Truck Camping in DEATH VALLEY during summer with AIR CONDITIONING! HOT! 126F 52C
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- I finally made it out truck camping and the opportunity to make a new video! Using my air conditioner setup in the back of the truck allowed me to camp comfortably in the hottest place on earth in July, Death Valley National park in California. With temps as high as 126 degrees, the A/C did its job and kept my truck plenty cool. A scenic and cool place to visit, even when it's hot!
My in depth truck camping A/C setup video:
• DIY Air Conditioner se...
Disclaimer Death Valley in the summer is not a place to take lightly. The heat can literally kill you without plenty of water and over exertion. Please explore safely and responsibly. Take proper precautions, plan ahead, and always have a backup plan. Outside of that, it's a gorgeous and unique place to visit - even during summer.
At my age there is no way I could survive those temperatures for more than an hour. I can't believe you WALKED to and from the visitors center in that heat. I would have had a heat stroke. lol Your efforts and dedication has not gone unnoticed or appreciated. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!!
Hello from WI. Going outside when it’s -20 isn’t a big deal. But we don’t do much outside here when it hits 90. Hell, 75 is warm enough. There’s no way I could do what you’re doing there in that mess. So thanks for standing out there.
It was the least fun of all the video camping trips I've made. Just too hot to really do much of anything and if it weren't for the A/C, this would literally be almost impossible. Thanks for watching!
the amount of times you said "it was..is HOT " epic..lol..stay safe
Dude appreciate your time and effort. Thats crazy temperature ,could tell you were suffering slightly but like a good man you soldiered on.
Cheers from New Zealand
Thanks for watching! Would love to see New Zealand one day. Safe travels
Good job brother,you proved a big point.great set for box airco in tailgate,simple secure and it works no probs.generator is the go,i,m going that way,no solar ,2 gensets,backup 1kw,and main 3.0kw,invert.saw your airco construct video ,then looked you up on youtube,about to check out your other stuff,very interesting practical to the point i like the basic simplicitg of it all,no frills keep it simple and real.thanks look forward to following you ,thanks,stay well.respect.from australia perth.
Nice work. I live in Redding Ca where we regularly see triple digit temps this time of year. We've seen 112/113 so far this summer but thank goodness nothing like 126! You certainly go out of your way to prove your point, kudos to ya!
It was part of a road trip, probably not a great time to visit but I can say I experienced it. I live in Boise, it's been really hot here this summer too. I think 21 days over 100.
Thanks for watching!
@@Outside605 Not many can say they've done Death Valley in the summer. You da boss!
Just found your channel and have enjoyed the content. I actually started truck camping in a 1968 El Camino when I was a much younger man and have fond memories of those days. Keep up the good work.
That's awesome. Thanks for the kind words!
Thank you for making that 10 hour haul to bring us this video. I enjoyed it!! Point proven; cheap window unit makes it possible. Looking forward to setting my truck up and getting out there!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Andy, been watching your videos on your AC set up since I will be doing the same with my '02 Tundra I use when I am hunting the Sonoran Desert. I haven't felt 126 but regularly endure 115-120 each September when I'm dove hunting and camping and know that feeling of total exhaustion. Setting up a large camp in heat like that is dangerous and people don't really understand when I explain it to them. I don't like to stay in hotels, I'd rather be out in the thick of it and wake up in nature. I can't wait to fabricate my setup and take my summer camping to the next level. I enjoy your content so far and appreciate your hard work and presentation (everything is nice and tidy). I know how hard it is to produce consistently, lol. I know how hard it is to get the subs and will gladly subscribe since we have the same passions. Thanks again, and I look forward to even more camping adventures!
Thanks bud! I'm older but this gives me confidence I could do 90-95 here in NC.
You can do it!
remember, here on the east coast's mid Atlantic region, 95 degrees feels awful with 100% humidity. Ive been to Death Valley when it was 130. There's no humidity and the heat is much more bearable than the swampy East Coast. I'd camp in summer in the desert before I camp in summer in the Carolinas.
@@jasontheron7655 I hear ya on that.I live in the triad.2 hrs to mountains.3.5 to the beach.In the summer the mountains are nice and cool. But probably not much chance of free camping like in the west. But reasonable
Great stuff! Thanks for sacrificing your body! You proved you can camp in the summer with an AC & power hookup! I’ve looked into the portable ac’s with a solar battery, but that’s not feasible just yet! Let us see the AC build. Thanks again!
I'll have a video of the actual build up this week hopefully. I had intended to film that while I was in Death Valley but it was just too hot. Thanks for watching and safe travels.
48 degrees difference is huge.
I camp in the dead of winter quite often and I am always the only soul in the whole park!
Sometimes it's nice to have empty campgrounds. Lately it's tough just finding an open site in areas close to home. Thanks for watching!
More on your ac setup please
That's why I was in Fishtail, MT during the summer. 75 degrees everyday. And big penalty for putting katchup on a brat. Mustard only!
HAHA. Yeah ketchup and spicy mustard. My thing for a brat but I get it.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for making the video definitely interesting to watch.I want to get down there one of these days to experience the heat.I have been in 113 degrees I definitely want to experience 120s someday.
It's definitely something unique. Plenty of cool things to see down there as long as you're playing it safe. Bring water, a way to escape the heat, and it's doable during the heat of summer. Just be careful.
Thanks for watching!
If you dressed for that heat, it wouldn’t be as bad. Skin exposure is a big no no
Your living my dream.
I just wish I had more free time to be out creating videos. Work is taking up much of my free time these days. Thanks for watching!
Very nice video, Andy.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words.
It probably has something to do with the temperature...
Good video Andy!!
Thanks 👍
We live in Coachella valley which is just one click cooler than Death Valley. Our high last year was 122.. Anyway Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio have those temps... Yeah its fun to go outside with an IR gun and see the asphalt hit 175 :)
That heat is something else. I'm guessing you get use to it when living nearby. That said, I bet it's beautiful during the winter months. Thanks for watching and stay cool!
Nice set up!
Thank you!
Omg dude idk how you did this lol but I respect it
Haha it was an adventure for sure.
Brother you the Man. I saw the first part and seeing you video this part 2. I'm gad to see you put it to practice.
I'm a retired Army and know how Hot Deserts can get.
Thanks for watching and more importantly, thanks for your service
I’ve wondered if one of those portable ac units would work inside the camper and run off solar power 🤔
Possibly. With enough time and creativity, almost anything is doable.
The moment a Dakota boy plays in the heat 😂
It was hot for sure. Hanging out in the A/C was fantastic though. Beautiful place.
We hit 114 last July in Sacramento. Those are the days where I’m off the water by noon. That heat just sucks up all of your energy
It's pretty tough to really enjoy being in hot weather. 114 is no cake walk either. Stay cool and thanks for watching!
The danger of being in that kind of heat is that it does not matter how much water you drink, because you're body can only absorb water so fast, and at those temps, not fast enough to replenish the water that is evaporating off your skin. Every year people who break down in their vehicles die while trying to walk for help. If you have a working cell phone, the best thing is to call for help, and relax as much as possible in whatever shade is available, under your vehicle if necessary, and pray they get to you before you're organs begin to shut down from lack of moisture, or you suffer heat stroke. Naturally, if you have water, drink sparingly as drinking too fast water not able to absorb into you're body will simply evaporate away and be wasted. It is shocking just how fast those temps will kill you. If you try to walk out along an asphalt roadway, the temps on or near the road can exceed ambient temps by 20 degrees F. If you are wearing sneakers, your sneakers will literally melt. You can die in less than thirty minutes. Note: It is a really good idea to carry an emergency Sat. device that will send out GPS coordinates when traveling through or camping in such extreme conditions where cell phone coverage is spotty or unavailable.
Nah people have been surviving without AC for 1000s of years, most today are wussies.
@@Jeff-xt7xs true, most of us are accustomed to indoor ACs, but actually air cooling techniques systems have existed for a while. And while we can become more accustomed to the heat, there is a reason why humans tried to find ways to cool themselves down, and there is also a reason why extreme places such as Death Valley have hardly been historically uninhabited. If you look at ancient middle eastern structures, they formed vents in a way that let in cold air and let out hot air. Adobe houses were made out of mud, a cool material that absorbs and helps cool a home. There are many other examples, check em out
Plug in a fan and point it at the generator to help cool it down.
Luckily I didn’t have any trouble with the generator getting hot on this trip.
Thanks for watching!
Just found your channel and subscribed. Not sure if you've seen them but I am fond of three other great camping channels: Camping with Steve (Wallis), ABCamping with Tony & Bruce, and Fishing with Becca, if you're interested in some stuff. Each of those 3 has a different style and they are all great. :)
First, thanks for stopping by. Much appreciated!
I do watch Steve Wallis and have for some time. He, @Mav, and @CrazyQuady are my favorites.
@@Outside605 Oh good! So sad about his wife. Seems the most awful things happen to the best people. Makes me sad and angry! :/
Great video. Perhaps you could elaborate on how you route the condensation waste water coming off the air conditioner. Or does it simply drip onto the tailgate?
Where I live out west, the humidity is extremely low during the warm months of the year so I get very little condensation. Sometimes none. When it does drip, I put a towel under the A/C on the tailgate. If I were to use this in the Midwest or the south where humidity is much higher, I'd add a small flexible hose to drain it below the tailgate. Thanks for watching.
I think if you used an iron skillet the egg would've cooked much quicker 😊 I hope you use some sunscreen because you look like you might have cooked a little bit while walking. I hope you're okay.
People used to cross the country years ago with no ac !
It can be done
We are so soft anymore
Probably not a good idea to cross the desert in summer.😊
This was done for entertainment purposes only. I would not recommend going to Death Valley in July. Thanks for watching.
ayo i have a truck build in austin texas and i can relate
Summer... haha
Thanks for watching.
come to pakistan, 52C is normal in summer
I hope people realise how dangerous these temps are! People die very fast in these triple digit temps. Just going for a walk to look around could end up giving you severe heat stroke. Recommend water intake for these conditions is something like 4 cups per person PER HOUR.
For those interested there's actually a couple of battery powered portable ac units. One made by EcoFlow and the other made by Zero Breeze. They are true air conditioners and not swamp coolers. If you were to use a battery powered ac in triple digit temps you'd certainly want an extra battery or two.
I feel like I covered that several times during the video. That said, you have valid points. Even though the campground was fairly empty (3 other rigs my last night), the park itself was very busy. Thanks for watching.
@@Outside605 you definitely did, but I hear about people dying in this heat all the time. Apparently it can't be said enough.
Absolutely. It's no place to fool around in. Have a plan and be prepared for anything. That said, it was surprisingly busy. Lots of people exploring in the mornings and evenings. There was even a guy tent camping down the way from me. Insane.
@@Outside605 that's wild! Maybe he should enter the sauna world championship. 🤣 How many btu's was that ac you were using? Was it 5500?
The A/C is a 5000 BTU GE brand Home Depot special. It was about $150. I brought a generator in addition to knowing they had electric sites as a backup plan. It (the heat) was really only bad during the middle of the day. I hiked around in the mornings and evenings which was actually pretty enjoyable. I took naps in the A/C during the heat of the day which was refreshing.
Come to Louisiana in August......
Haha, I'm sure it's plenty hot and humid. Thanks for watching.
How much hotter would the cabin get without the tent cover?
It was bad hot. That easy up tent and the little bit of shade it provided really helped the a/c cool down the truck easier.
No reason to be out in those temperatures if you don’t have to. It’s dangerous. Right now I’m working at a paper mill in northern MN. The temperature in front of the machine is 105 degrees with 65% humidity. It’s been up to 110. Even worse in some of the other areas. Brutal. Thank God for our room size booth with a regular air conditioner for refuge in between our dropping sets. We have 5 gallon water coolerator’s. One in the booth and one outside. Your constantly drinking. At those temps it’s like you can’t get enough water down but we also have Squincher which is like Gatorade.
I think one of the worst parts is when you step out of that door and the air that hits you is like a blast furnace. That’s second only to having a blowup on the winder in this heat where you have paper all over piled up and having to wrestle that stuff and get it down the pulper to clean up and restart. At that point It feels like it’s even an effort to breathe.
You are absolutely correct. Unless you have to be in harsh environments like this, find someplace cooler. I wanted to try out the A/C somewhere where it could really be put to the test to show how well it can cool the back of a truck. I planned for the heat, called ahead to make sure everything was legit (The park ranger said people camp there all summer). I was less than a mile from the busiest place in the park. Fun fact, there is also a green golf course next to the campground. People golf in the mornings and evenings so camping isn't totally taboo.
Thanks for watching and safe travels!
It's only dangerous to the couch potato and unhealthy on salt restricted diets. July is my favorite time to go. At 50 plus I've hiked in 127 degrees and I love it. Last year I met a 83 yr old couple from Oregon tracking in the triple digit. Enjoyed a long conversation with them about holistic medicine.
Why didn't you park in the shade?
During the middle of the day, there wasn't much shade. The "trees" are more like overgrown bushes. Of all of the electric sites, this is the only one that had any shade at all.
Andy! Come to Colorado
I should!!
Why are you eating outside
Excellent'e
Thank you!
Great vid....
How long was your a/c running for? What are your battery and solar panel sizes ??
Plugged in you coukd stay there all summer...... 🔥 🔥
Thanks for the vid.
The a/c only runs off shore power or a generator. It would take a lot of battery to power it more than a couple of hours. My battery is a 100ah lithium from Amazon. It will power my small 12v fridge, interior lights, and charge my devices for several days. I have a 100w solar panel as a trickle charge during the day if needed. I also have my small inverter generator with me normally as I use it to charge the trolling motor batteries in the boat. That takes care of running the a/c or topping off the battery in the truck if needed.
Death Valley's triple digit heat is only dangerous if you're unhealthy to begin with. Local tribes lived and flourished for a 1000 years in DV. Miners who worked in the region wearing thick heavy clothing did just fine in the heat. Come modern society most can't hang in 100 degrees and then complain about it. Throughout the year in the park, emergency crews haul out all kinds people even during the winter months. What I've experienced most who travel to the park go unprepared doing little to no research prior to their visit. In most of the park there's little to no cell phone service and people panic. On my travels to the park I've helped a lot of no common sense travelers.
Solid advice.
that's not a dakota.....
That is correct. I’m from South Dakota and now live in Idaho which is the channel’s namesake. Thanks for watching
You would feel a bit better if you had some better clothing to cover you from the sun. But who knows I'm just watching you in my 68f degree living room 😅
I tried to stay out of the sun as much as possible. Only time I really was out and about was early mornings and evenings.
Thanks for watching.
If you're camping in the back of a truck, you can literally go where the weather suits your clothes in 6 to 8 hours or less.
Heck yeah!
All I got to say is it's a good thing you are a man and not an egg. 🤪
Haha. Felt pretty close to it that day. Kind of a silly video but I was so close to Death Valley on a trip, I had to swing by and experience it. Thanks for watching!
Are they cool with you Plugging into power to run your AC? Or do you have to go to a designated RV parking area for that?
You just pay for a spot with power. They have several in a row.
Interesting your a trouper to gone there in July
After attempting to do Zion NP earlier this spring, I found that visiting National Parks during peak season is extremely crowded. There was zero parking available in Zion and the shuttles were always full. Death Valley isn't a place I recommend visiting during the heat of summer, but I was surprised how many people were still there. I'm guessing it would be difficult to impossible at best to get a camp spot during the cooler months. I did this video specifically to demonstrate how well the A/C works in the back of the truck. Again, it's no place to take lightly but with the proper planning and precautions, can be done.
Thanks for watching!
New sub ! Liked 🙏😘😀
Thanks and welcome! Much appreciated!
Amazaly the generator didn't overheat is there a way to cool the generator
It's air cooled, I just keep it in the shade. In the direct sun, things might be different.
Thanks for watching!
ANDY!!! What is a Idaho boy doing in California, let alone Death Valley? There is no fish there. Go up and see Brian at Cerro Gordo!
Decided to go on a drive. It was too long between making videos so I wanted to go somewhere that wasn't just your average camping trip. Funny note - the park ranger told me there are bass in the golf course pond that's right next to the campground I stayed in. I should have brought some gear...lol
Thanks for watching.
You brought a AC unit but no cast iron skillet, mind blown! Cooking on coated aluminum is disgusting. C'mon dude!
Haha
whats your wheel tire lift setup bud??
I sold that truck but if my memory is correct, 275/70/R18 Goodyear Ultra Terrains on Pro Comp wheels. 2.5" level front, 3" block rear.
@@Outside605 thanks looks sick
You don’t wear BLACK in the sun. I know this video is a year old, just some advice from someone that love the White Sands Missile Range. NM area.
Thanks!
Dang that’s HOT 🥵
Yes it was. Doubtful I'll be camping there again this summer. Thanks for watching.
Now do -60
Sounds like a plan. Let's go!
Hi whatcha up to hope all is well prayers 4 healing and unspoken also prayers 4 everyone and bless great healthy peaceful safe journeys travels and happy camping in the name of the Creator God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost Amen much honor and respect keep walking tall cool cool ac set up that's so cool and good that u had it there wow that's cool false tailgate u did great job on ac the only thing is I personally would take ur extension cord through the gate like u do the ac plug this will keep rain from getting in the ac plug and ruining it cool videos keep walking tall
🚌🌅🌌⛺🌄🏞🏖
👍👍💪🙂👍👍
Thanks for watching!
Wonderhessy is better.Larry better than this guy but I like this video and his truck camper too.
I'm def a newbie at making videos and I appreciate the view. I'll work on better content.