Tinting Windows on TC

[mattyj]

I have thought about doing this for stealth camping ,Id like to get a dark tint but Im not sure how hard it would be to look out windows and see outside at night with the exterior lights on and in the daylight for that matter . Has anyone tinted their TC windows out there that can tell me how they like it ? Thanks,Lou

[jefe_4x4]

I explored the idea of having the TC windows tinted for the sole purpose of being more invisible at night while laying over in more urban circumstances. Notice I said layover, not STEALTH CAMPING! as the very term provokes unreasonable responses as above. What we do is neither stealthy or camping. Finding no good light blocking solution, I'm back to using the factory Venetian Blinds and using very low or no lights inside. There is no cooking or camping going on inside the box. You simply enter, change into your bedtime attire, if any, and hit the hay. The important part is to 'look like' there is no one home; just parked. No steps in the down position; no campground sprawl; nothing hanging on the outside; no change of shape, as in an erected pop up or open vents. I've never felt i was, "getting away with something" in this mode, which has evolved into kind of a game where your trained eye finds the right spot to pull over, mostly right on the street between two white 18-wheelers. It takes practice and experience to be unremarkable in the surroundings.
On a related issue, I'm seeing more and more Vagabonds living in the National Forest around our compound in class C's, small travel trailers and even in vans...."down by the river." One group moves around in a 45 foot, white painted school bus, called a "Skoolie" in hip circles with a pot belly stove with a stack in the middle. They all survived the snows of winter. Some of these are itinerant weed trimmers waiting for the harvest. Many are simply city dropouts because of the very high cost of housing and lack of personal internal drive. There have to be a lot of reasons why people resort to living like this. We've always had the fringies, but they are much more blatant and in-your-face than I can remember. We have had a cadre of people living in the city in old broken down leaky truck campers, small class C's and vans for as long as I can remember; moving every 72 hours. Our tiny church (Trinity Episcopal) feeds the homeless every week throughout the year as do many other denominations in town. I don't see this going away anytime soon.
jefe

[burningman]

About the windows... you aren’t gonna find any tint that blocks the ability to see in at night with the inside lights on, but some fitted window covers as people described will work great.
I’ve just used aluminum foil taped neatly over the insides of my windows.

[jaycocreek]

JimK-NY wrote:
I checked out HI Valley RV. The Hi Valley RV park looks like the vast majority. Less than a 10 foot strip of grass between units. The grass strip includes picnic tables. The big attraction is a swimming pool. All for $40 a night. It shows how different we can be. I would not have any interest in spending time there even if the neighbors are relatively quiet. The Sears parking lot was a lot quieter, more convenient and free.

Boise frowns on stealth RV camping and most Walmarts there do not allow RV overnight camping because of the city ordnance.For $40 bucks a night,if that is the case,I'll take the swimming pool with a cold beer rather than dodging police or criminal activity, any day.Boise police tend to rough up resisters and rightfully so..I look at Boise arrest records every day, being my birth home with friends and family still there.Boise gets real hot,really hot and electricity comes in handy and worth the price.

Yes,we TC campers are different and come from different backgrounds and behavior with different reasons for what we do and are held accountable for.

I personally go out of my way to avoid any trouble of any kind if possible and choosing an RV park versus trying to stealth camping a city that is against it,goes a long way to staying out of trouble and it's kinda fun once in a blue moon to see how those fancy RVers live.

[jimh406]

I get it ... you'd rather risk yourself at Sears. I'm not seeing why you didn't just simply keep driving and park in a beautiful free place instead of a parking lot. Oh well.

[JimK-NY]

I checked out HI Valley RV. The Hi Valley RV park looks like the vast majority. Less than a 10 foot strip of grass between units. The grass strip includes picnic tables. The big attraction is a swimming pool. All for $40 a night. It shows how different we can be. I would not have any interest in spending time there even if the neighbors are relatively quiet. The Sears parking lot was a lot quieter, more convenient and free.

[jimh406]

jaycocreek wrote:
By the way,I always stay at Hi Valley RV and I have never experienced the kids/dogs etc out of control you mentioned.Just some old timers with a bunch of stories.

I stayed there once and it seemed fine to me as well. I see the out of control kids/dogs at state parks but mostly on "camping" weekends. Avoid those times like the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, they are fine. 😉

[jaycocreek]

Out of many hundreds of nights in the RV, I would guess I have used RV parks less than a handful of times

+1...I don't do big cities and especially malls but when I have to,I use RV parks for the electricity for AC and heat and the ability to use the other amnesties they offer while away from my comfort zone.

Do I like to pay for a spot,heck no..I own everything I have and do not like to rent anything but in the very few cases I have to go to a big city,it is well worth the price for the piece of mind..

By the way,I always stay at Hi Valley RV and I have never experienced the kids/dogs etc out of control you mentioned.Just some old timers with a bunch of stories.

[JimK-NY]

I don't camp in blazing summer heat. I move north instead. Nor do I like it when the temps start dropping below freezing. I move south instead.

[jimh406]

JimK-NY wrote:
Instead we wandered around one of the Boise malls, got some good stir fry and went to bed early.

Try that at 100 degrees with no hookups and no generator in stealth mode with no windows open. 🙂

[JimK-NY]

jaycocreek wrote:

.....When I have to go to Boise I always stay in my favorite RV park on the outskirts of town........

Out of many hundreds of nights in the RV, I would guess I have used RV parks less than a handful of times. Once to visit relatives, once to visit Williamsburg, once to attend a wedding, and once because I thought incorrectly it would be easy to do laundry. I tend not to sit around the picnic tables in RV parks listening to the neighbor's dogs, kids and radios.

I just checked on Boise RV parks. I looked at two, the KOA and Mountain View. Both were in the range of $80-90 for 2 nights. No thanks. Instead we wandered around one of the Boise malls, got some good stir fry and went to bed early.

[silversand]

....just thinking out loud: ....what about high altitude mountaineering sunglass material? Something like Spectron-4 (Category 4) polycarbonate material WITH flash coating ? It might be a bit expensive however as an RV window format. And, seeing out the window late on a cloudy afternoon/evening pre-sunset would be almost impossible.

[jaycocreek]

I don't know what you mean by "RV spots". I did not see any in the Sears parking lot or in the parts of Boise I drove through

Boise..Yuck..(laughing)..I grew up in Boise and it was rated the 8th safest city in the world to live in..By RV spot,I mean an RV park..When I have to go to Boise I always stay in my favorite RV park on the outskirts of town.I spent 1 week in a TC there the last time I "had" to go to Boise for family.I could have stayed in the street in front of my dads place but I like my privacy and not worrying about "who or what is that".

My point is,there is a huge difference in staying/stealthiness in Boise Idaho compared to say Spokane Washington, which I am pretty familiar with unfortunately, because of doctors and hospitals.And Spokane crime is mild compared to other cities but high compared to Boise.I lived in Coeurd'Alene Idaho for a long time working in a saw mill up the CDA river and logging, just 39 miles from Spokane.

Am I afraid,heck no, as I am an avid reloader for both pistols and rifles and use them often as a sport for hunting and recreation.I just do not want to put myself in a position to have to use one for something that does not have four legs.It happens all the time in big cities...

As I said,some like to travel in there TC as you do and others like myself, use them strictly for camping/fishing and hunting in the mountains.I see the majority here on this forum use there TC's for traveling/and developed camping spots which is cool,just not my cup of tea, as I am not a traveler and would never stay in a developed camping spot that you have to pay for, for the most part, "camping"...

We all have one thing in common,the choice we made, for whatever reason, in getting a TC versus the other RV's that have more room for lounging and the ability to take it off and have a pickup to do what pickups are used for,in my case,hauling firewood.

[silversand]

.....probably athermal IR protective welding glass, "Shade 10" may be the ticket (albeit a bit extreme for 2-way vision).

I'm not aware of any DOT window glass that will block out-going light from escaping the window(s) generated from inside the camper (say, when you turn the lights on in the camper at night).

We have mirror-like (called: flash-coating) windows on our Outfitter. It is very, very difficult to see anything inside the camper during daylight. However, like sunglasses, these windows are meant to allow someone INSIDE the camper to see outside (just like wearing shades) with minimal (not none) reflection off objects outside.

So, a pair of shades (or, vehicle windows) coated on both sides would be extremely unusual.

Good luck with it!

Cheers

[JimK-NY]

Come to think of it, I even stayed one or two night of stealth camping in Boise. I tore up a tire in the Alvord and went to the Boise Sears for a replacement. They ordered a D instead of and E load tire. It was already late in the afternoon when I found out. I stayed overnight and I believe even the next night in the Sears parking lot. It was plenty safe with no reason to sleep with one eye open. I did not see any signs but I have no idea if staying was within local ordinances. I stealth camped and looked like another vehicle waiting overnight for Sears service.

I don't know what you mean by "RV spots". I did not see any in the Sears parking lot or in the parts of Boise I drove through.

Nor would it have mattered if I was in a Class C or Class A or towing a trailer. I needed a place to stay.