Show HN: Van, truck or car camp for $0 a night • Hacker News Board

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

#231

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jul 12, 2023, 7:53 PM UTC

Der_Einzige wrote: post #188

bruce511 wrote: post #181

I've noticed a trend on HN where people seem to complain about the price of things, even when they are not the target market. Dominant case in point is the long discussion here over the $100 price point. Is this a spill-over of the Open Source ideals many hold? That software, and by extension services should be gratis as well as libre? People point out alternative (free) sites, and so on, as if the price matters. Or…

Open source is software communism, is it any surprise that folks here want actual communism? No, it isn't.

[deleted]

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

#232

Post by xwdv » Wed, Jul 12, 2023, 8:03 PM UTC

jupp0r wrote: post #220

xwdv wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just camp?

Camping inside the valley is very hard to find too. My personal reason is that I'll be hiking the John Muir Trail for 3 weeks - camping in the wilderness for 20 nights - on Monday and want to have one last night of relative comforts :)

You have comfort at home.

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

#233

Post by pard68 » Wed, Jul 12, 2023, 11:12 PM UTC

s1artibartfast wrote: post #224

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.

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 i…

Maybe it depends on the forest? Where I live everyone with a pulse has at least a few dozen acres (cheap land, tax rate comes out to like $0.50/acre) of land and our forest is very thick. Plus we have a lot high demand game here (elk, black bear, cougar, etc), plentiful deer, and an extremely low employment rate/income. Lotta locals live exclusively on deer.

Our game warden is cool and would probably let you off but our NF guys are wound a bit tight and like to grill you for even being in the woods walking your dog or something.

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

#234

Post by interhater » Thu, Jul 13, 2023, 2:37 AM UTC

coding123 wrote: post #219

jacurtis wrote: post #83

I love paying $100 annually to get something "for free". Jokes aside, I think this concept is cool and I'm not even upset that there is a membership fee to keep people engaged and to support the software component that coordinates this. But $100 per year? This feels like $50 per year TOPS! Really I feel like this should be closer to $20 per year. I think it is going to be tough to get people to pay $100 subscription…

I joined Boondockers Welcome back in 2018 when it was $30 per year. Totally worth it even if I was just going to camp one time (which most new users will do). But this? This is a money grab (as was boondockers welcome) but $100 is a HUGE money grab. I think the owner of this just expected to put this page out and get rich. The submitter didn't even reply to a single person. Total scam I hope no one "signed up".

How many camper-hosters do you really think there are? Of that TAM how many will actually convert?

They definitely aren’t getting rich pal.

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

#235

Post by culi » Thu, Jul 13, 2023, 4:26 PM UTC

jupp0r wrote: post #174

culi wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- $42/night Yosemite International Hostel (rating: 3.4) - $45/night Moderne Hostel (2-star, rating: 4.1) - $65/night El Dorado Motel (2-star, rating: 4.0) - $84/night Aladdin Inn (3-star, rating: 3.9) - $78/night Country Inn Sonora (2-star, rating: 3.5) ... this is just from google maps. Someone more knowledgeable I'm sure could find even better deals

These are further than 1h away or bunk beds in Hostels (which I wouldn't consider Hotel rooms). Source: I desperately tried to find a hotel there for next weekend.

I've never been to Yosemite, but the ones I checked by doing directions from there to "Yosemite National Park" showed as less than 1 hour on Google Maps

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

#236

Post by jstarfish » Fri, Jul 14, 2023, 1:43 AM UTC

nomel wrote: post #132

jstarfish wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's exploitative at any price. Someone is bearing the cost of maintaining a physical campsite to offer something out of goodwill. Charging people for access to it is scummy. It's like those parking scams at stadiums. All the lots are full, but some dude in a reflective vest starts directing traffic into a private lot, collects $40 per car and disappears into the night. After the game, everyone finds their cars boote…

> Charging people for access to it is scummy. I see it as paying for a moderation/review system. It also acts as a filter that many might appreciate, helping identify "serious van-lifers only".

Right, but it's arbitrage for something maintained at someone else's expense. If you're making money off of something supported by charity, you're being exploitative. Business as usual for the SV crowd, I guess.

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