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Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

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Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#221

Post by poorbutdebtfree »

culi wrote: post #157
poorbutdebtfree wrote: post #109

Can the homeless or homeless advocates signup?

I've worked with a group that tried to allow houseless people to camp on their property. The main thing most people are looking for when homeless is safety. The most common story I hear when talking to houseless people is the "woman who just escaped an abusive relationship" story. Others have dear pets or are even pregnant. The place was literally just a parking lot but it felt safe and that meant a lot to a lot of p…

Yes, we need a dynamic list of private alleyways where trespassing laws are difficult to enforce.

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#222

Post by MichaelZuo »

chaosite wrote: post #197
nikanj wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoy the irony of complaining about people breaking the rules on a pirate movie tracker.

pirate movie trackers are notoriously strict about people breaking their rules.

The paradox of piracy?

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#223

Post by s1artibartfast »

JohnFen wrote: post #211
pard68 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a national forest. At least here you're right. But I assumed OP just meant it's not smart. If you go into the national forest around me and a warden or ranger finds you shooting a gun you will be charged for poaching.

Yes, this is why I said "generally". Discharging firearms is on the Forest Services list of generally prohibited actions, but it's pretty easy to be able to do so legally. Have a hunting license for something that is in season, for instance. As a rule of thumb, if you're shooting guns in the NF and aren't engaged in legitimate, licensed hunting, you will be suspected of poaching. This is also a thing that can vary a…

This does not match my understanding of the law.

Discharge is generally allowed, with common-sense exceptions. You cant shoot in campgrounds, developed recreation areas, and within 150 yards of roads.

It is very common to go to the forest to simpty target shoot, no permit or license required. There is no real concern about being suspected of poaching unless you hiking around shooting a gun in a game season.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/know-before-you-go/shooting#:~....

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#224

Post by s1artibartfast »

pard68 wrote: post #204
s1artibartfast wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my understanding is that most allow the discharge of firearms, for fun or hunting.

I live in a national forest. At least here you're right. But I assumed OP just meant it's not smart. If you go into the national forest around me and a warden or ranger finds you shooting a gun you will be charged for poaching.

Thats not my experience. It is extremally common for people to simply go out target shooting -NF is one of the best places to do it. More people probably go shooting there than actual hunting.

If you are poaching, or creeping around in cammo shooting a gun, you will be suspected of poaching. Otherwise people really shoulnd't be concerned about simply shooting. It's hard to imagine a plausible scenario where someone is mistaken for poaching but isn't.

If you are sitting around camp or in a meadow with a target, no ranger will charge you. If you are hiking around with a gun sporadically shooting targets like trees, probably, but nobody actually does that.

There is some confusion around what is considered poaching. You dont have to shoot an animal or even have gun to be charged.

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#225

Post by benatkin »

benatkin wrote: post #173
culi wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's california only and "every member is vetted". Clicking the sign up button gives you a form to write out an email telling them about yourself. I think it's a "small on purpose" kind of thing

Yeah I know they plan to vet them. $100 per member doesn't seem like enough. I think to vet them they would want a minimum $200 million investment.

This was hyperbole. I would like to see experimentation in trust networks. I just expected more details from this project.

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#226

Post by solardev »

JohnFen wrote: post #212
quickthrower2 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am guessing there would be restriction on fires, sometimes, if there are risks of starting a forest fire.

This is one of the reasons that you should call the local ranger station. The baseline rule is that campfires are allowed -- but (especially in the last few years) it's not unusual for fires to be restricted during the dry months. Always call to be certain that you are aware of special restrictions like this.

I think in 20 years of hiking, I've managed to reach a ranger station by phone maybe... twice...? despite trying many times. It's really unfortunate that most stations aren't staffed for hours optimal for recreationists (as in weekends and holidays, especially, but also mornings/evenings). They're not exactly easy to get ahold of :(

That's not the rangers' faults; supporting public recreation is but a small part of their job duties. It's just how the government operates them. They're mixed-use government agencies, not necessarily (or at least not only) tourist information centers. But it does make them often hard to reach. They are super helpful when you do manage to get a person on the line though.

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#227

Post by solardev »

epiccoleman wrote: post #116
solardev wrote: post #9

For anyone looking for actually free, no strings attached (and no subscription) camping, check https://freecampsites.net/ instead. It's a community wiki of free camp sites, usually on federal lands of various sorts (National Forests and BLM lands often have primitive campsites with fire rings and not much else). It's great for travel around national parks, especially. But please do leave no trace, pack out what you b…

This site is so disappointing for the Columbus, OH area - literally the only entries I see are Wal-Mart parking lots.

The site has a public lands focus, and unfortunately most of our federal public lands are in the West :( That said, if you filter by "hiking", you can eliminate the parking lots (which are useful for roadtrips but not for enjoying the outdoors, obviously).

Also, check the other threads in this topic... you can typically camp in National Forest lands, like in Wayne National Forest an hour out of Columbus: https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/wayne/recreation/camping-ca...

Or Ohio also has a bunch of state forests with camping: https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/f...

Hope you find something! If you do encounter a particularly great (or bad) one... add it to Freecampsites for us :)

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#228

Post by solardev »

siftrics wrote: post #84
solardev wrote: post #9

For anyone looking for actually free, no strings attached (and no subscription) camping, check https://freecampsites.net/ instead. It's a community wiki of free camp sites, usually on federal lands of various sorts (National Forests and BLM lands often have primitive campsites with fire rings and not much else). It's great for travel around national parks, especially. But please do leave no trace, pack out what you b…

Don't let everyone know!

Lol, I know, I really struggled with "should I even mention it... they can already get pretty crowded..."

But at the end of the day people are going to find these sooner or later, and if people (especially technologists with resources and connections) can learn to love the outdoors more, maybe there will be a trickle-up effect for government and representatives to manage them more for recreational uses? One can hope.

I'd rather gently welcome people into the outdoors community and encourage best practices (LNT, etc.) than try to exclude them and make it all elitist. It's our public lands, after all.

If interesting, there was a related discussion about this (awareness vs overcrowding) a couple weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36481279

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#229

Post by solardev »

dragonwriter wrote: post #160
solardev wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say the West in general, not just the Southwest. By that I mean most of the West Coast (California, Washington, Oregon) has abundant federal lands. Some of the adjacent states do too. Alaska as well. It goes east a bit. Colorado has a bunch. It's more the Midwest and east of there that doesn't have much of them. (edit: actually there are some near the Great Lakes too!) Here's a map: https://maps.usgs.gov/padusdat…

> I'd say the West in general, not just the Southwest. By that I mean most of the West Coast (California, Washington, Oregon) has abundant federal lands. Some of the adjacent states do too. Pretty much every state West of (or split by) the Contintental Divide, not just the Pacific Coast states and some of the adjacent ones.

Thanks for the clarification! I wasn't born here and US geographical terms still confuse me (like why is the "Midwest" not called the "Mideast" when it's clearly east of center?). I had to look up what the Continental Divide is... useful term to know!

Re: Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night

#230

Post by mbgerring »

rambambram wrote: post #195
mbgerring wrote: post #43

Hi, as a former employee of Couchsurfing, I just want to say: it’s great that you’re thinking about revenue and reciprocity upfront.

As an active host on Couchsurfing, I want to thank you and your former teammates for one of the best initiatives ever. I've been hosting people from all over the world for some time now, and I really like the community! It's bringing me so much joy to host a world traveler from Poland one day, and a transgender Iranian guy on a bicycle trip the next day.

You’re the one doing all the important work! I joined at kind of a bad time for the company, and I’ve been an active user for longer than I was an employee.
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