Camping with the Sound Police

[TomG2]

This is not intended to be another quiet generator versus noisy generator discussion, but I am curious where people camp who run their generators for much of the day. I am a full timer and travel extensively. I use my generator for overnight parking in Walmarts etc. I either stay at parks with hookups or where none are needed. I do not go camping where I need to hear my generator or yours all day and all night.

[gmw_photos]

To me, the new noise pollution device is some of these heat pumps. I've camped near RV's with those and they are louder and more annoying than most any genny.

At the BalloonFiesta in Alb a couple years ago, where we are stacked in like cordwood next to each other, the gal next to me had a Honda genny in the bed of her truck and I could barely hear it at all.

But the sound out of some of the heat pumps on bigger RV's really carries. The trouble with them is also, those folks are running them in FHU parks.

Far as overall noise, I have camped pretty much every situation, and the quietest places are the over 55 parks. Us old folk are generally a quiet bunch !

[2oldman]

All things considered, I'd rather camp with generator noise than campfires. You enjoy the fire, the rest of us get the smoke.

[otrfun]

lightning driver wrote:
Was at an OHV area in AZ a couple weeks ago. 40 ft toy hauler. twin AC's ran onboard Onan 5500 for 48 hours straight. Over 100 degrees so AC's on. Not loud and nobody close by. Guess people tearing around the Cinders on ATV, RZRS and sand cars are not very concerned with gen sets.

We were dry camping (overflow, no full hookups available) in the FL Keys for about a month a couple of years ago. Quiet hours were 10p-6a. We had a neighbor with a huge, 45+ ft. Raptor toy hauler (with 3 a/c units) that ran their Onan 5500 from 6a sharp to 10pm sharp everyday. They were outside filling it up with gas 2-3 times a day. Even though they had one of those gen-turi exhaust stacks installed, we could still smell the exhaust fumes in our trailer occasionally. They stayed 2 months and probably put close to 1000 hours on that generator during their stay. I believe Onan 5500's require an oil change every 150 hours. Never saw them change the oil.

[toedtoes]

I remember as a kid, my mom always told me to never call someone on the phone before 10 a.m. or after 9 p.m. That way you didn't bother a late riser or an early to bedder.

I try to use those same guidelines for any noisy behavior around neighbors (whether at home or while camping). No leaf blowers at 8 a.m., no basketball against the garage door at 11 p.m., and so on. Seems to keep the problems with neighbors to a minimum.

[Passin_Thru]

Light pollution comes to mind also. At Vernon NY over the wknd some fool was running all his red and yellow marker lights plus about a hundred strip lights. Hope the mosquitoes were attracted to his lights. Some people just have to attract bugs and attention. Our part of the CG was quiet, neighbors had a campfire and were quite polite. Fed their daughter lasagna at 9 pm. She even washed the plate.

[2oldman]

ol Bombero-JC wrote:

Guess you should ask your potential neighbor -in advance- if he will be running a generator or not..

Where I am now it's advisable to ask how late he'll be running it. Quiet hours are routinely ignored.

[Vintage465]

The more I camp in the current day, the more I realize we just need to live with it, like it or not. Personally I will do anything NOT to fire up my emergency generator. I have solar and so far in every circumstance I've encountered we get by fine. When we camp, for the most part, we change to camping mode. Everything is cooked on the stove top, oven or the grill outside. Just the way we are. I did notice the last time I went camping with my sister-in-laws at a BLM campground there was a very quiet diesel generator running all day at a motorhome's site. Didn't bother me at all. Since they are minimalist campers it bugged them all day and they just couldn't sit 15 minutes with out complaining about this generator. What I found interesting is their (my sis-in-laws) dog would frequently start barking loudly and they thought that was fine.........still noise pollution. I'd rather hear a super quiet generator in the distance than a yappy dog!

[TomG2]

ol Bombero-JC wrote:

Guess you should ask your potential neighbor -in advance- if he will be running a generator or not..:R

If there are no hookups, the temperatures are in the nineties, the sites are within twenty feet of each other, and generators are allowed. Guess what? It does not take a great detective to make a fairly accurate guess as to whether the silence will be filled with the humming and hammering of generators or the chirping of the crickets.

I camp where I can't hear your generator and you can't hear mine. Or, we don't run them at all. Not that complicated.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

TomG2 wrote:

RoyB wrote:
It kinda hard to hear my 2KW Honda very far away from my camping spot...

This is what I do when camping off-grid here on the East side of the US...

Roy Ken

How far apart are the campsites? When I park close enough for a generator to bother, I choose a campground with hookups.

Hmmmmmm - deciding on a campsite by - how close is the next camper *IF* he chooses to run a generator..:@

Guess you should ask your potential neighbor -in advance- if he will be running a generator or not..:R

~

[lightning_drive]

Was at an OHV area in AZ a couple weeks ago. 40 ft toy hauler. twin AC's ran onboard Onan 5500 for 48 hours straight. Over 100 degrees so AC's on. Not loud and nobody close by. Guess people tearing around the Cinders on ATV, RZRS and sand cars are not very concerned with gen sets.

[toedtoes]

TomG2 wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
I remember my first ride on a boyfriend's motorcycle. He pointed out to me that the noise of the motorcycle had more effect on our hearing of our conversation than it did for others away from the motorcycle to hear our conversation.

Sometimes, I think sounds when camping are the inverse to this. What seems to be a quiet sound when you're in it, is much louder to the people around you.

I try to remember this on both ends. When I'm the cause of the noise, I try to remember that it is louder to others than it is to me and so I try to make it less annoying to others. When someone else is the cause of the noise, I try to remember that it is louder to me than it is to them and so I try to believe they don't intend it to be that annoying.

You mean that me popping my gum bothers you more than it does me? 🙂
All very true.

Sure, go ahead and say it in such a perfect way and make me look like a meandering fool... :S 😉

[TomG2]

toedtoes wrote:
I remember my first ride on a boyfriend's motorcycle. He pointed out to me that the noise of the motorcycle had more effect on our hearing of our conversation than it did for others away from the motorcycle to hear our conversation.

Sometimes, I think sounds when camping are the inverse to this. What seems to be a quiet sound when you're in it, is much louder to the people around you.

I try to remember this on both ends. When I'm the cause of the noise, I try to remember that it is louder to others than it is to me and so I try to make it less annoying to others. When someone else is the cause of the noise, I try to remember that it is louder to me than it is to them and so I try to believe they don't intend it to be that annoying.

You mean that me popping my gum bothers you more than it does me? 🙂
All very true.

[pnichols]

toedtoes wrote:
I remember my first ride on a boyfriend's motorcycle. He pointed out to me that the noise of the motorcycle had more effect on our hearing of our conversation than it did for others away from the motorcycle to hear our conversation.

Sometimes, I think sounds when camping are the inverse to this. What seems to be a quiet sound when you're in it, is much louder to the people around you.

I try to remember this on both ends. When I'm the cause of the noise, I try to remember that it is louder to others than it is to me and so I try to make it less annoying to others. When someone else is the cause of the noise, I try to remember that it is louder to me than it is to them and so I try to believe they don't intend it to be that annoying.

Wise words indeed! 😉

[toedtoes]

I remember my first ride on a boyfriend's motorcycle. He pointed out to me that the noise of the motorcycle had more effect on our hearing of our conversation than it did for others away from the motorcycle to hear our conversation.

Sometimes, I think sounds when camping are the inverse to this. What seems to be a quiet sound when you're in it, is much louder to the people around you.

I try to remember this on both ends. When I'm the cause of the noise, I try to remember that it is louder to others than it is to me and so I try to make it less annoying to others. When someone else is the cause of the noise, I try to remember that it is louder to me than it is to them and so I try to believe they don't intend it to be that annoying.