You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Sure, it can be fun. It's just not camping. And if we're all ok with bringing creature comforts to nature, then why aren't we just building 5 more banffs in the mountains? It would probably be more efficient then everyone dragging their RVs in and out constantly.

Oh please. Efficiency? The guys flying here there and everywhere or taking cruises are using orders of magnitude more fuel than a guy going to Dinosaur Provincial Park in his Winnebago.

I don't always camp to commune with nature. That's not a mandatory part of things. Sometimes I do. We've done a few off-grid trips this year that were awesome. No services. My RV is kinda cool because it has a cassette toilet...I can just dump it in an outhouse. I can be basically off-grid indefinitely with just my 12v fridge and one solar panel.

We often just use our RV as a hotel room though. Usually don't even have a fire. I just rather be in my RV in my own bed with my own towels with my own food with my own bathroom than some Motel Six. The guys in the giant luxury RVs aren't even getting those into the woodsy spots. They have to park them in rows on asphalt. You get to enjoy a myriad of neat places with those, then hunker down in your own beautiful and comfortable mini-home at the end of the day no matter where you are. Some people aren't into sitting around a fire. If you're 58 years old and just want to see the continent in comfort that doesn't mean you also have to like throwing on your ripped flannel and poking a stick in a fire every night. Just like it's fun to go back to a nice hotel room and have a dinner and drink then watch a movie after a day of exploring, it can also be great to do that in your RV.

You don't have to like it, but pretending it's this weird quirk people have that's impossible to understand is goofy. Of course it's easy to understand. Go to Woody's and walk around one of those cool RVs and ask yourself if that's better than some basic bitch hotel room. Also have you ever been on a long trip and are stuck eating restaurant meal after restaurant meal? That's the worst. You don't seem to get RVs, but I think that's because you haven't put one second of thought into it because it's not difficult to see why people like them. Just like you probably like having a bed, bathroom, kitchen table and HVAC in your house. Other people like enjoying a version of that while simultaneously exploring North America.

[Shazam]

I have a well treed seasonal spot.

[chedder]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I think it’s just the separation of a “need” and a “want.”



Almost nobody “needs” an RV. They are fun though. I hate tent camping

I agree. Camping is whatever you want it to be. I wouldn't camp if I had to tent camp. That's just me. Did lots of it when we were younger. We camp for the camaraderie, campfire, hiking, biking, being in cool new places. I just prefer sleeping in warmth on a comfortable bed and not having to go outside for a middle of the night wizz (beer and getting old are a terrible combo).

Policing what is and what isn't camping is lame.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

We owned a Yukon as a family and a minivan growing up in the 90s

You think these vehicles didn’t exist ? You think 4 kids and hockey gear are piling into a station wagon ?

The need is slim ? According to who ? You ?



Just because YOU don’t need it doesn’t mean there isn’t a market that does

Those vehicles existed, but they were not as prevalent. SUV/Trucks now make up 80% of the sales market:

https://jalopnik.com/trucks-and-suvs...ale-1848427797

They have increased 10 fold since the 80's in sheer numbers:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...nited%20States

While the sheer size of each unit has ballooned. Compare the size of the '92 Yukon to the current:

https://www.carsdirect.com/gmc/yukon/generations

I'm not saying large families didn't need some of this stuff back then, i grew up with 4 siblings. We of course had an SUV. Im not saying large families need to have a small vehicle. But guess what? family sizes have shrunk since the 80's yet vehicles sizes and capacity has grown.

I see families of 3-5 with a crew cab and an SUV when both parents commute downtown for white collar jobs. Do they really need two massive vehicles for that?

But the size of that SUV vs the size now are ridiculous! and, are a detriment to those others on the road:

- their large sizes make it nearly impossible to navigate normal residential streets with vehicles parked on the curb.
- their sizes make it impossible to see the road leading to an arms race of taller, wider vehicles,
- their sizes essentially kill more people, including the occupants, pedestrians, and other motorists;
- they are more expensive meaning higher insurance rates, etc.

And manufacturers have sold us on this, because the profit margins are amazing for them

Adams said when choosing a vehicle, most SUV buyers don't make their decision based on something that's going to satisfy "95 to 99 per cent" of their driving needs, which is commuting and running errands.

"They purchase their vehicle for the one weekend of the year when 'I tow my boat up to the lake and I want to make sure I can do that,'" he said, noting "it is ironic when they make that purchase and then complain about high gas prices."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/suv-small-ca...able-1.7239768

And the crappy part is this won't change. EVs production is focused more and more on SUV vehicles as their profit margins are better. The same components in a larger vehicle costs a little extra in material and labour, but they can jack up the cost $20-50k for the SUV.

The amount of these vehicles on the road is actually slim - how many people really are dropping $100k for a huge truck or Yukon , etc “just because “

I don’t know a single person who owns a big vehicle or truck that doesn’t use it for the extra space . If they have the money and don’t need the space they just buy a Macan or a G Wagon or a sports car - not a Q8, Yukon , etc

this is a hilarious statement. One, "need" is doing a lot of work in this statement. They don't need the space. My buddies don't need an SUV to commute to work everyday. They don't need a jacked up crew cab to drive to their worksite and park it along the side while they run equipment.

And i love the examples you give. Well if they didnt need the space, they would just buy another type of SUV thats massive, like a G Wagon!

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by GGG

But if you could afford your own airplane for not much more than your Car and it was just as convenient as a car you’d probably think about buying one.

Why? I only need it once a month?

Why spend 15,000,000+ maintenance when i can fly commercial.

Of course, my example is hyperbole, but that's the rationale of some large car buyers. I need this once a year so ill spend double the price, double the maintenance, and double the gas, so that i can tow my boat to and from the lake once a year.

[Shazam]

The Hyundai Kona EV is an SUV, there's lots of small SUVs that are being EV'ed, I guess that skews the stats.

[PepsiFree]

I’m not sure why the Kona is classified as an SUV. It’s effectively a hatchback.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Nufy

When I was growing up most families had a version of this.
As long or almost longer than most modern day trucks.

I'll see your Glorious Wagon, and it is Glorious...and raise you the Valiant Steed my mother drove us around in during our childhood!!



None other than...the Caravan! Is it car? No. Is it a van? Kind of. It is the Caravan!

White with the faux-wood paneling? Oh yeah. Thats how you knew it was classy.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

RVs are not camping. Never were. It's just incredibly wasteful. IMO it is almost antithetical to the actual purpose of camping, which is to escape creature comforts/ society and to become more in tune with nature.

That's like, your opinion, man.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Locke

I'll see your Glorious Wagon, and it is Glorious...and raise you the Valiant Steed my mother drove us around in during our childhood!!



None other than...the Caravan! Is it car? No. Is it a van? Kind of. It is the Caravan!

White with the faux-wood paneling? Oh yeah. Thats how you knew it was classy.

That's not a caravan! This is a Caravan:

NSFW!

Kidding. That is definitely a caravan.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

I did a big renovation and put an addition on my last house while owning a Mini Cooper. I probably paid no more than total $500 in delivery fees for all the different things I needed a truck for. I think I rented a Uhaul van for a few hours to get a few things at Windsor Plywood one time. A lot cheaper than buying a big vehicle that I have no interest in trying to park at home and everywhere else every day.

Mini Cooper. Lol.

Lame.

[iggy_oi]

One thing is certain, wood paneling on vehicles needs to make a comeback.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by you&me

*Raises hand as someone that actually had the smallest suitable family vehicle along the way, tried to buy a smaller vehicle and found that he actually needs one of the largest vehicles on the road*

This 'good for me but not for thee' attitude is hilarious... At least Pepsi's honest and can own up to his 'want'.

I will agree that it would drive me nuts if my street's driveways were littered with the trucks and SUVs that are too big to fit in garages... Such a trashy look.

I am ok with Pepsi having a truck because he wants one. I don’t care one way or another. It was just a light hearted joke about how the carbon tax didn’t change his way of living his life. It didn’t change mine either.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Cappy

Why? I only need it once a month?

Why spend 15,000,000+ maintenance when i can fly commercial.

Of course, my example is hyperbole, but that's the rationale of some large car buyers. I need this once a year so ill spend double the price, double the maintenance, and double the gas, so that i can tow my boat to and from the lake once a year.

My point is that at some degree of wealth you would consider owning your own plane. And once you owned it you’d do more plane stuff.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Sliver

This is such a dorky opinion.

I've tented. I've slept in my minivan (as a family of four). I've RV'd. They're all super fun.

Gatekeeping fun is such a nerdy thing to do.

I’m not gate keeping, I didn’t say that an RV isn’t camping, I also didn’t say that an RV isn’t fun.

Im challenging the view that you need an RV to go camping. It’s a view point that’s widely held these days. The whole series of logic that goes from I need an RV so I need a truck is based on a bunch of decisions where people use the word “need” rather than the word “want”. If people want to make retirement delaying financial decisions they definitely can but when someone says I need a truck to pull my RV it isn’t a need. Those are wants.

[fotze2]

Do we really need to camp. God what a stupid endeavor. We are burdens enough on the environment. Stay in you lane and shut the fata up. Lets go out and spend a lot of money to make coffee for 1 hour instead of five minutes...for fun. Ideally there is a monthly lottery where 5% are told they have to kill themself. Mother earth is begging this and we need to listen. I will pay money to not go camping.

If you need to get hammered with buddies that much we need to make it more acceptable to pass out at a friends house instead of this nonsense camping facade. Same thing with guns.

ITs crazy the pro-nature style camping people usually oppose guns, but you are the same. Your stupid childish games are the same and are damaging to the environment and people.

Fata off pretending you are grizzly adams or Rambo. Your lame hobbies are ruining the planet.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

RVs are not camping. Never were. It's just incredibly wasteful. IMO it is almost antithetical to the actual purpose of camping, which is to escape creature comforts/ society and to become more in tune with nature.

Tent camping is pretty much just homeless cosplay.

[iggy_oi]

Where does igloo camping land on the scale?

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Do we really need to camp. God what a stupid endeavor. We are burdens enough on the environment. Stay in you lane and shut the fata up. Lets go out and spend a lot of money to make coffee for 1 hour instead of five minutes...for fun. Ideally there is a monthly lottery where 5% are told they have to kill themself. Mother earth is begging this and we need to listen. I will pay money to not go camping.

If you need to get hammered with buddies that much we need to make it more acceptable to pass out at a friends house instead of this nonsense camping facade. Same thing with guns.

ITs crazy the pro-nature style camping people usually oppose guns, but you are the same. Your stupid childish games are the same and are damaging to the environment and people.

Fata off pretending you are grizzly adams or Rambo. Your lame hobbies are ruining the planet.

You talking about camping or Golf ?

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Nufy

You talking about camping or Golf ?

That too. What a waste. We all need to sit at our desks and slink off to our sleeping chambers only as needed, connect to the interwebs and be productive members of society.

Why the hell do we need to travel? You need to see the Machu Picchu? Selfish POS, there's photos and those immersion goggles, is that not enough?

You need to visit relatives like pieces of selfish crap, that's why they made team and zoom.

Waaaa, I couldn't see my mom die in person. That's more important than your footprint, selfish a-holes.

The most important part of life is to minimize your impact on the world, that's what I'm gonna be proud of some day.