Generator Observation

[hohenwald48]

We spent last Thursday thru Sunday dry camping at the Auburn, AL football game. We stayed in an area called the "hayfields" with what I estimate to be about 1,000 other dry campers. People were in all kinds of rigs from A-frame pop ups to Marathon coaches. Everybody had a generator and some had several. They all ran for the whole 3 days due to the heat.

Anyone who says another brand (including Champion and Yamaha) of generator is as "quiet as a Honda" simply doesn't know what they are talking about. All it took was a short walk thru the field and it was very evident that Honda's (EU1000 up to EU7000) were by far the quietest generators running. No doubt about it.

Folks can quote specs all they want but a long walk in the park convinced me. If "quiet" is important to you then there is no other way to go than with Honda.

Also, I saw all kinds of stupid while there. I guess the best example was a generator about 6" from a TT being refueled, in the dark, by a guy smoking a cigarette, probably drunk, while it was still running. Lots of crazy stuff. But we had a good time.

[OregonSVT]

Sgeorge wrote:
WOW, I thought I was going to get jumped on for my support of Champion generators. Glad I don't have a laser light show setup. Our camping group had a light show competition during our Jamboree one year. I thought it was pretty cool to see all the designs people came up with, but than again eveyrone was on board.

Yep, lasers are truely awful. 😄



Mind you, camera exposure is turned up to make it look that bright. Add a little campfire light and it is even dimmer. But, I'd much wrather listen your generator 300ft away then be bothered by some dim green lights on the under canopy of a tree that you have to be walking past camp to see.

Nothing turns my wife on more than waking up to the sweet sweet sound of a genset sputtering in the distance, drowning out the sound of that d@mn ocean we camp next to.

[jaycocreek]

And camping in 65 degree weather has a different set of requirements than camping in 105 degree weather. Not all of us have easy access to the mountains of the west.

I totally understand..Don't get me wrong,we have idiots also mostly on holidays.Group camping produces some crazy stuff..Major holidays I come home rather than put up with the drunks riding around on there ATV's and shooting guns at whatever and the kids unattended and dust galore.

I would much rather listen to a generator running than the above,but I choose just not to be around any of it and choose places where most won't go or can't.

[hohenwald48]

jaycocreek wrote:
After reading some of your stories,I feel sorry for those that have to camp in campgrounds with alot of people.I would not camp if I had to camp around hoards of people and the issues they bring.

I refuse to camp next to anyone except my primitive friends whom are very understanding and quiet and they prefer Honda generators.

Don't get me wrong. I very much enjoy wilderness camping. I just enjoy tailgate camping too. People should simply realize there is a difference. And camping in 65 degree weather has a different set of requirements than camping in 105 degree weather. Not all of us have easy access to the mountains of the west.

[Swampman597]

SoundGuy, that is an awesome sound proofing box. Have you considered trying to sell your idea to someone to make for sale? I think alot of us would give up our quiet but expensive Yamaha's and Honda's for a larger generator that could be run at least as quietly. With many campgrounds invoking noise level limits, a quiet solution like this would work for much less money than buying a new quiet generator.

Kudos.

[hawkeye-08]

delete

[jaycocreek]

After reading some of your stories,I feel sorry for those that have to camp in campgrounds with alot of people.I would not camp if I had to camp around hoards of people and the issues they bring.

I refuse to camp next to anyone except my primitive friends whom are very understanding and quiet and they prefer Honda generators.:B

[hohenwald48]

We were at Grayton Beach State Park,FL most of last week. There was a TT with a huge outdoor TV turned on for 4 days and I never saw anyone sitting outside viewing it. It stayed on 24 hours a day. I've heard folks with their outside speakers on in the middle of the night.

I also don't like the way some folks think they have to light up the campground with all manner of lighting systems. Some parks are like spending the night at the county fair with all the rope lights, awning lights, under vehicle lights, porch lights, laser lights and projection lights. Are modern folks just scared of the dark?

Running a generator all night in a college football tailgate lot with 1,000's of others doing the same thing is not like shining bright lights of any kind all over a remote campground. I'm surprised folks can't see the difference.

[Sgeorge]

WOW, I thought I was going to get jumped on for my support of Champion generators. Glad I don't have a laser light show setup. Our camping group had a light show competition during our Jamboree one year. I thought it was pretty cool to see all the designs people came up with, but than again eveyrone was on board.

[OBSPowerstroke]

SoundGuy wrote:
Exactly what others would ask about your stupid laser lights. At least a genset, even a noisy one, serves some useful purpose. :S

Well I'll leave those laser lights home next time and just shine these at the next camp running a noisy generator all hours of the night. I figure if they are running it for lighting, this should take care of that problem:

[korbe]

SoundGuy wrote:

OBSPowerstroke wrote:
So if you start seeing them pop up in campgrounds, you can thank me for starting the trend. 😉

SoundGuy wrote:
Sure hope that never happens. :R

OregonSVT wrote:
What the hell for?

Exactly what others would ask about your stupid laser lights. At least a genset, even a noisy one, serves some useful purpose. :S

:S :S "your stupid laser lights". IMHO, I would much rather have my campin' neighbors sitting around their campfires looking straight up and watching their laser lights under the tree canopies than those same neighbors sitting inside their RV watching a movie on the big screen TV and their "useful purpose generator" blaring away outside, powering the TV.

FWIW, our kids would often shine their flashlights up into the tree canopies while sitting around the campfire. Never occurred to me that we may have been annoying our neighbors. :S :B

[SoundGuy]

OBSPowerstroke wrote:
So if you start seeing them pop up in campgrounds, you can thank me for starting the trend. 😉

SoundGuy wrote:
Sure hope that never happens. :R

OregonSVT wrote:
What the hell for?

Exactly what others would ask about your stupid laser lights. At least a genset, even a noisy one, serves some useful purpose. :S

[OBSPowerstroke]

rbpru wrote:
Half as noisy, a fourth as noisy, is still noisy in a quiet environment. Fortunately, a thousand people partying in a field with their AC running is not expected to be a quiet zone.

This 100%! I've camped as a vendor at Coachella in my trailer knowing it was going to be a nonstop party all weekend long. I was more than happy to go, because that's the experience I was looking for. Staying up listening to music until after 2:00 AM only to wake up at 5:00 AM (coffee vendor) to to get the booth going with the low being 90 and high 105+ and music and partying all night long meant I had almost no sleep, but I knew that going in and had the time of my life. We also didn't have enough electrical power to run the AC and my Honda 2000 wasn't going to run it either, so the trailer was insanely hot, yet I still enjoyed myself. When I pull out to a Forest Service campground in the middle of nowhere with temps ranging between 55 and 65 degrees, I don't expect to be exposed to a nonstop yard service two sites away.

The best part of that Coachella trip? I made the drive all the way from Portland and back with the trailer in tow and actually made enough money to break even on the entire adventure with all the tips from selling coffee and renting my trailer out as an office during the day for the other vendors to settle up, and this included the insane $300+ cost for a ticket to get into the venue.

[rbpru]

Half as noisy, a fourth as noisy, is still noisy in a quiet environment. Fortunately, a thousand people partying in a field with their AC running is not expected to be a quiet zone.

Not surprising the Honda would be better, you get what you pay for.

[OregonSVT]

SoundGuy wrote:

OBSPowerstroke wrote:
So if you start seeing them pop up in campgrounds, you can thank me for starting the trend. 😉

Sure hope that never happens. :R

Why, they look like fire flies, you don't see the beams, just a small moving dot on the underside of leaves. They do look really cool.

I have no problem with people running generators. In a perfect world no one would have to. Problem I see is the lack of common sense when doing so. When we were camped last weekend with OBS, people were running them until 9 at night, then having them back on at 8 in the morning. What the hell for? It was 60 degrees.

I can go down to Walmart and buy a TV that would run on 12v. Heater? Unless you need it 80 in the trailer all night, pretty sure you didn't need it for that. Lights? Honestly, if you dont have LEDs yet, there's no hope in you having common sense, so I'll just end my rant.