there was a discussion with a fellow Pupper about how they thought their mod, while it was very functional, they considered it " Ghetto Fabulous"
Having seen the mod, I thought it to be very resourceful and actually somewhat inspiring THEY ( I will not say he or she to protect identity and their supposed embarrassment![[:)C]](/smileys/smile_happycamper.gif "Happy Camper [:)C]")
) thought it was a contrived "redneck" get it done mod that shouldn't have any merit.
I'm betting others have done similar ( if not the same ) "mods" or improvements and thought nothing of it.
This person pretty much DARED me to post the pictures of my (now) wife and I's FIRST camping adventure and the " Ghetto Fab" tent that made it all possible.
The Story
July 4th 1996, we had been in NC about 3.5 months, we knew NOBODY, save for the people we worked with, and being a holiday weekend had nothing better than to road trip to the Outer Banks of NC ( 4hour drive one way ).
It was supposed to be a day trip, but we enjoyed ourselves so much, it also being our first time ever to the ocean ( we're from the Midwest )
I asked my sweetie ( Holly ) if she wanted to stay the night..." Where ? " was the reply....
I pondered this for a few, realized being a holiday week, there would be NO rooms available that we could afford, I contrived a plan. It had been years since I had gone camping of any sort.
She just looked at me as we drove into Manteo, just a confused look...... and we pulled in to the parking lot of an ACOE Hardware. we sauntered ( was too hot to walk) inside and started perusing the wares. ( mind you, I'm still working it all out )
Ah, a FEMA tarp ( blue of course ) hmm, oh look, 3/4" EPDM conduit, 2 sections should do it ( 10ft ea) and....ah yeah, there it is, 100ft of poly rope, and about a dozen rubber bungees ( flat bed straps ) approx $30 later we're headed to the camp ground at Oregon Inlet.
Holly is looking at me and shaking her head the whole time as I work it all out,
from the outside, it looks basic and simple, ( and it is ) but it took some configuring to make it work.
I bring you the 1996 '87 Toyota HiLux FEMA Special, our first "popup" camper
after I'd got it all tied and strapped down, we realized, oh, we don't have any food or drinks..... and the only place close was the rather expensive Oregon Inlet Marina across the hiway......
So we jumped in the truck, tent and all and hauled our new camper back up to NagsHead for forage for food and drink a foam cooler and a throw away camera.
Again, she just looked at me, I was buying all kinds of stuff. Aluminum foil pans, a bag of charcoal, a tube of biscuits, sausage, eggs, ice, and microwave popcorn. She was VERY confused now......![[:D]](/smileys/smile_big.gif "Big Smile [:D]")
we drove it all back down Highway 12 AT the speed limit !! with a LOT of strange looks and reclaimed our campsite
sun was finally going down and it was cooling off so it was getting more comfortable out ( my truck only had 3-55 AC and a sunroof )
The only blanket we had was the old full size sleeping bag I'd had when I was a kid......and a bed sheet. no pillows.
made dinner had a few drinks, then I got out the microwave popcorn....... ( this is where she was REALLY looking at me funny )
guess what is in those little pouches ? YUP, oil and corn in a puck. remember the foil pans ? and we had some cheap steaks for dinner, cooked on the campsite grill. so the charcoal was still hot.![[;)]](/smileys/smile_wink.gif "Wink [;)]")
There you have it.
Burned it a little, but a nice snack to end the day.
in the morning, after very little sleep battling the mosquitos ( the cover is also a nice wind break, so the Skeeters have a dead zone to feed on the bait... US ) We commenced making breakfast, reusing the foil pans, cooked up the sausage, scrambled in the eggs and set them aside.
Now I grabbed the tube of biscuits and laid them in the yet unused foils pans ( I bought 4 ) set the charcoal up under and on top, and baked the biscuits. burned most of them, but hey, it's still food right ?
we were fed and ready for the day..... and a great day it was.![[CP]](/smileys/smile_camping.gif "Camping [CP]")
The moral of all this, some times you do what you have to do, no matter what someone else may think.
I'll take "Ghetto Fab" over not doing anything every time.
SO, what have ya got or done that you thought was a pretty darn good idea and worked WELL, but someone else may have just laughed hysterically at ?
Having seen the mod, I thought it to be very resourceful and actually somewhat inspiring THEY ( I will not say he or she to protect identity and their supposed embarrassment
) thought it was a contrived "redneck" get it done mod that shouldn't have any merit. I'm betting others have done similar ( if not the same ) "mods" or improvements and thought nothing of it.
This person pretty much DARED me to post the pictures of my (now) wife and I's FIRST camping adventure and the " Ghetto Fab" tent that made it all possible.
The Story
July 4th 1996, we had been in NC about 3.5 months, we knew NOBODY, save for the people we worked with, and being a holiday weekend had nothing better than to road trip to the Outer Banks of NC ( 4hour drive one way ).
It was supposed to be a day trip, but we enjoyed ourselves so much, it also being our first time ever to the ocean ( we're from the Midwest )
I asked my sweetie ( Holly ) if she wanted to stay the night..." Where ? " was the reply....
I pondered this for a few, realized being a holiday week, there would be NO rooms available that we could afford, I contrived a plan. It had been years since I had gone camping of any sort.
She just looked at me as we drove into Manteo, just a confused look...... and we pulled in to the parking lot of an ACOE Hardware. we sauntered ( was too hot to walk) inside and started perusing the wares. ( mind you, I'm still working it all out )
Ah, a FEMA tarp ( blue of course ) hmm, oh look, 3/4" EPDM conduit, 2 sections should do it ( 10ft ea) and....ah yeah, there it is, 100ft of poly rope, and about a dozen rubber bungees ( flat bed straps ) approx $30 later we're headed to the camp ground at Oregon Inlet.
Holly is looking at me and shaking her head the whole time as I work it all out,
from the outside, it looks basic and simple, ( and it is ) but it took some configuring to make it work.
I bring you the 1996 '87 Toyota HiLux FEMA Special, our first "popup" camper
after I'd got it all tied and strapped down, we realized, oh, we don't have any food or drinks..... and the only place close was the rather expensive Oregon Inlet Marina across the hiway......
So we jumped in the truck, tent and all and hauled our new camper back up to NagsHead for forage for food and drink a foam cooler and a throw away camera.
Again, she just looked at me, I was buying all kinds of stuff. Aluminum foil pans, a bag of charcoal, a tube of biscuits, sausage, eggs, ice, and microwave popcorn. She was VERY confused now......
we drove it all back down Highway 12 AT the speed limit !! with a LOT of strange looks and reclaimed our campsite
sun was finally going down and it was cooling off so it was getting more comfortable out ( my truck only had 3-55 AC and a sunroof )
The only blanket we had was the old full size sleeping bag I'd had when I was a kid......and a bed sheet. no pillows.
made dinner had a few drinks, then I got out the microwave popcorn....... ( this is where she was REALLY looking at me funny )
guess what is in those little pouches ? YUP, oil and corn in a puck. remember the foil pans ? and we had some cheap steaks for dinner, cooked on the campsite grill. so the charcoal was still hot.
There you have it. Burned it a little, but a nice snack to end the day.
in the morning, after very little sleep battling the mosquitos ( the cover is also a nice wind break, so the Skeeters have a dead zone to feed on the bait... US ) We commenced making breakfast, reusing the foil pans, cooked up the sausage, scrambled in the eggs and set them aside.
Now I grabbed the tube of biscuits and laid them in the yet unused foils pans ( I bought 4 ) set the charcoal up under and on top, and baked the biscuits. burned most of them, but hey, it's still food right ?
we were fed and ready for the day..... and a great day it was.
The moral of all this, some times you do what you have to do, no matter what someone else may think.
I'll take "Ghetto Fab" over not doing anything every time.
SO, what have ya got or done that you thought was a pretty darn good idea and worked WELL, but someone else may have just laughed hysterically at ?
![[LOL]](/smileys/smile_lol.gif "Laugh Out Loud [LOL]")
