Generators?

[Deadknight]

My wife and I are going to be spending our first time camping at TRF this year and we were wondering if bringing a generator is "acceptable." Both of us get hot when we sleep and neither of us will sleep at all when this happens. I wasn't sure if bringing a generator would be a good idea because of the noise at night and the fumes. I would appreciate anyones opinion on this topic. Thanks!

[KeeperoftheBar]

As far as I know, generators are allowed everywhere, except possibly up in the quiet family area.  That said, personally I hate, hate ,hate generators.  They are noisy, smelly and generally detract from the enjoyment for everyone not hooked up to it.
Why not try a battery powered fan?  Or do as some other people and get so drunk you pass out in the port-a-john.
Okay - off soapbox now.

[Deadknight]

Battery powered fan sounds good. Plus with the cost of gas it will probably be cheaper. Does anyone have suggestions on tent size? I saw several pavilion size tents that are 14 x 10 and 12 x 9. If I brought a tent that size would I even have somewhere to put it or are the trees to close together? Thanks for the suggestions and help!

[Bonny Pearl]

Keeper is correct, generators are allowed.  We bring our travel trailer and we invested in a quiet generator.  They are higher in price but smaller in size and the noise it puts out is a very low hum.

What part of the season are you planning to camp?  Early October or after Hallows?  The weather can get VERY COLD & WET during the night out there.  It's Houston, so you never know what to expect until that week really.

As far as tent size.  There are a lot of areas that are clear.  You shouldn't have a problem with that.  You could even set up two tents, one for sleeping and the other for a shower and dressing.

[dragongirl]

I have a 10Ft X 10FT X 15Ft wedge tent and my friend and I each use one fan by our beds.  Now I strongly recommend getting a canvas tent.  I tried camping with a tent from Walmart and the roof was for looks only, it served no purpose when trying to keep the rain out. 

Just a FYI, Cabelas sells a tent A/C unit that runs on batteries.  I can't personally recommend it because I've never actually seen it used but that also might be an option.

[dfloyd888]

I'm looking at a generator myself.  The caveat is that yes, you can spend a couple hundred and get a 5000+ watt generator.  However, it will be LOUD (as in Harley with no muffler loud), and annoy everyone around.

If you want a decent generator that is for camping, and that is decently quiet, you will be paying substantially more.  However, Honda and Yamaha generators last a long time, and if you follow the directions for storage, need relatively little care.  The big part is running them every month or so, and making sure you put some gasoline stabilizer in the tank before storage.

As an alternative to a generator, if the electrical load is small, Duracell sells a device called a Powerpack, which essentially are some batteries plus an inverter.  Charge it at home, bring it with you to the campsite, and use it to power a decent box fan.  The advantage of this is that it is completely silent, and gets the job done.