Florida Tips

[Spanky1]

I will be in Florida during the month of August (from NJ) and was looking for any tips on hot weather camping, insect control, etc. I know, who goes to Florida in August? We recently purchased 10 acres and I have a lot of brush and fenceline clearing to do and thats when im off from work since its summer break for school.
I have a fairly good shaded site but have never been in one place for more than a week, or in the heat of summer there.

[mike837go]

From someone who participated in a July 4 fireworks shoot on Siesta Key:


WATER! Stay hydrated.
Hat! Big brim.
Sunglasses. Large lenses.
Sunscreen!
Or long cotton sleeves and loose-fitting jeans. Long sleeves and jeans are a must against brush and brambles.
DEET to keep the flying pests away. Re-re-re-apply as needed.


If you are in an area with ANY standing water, watch for gators!

[Mustang65]

What part of Florida? Do you have electric or are you going to be using a generator? If you will be using a generator, is it's capacity enough to run the AC?

You will want to have a 24" high output fan, for sitting outside under the awning at night along with the mosquitoes. Lots of mosquito spray (Off). Get a screen enclosure for your awning area.

Make sure you seal all your openings under the TT with foam spray or you will more than likely have little critter visitors. Palmetto bugs (cockroaches in the other part of the USA) are living a nice life down in FL. Also, foam all the openings around any pipes or wires that go through the floor (under cabinets....) Lots of ant powder to spread on all the stabilizers at the ground, any part that touches the ground. Get the bug screens for your outside refrigerator vents, your outside hot water heater vent and your outside furnace vent, or you will have visitors. Do this before going to FL.

Inside, pick up a few oscillating fans to put on the counters to circulate the air, which will help keep the AC from running ALL the time. Odds are you will not be able to sleep at night with the windows open, around us (Clearwater area) the temp nosedives from mid 90's to 80-85 at night.

If you hear thunder, no matter how far away it is, drop what you are doing and head inside.

LOTS OF ICE COLD BEER!!!

Don

[wags999]

Originally Posted by Mustang65

What part of Florida? Do you have electric or are you going to be using a generator? If you will be using a generator, is it's capacity enough to run the AC?

You will want to have a 24" high output fan, for sitting outside under the awning at night along with the mosquitoes. Lots of mosquito spray (Off). Get a screen enclosure for your awning area.

Make sure you seal all your openings under the TT with foam spray or you will more than likely have little critter visitors. Palmetto bugs (cockroaches in the other part of the USA) are living a nice life down in FL. Also, foam all the openings around any pipes or wires that go through the floor (under cabinets....) Lots of ant powder to spread on all the stabilizers at the ground, any part that touches the ground. Get the bug screens for your outside refrigerator vents, your outside hot water heater vent and your outside furnace vent, or you will have visitors. Do this before going to FL.

Inside, pick up a few oscillating fans to put on the counters to circulate the air, which will help keep the AC from running ALL the time. Odds are you will not be able to sleep at night with the windows open, around us (Clearwater area) the temp nosedives from mid 90's to 80-85 at night.

If you hear thunder, no matter how far away it is, drop what you are doing and head inside.

LOTS OF ICE COLD BEER!!!

Don

Sounds like paradise ! LOL

[citgodan]

I live in central Fl and have been all over the state camping in my tt. You will want "skin so soft" from avon. This is the only known stuff to keep noseeums (no-see-ums) off of you. Skin so soft works for mosquitoes also!! Not sure if you have them in your part of the country, but these are tiny bugs that bite and are barely visible. deep woods, off, etc... will do zero against these guys!!

Noseeums are a hit or miss - not all areas have them.

A fan will be wise if you plan to stay outside at any time. The humidity is very high during the summer here. If you can park in the shade that is a plus!! If you ever leave your camper during the day it is wise to bring in your awning, we have a lot of summer time showers/thunder storms during the heat of the day and high winds can pop up at any time.