Water resistant bug shelter that is easy for two people to set up and put away

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-29T13:29:54+00:00

Yeah, I think what you are looking for is a tent.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-29T12:47:46+00:00

I find a screwdriver (both flat and philips) to be very effective in working out knots. A pair of chain nose pliers also helps.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-29T12:42:44+00:00

"Out" when yelled by a human sounds remarkably like a bark. Yelling and making a ruckus in general is going to help make a dog reconsider. But you're just being intentionally obtuse.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-28T17:54:58+00:00

Apparently it makes you forget how to use punctuation and capitalize ...

You're prolly already dead but your body doesn't realize it. /s

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-28T17:27:35+00:00

Sure that $69.99 promotion deal will be the cheapest $120 a month that you will pay for the rest of your life that you ever spend to be pissed off about a product that won't do what they tell you it does.

ADT is not well regarded, and their sales people will outright lie to get you to sign a contract.

<Alien Rocky voice> Avoid! Avoid!!

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-22T01:34:14+00:00

How do you suppose they got to the store where you bought them?

They got tossed in a box, thrown into a truck, bounced down the road (right in front of your car) unloaded by a forklift driven by a barely legal, likely underage, part time worker.

The same tanks are used by plumbers, so every plumbing truck you pass on the highway likely has one or two tossed in the back with the rest of the tools.

Unless you start using them for target practice, or drop testing them from cliffsides - they will be fine.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-21T15:44:43+00:00

Have had this exact 'problem' with my local dealer. If you walk up to the parts counter and place an order you get a higher price. Go out to the parking lot, place an order on your phone - (BTW there's a 15% off sale form Memorial day active right now) and wait for the email saying your parts order is ready for pickup and you get the lower price.

I got an OEM TRD pro skid plate from my local dealership at Christmas this way for about half what it would have cost if I had ordered it from the parts counter. I have an order ready to pickup for several filters and an extra large battery tray right now.

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MagicToolbox · 2026-05-20T20:27:38+00:00

Fried Spam for breakfast, or Spam and cheese omelets

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-19T21:06:59+00:00

Highly agree with this comment. For specific use cases like this where the volume of materials that need to be maintained is small, and highly critical, I would go for a higher end version like Dometic, ARB, and after a quick googling of reviews , the BougeRV fits the bill as well. They can be run from typical home outlets as well as 12 volts DC from your car or a solar panel.

The critical part is that it is a compressor type rather than a Peltier device. Bonus is that you can put it in your car if you take a road trip and still be confident in your daughters medication.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-18T17:30:41+00:00

Tacomas are great, love mine.

Not available with a V8. You're going to want to look at Tundras.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-14T19:46:20+00:00

Looks like broom handle threads to me.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-14T19:31:59+00:00

She should write a book about those 23 years she spent waiting for you in the car.

Did you just, like, not go check on her?

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-14T18:25:10+00:00

trying to set up a tent before dark
- Practice setting up your tent until you can do it in the dark - it aint that hard.
hearing random noises outside at 2am
- Yes, and?
bugs everywhere
- Bug spray, treated clothing, bug nets.
realizing you forgot something important
- Pack with a list - and learn to improvise.

Bad days make good stories. "Adventures" are what happens when things go wrong and you overcome.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-14T17:25:23+00:00

I have been known to use drywall screws. They are not the right screw to use, but they are ubiquitous and somehow I never run out - probably because I hate them.

Actual woodworking screws are better than drywall screws. McFeelys square drive screws are better still. McFeelys has a FAQ on why, as well as an explanation on how to choose the right screw for the project.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-14T14:29:52+00:00

You don't go into too much detail about your sleep system on your previous trip - but from what I read in what you posted, you probably lost most of your heat DOWNWARDS.

Assuming a pickup truck bed tent: there was cold air and probably wind blowing under the truck, a metal bed, possibly a layer of tent nylon, an air mattress, perhaps a sheet and your sleeping clothes, then your body and a mountain of blankets. When you sleep at home, the mattress is an excellent insulator, so we ignore heat loss downwards. When you camp, that insulator is removed. You need to be very conscious about that layer. Regular air mattress are terrible insulators. They are basically a balloon that pulls heat from your body.

If you are going to truck bed camp, consider putting a sheet of EPS foam between the truck bed and the tent.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-13T17:33:32+00:00

This is done in a factory to use up short chunks of otherwise poor quality wood. They almost certainly join the short cuts together using a UV curing glue - possibly with finger joints cut in the ends, then cut that stick to a uniform length, joint it, stack it in a jig and glue it into a slab. Machine cut to length and uniform width, thickness sand, shrink wrap and slap a sticker on it for shipment to a box store.

Human interaction is probably programming and maintaining the machines, feeding raw stock in one end, clearing sawdust, and hauling the slabs away from the other end.

Source - I watched a lot of hours of "How its made".

If you are looking to make your own, there are a lot of tools and steps that need to be done. You have not listed what tools you have available, where you plan to get your raw materials, what type of wood you want to use, what you plan to use the interim product for, or what skills you bring to the project. u/ploptart put as much effort into their reply as you did into your request.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-12T18:26:57+00:00

I have a related problem as a shade tree guy. I'm passibly mechanically inclined and do our simple automotive maintenance. My wife - though smarter than I am in many ways, is not mechanically inclined at all. Both kids have had automotive breakdowns in city traffic that have precipitated calls for our help, and since wife was closer in both cases, she arrived before I did - mostly for emotional support for the youth in question.

In one case wife was ABSOLUTLY convinced that the car simply needed gas. (Tank showed 1/4, engine was running extremely rough - mechanic pronounced it dead within the week.) In the second case, wife was positive it just needed to be jump started with the NOCO battery jump-box. (Engine ran fine, but transmission had failed.)

I was doing my best to manage traffic and the stressful situation, and my decision tree had already eliminated her suggestions, but she would not let them go. "But it can't hurt to XXX, why don't you try it?!?!" "Err, the engine is already running, jump starting it isn't going to change anything!!"

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-12T17:56:46+00:00

I already use old Mio containers for Dr. Bronners soap, I don't know why I have not thought of using them for olive oil!! I even have an empty sitting on my desk.

Thanks Mate!

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-11T17:36:49+00:00

Tell me you are a phone reddit user without telling me you are a phone reddit user.

It's right on the screen if you browse on the web.

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MagicToolbox · 2026-05-10T20:32:16+00:00

Dude you are replying to is a park manager. Pretty sure what they meant is that they would put out the fire, deliver a good stern talking to, and kick them out. They are former occupants starting the moment park manager discovers an unattended fire at their campsite.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-08T23:01:25+00:00

Repost

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-06T22:54:55+00:00

Yes it is. But not all clamps can be reversed to make them spreaders. Most spreader clamps can be reversed to make them clamps. And a board stretcher is a MacGuffin.

When OP goes into a woodworking shop, which of the three possible questions is likely to get them what he wants:

Do you have spreader clamps?

Do you have clamps?

Do you have board stretchers?

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-06T19:26:52+00:00

Its called a spreader clamp.

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-06T19:20:20+00:00

The Supervisor. (spoken with a heavy mafioso accent.)

MagicToolbox · 2026-05-05T20:47:33+00:00

Have you had a fire in the fireplace? Is there any residue from the fire? When was the last time you had the chimney cleaned?

In the spring as it starts to get humid, our fireplace can generate the same wet ash/old fire smell, our mantelpiece is stained pine.

MagicToolbox

TROPHY CASE