Sleeping in big cities

WanderLost Radical

WanderLost Radical

New member
Everyone knows how much of a bitch it is to find a good hidden place to sleep in larger cities.

Well, today I had a genius idea. How about travelling with a couple large trash bags, and when it's time to sleep, you just get inside one, and lay down next to a trash can, with your head sticking out the trash bag (duh!) But hidden from the street by the trash can.

If you wanna save heart attacks to unsuspecting pedestrians, you can also have a small sign saying something "I'm fine, just sleeping" or whatever on the side

Any thoughts? Genius or really fucking retarded?
 
WanderLost Radical said:
Everyone knows how much of a bitch it is to find a good hidden place to sleep in larger cities.

Well, today I had a genius idea. How about travelling with a couple large trash bags, and when it's time to sleep, you just get inside one, and lay down next to a trash can, with your head sticking out the trash bag (duh!) But hidden from the street by the trash can.

If you wanna save heart attacks to unsuspecting pedestrians, you can also have a small sign saying something "I'm fine, just sleeping" or whatever on the side

Any thoughts? Genius or really fucking retarded?
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It sounds stupid enough to work, or maybe it really is an amazing idea out of audacity. Doing whatever the yuppies don't expect is always genius no matter how ridiculous.
 
I think that by thinking outside of the box you must have some skills.

Too close to the street and cars will run you over (bad idea for that alone).
 
spectacular said:
Recyclers would be annoying as they tend to rip into bags to see the contents
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Dude, they'd see you head poking out of the bag...

Kim Chee said:
Too close to the street and cars will run you over (bad idea for that alone).
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Yeah, I was thinking more of alleys trashcans/dumpsters. So you only have one side visible from the street.

Basically: street/dumpster/you in a bag/your sign/rest of the alley.

The dumpster hides your head from the street, your body hides your sign from the street. Easy-peasy!
 
This sounds like a great idea.

My only hesitation is that WAAAY more often than not, homebums (and even sometimes travelers) find it quite convenient to piss/shit/vomit/fuck next to or behind dumpsters.

I know I've been guilty of some of these, and I would hate to be awoken be an unsolicited golden shower or couple of crackheads bumping uglies on top of me in the middle of the night.

:eek: ::asshat:: ::cigar:: ::fuckinginbed:: ::rage::
 
Most places in the u.s., cars have access in an alley. When you're sleeping you're pretty vulnerable. I envision some drunk driver trying to lose the cops in an alley not giving a shit about running some trash over.

Head behind an appliance store and score some huge cardboard.
 
I think a banana costume would be more effective just for the extra layer. It would also appear more organic.
 
It might work but I'd still rather spend some time walking around and finding a better spot.
 
Also what if someone gets curious about the long bag in the alley and mistakes you for a dead person
 
Kim Chee said:
I think that by thinking outside of the box you must have some skills.

Too close to the street and cars will run you over (bad idea for that alone).
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Yeah, I was gonna say that. You never know when crazies are gonna come barrelling down an alley or maintenance workers in little John Deere motorcarts....cyclists, etc. This would be perfect IF you are out of paths, sidewalks, anyplace where the careless could drop something on you, squish you, drive over you or otherwise mangle you. It WOULD be perfect in certain situations when others could not approach you easily but you want to look like a random pile of unidentifiable stuff. I use burlap for that but i usually am in heavy vegetation.
 
It's creative and ballsy, I like your style. What I worry about is how vulnerable you become to any number of chumps that see nothing wrong about fucking with homeless people. My buddy Mark lives behind a liquor store here in town, he was kicked in his gut by someone in the night and they ran off with his backpack full of dirty ass clothes. That shit happens all the time. I've known bums jacked by other bums with ball peen hammers for taking cans out of "their" dumpsters.

I'm by no means a pro at sleeping on the streets in the city but with my limited experience I tend to look for seclusion. I usually duck out in the cuts on the grounds of a library, behind some hedges. I find it's quiet there and I will startle awake if I hear much of anything. I just don't trust people, I guess that's what it comes down to for me. I don't want to give three drunken frat boys an easy punt, yanno? Too many unsafe variables, too exposed.. that's just my opinion.
 
It's pretty clear you can setup a tent and shit in front of any big chain store
 
spectacular said:
Also what if someone gets curious about the long bag in the alley and mistakes you for a dead person
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Thats what the sign is for

Eng JR Lupo RV323 said:
I'm by no means a pro at sleeping on the streets in the city but with my limited experience I tend to look for seclusion.Too many unsafe variables, too exposed.. that's just my opinion.
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Yeah, just because you're "hidden" doesnt mean you should crash behind the first dumpster on main street. Do like you'd do to find a nice bush in a smaller city, but instead, walk around to find the best trash can in the best alley of a decent neighborhood.
Ive never had any problem with civilians fucking with me. Cops actively looking for people sleeping is another story, though...
 
I don't sleep in dumpsters, but rolloff containers are another story since they can't compact you and they don't leave until the middle of the day or until full (normally).

Just make sure you block yourself from anything heavy coming in like pallets.

Can usually find good rolloffs behind a busy carpet store. Lots of great stuff inside. Watch out for razor blades.
 
Not a terrible idea, but I've tried bivvying inside a trash bag before -- don't underestimate how much condensation builds up inside. So just factor in a damp sleeping bag along with environmental factors.
 
Unfortunately sleeping inside trash bags isn't a workable idea, because science. The trash bags would become a vapor barrier, and the moisture from your skin would condense on the inside of the bags... soaking your insulation. So not only would you freeze that night 'cause wet insulation doesn't insulate very well, you'd freeze the next day when you either a) still couldn't keep warm in wet clothes or b) your wet clothes froze in sufficiently cold weather. If your moisture didn't overwhelm your insulation the first night, it would the second.
 
Business parks, highway on/off ramps, and overgrowth along the rails are the usual places.. There are alternatives, like construction sites and the odd river, but I guess if you can't afford a bus ride out of downtown and you're in a pinch, trash bags would be useful cover


Although not necessarily if it's cold out as posted above.. Maybe if you punched some holes in the top..
 
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