Overnighting-while-Urban, or OU
BKA has raised some salient points about 'stealth camping' (or overnighting, or camo camping, or overnighting under the radar..). In thinking about this, I want to ask the question of you seasoned (or unseasoned) TC travelers that delve into any form of the stealth endeavor.
We are all products of our environment and have gotten used to traveling with the 'big white box' on the back of our trucks. Stealth is close to nonexistent with a 20 foot, low profile WHITE truck and WHITE camper. (Raise hand here) Nothing screams unstealthiness like a 40 foot long 12' tall train of white boxes. Some on here ( you know who you are) have a rather stealthy paint job for the whole rig, namely ones that are painted a tope color. Tope is kind of a murky medium grey/brown with a slight green tint that tends to make the surface disappear after dark, especially if it is in less that gloss. It looks good in the daylight and after dark, dimly. A lot of the euro, big bucks campmobiles are painted this color. I'm not talking about Olive Drab, but something a bit less G.I. looking.
To the Question: Do you think a flat or less glossy tope painting of the entire rig would make any difference at night when you are overnighting? Or would it increase the interest in passersby as to your intentions? Would it look too sinister? Really, I need your input here.
I would drop the hammer on both the truck and the camper (as a camo ensemble) if it would add to steathiness. There some new thin plastic over lays that look interesting. They go on like sheets of tape.
This all came about when I bought a book on camouflage in warfare, specifically as applied to milspec vehicles in different theaters of operation.
The fun was to see the Urban camo, which was a blotchy, broken black and white, all in a flat surface. Of course in the desert you get desert sand, the color of my CJ-8. Since one does not need camo in the desert, that color is out.
Only stealthy in the snow:
Olive drab is too military looking, not the image I want to display.
What say you? Even if you know nothing about it, you still have as good an opinion as anyone.
regards, as always, jefe
We are all products of our environment and have gotten used to traveling with the 'big white box' on the back of our trucks. Stealth is close to nonexistent with a 20 foot, low profile WHITE truck and WHITE camper. (Raise hand here) Nothing screams unstealthiness like a 40 foot long 12' tall train of white boxes. Some on here ( you know who you are) have a rather stealthy paint job for the whole rig, namely ones that are painted a tope color. Tope is kind of a murky medium grey/brown with a slight green tint that tends to make the surface disappear after dark, especially if it is in less that gloss. It looks good in the daylight and after dark, dimly. A lot of the euro, big bucks campmobiles are painted this color. I'm not talking about Olive Drab, but something a bit less G.I. looking.
To the Question: Do you think a flat or less glossy tope painting of the entire rig would make any difference at night when you are overnighting? Or would it increase the interest in passersby as to your intentions? Would it look too sinister? Really, I need your input here.
I would drop the hammer on both the truck and the camper (as a camo ensemble) if it would add to steathiness. There some new thin plastic over lays that look interesting. They go on like sheets of tape.
This all came about when I bought a book on camouflage in warfare, specifically as applied to milspec vehicles in different theaters of operation.
The fun was to see the Urban camo, which was a blotchy, broken black and white, all in a flat surface. Of course in the desert you get desert sand, the color of my CJ-8. Since one does not need camo in the desert, that color is out.
Only stealthy in the snow:
Olive drab is too military looking, not the image I want to display.
What say you? Even if you know nothing about it, you still have as good an opinion as anyone.
regards, as always, jefe
