How important is stealth to you while traveling?

[TMG51]

I've been pretty much set on a cargo van for stealth. I plan to live in a van while traveling the country. Stealth seems important because who knows when I'll end up parked on the streets of some neighborhood for weeks at a time (different spots at night, but, still). I don't want to rely on campgrounds and Wal Mart parking lots.

There are a lot of really cool camper vans already out there, without having to convert the interior of a cargo van. Windows... high roof... bed over cab... etc. But they LOOK like camper vans.

How important do you guys find stealth to REALLY be?

Just getting opinions.

 

[caseyc]

Important. Very.

 

[David]

While traveling, stealth is next to zero importance to me. You can easily get away parking in random parking lots, specially along highways and if the cops ask, you just tell them you got tried and needed to rest. Out of state tags work wonders in this respect, just be able to tell the cops where you were headed or came from.. Ie know where the highway you are parked near goes..

To me stealth is only important when I'm camping where I shouldn't or when I'm staying in one location long term. Also I have never once parked on a street overnight.

 

[Reducto]

If you're there for weeks then stealth is very helpful but probably not critical. It simply doesn't occur to most people most of the time that there might be someone sleeping in a van, especially if it's clean with no trash nearby or any other indications of a person inside.

Personally, it would be more about high top vs non high top. Ht gives you more room at the expense of not being able to enter many garages and reduced gas mileage.

 

[Stargazer]

Not at all important. I don't park where I'm not welcome; that just seems to be asking for trouble, when there are so many places where it isn't a problem.

However, my van is very discreet. It's a passenger van (or was) and looks like a passenger van. I keep a quiet, low profile always, more for personal safety than anything else.

As I taught my children, if you don't want to be a target, don't stand up, wave your arms around and yell, "Here I am!"

 

[Van-Tramp]

Not important to me at all. Just like Stargazer, I simply do not park in places that will cause me to lose sleep. I really hate parking in town anyway so I rarely do. I'd opt for an off ramp or two out of town before parking on a residential street that I was not invited.

Im not so sure I would enjoy living in my van if it were not a hightop. I tried a week in a smaller van and I never got comfortable. So, for me, comfort [height] trumps stealth any day.

 

[Lucky mike]

HHhhmmmmm.......I stay in a class A.....define stealth?

its going to depend on the area your in ,.....your habits....and general appearance.

I only stay in a campground maybe once or twice a month....I stay in major cities and travel thru-out New England and only had a LEO bother me once and he was bored and had nothing better to do at 2am...in fact after I pushed the issue with the town I was in the chief called to apologize and told me of several other areas within the town that are OK to park.

please note....I have handicap tags and a service dog onboard!

 

[rvwandering]

It's not very important for us but then we're not stealthy at all in our little class C. Our main parking spots around cities are big box store lots which are easy to find. Most allow overnight parking. Other good spots are casino lots and Cracker Barrel lots.

But we have stayed on the street for days at a time without many problems. In Seattle we park on a street that is zoned commercial but have to move (it's okay to drive around the block and park again) every 48 hours. While visiting my mom in Texas we parked on the street by her apartment complex for weeks and it was fine. Is there a reason you would rather park on the street? You will probably be okay if you move regularly and hang out somewhere else during the day. Try to park in commercial areas.

I have to admit that there are times when it would be nice to be more stealthy, to just be able to pull over to the curb and go to sleep rather than driving to some place where we know we can park without worrying about being disturbed but I would never be willing to trade the comforts of a roomy motorhome with lots of windows for a stealthy van. Once you're out of the cities, especially if you stay away from the east coast, there are so many beautiful places in camp for free.

 

[gypsycowboy]

Stealth isn't a big factor for us. We stay outside of towns for the most part. Truck stops, national forests, and campgrounds. In town we sleep in friends driveways or pay parking lot. Sometimes an RV campground. We stay away from places that will get a knock on the door because we're out of place. There are lots of free, safe overnight spots elsewhere.

 

[Patrick46]

I believe stealth to be more a state of mind, over the way you look.

If you handle yourself in a stealthy manner, then the way you look will have minimal influence. (unless you're really 'out there', as Stargazer clearly points out.)


consider this...

You have a nice, 'normal, mid-size class 'C' RV, and you're parked on a city street.
On one day you leave the curtains on all your windows open to let the sunlight in.
On the next day, you leave all your curtains buttoned up.

Which one is more stealthy??

Of course...it's when you've got your curtains buttoned up.

By leaving them open, you're letting the world (and especially the surrounding neighborhood) know what you're up to inside your RV. They can see everything...and in fact, this encourages them to do so.
If the curtains are closed, then they can't see nuthin', and noone knows if you're really even in there or not????
Get my point??

It's all about the tactics.

I can dissappear in the front row of a crowded baseball stadium if I really want to.