drove and suggested a decent size green
|> spot. We drove out of the city to the suburbs
|> to find a baseball field. I had a bad feeling about it ,but she insisted
|> we'll be ok if we tuck up against the big public works truck parked in
|the
|> lot. About 20 min after getting snuggled in the back we got the knock on
|> the
|> side door. The officer was nice, yet stated " you can't stay here".
|Tired,
|> we drove off to hit the highway and got a few hours at the fist rest
|stop.
|>
|> Brian H
|>