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.
dogbox said
02:11 PM May 11, 2021
usually referred to as a go-bag, ready for any emergency / contingency plan
-- Edited by dogbox on Tuesday 11th of May 2021 02:15:02 PM
The curtain rod is normally 50mm diameter. That'll give an idea of the size of the spider!
Murray
tea spoon said
04:04 PM May 11, 2021
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
Gary and Barb said
04:23 PM May 11, 2021
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!
bgt said
04:27 PM May 11, 2021
One of life's calculated risks. Parking under a tree once saved us in a bad hail storm.
Whenarewethere said
04:28 PM May 11, 2021
We make should there is no wood around our camp site!
C'mon bgt that thing requires a direct hit from a 12ga, bit hard on the wall the huntsman is hanging on to but what the heck, job done.
yobarr said
05:29 PM May 11, 2021
Whenarewethere wrote:
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
Craig1 said
05:29 PM May 11, 2021
Where are you putting the dunny door key mate?
oldbloke said
05:44 PM May 11, 2021
Just wear PJs. And wait for the emergency services.
Yes, there is risks in life. Been a big part of my life working with risks. But some worry too much.
Tell me, how many times a year this happens in AU?
e.g two people a year die from snake bite and huge amount of worry generated about snake bites.
wasn_me said
06:01 PM May 11, 2021
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
yobarr said
07:33 PM May 11, 2021
Craig1 wrote:
Where are you putting the dunny door key mate?
Sorry Craig can't be saying cos we don't want you ending up in the spit.Cheers
Tony LEE said
07:55 PM May 11, 2021
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.
landy said
09:49 PM May 11, 2021
Probably safer under a gum tree than on our roads.
Mike Harding said
08:10 AM May 12, 2021
Tony LEE wrote:
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.
bgt said
08:35 AM May 12, 2021
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?
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.
-- Edited by dogbox on Tuesday 11th of May 2021 02:15:02 PM
Could be worse!
Murray
It's fundamental: always check above before you camp...
...or just don't camp!
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
Yes, there is risks in life. Been a big part of my life working with risks. But some worry too much.
Tell me, how many times a year this happens in AU?
e.g two people a year die from snake bite and huge amount of worry generated about snake bites.
Sorry Craig can't be saying cos we don't want you ending up in the spit.Cheers
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.
So what's the answer? Stay at home and suffer natures wrath there?