Tarp over van as protection -vancamping

[eightyfour]

Last year I made my first Hexayurt and I see how people love them but for me it was a super traumatic experience for numerous reasons, so we didn't want to repeat. The Tuesday after the burn I sent an email to eastbay burners to gift it away. I hope the person who got it have wonderful burns with it.

So this year I wanted to go back to the basics of love and I am setting up a bedframe in a van and that's the shelter.

I've though on sewing a bunch of comforters/blankets together to cover the van and tie it all around with cord so it doesn't move, for 2 reasons, one a little insulation if any but most important to avoid the tarp rubbing against the paint of the van with dust in between.

I am thinking on getting a 30X40 tarp wrap sides and front of the van kind of tight and close to the van and then leave open the back door space and create some kind of vestibule, tent like where we can stand for getting change leave a cooler and so on.

I've been searching and I don't see anything of that sort online. Has anybody any experience with this kind of setup?

Also will make a lot of difference getting a white heavy duty tarp than getting a heavy duty blue tarp? the price difference is huge and if is for reflecting I thought about taping reflective emergency blankets to the roof to get rid of some of the light.


Cheers

[FIGJAM]

Does the van have a roof rack?

[gaminwench]

For any real cooling effect, you're going to want airspace between your tarp (or whatever) and your van.

Making a vanburrito with tarp makes it worse, not better.

[Roundabout]

Making a vanburrito with tarp makes it worse, not better.

Quality snark points.

[eightyfour]

Vanburrito..sounds tasty.

Makes sense. other approach I thought is the tarp only touches the roof and the rest is tense as a tent.

[Captain Goddammit]

Tarp touching the roof is worst thing you can do. You want at least a foot of air space or you're wasting your time.

[Ratty]

Does the van have windows?

[Popeye]

You do need to keep the tarp off the van. How about a monkey jut that you can drive the van under then tape Ratty's insulated bubble wrap idea over the windows. This gives you shade and a vestibule and won't scratch the van.

[Captain Goddammit]

Just to clarify, not scratching the van is a bonus but even if you don't care about the van you need the air space between the shade and the van so the heat doesn't conduct directly to the van.

[mudpuppy000]

I've slept in my SUV several burns. Insulation will help but you really need to get airflow in the vehicle (hopefully without the dust) to keep it cool. Just your body heat will warm it up, especially if it's wrapped in blankets.

Anyway, for me, putting a tarp with an air gap over the vehicle works well. You only really need to do it on the sunrise side of it. When the sun comes up I open a few windows on the shady side to let in some fresh air. That usually works till around 9am when it's too bright for me to sleep.

Also, silver tarps should theoretically work better than blue ones since you're trying to reflect the sunlight.

[Ratty]

I also have a fleece blanket that works as a curtain for the sliding door. You will need a couple of windows or doors open. The fleece keeps the dust out. I also cover the dash and front seats with fleece. (Keeps my air ducts and speakers clean.)

[Gunslinger]

Making a vanburrito with tarp makes it worse, not better.

I'm dying here! Funny right there.

You are okay with / planning on getting pounds of dust in your van that will never vacuum or blow out, correct?
You have some stellar anchors and tie downs so this baby doesn't turn into a 20'x20' airbag and gangbang you in your van, correct?
The white tarp will take more of a beating and reflect A LOT more heat away from you in the day. I think I blue tarp was about 176 degrees.
Without a roof rack, bring small pallets or something to buffer the top.
This van is going to get destroyed. But you'll remember every scratch with Burner pride.

[666isMONEY]

I vancamp, have a roof rack. I'll orient the van so the windshield faces the rising sun and when it's noon, the shade will be on the north side of the van, south side and rear windows and roof are covered with the tarp. It gets hot around noon so I'll go somewhere to chill until evening.

[stove]

I've slept in my van the past 3 burns. For me, it's better than a hexayurt and many folks in our camp agree. No setup time, can stay cooler during the day, it has AC, it's not going to blow away, etc...

As for the tarp, I have a big ol' gray UV tarp that I tent down on one end about 4 feet away from the van, pull it up and over the van, and then I build a 10x10x10 PVC structure on the other side which the tarp goes on top of. It's kind of like the poor mans PVC version of the pull out shade cover things that the good VW vans have. We also throw up a tent on the side of van as a changing room, storage area so that when we enter the van there's as little playa on us as possible. If you're worried about it getting dirty just make sure the tarp is set up to block the bulk of the wind and don't leave during the day with the windows open or anything like that.

It gets hot around noon and the van doesn't get scratched by the tarp. Hope that helps!