Sleeping in a box truck?

[Chentelle]

This year we are planning to rent a box truck to bring us and our gear to the playa. Has anyone had experience using a truck as a sleeping place?

[Token]

It is great if you like to go to bed by midnight and get up before 9 am.

If you like to party all night and sleep during the day they are ovens and you might die in there.

In general, it's a bad idea.

[motskyroonmatick]

I slept in my box truck last year and it was awesome. When it is cold I block the roll up door open about a foot. When it is hot I open it all the way. I'd say I got at least 2 more hours of sleep each day vs in a tent. occasionally when I was up someone would leave their tent and climb in the truck for a little more shut eye. I make my bed in the very front of the box and I always park it with the cab facing the mid day sun. This year I am going to try to darken things up a bit by stringing up a layer of cloth at the very top of the box so less light filters in through the translucent top.
I have had very good luck with it.

[phil]

Louise and I don't have a big box truck. We have a white commercial cargo van. We tape aluminum foil inside all the windows so that there is total sun blockage. The inside of the van remains cool all day. I haven't measured the temperature, but I'll grab a can of coke out of the van and drink it unrefrigerated -- it's not ice cold, but it's cool and refreshing.

If your box truck has a translucent roof, all bets are off. Our van is full metal, and when we tape up the windows with foil, it's sealed from all infrared from the sun.

[1durphul]

[quote="Chentelle"]This year we are planning to rent a box truck to bring us and our gear to the playa. Has anyone had experience using a truck as a sleeping place?[/quote]

Having spent the latter part of my teen age years working for a delivery company, I'll tell you first hand that box trucks can get VERY hot inside, even with the door open. If you have a way to keep direct sunlight off the cargo area you might get a benefit. This was in the San Fernando Valley, which temperature wise is about the same as the black rock desert (100-120F in summer.)

Good luck!

[DoctorIknow]

Especially for the clear topped box trucks, it shouldn't be too hard to get an appropriate sized tarp ((prefferably a silver one)) and use some kind of spacer between it and the roof. Those cylindrical pool playtoys come to mind, as they are about 4" diameter and 5 feet long and very cheap.

Sort of like this:

[motskyroonmatick]

Wow! I can't believe all the negative indications that contradict the good luck that I have with my decision to house myself in a translucent topped box truck.
2003 NPR with 18" box.
I stand bye my earlier recommendation.
In general I think comfort at burning man while resting is totally dependent on shade and air flow during hot times and insulation during cold times. What's new. This is common all over the world!!!!!!!

[oneeyeddick]

It is always a good idea to cover the translucent top with something else.

I hate that much light in the morning, plus if it gets really hot like it can out there(last year was an exception), it will make it that much cooler, door open all the way or not.

Bring a big tarp and make a tent out of it using the truck as the centerpole, and you will have shade on each side also.
This will make it even cooler also.

[stillposter]

Bumping this because all of this info almost answers my question,
planning for my first burn this year. Wondering if something like this Kodiak Truck Bed Tent would work,


[url]http://kodiakcanvas.com/products/7106.htm[/url]

Too much dust get in?
Have you or someone you know/seen use it on the Playa?
Any suggestions would be lovely,

See you all soon!

[Captain Goddammit]

I think dust would be a huge problem by the looks of it, since it doesn't have an inner liner, but you could probably make it a lot more dust storm resistant by sealing it up with duct tape. Also, it looks like it would do a lot of paint scuffing in a windstorm, if you have a truck on which that sort of thing matters.

[motskyroonmatick]

It looks to me like it will have a high wind profile and get beat up with heavy wind. This judgment is based on the height of the tent above the cab and that there is no backbone through the center or sides of the tent. If the poles crisscrossed from side to side I would have the opinion that it would work great.

I did have a camp mate who camped in one with a lower profile and it worked well. He parked with the nose of his vehicle in to the wind and set up a carport over the top of it. This car port provided shade for the tent and a small amount of buffer from wind. It was car port with no walls.
I recommend having some sort of shade above the tent at least one foot or more away from it.

I think it will work but during a big wind storm you may wonder if it will survive....That is what half of the city is thinking about their structures anyway so no big deal.

[swamp monster]

From which direction does the prevailing wind come from? I know it can come from any direction, but I do read many posts like the above re positioning structures with the prevailing winds in mind. For some reason, I think most wind comes from the south out there, but I do not know how that got stuck in my head.

Thx

[stillposter]

Thank you for your input. I might look into other bands now. I was hoping for an alternative to living in the greenhouse of a topper. Do you happen to know what type of truck topper tent your friend had?
Thanks Again!!!

[motskyroonmatick]

From which direction does the prevailing wind come from? I think most wind comes from the south out there, but I do not know how that got stuck in my head.
Thx

I think it does generally come from the south. Now as I look at a map of the playa I would say it comes from the south west. It is true that wind will come from any direction. Sometimes late in the day the wind direction reverses.

I camp on the 9:00 side and when I point the nose of my vehicle toward Gerlach it seems to work out best.

I do not know what tent topper my friend had. I found a video of the dust storm where you can see his set up though. It is at 10,11 and 17 seconds in to the video behind the blue and yellow tent. You will need to pause the video in order to get a good look at it.
[youtube][/youtube]

This wind is a case of opposite the "normal" direction.
Also of note is my green shade structure self destruction from not being tied down properly. Once the shade cloth started flapping it broke apart the PVC framework that held it up.

I think if you use a peaked roof for shade over top of the truck tent it will help with side wind load and provide shade which is virtually necessary in my mind. It seems to me that this system is holding up better than most if not all the other structures in this video so I would go for it.... With the peaked shade. Shade is very vital and oh so worth it.