As is often the case these days I sleep badly and last night awoke around 2am to the sounds of lashing rain and blowing wind and I remembered the large branch of the large gum tree under which I am camped and, being an engineer, began to calculate its mass - I reckon around five tonnes.
Now if, as I regularly do, one camps in the forests of Victoria it is often practically impossible not to camp under large gums and such trees are well known to drop their branches on a whim. I'm taking a bet that if said branch falls on my van I won't kill me - if it does then the rest of this post is irrelevant and I don't care - but it will certainly stuff the van in a big way. And that got me thinking about what would I do then? Naked, crawling out of a destroyed caravan with a perfectly good (hopefully) car 10m away but I can't access it because the keys, and my clothes, are somewhere in a dark and destroyed caravan! So I survive the falling branch but subsequently die of exposure! Time to rethink things.
To that end: this morning I have stowed a full set of clothes and shoes in the vehicle and the vehicle spare key, which was in the van, is now stored in the toilet cassette compartment which is accessible external to the van. My wallet and $1k in cash normally reside in the vehicle in any event.
Just one of those things which is of no consequence... until things go wrong.
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
i dont free camp and in parks i dont put the van under gum trees .......if those who free camp cant find an open area maybe they need to rethink where they go ..IMO
A large branch can do a lot of damage, but a small one coming from a height can be a javelin. Right through tent fabric or light van cladding - then through you!
It's fundamental: always check above before you camp...
...or just don't camp!
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2008 Landcruiser single cab chassis, 2.7m tray. (Sad to part with the 2005 Isuzu, tho)
We make should there is no wood around our camp site!
Nice one Jonathan! I try to always camp far enough away from trees so that if they do fall,they will not hit my van,but also to make sure that I can get light onto my solar panels.Sometimes a bit tricky,but usually I manage.As far as contingency plans go,I have spare keys stashed on both the car and the van,as well as clothes,bedding,water,cooking equipment and food in both vehicles.Cheers
I was lying in bed this morning when the massive storm turned to hail. I was thinking oh st!t, not another insurance claim on the van. (2 previously for hail damage.) It all passed & I went back to sleep. When I got out of bed, I looked at my 6 month old MUX beside the van. Didn't give it a thought during the storm. Luckily all good. Cheers Pete
Being an engineer, I make an effort to figure out where all relevant branches heavy enough to flatten the bus are likely to end up if they break in the worst possible place and simply park in the safe zone. Doesn't cover the case where the whole tree blows over but does reduce the risks enough that I sleep soundly.
Being an engineer, I make an effort to figure out where all relevant branches heavy enough to flatten the bus are likely to end up if they break in the worst possible place and simply park in the safe zone. Doesn't cover the case where the whole tree blows over but does reduce the risks enough that I sleep soundly.
I do similar but most times the layout of the campsite determines where the van must go and when camping in a forest it's very hard not to camp under a branch.
In any event not camping *under* a branch may not be enough: 18 months past I was camped, in forest, by the Murray in NW Vic when a terrific wind storm hit on a 35C day so all the van windows were open (gull wing windows). One very strong and prolonged gust of wind arrived and there was one hell of a bang which turned out to be a branch, in leaf, about 2.5m long and 75mm diameter which had fallen and shattered a front window = $300.
It took me a while to work out where the branch had come from but I'm 99% sure I identified it correctly as a spot about 15m high on a tree 30m distant from the van. I'm sure being in leaf partly turned it into a sail and help it fly the distance. The positive part is that it only missed the van roof by an inch or two had it hit I suspect the van would have been a write-off.
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
Some years back we were camped in a forested State park in Georgia USA. A mini tornado came through. We suffered no damage. A motorhome about 70-80 yards away was flattened by a tree. Both occupants were killed. The tree fell along the length of the motorhome. The motorhome was about 3 foot high and they had to use a crane to get it out of the park. Forward a few years and we were camped in Utah, USA. Out in the desert. Not a tree in sight. A wind gust came through and upended a large C Class.
So what's the answer? Stay at home and suffer natures wrath there?
