Camping Etiquette

[Timtation]

Originally Posted by woodtick

I sleep with a fan running, I think they call it white noise! It works, less I gotta pee

Ain't only Dr. Pepper that is 10 2 and 4!
White noise for the geezers with left arm skiin cancer and left ear tinnitus from old cars with no a/c.

[GaryOverfield]

Originally Posted by Bryce

This is way more fun than you're making it out to be. Now, the few times we've done it, we made sure it's a family movie and invited the neighbors over and had a blast.

Sloppy Floyd SP in Georgia had an inflatable screen they brought out and they got half the campers showing up others just for the movie.

I'm sure it might have been fun if they had invited neighbors or talked to us about it. We had a child with us, and their choice of movie wasn't appropriate for kids at all. (Lots of use of the "F-Word".)

We were in a state park known for its natural setting, wooded campsites and scenic beauty. Perfect night for stargazing ...

Unfortunately, the way they set up their screen had the light shining right into our campsite ... and our nice dinner at the outdoor table was ruined by blood and guts ... it was so loud that we couldn't even hold a conversation at the picnic table.

Making it a big event and inviting all your fellow campers over for a film evening with popcorn and s'mores and adult beverages? "Bring your own chair and drinks, join the fun, we'd love to have you!" Something suitable for all ages? Sounds like a swell time. I'd be there in a skinny minute. And if I chose not to go, at least I'd know it was there and could make appropriate plans for the evening.

And I'm sure, done properly and being mindful of the setting and audience it could be a fun evening for all.

[BuckeyeChuck]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

They're fine, just drive them and shut them off or start 'em and leave, just don't let 'em sit and rattle and stink up the place.

I totally agree. It very inconsiderate to start your truck in the early hours and leave it idol for 20 minutes. Come on, have some respect for others, you inconsiderate b@#%@#.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeChuck

I totally agree. It very inconsiderate to start your truck in the early hours and leave it idol for 20 minutes. Come on, have some respect for others, you inconsiderate b@#%@#.

As you can see in my signature what truck I own. I do not let it until I'm ready to hook-up and pull out. Now with saying that I do not really know the reason that MH such as Georgetowns have to warm up for 20 minutes which are a lot louder then my 6.0, gas or diesel. I suspect it has something to do with air pressure or levelers. Some people who travel have to leave early and it will happen. If a person can't understand that then your not a camper period go stay at Motel 6. I have never heard of such whining about a engine starting. As far as lights go I have scare lights all around my unit if you come within 20' they are going to light up. I guess some of you people do not go to Goshen. You will see lights on trailers all night long. You might even hear a couple of drunks enjoying themselves at 3:00 AM I know I did last year. I respect others and expect the same, I know that in Goshen I'm going to have to pull out 1 morning at 6:00 AM I have to be at the factory that day by 7:00 AM. My point is that sometime it is uncontrollable. I think that your trailer came with wheels if you don't like it MOVE. and it will be all over......

[SKnight]

What I think is funny are people getting upset over people getting ready to leave in the morning, yet likely feel as if they're without their own sins.

Are you really telling me that you're the perfect neighbor? Stone silent? Your rig won't block my view? You or your kids/grandkids are silent? Smoke from you cooking fish on the grill doesn't waft over and turn my stomach?

There's rude and inconsiderate, the loud crowd late at night. Wandering through my campsite. Taking your dogs off leash.

But everything you do will irritate someone. You can fire your engine and take off straight away, guess what? The starter noise and just leaving will wake some people up. I've been disturbed by neighbors having coffee and discussing what time they're leaving........at 5:30 in the morning. I've also been the one leaving at 4:30AM to make a soccer game for my daughter. I had an older couple screaming at each other trying to set up, then heard them complaining about a barking dog.

Know what irritates me? Improper grammar. Engines IDLE. Not IDOL.

See? Something irritates everyone.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by SKnight

What I think is funny are people getting upset over people getting ready to leave in the morning, yet likely feel as if they're without their own sins.

Are you really telling me that you're the perfect neighbor? Stone silent? Your rig won't block my view? You or your kids/grandkids are silent? Smoke from you cooking fish on the grill doesn't waft over and turn my stomach?

There's rude and inconsiderate, the loud crowd late at night. Wandering through my campsite. Taking your dogs off leash.

But everything you do will irritate someone. You can fire your engine and take off straight away, guess what? The starter noise and just leaving will wake some people up. I've been disturbed by neighbors having coffee and discussing what time they're leaving........at 5:30 in the morning. I've also been the one leaving at 4:30AM to make a soccer game for my daughter. I had an older couple screaming at each other trying to set up, then heard them complaining about a barking dog.

Know what irritates me? Improper grammar. Engines IDLE. Not IDOL.

See? Something irritates everyone.

Well said, SKnight. The problem with these "etiquette" threads is that they turn into a complaint-fest and everyone sounds like a bunch of curmudgeons. You then start to get little factions - diesel vs. anti-diesel; movie vs. anti-movie; lights vs. pure darkness; outside music vs. quiet; dogs vs. monkeys; kids vs. well, they are monkeys.

Everyone is going to have a pet peeve and everyone is going to offend someone some way.

I just don't see these threads as being productive.

[prairiecamper]

Originally Posted by OL Creeker

I figure it's just part of camping life. Don't sweat the small stuff. Look around in your camper or out the window when you are awakened and realize how lucky we all are to be able to do this!

X2

[AquaMan]

This past week, while camping at Ft Wilderness, we had new neighbors come in late in the afternoon. As soon as the camper was backed into the site, the wife got of the truck and left (they had family staying on the other side of the loop, I found out). The dad got a small child out of the truck and was walking past and mentioned what a bad trip it had been, but they finally made it. Then for the next 45 minutes the wife came back with her mother, crying, complaining, and screaming, how she was going to get stuck in the camper all week, wasn't going to have any fun, and wanted to go home. When I heard this from our campsite, I thought it was a young teenage girl whining, (I have experience ). I guess to ease the stress of this woman, their entire clan came to their campsite for the evening and carried on until after 1am, when my wife called the office. The noise could be heard over our bedroom A/C, the tv, and my snoring(although I couldn't hear that ). They quickly disbanded and all was quiet again.

[AquaMan]

Originally Posted by ependydad

.

I just don't see these threads as being productive.

Other than to possibly open the eyes of some, that may not realize what they are doing, is an annoyance to others. I'm guilty, but at 3am in Goshen, we were in stealth mode!

[BuckeyeChuck]

Originally Posted by SKnight

What I think is funny are people getting upset over people getting ready to leave in the morning, yet likely feel as if they're without their own sins.

Are you really telling me that you're the perfect neighbor? Stone silent? Your rig won't block my view? You or your kids/grandkids are silent? Smoke from you cooking fish on the grill doesn't waft over and turn my stomach?

There's rude and inconsiderate, the loud crowd late at night. Wandering through my campsite. Taking your dogs off leash.

But everything you do will irritate someone. You can fire your engine and take off straight away, guess what? The starter noise and just leaving will wake some people up. I've been disturbed by neighbors having coffee and discussing what time they're leaving........at 5:30 in the morning. I've also been the one leaving at 4:30AM to make a soccer game for my daughter. I had an older couple screaming at each other trying to set up, then heard them complaining about a barking dog.

Know what irritates me? Improper grammar. Engines IDLE. Not IDOL.

See? Something irritates everyone.

Point taken about the misspelled word. I should proof read before I post. I use Google Voice.

I have no problem with people leaving early or coming in late. What bothers me are those who leave their engines running for 20 minutes while they tend to other things. What would it take to turn it off? I find that very inconsiderate to other campers around them. Another thing that irritates me is someone who points out spelling errors. Was that really necessary?

Yes, something does irritate everyone.

[whitmw]

Had one of these on my last trip. Some lady was laughing loud enough to be heard over the whole campground, and not just once. I like a good laugh myself, but sometimes its a little much.

Originally Posted by SKnight

So someone went to leave to enjoy their day, they started their blankety blank diesel, let it warm up, you don't say how long this took, five minutes? An hour? And it got you to a state of needing to calm down?

You've never done something that was bothersome to anyone?

Know what gets my dander up? Besides other people wandering through sites and other mentioned things.

When the campfire conversation gets cranked up and there's that one screaming laugher. You know, laughing at the top of their lungs, I guess to get attention. Usually while I'm trying to either quietly read or get to bed so early the next morning I can fire up my blankety blank diesel and go enjoy my day.



I'm sorry you got woke up, but why worry about it so much? Must be like blade of grass, sway with the breeze, not like stiff twig, easily broken.

[SKnight]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Well said, SKnight. The problem with these "etiquette" threads is that they turn into a complaint-fest and everyone sounds like a bunch of curmudgeons. You then start to get little factions - diesel vs. anti-diesel; movie vs. anti-movie; lights vs. pure darkness; outside music vs. quiet; dogs vs. monkeys; kids vs. well, they are monkeys.

Everyone is going to have a pet peeve and everyone is going to offend someone some way.

I just don't see these threads as being productive.

Exactly. We all have things that bother us, there's genuinely rude and inconsiderate, there's things that bother us on a particular day for no good reason.

There's things that can't be helped, I'm a photographer, I've left camp early to get good morning light. I fire the truck, let it idle for a couple of minutes while I finish getting situated and then leave quickly and quietly as possible. There are neighbors up and around, there are neighbors sleeping in. In my own way I'm disturbing all of them. What time is good though? 6AM? 7AM? 8AM?

Sadly, people thrive on getting upset over their personal niggles. My little sister gets genuinely pissed off if she's not the first one to read the paper. She likes a nice, clean, crisp newspaper. I mean ruin her day upset if you so much as slip the comics out.

Perception is the most misunderstood aspect of humanity, I can't see the world through your eyes thus can't understand why this, that or the other makes you mad.

The people howling by the campfire at 3AM don't perceive themselves as a bother, they're just having a good time. Meanwhile I'm walking over with a pair of wire cutters to start interrupting electrical flow or a bucket of water to help them put their fire out. I don't perceive my actions as extreme, while some would.

I try to remind myself, I'll do me, you do you. We're all camping, together. We all need to do the best we can to remember that.

[TxTravelingRN]

If one can't accept some normal incidental noise in the camp this probably isn't the right lifestyle for you.

Engines must be started at some point. Newer diesels don't require a warm up like the old ones but sometimes it IS necessary to idle the engine, sometimes for a lengthy period. If there is 1/2 inch ice on my windshield my engine will idle for a bit and you'll just have to put on your big boy pants and just accept it. It simply can't be helped. Idling diesels don't put out much heat so the windows aren't going to defrost/de-ice quickly. I see no reason why anyone would complain about that as others will also have to idle their engines as well whether they be diesel or gassers. I can assure you my diesel isn't any louder than your gasser; in fact, is probably quieter.

There is a distinction though between normal incidental noise and deliberate not-so-neighborly behavior. Revving your boat motor @ 0430 or using your air compressor in the middle of the night are just down right rude and obnoxious. Check you boat motor at the lake and wait for daylight to air up your tires. If you know your activity will create a lot of noise and it isn't absolutely necessary at that time it would be neighborly of you to delay until a more appropriate time.

[SYE]

I have found that where ever you camp there is always one of those loud neighbors, weather it is a diesel, a Harley, a barking dog, someone does it to us. Especially in our home park, The golf carts riding around are loud enough and then they must always play their music loud enough to hear it from across the lake. You can try, but you will never get away from this kind of crap!!

[rracer5]

It's Ok BuckeyeChuck, my IDOL is my Idle .... time!

[KDHfan]

Owners who leave their barking dogs in the camper all day while they sight-see, really gets me. I've had it twice... And complained to the campground both times... To no avail either time.

[GaryOverfield]

Originally Posted by KDHfan

Owners who leave their barking dogs in the camper all day while they sight-see, really gets me. I've had it twice... And complained to the campground both times... To no avail either time.

Reminded me of a story about travelling with our very large dog. We were in a hotel room. Dog is always crated in a hotel room -- don't want someone opening the door in an emergency and being startled by her. She is not a barker, never has been. You could bang on our door, ring the bell ... nothing. Just doesn't bark. She's been travelling since she was 12 weeks old.

We crated her and pulled the shades closed in the room, turned on the radio for some music, and left for some shopping.
About 30 minutes later the hotel called us telling us they had a complaint about her barking in our room. We were on the same hall as the front desk, so we thought something awful must have happened. We were only 10 minutes away, so we fly back to the hotel and run to our room.

We woke the dog up, who was sound asleep and drooling. HOWEVER, outside our room on a patio was a little dog yapping like crazy. Yap Yap Yap.

We put Bella on her leash and took her down to the front desk to meet everyone there. We explained the situation, and they went out to quiet down the yapper. Fortunately, the hotel staff thought it was funny that people assumed it was our dog. The manager said "Yeah, if a dog this size barked from that room? We would have heard her out here!"

We now have a small dog that barks at everything. Frequently. Especially if you ring our bell or knock on our door. He's yappy and annoying when he gets riled up.

He does well if he's in his crate in a darkened room with some background sound like a radio playing. We try not to leave our pets alone much when camping. They deserve to enjoy the great outdoors as much as we do.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by Sistahazel

so I went camping this weekend to get away from the day 2 day humdrum, hoping I could sleep in a little later than the normal 5am.. I'll be danged if a neighbor camper didn't crank up his big loud blankety blank diesel to let it warm up to start heading out. I felt like.... we'll I better calm down.....

I feel your pain

I understand getting a move on for the next campground too ...so....

I am not sure what the answer is - it sux regardless and I am sorry you had your weekend sleeping ruined

[BuckeyeChuck]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

I try to be very quiet if I leave early, do all hookups, breakdowns, retract all stab jacks, pull test, etc the afternoon before, morning we leave, it is a matter of stowing shoreline, water hose, etc. We don't even better oors and use just enough accelerator to move slowly out of the park. Just trying to be considerate of others and would like to be treated the same.
p.s. Been doing it since we got married in 1960, so we've experienced the gamut of inconsiderate neighbors and it hasn't deterred us from camping. The world has a lot of inconsiderate folks, so we just tolerate them.

You have manners, Old Coot. You also know proper campground etiquette. I do the same as you. Heck I can remember when people would slowly drive with parking lights after dark to avoid shining their lights in the eyes of fellow campers. Now many drive with brights on and then park with their lights pointed into another campsite and get out of their truck and walk away while the delay keeps the lights on for another 30 seconds. They just don't care or just don't know any better.

[BamaBob]

X2 OC & Chuck!!

Chuck, what you said really hits a nerve!

This past weekend, we were camping in Little Tallapoosa Park, GA. We got back to the camp after dark so, out of habit, I turned off the head lights (no problem - 1/2 moon & clear...besides the camp had low key lights that adequately lit the roads - visibility was easliy 100+ ft)

So I park our rig, and this woman (oddly enough with a yapping dog - had a roll of duct tape in the truck that would fix THAT noise problem ...but I digress)

So she comes up to me and tells me how reckless I am driving without headlights blah blah blah...sigh. I let her finish and politely pointed out the moon and the fact that you could see with the road lighting...that got her started on round 2 so I gave up

But I REALLY wanted to point out to her that my total sum driving had been all of 500 ft! -- from the camp entrance to my slot (yes, I was in slot #2! )