Tynan

Life Outside the Box

Rich hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Rich
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Disguising Your Rialta

I don't have a Rialta yet but I'm thinking it might be easier to park if people don't think it's an RV.  It won't be easy but I think it's possible.  Here's what I was thinking:

1. Paint the RV another color.  Maybe light green.  It should be a color that doesn't scream RV.
2. Add a logo to the Rialta indicating that it's some sort of research vehicle (e.g. eco research, air quality research).  I think an environmental research vehicle theme is the way to go.  First, most people will not complain about something environment related. Second, if you're inside the vehicle it won't arise suspicions.  You're doing research! :)
3.Create a fake website promoting your research organization and list the URL on your Rialta's exterior.  You can even get a toll free number for a few bucks a month to make everything seem legit.  Maybe even add some fotos of your research vehicle in the field.
4. Make a couple T-shirts/polos with your organization's logo.  You can wear it when answering the door if someone knocks on it or on your way out the RV.  Then toss it in your backpack if you want and switch shirts.

Any comments or suggestions?

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War in Heaven hasn't filled out their bio yet. Fighting the good fight - to make the body congruent with the soul... Old blog http://3rddimension.wordpress.com New blog http://sett.com/thetinyoctopus/
War in Heaven
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I have a feeling that may be overkill as people would start getting further suspicious why a fake environmental research company is parked outside a certain spot 24 hours a day. The URL, logo, and color scheme would attract attention which is the thing you want to avoid most. Marketers put exactly those things on the outside of a company vehicle to draw attention. People get curious too and start asking you questions leading you to create a bigger and bigger web of lies to support it. Once the lies start crashing down everyone gets very suspicious and you may even attract the authorities as everyone is still kinda terror paranoid these days.

I have no experience with this myself but if I were going to pull this off I'd just try to make it look as much as a boring run-of-the-mill nothing out of the ordinary van as possible. Maybe just not painting it white which is a common RV color. Boring color like silver/dull gray perhaps?

Edit: 9/4/2012 - I've thought about it and realized disguising your RV is the better way to go. Read my other replies near the bottom for why I swapped over.

Rich hasn't filled out their bio yet.
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Here's another idea.  Paint it gray as suggested below but at night put on some kind of magnetic sign similar to those that realtors attach to their car doors.

Rich hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Rich
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This is good for inspiration.  Very stealthy.  http://www.stealthsprinter.com/van-build/finished-van-photos/

Brian hasn't filled out their bio yet. Fan of: software engineering, Buddhism & meditation, psychoanalytic therapy, intelligent risk-taking, living a life of joy.
Brian
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Whoa, that site is my new favorite thing. Amazing work.

Rich hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Rich
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Mine, too.  Their execution is awesome.  Make sure to check out this section, too: http://www.stealthsprinter.com/van-build/amendments-changes/

Tynan hasn't filled out their bio yet. Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
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Whoa. The electric bed lift implementation is amazing, as are all the integrated lights.

Rich hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Rich
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I just emailed the site owner and he said the modifications (not including the van) came out to about 24k Aussie.

Brian hasn't filled out their bio yet. Fan of: software engineering, Buddhism & meditation, psychoanalytic therapy, intelligent risk-taking, living a life of joy.
Brian
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Yeah, the bed lift is genius, how it worked out. Especially in a high-roof sprinter, you have 76" of vertical already.

I'm a little stunned at this part:

"We run a 12 volt dc 140 litre fridge, lights, TV, bed hoist, phone / computer chargers, a toaster, microwave, coffee machine, ceiling fan, media centre and PlayStation from the batteries... So far, despite cloudy days, and rain etc, we haven't dropped below 87% charged, and have always ended each day at 100% charged."

All off 450W of solar. The microwave and Playstation in particular have to be super high-draw stuff. They do clarify they only run the high-draw stuff when it's sunny out, during the actual hours of sunlight, so I guess they're essentially running that stuff off the controller and never off the batteries.

24k Aussie + a sprinter van is expensive, though. My Rialta came to about $30k USD total. Though I am a bit jealous. Their setup looks amazing.

Rich hasn't filled out their bio yet.
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Yeah, the price is expensive.  Probably more desirable to start with a used Sprinter.  $30k is more to my liking, though.  The HandyBob site appears to have lot of battery genius in it:  http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/  Perhaps there is something we can take away for Rialta owners.  I don't know enough about batteries to tell yet.

Tynan hasn't filled out their bio yet. Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
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They do have about 50% more battery capacity than we have... and I imagine it's extremely sunny in Australia. Still, a bit crazy.

It wouldn't be possible to do the raised bed thing in the Rialta without major modifications, but I think having a low roofed Japanese style tea room would be pretty awesome back there. Sitting pillows, low table, etc.

Brian hasn't filled out their bio yet. Fan of: software engineering, Buddhism & meditation, psychoanalytic therapy, intelligent risk-taking, living a life of joy.
Brian
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Yeah, I think it's a funny aspect of minimalism that you never really get rid of that urge to keep DOING things. Like, I have a perfectly fine RV now and I look at theirs and say, ooh, it looks much more professional than mine and the electric bed lift and sitting room... pretty brilliant. Maybe I should start all over again! And do it even better this time!

It never ends.

I wish they made the Mega Roof available in one of the shorter versions. 84" vertical, I could stand up straight!! But that one is the extended 170" wheelbase, just over 24' long. Still, I could do a whole lot with that space.

Tynan hasn't filled out their bio yet. Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
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I actually like that part of it. Constraint in some areas makes it easier to not constrain in others. It takes some discipline not to go overboard, but I like the idea of constantly improving / upgrading the few things I have.

Brian hasn't filled out their bio yet. Fan of: software engineering, Buddhism & meditation, psychoanalytic therapy, intelligent risk-taking, living a life of joy.
Brian
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I'd also like to point out that if you look through their travel photos, you see that they are driving around Australia in that Sprinter RV with two dogs.

Dogs.

And you call me crazy.

Web hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Web
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Drool!

Web hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Web
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I agree. People have the right to call police to check on suspicious vehicles. It's a common request for police service, so common that most departments have it's own code for this type of call. And when they arrive such a web of lies can get one in a lot of trouble and attract a lot of suspicion. They can ask for your supervisor's name and number, office address etc and start following up. Most environmental, air quality etc vans might seem like they are just parked on the street the whole day or a whole week to the casual observer. But they have more often than not informed of their presence to the local police department, supplying them with contact info, supervisor/head office info, and the exact times and dates they will be present and on which streets.

Web hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Web
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White is the most common color of vans followed by black, silver and gray. To my eye, a white van is the most inconspicuous as long as it's solid white, sans any logos and ribbons of color that screams RV. Black and gray will also work equally well as long as the entire van is painted in one solid color. Silver, despite being common, attracts more attention. So does any other color including green, just for being less common. Avoid two-tone paint, logos and ribbons or any other decorative paint treatment commonly seen on RVs.

Rich hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Rich
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Gray sounds like a good choice. Any thoughts of possible signs to make the Rialta look like a commerical vehicle?

Web hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Web
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I agree. Gray is an excellent choice. If I were picking a color, I'd probably go with gray too. Nothing like a dull gray when you don't want to attract any attention. A real estate type sign you suggested elsewhere sounds good to me. It's a common signage, there are loads of real estate people running around, so you can blend in without attracting attention.

Christian hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Christian
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Sensors are pretty cheap these days. Instead of pretending to do enviromental research you could actually do it. 

Rich hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Rich
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Another option is a blood mobile design.

Bryan hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Bryan
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Instead of posing as an environmental organization, you should pose as a children's "Make a Wish Foundation" type of charity that grants wishes to terminally ill children.

That, or convert a U-Haul, which has been done for before for successful boondocking on the sly.

Web hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Web
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Interesting idea. Is the idea to keep the U-Haul markings or were you just referring to U-Haul type trucks? Got any examples of places one can park these in? I'm thinking even the small trucks are too big for regular spots on the street.

Bryan hasn't filled out their bio yet.
Bryan
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Yes, this guy has been doing it for years with a custom modified U-haul trailer and pickup truck.  You can buy the U-Haul trailers used for fairly cheap sometimes. You will have to enjoy the process of converting it though, because it looks like a lot of work. http://cheaprvliving.com/StealthCargoTrailer.html

John Wes hasn't filled out their bio yet. '95 Rialta-dweller, VFR800-rider, builder of cool things
John Wes
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This guy experimented with camouflaging his vehicles:  http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2006/09/what_is_telstar.html

Tynan hasn't filled out their bio yet. Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
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That's pretty ingenious. Might actually be doable on a Rialta if you gave it a fresh coat of white paint first.

War in Heaven hasn't filled out their bio yet. Fighting the good fight - to make the body congruent with the soul... Old blog http://3rddimension.wordpress.com New blog http://sett.com/thetinyoctopus/
War in Heaven
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Just had another crazy idea - what if one just looked up a popular model of old model boring van (single color preferably - maybe 10-15+ years) and tried to copy that paint scheme as much as possible? People might think it's just a really big/modded version of a ford/dodge/chrysler...  ___________ van. Forego adding actual car branding logos though as car enthusiasts might ask why they've never seen that particular model but I'm thinking that case to be rare.

John Wes hasn't filled out their bio yet. '95 Rialta-dweller, VFR800-rider, builder of cool things
John Wes
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I don't think trying to make something look older is the way to go; might give it a creepier vibe.  Btw, my Rialta is all white, has no decals or markings except for the VW logo on the grill, and I get quite a few people asking what it is.

War in Heaven hasn't filled out their bio yet. Fighting the good fight - to make the body congruent with the soul... Old blog http://3rddimension.wordpress.com New blog http://sett.com/thetinyoctopus/
War in Heaven
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Hmm given that I may rescind my own first comment regarding not making false fronts which has somehow floated it's way up the list. I'm still thinking about it - it has a funny sort of risk scaling.

If you go the 'telstar logistics' route you are playing on the human tendency to not question what seems legitimate. IMO this is actually a REALLY safe bet. Thus it is a much lower risk early on but if people start getting suspicious the risk will exponentiate as you may have to answer to why you have an undeclared false front company.

On the other hand unmarked molester van has a higher initial risk outlay at the start - but if you get caught at least you won't have to vouch for a false front company which seems to have a much lower risk profile in the end.

Given the telstar logistics person is basically giving it all away and is still going maybe it would be the optimal route in this case to disguise as a company? As long as you aren't running drug money or doing anything shady like that I'd expect common sense to prevail and the consequences to be lighthearted if caught in the same vein. I'm not advocating taking business parking spaces for legitimate businesses which need them but at the same time we need to take this as a call to re-evaluate the housing/parking situation the world over as these are huge problems in many urban areas.

Tynan hasn't filled out their bio yet. Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
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The biggest issue with all of this is that when you live in an RV you want to park in the same place for a long period of time. Parking a Telstar anywhere for a few days wouldn't be that big of a deal, but people will start to wonder about it if it's there for months on end.

Then again, maybe they would just assume that whoever works at Telstar lived nearby and brought his work truck home. Maybe some sort of remodeling or construction theme would be more believable.

War in Heaven hasn't filled out their bio yet. Fighting the good fight - to make the body congruent with the soul... Old blog http://3rddimension.wordpress.com New blog http://sett.com/thetinyoctopus/
War in Heaven
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Yeah so many factors go into this. Construction is a weird one too as many sites need permits for a specified duration and you'd have to avoid the real trailers with real people. No project goes on forever (though even that is arguable with some builds out there). I took a Mexico cruise a couple years back and someone mentioned that all houses leave one roof of their tile missing to get special tax benefits or some other advantage I don't remember.

Residential areas also seem like a bust for long periods as eventually someone will see you walk in and out of there more than once over many months and never see you go into your supposed 'house' on the block. It'd be workable though if someone on the block could vouch for you in case it comes up and lets your park in front of their house. If you could get a good connection like that who's good with the surrounding neighbors then you could park there pretty much indefinitely (maybe even mooch off the terrestrial wi-fi :D ). Because of the real estate 'game' though some people are really sensitive to anything that could affect their perceived land value. Avoid home owner association (HOA) territory at all costs as they are mini fascist kingdoms which dictate thru unofficial law what their neighborhoods should be like.

I thought about my question during lunch about which path I would think to choose - disguise or camouflage. What tipped the favor for me was remembering one of the Tynan concepts posted somewhere earlier (don't remember where). You mentioned something along the lines of: Most people go through life trying to minimize risks when they should be trying to maximize expected value. Going the Telstar route is a much higher expected value decision. Sure you may get caught but at least you showed initiative, you demonstrated courage, and show you aren't afraid to get what you want. In the limited starter worlds of getting jobs for other people and pickup these are definitely traits to tilt the favor to your end. If I was an employer I'd hire Telstar guy who took a risk and lost over Mr. molester van wussy who never dared step to the plate. The molester van route just shows a consciousness streaked by fear and passivity - negative traits which snowball to destroy lives turning them into empty vessels of mere existence. As long as people are classy/'take the high road' about it and not using the false front to do any real damage everything should be fine in the end. If people don't want you there just move on to greener pastures.

They have RV parks but you have to pay rent. Some are forming co-ops to buy out the land from underneath them. Isn't that what people should be doing - banding together and using their combined resources and wit to stick it to the man who only wants to exploit? Rent is such an exploitative concept imo - might as well charge people for breathing air while we're at it...

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