/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>536280
I don't know about the electricity bit, but in the meantime you can go to your closest Ikea and buy their warmest blanket. Managed to get too warm with the window open in a snowstorm...

>>536280
Warm water bottles inside of a blanket you're cuddling in. Also hang curtains in the windows. A van is a small enough area that if you insulate it your body heat should keep it warm.

>>536290
I'll try the water bottles thing. I do have curtains in the windows and I thought that my body heat would keep it warm but it really doesn't. By the time I wake up both my sleeping pad and whatever parts of the blanket I wasn't touching directly are uncomfortably cold. It isn't bad yet but winters here can get pretty rough (St. Louis, Missouri). The setup I currently have is a thermal pad made for camping, a light blanket over the pad, and then a comforter to use as a blanket.

cut open a tauntaun and sleep like a baby inside its stomach

got to do like campers and overdress, buy a cheap sleeping bag to seal the heat

>>536280
Can pretty much guarantee I high quality deep cycle battery won't run your blanket through the night and will take a long time to recharge. If you have a place for a trickle charger why not just have inboard and outboard 120v receptacles on your van to use at night?

>>536297
How would I go about installing 120v receptacles on the van, though? I'd be able to charge the battery by bringing the charger and battery into a friends house or my workplace every morning and then picking it up every night, but if that wouldn't work anyways, then I guess I'm out of luck there.

there was a guy on reddit that made a platform a hundred feet up a tree and slept there year round in a sleeping bag

eat like an eskimo

>>536303
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_diet

130 Watts
P = V * I
130 = 12 * I
I = 130/12 = 10.8 Amps

10.8 Amps * 8 hours = 86.4 AH
A quick glance at google lists a 35AH battery for $65. It's probably not on all the time but seems like too much to ask from a 12V battery. Also if you're charging at 1A, that's 35 hours to charge I think.

A good sleeping bag should make a big difference. At 40 deg I was cold in a cheap one on the ground on a riverbank, but being in a van is probably a lot warmer. There's also coveralls for when it gets colder. It hasn't even reached freezing yet (Farmington here) .

A friend of mine had what he called a "zero bag" and I was hot in it on an outdoor cot at about 40degrees.
It was something like this ($45):
http://www.overstock.com/Sports-Toys/Ledge-River-0-degree-XL-Sleeping-Bag/3818471/product.html?searchidx=0

They must work good cause some list for $500. Probably for Mt. Everest climbers

>>536308
Alright, thanks for the info. I'll probably just look into upgrading my sleeping arrangement then and forgetting about any kind of electrical system.

>>536310
rob a liquor store and get sent to prison. free food and a roof over your head in-perpetuity.

everyone pays your bills

you even have sex if you want and pretend your asshole is a vag

>>536315
Well, I actually like the van-living lifestyle. If I wanted to I could afford a studio apartment but I'd simply rather not. I'm not living out of a van due to desperation, but because it's a really good option for me right now. If I made twice as much money as I currently make, I'd probably still live in a van. Maybe a nicer one though.

>>536317
they need to make livable SUVs like modern campers but way smaller

do you black out your windows and sleep with a gun?

>>536321
yes, and yes; winchester big boy in 357

>>536324
rape van detected

>>536326
u got a purdy mouth

If you're not critically short on cash, a stash of DNP for emergencies could also be helpful

Russians experimented with it for extended periods outside in the cold

turns out it didn't go too well with a vodka diet

A deep cycle battery should be able to run an electric blanket for a night, my father uses one to run his CPAP machine when he goes camping, and it lasts several nights before he has to charge it. Go to your local marina and look for a deep cycle marine battery. You should be able to wire it into your car and have your 12vDC charge it, just use the inverter to run your blanket. You could also get an electric blanket that runs on 12vDC and not get an inverter at all.

>>536350
Alternatively, you could purchase an oversized Deep Cycle battery and replace your car battery with it. They can withstand being used as a starter battery, as long as you ensure that it will deliver the same cold cranking amps as your old car battery would. You'll need to make a mount for it, though, as it's going to be a larger battery housing overall. You could even move it into the van, since the location of the battery in the vehicle isn't really important, just as long as it's hooked up. My parents owned a van that had 2 batteries, one was under the van and one was in the engine compartment. It was a diesel. It also had a backseat that folded down into a queen sized bed, but that van is, sadly, no more.

I lived in a cargo van for a year in Missouri. I strung a hammock in the cargo area every night, used a sleeping bag plus comforter plus a one inch camping pad during the winter. It was a cheap sleeping bag, but the setup worked down to 15 F. At that point, for about a month or two, I had to sleep at my office space.

Batteries and a heated blanket isn't practical when you consider charging and how much power you'd need for something like that. I considered a propane camping heater, but those can easily kill you in your sleep if you forget to crack the windows just once.

>>536342
wut does DNP stand for? Like an MRE?

O, ye elder gods. What is it with Americans and this sort of shit? I mean seriously? You guys go "camping" and you take a car, and a fucking trailer full of gear up to and including generators, A/C units and a fridge.

You're living in your fucking car, you can't pick and choose luxuries. Get a decent blanket and a decent fucking jumper - here's a hint THEY DON'T NEED ELECTRICITY. I stayed in a knackered mid '70's caravan with leaks and missing insulation in snow drifts up to the goddamn roof with a decent duvet and sensible clothes. Yeah, it wasn't amazing but that's what you get.

You can rig up all sorts of crazy gizmos if you wanna drop off the grid and live in your car, but my bet is that you're not doing it out of goddamn choice. Sort your life out, is a good place to start, and until then, just use a decent bloody blanket and quit whining about it.

Jesus, I don't want to particularly piss on your parade here, I hate shitposting, but for fucks sake, this is a ridiculous thread.

>>536399
how about you shut the fuck up you faggot

As someone who has survived Northern Minnesota winters before let me give you my run down.

1. Get a little propane heater. I use a sunflower heater. Don't run this all night, fuck, you'll end up killing yourself. run this bad boy for 15 minutes before you go to bed and shit will be toasty warm. If you wake up at 3 am and it's freezing, run for another 15 min.

2. Isolate your self. get a mylar blanket get 20 they're cheap. Use one to block off the front of the cabin. Why heat that area? Also use these over windows. This alone will make your car survivable.

3. Get a sleeping bag. If you're cheap go get a military surplus one. They're good and cheap. Sleeping bags again isolate you. Why heat the van when you can heat just the immediate area around you.

>>536399
protip, those people are idiots. Real Americans camp with the bare essentials, but you will never hear about it unless they want you too.

>>536417
don't run the sunflower in your van, you'll gas yourself if the windows are closed.

If you get 2 cheap blankets from salvation army or whatever, and sew the mylar in between, it'll be a hell of a nice blanket.

what he said abt the sleeping bag. If you can do it, take out the back seat and put an air matress back there. comfy.

>>536399
My nigga. I'm an American, but I've stopped taking things personally. You're right. We have an awful lot of children masquerading as adults here. If I didn't have responsibilities, I'd head into the woods with my hammock tent and the 3 Finnish essentials, (saw, axe and knife). (And a water filter and as much rice and beans as my pack'll fit). I love the cedar swaps of northern michigan. One of the reasons why? Yuppies don't think swamps are fun camping.

>>536342
>>536391

DNP basically raises your bodyheat but it also causes you to sweat a shitload. Sweating will make your blankets wet and wet blankets do not keep heat in, (unless its wool, which retains like 60% of its insulative properities even when wet).

Just get some blankets, maybe a spatial heater you can run from another car battery or something thats not hooked up to your car. I'd generally consider some cheap housing though.

When it gets cold a van will be a shit option, its a giant metal honestly you'd be better off in a tent probably.

>>536438

That's the way of the world, friend. Once you've lived from bare essentials, you appreciate the luxuries ever more. And also, you learn why those things are called luxuries. Usually when you're kicking the door to the caravan open from the inside, because it's frozen shut and there's a snowdrift most of the way up it (had to open the top half of the stable door to get out hah. Good times.)

>>536399
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_diet
this stupid ass foreigners has a point /diy/

I'm not from MO but I spent a very unpleasant winter there at Ft. Leonard wood. I'm not trying to sound like a hardass, because I understand its where you live, you'd want it to be comfortable. But its a fuckin man dude. Its not gonna be that great.

My opinion the best way to go is warm socks, beanie, and a couple layers inside a good sleeping bag, if you're gonna change the following morning keep tomorrows clothes inside the bag with you. Changing into cold clothes sucks.

It wouldn't be fun but it would be cheap, and you'd live.

>>536448
me again, I meant >>536399
yeah fuck off dude, and nice dubs

>>536445
Ha! I was in the Peace Corps in rural Zambia. After dodging the bugs and the snakes, and watching my walls melt in the rain, (unfired bricks and bad roof), I have a hard time listening to people in subdivisions bitch about how their contractor didn't put a strong enough sub-pump in their basement, or some other inane shit. This place is heaven. People bring hell with them.

>>536448
get a sleeping bag rated to the lowest temp you expect, and you can sleep in your drawls every night. If you're poor, start collecting newspaper and plastic bags and make a nest in the back of your van.

>>536280


Buy a thermal sleeping bag rated to the temperatures you will be experiencing. In the long run, it's cheaper than using energy to power a heated blanket.

get a tent heater from walmart its pretty much what they are for and they run on small cans of propane, no electricity needed just make sure to have a carbon monoxide detector

If I were you I'd just drop some decent coin on the best sleeping bag I could find. Look to spend at least $200

>>536420
>>536399
Kinda want to do some minimalist camping now. Problem is, I'm a yuppy with no survival skills.

So how?

>>536494
he lives in a fucking van you nit.

>>536497
Figuring that out is half the fun.

But if you have trouble use google or go to /out/

Personally I love opchan's survival board, though its not very active these days.

>>536499
He's cold. A quality sleeping bag rated for the appropriate temperature is designed to insulate your bodyheat and keep you warm.

What the fuck is your problem, faggot?

>>536504
He lives in a van, this implies that

1. he is too thrifty to throw money away on a fancy fucking cloth bag
2. he doesnt have the money in the first place.


>>536280
Moving/packing blankets are your friend.

>>536511
You didn't read the thread. See >>536317

A "fancy fucking cloth bag" would be far more economical than trying to heat his van or whatever. Plus, again, if it's quality, it'll last you a longggg time.

>>536512
>A "fancy fucking cloth bag" would be far more economical than trying to heat his van or whatever.

Im not fucking arguing that, that goes without fucking saying, all im fucking saying is that a fucking sleeping bag does what fucking blankets do fucking better. And for much less fucking money.

Fuck, this is /diy/ he could fucking sew the fucking blankets into a fucking sleeping bag if he fucking wanted to.

fuck.

pic not related

>>536391
dinitrophenol
disrupts oxidative phosphorylation, causing chemical energy to get lost as heat instead of generating ATP

heats you up from the inside

useful if your bodytemp is low

downside is that it raises metabolism linearly, about 10% for every 100mg with a halflife of 24-36 hours. It was used as a weightloss aid in the 30s until some shitheads thought it was a good idea to exceed the recommended dosage causing them to boil alive

>>536308
Ohms law, amirght? How in the world could you get 10 amps from only 12 volts and 130 watts?? You can only get amps if you know the resistance. I = E/R. 10 amps, That's ENORMOUS!

>>536308
I could be doing it wrong, but that just seems so high to me!

>>536616
Begginermode, i've never had to use a complete equation for ohms law, only that triangle. After a quick google search, iseewhatyoudid

>>536391
Dnp is a weight loss pill, it causes you burn calories at a scary rate. When i used it i had my door open while it was snowing, I live in an outbuilding from the main house, I was still sweating buckets

>>536615
Here's the full list, but it's just these 2 formulas rearranged different ways:
Voltage = Current * Resistance
Power = Current * Voltage

What is a sleeping bag thread. This board really has gone to shit.

>>536652
Way to make it better faggot

>>536652
Because its the best solution for the problem. I guess you prefer the least practical, most dangerous solutions? Maybe the threads all go to shit when you arrive.

>>536499

What? Is it illegal to have sleeping bag in a van.

A thermal sleeping bag is a plausible and possibly the the most pragmatic solution to this problem.

Go back to /b/, you child.

Heating the van with electricity or even worse a stove is a fucking stupid idea.

Best case scenario you'll waste tons of money, worst case scenario you're going to kill yourself.

Get some bloody blankets. or, if you have the money, a sleeping bag.

>>536280
Well you probably get away with a couple of deep cycle batteries with a large amp hour paired as a larger cell hooked up with a 2000 watt inverter
Depending on the draw of amps though an electric blanket shouldnt draw alot of amps

OP.. I just left New England before it got too cold, but I managed a few nights in the 30s in the back of my truck with a toper.

I had no insulation and just a sleeping bag with two light blankets. I didn't have any nights where I felt too cold.

My suggestion would be use spray plastic dip and black out all your rear windows. Then use the bubble wrap type insulation on all the windows and at night put a blanket up behind the front seats blocking view from outside but also making a way to keep your heat in the back.

This is all very cheap to do and I think you could then get by with a good sleeping bag and a couple of blankets to layer if you need to.

>>536721
>Best case scenario you'll waste tons of money, worst case scenario you're going to kill yourself.
this

get on welfare

obama will take care of all of your needs

If you are sleeping on the seats or the floor boards you should sleep on some Kind of sponge for comfort and to insulate your body heat from being sucked away. Also sleeping bag is the best idea. I've slept outside in 30 degree weather in a sleeping bag. Just takes time to learn to stick your head in the bag and leave a slight opening for ventilation. Your breath and body heat will keep you warm. Anything electrical is just dangerous and stupid. And anything that burns will put off carbon monoxide and whatnot.

Good luck

>>536858
THIS HTIS THIS.

Get some of those space blankets that reflect like 98% of body heat and put them on the floor. You'll be good to go. Also fleece is extremely warm, and cheap as heck.

Even if the "deep cycle" batteries idea did work, you'd be wasting them way faster than expected. Seeing as you're living in a van, you probably don't want to get stranded due to a bad battery with nowhere to go.

>>536908
When I was forced to live in my van, for 18 months, I made some layers to sleep on. A thick, though not very warm, blanket, then a cheap foil blanket, then a warmer (and softer) blanket, and finally my sleeping bag. Much comfier and warmer than sleeping against the floor directly. It never got much below freezing but I also found running the car heater for a while before hitting the hay made it nice and cozy.

Hunt down some high quality insulation, if you can get some smelting class insulation; the better. That stuff insulates from 1000 plus f to minus 120 f. Put it under the floor boards of your van and the body panels of the van. Get double sides silver insulation and lots of small, strong magnets. apply super glue rates 150 to -50 to stick those suckers around all the windows. Cut that silver insulation to fit said windows and position those magnets to overlay the others on thine vehicle. Do the ceiling as well to help protect from oven syndrome. Get low power drawing fan, a cheap 50 dollar trickle charger solar cell since bumming off friends will lose you friends in the long run. Get a light, machine washable sleeping bag and a zero degree bag. Some clothes shrinking self vacuuming bags. Tadaaa!! You WILL stay toasty and warm. Just remember to get out, move around a bit, and feed your body heater. Park in the shade and use the fan during the summer,
Protip--ventilation of your van during the summer works best when you
a) have one window open large than the other window(naturally induced air currents)
b) bug netting around the opening(less ticks, misquitoes, and crap floating into your vehicle)
c) fans(work with what nature gives you to cool off + H20)
d) rag soaked in water for the intake( stops more moisture from coming in, air currents create vehicle cooling)swamp coolers

They make 12v automotive/rv heating blankets...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000DYVN9

Why are we making this more complicated? Sleeping bag and 12v blanket...

if you layer a sheet then a few blankets over it you will be toasty warm

>>536971
do you expect to keep the car running while sleeping in your toasty blanket

>>536513
Fuck!

>>536615
Close but no cigar. Ohm's law is V=IR. P=VI is just a generic expression for electrical power.

>This is what happens when you get married.

>Find a lamppost, park next to it
>Crowbar open the little door
>Plug into the power outlet inside
>Now you have full mains power for free

>>536513
He mad.

Never underestimate the benefits of putting a cheap sleeping bag in a cheep sleeping bag. It's by far the warmest thing I've done when camping in the snow.

Also eat well.

Prepare yourself for a standing watch list when your vehicle is spotted towards the lights that draw TOO MUCH POWER. https://images.4chan.org/diy/src/1381533086399.jpg
while you can get heat and power blanket it, the COST is large with at least $150 for the batteries, since those batteries will die in one winter if your lucky. And charging them via running your vehicle will drain them more. YOU are a lot cheaper to run, as well as reducing your footprint on the local area, you'll end up spending less money, and get stuff that'll be useable for years to come. Also get a cheap gym membership somewhere with showers, being able to workout(build up body heat), shower(reduce stink, good hygiene), and having somewhere to recharge your phone and such without bumming off friends will do you a world of good. And more people actually IN a gym will generally help their business too. UNLESS you are a creepy fella.

Sleeping bag thread. Man there are some real dummies on diy anymore.

>>536280
Do not ever use a sunflower heater while sleeping. Modern propane heaters (pic related) have an oxygen depletion sensor that shuts is off. This one runs off little bottles, but there is a conversion kit for 20 gallon tanks that would make it a lot cheaper to run.

I have spent a few nights in a tent well below freezing and you don't need a $200 sleeping bag. Just have a foam-rubber pad under you, any cheap sleeping bag around you, and then pile as many $2 thrift store blankets on top of you as you need. I froze one night, but the next night, after getting many more blankets on top, I kept taking one off until I was comfortable.

I wore a winter hat, which kept my head warm, but the worst problem was I woke up with my nose freezing and had a runny nose all day. I like breathing fresh air while sleeping and don't want my face under the covers. Maybe a ski-mask that covers the nose and cheeks might help.