Simple Easy (Walmart Camping) Privacy Curtains for Your Car!

From time to time I find myself sleeping in truck stops, rest areas and Walmart parking lots.
one thing I've always disliked is the lack of privacy while sleeping in my car. I've woken up to people staring at me while I sleep and that's creepy!
I devised a simple system that is not permanent and really easy to set up

All you need


A bunch of small or medium sized binder clips
 a couple blankets or sheets 

Step 1: Two Ways!

There are two ways to do this. I found that i like the clip mouth facing up because it seems to me that it might be more friendly to the headliner. As shown, all you do it place one of the wire handles between your car's interior trim and the headliner!

Step 2: Difficult Places and Spacing

there are some places that the clip ends won't fit in. you may have to space the clips further apart.
If the trim on the interior of your car is held on by screws you can also fasten the binderclips with those screws.

Step 3: Good and Better

the large clips are a little unwieldy, however if they are all you have they will work fine. also with the mouth of the clip upwards i found that the clips hold the sheet better and don't rub on the headliner so much

Step 4: Clip Up Your Blanket!

it's as simple as that! once you have your clips up you can hang your blanket!
you can leave the clips in place or do as I do and store  them in the unused  ashtray.

Step 5: Tada!

Sleep in comfort and privacy!
I use a standard windshield cover for the front window.

Comments

[anegrete]

NICE!!

[SunilN19]

Have you fellas every tried the bungie-cord and the binder clips , give it a go , easier , cheaper AND lighter than Magnets , just use your imagination , Wonder-Works , Cheers , Love you all ... :)

[BriannaV2]

I'm using bungee cords and plain old fashion cheap clothespins. . . (at least for now)

[josh]

ahh that sounds like a brilliant plan! I'll try it!

[AislingP]

What a great tip! Thanks! I struggled with velcro - I was able to keep the velcro on the curtains using fabric glue, but it never stayed attached to the van's fabric for very long. I also tried sticking in metal hardware staples, which did work but fell out easily if you moved the fabric even a little. I came across your post, and the medium sized binder clips are working great, even with the heavier fabric of my curtains. Thanks a bunch!!!

[JesaKillah]

What's wrong with watching ppl while they sleep? Lol

[SunilN19]

Simply, you are not human , thats it . Don't do that to any one, just be good human..... :)

[WendyK16]

Where do you stay? I would think cops would coming knocking to tell you to go home or get a room lol! Capitalism sucks! I guess we could take a chance at somewhere like that or a rest area? I've wanted to do this at a park but feared the Rangers or cops would tell me to move lol!

[Dr.Bill]

I know of thousands that use WalMart parking lots all over the country with no problems. They also camp on BLM lands with no problems and as a matter of fact they camping on BLM lands as of this date in Quartzsite, AZ. A million campers converge on the town all winter and then move on. Think you can do that in a Non-Capitalist Country? Do your homework and find the BLM Lands and then you have no FEAR of Rangers or Cops. Just be nice and they will let you stay and even let you know if you can be there for two weeks at a time. Then drive 30 minutes and do it again! and again. and again. It's Called Freedom~

[pholmes350]

Whats that got to do with capitalism?

[CherylL95]

What does that have to do with capitalism? Ask Senator Bernie Sanders. Independent senator from Vermont who will explain that the other 98% of Americans who think capitalism serves them and and has their best interests in mind are actually getting screwed by the system . Many of us cannot afford a place to live or simply do not want to stand in the breadline in order to be able to pay rent, which includes those of us on Social Security Disability as well as people working at places such as Walmart. something which is even more true of people in the LGBT community. Many of us awesome preferring to live in state where we will have the basic rights all human beings should have in America, for example, California, which also has the warm weather that doesn't require one to have a hot and toasty apartment. Unlike Buffalo, New York, for example where it snows five months out of the year if not 6 months. In case you don't believe me just ask somebody from Denmark whether or not the United States is the greatest country and don't be surprised if they tell you it is not.

[Dr.Bill]

Bernie Sanders Lost! HA HA

[Dr.Bill]

America The Beautiful is a place you have the right to not live in a house. I know of thousands of people that live in their cars BY CHOICE. Go try that in a communist country. OR better yet go move to Denmark or any other country and see how you fair. Think you getting Screwed here in America? Then by all means go live in another country and quit stinking up My Country.

[WendyK16]

Because the man wants you to stay somewhere that costs $$ lol!

[CherylL95]

So far I have tried using Gorilla Glue which did not work because it does not stick to fabric. The plan being to first attach the velcro to the inside of my car, which has fabric instead of a hard plastic interior which would make it easier. I didn't use the Crazy Glue Style of Gorilla Glue but the indoor outdoor stuff you get at Walmart where I am hole-ing up for the night. I'm homeless SSD / SSI I'm having arrived in Chico, California a couple of weeks ago, and just one of about 10% of this city that lives in their vehicles and moves from parking lot to parking lot. Chico police leaving you alone as long as you don't cause trouble and you're not in a residential neighborhood. It's a Neo - hippie college town, as such, it's full of homeless skateboarders and others typical of the northern California scene or West Coast altogether. The downside? That includes tweakers. Another West Coast issue altogether they often make it difficult for the rest of us.

[CarsonB9]

That was unnecessarily rude.

[madbee123]

great idea i also like the added magnet idea

[WaywardBen]

I am planning a road trip in about 5 months in my little ol' 3cyl Geo
Metro and want to save gas money vs my old 10mpg hwy motorhome (it's
going to be about a 4800 mile round trip) by parking overnight at truck
stops and such places when I can. KOAs are expensive as are motels. Gov
campgrounds are more reasonable usually, but often they are far off of
the interstate so you end up driving 30 miles out of the way. I have
been tossing ideas in my mind about how to put up curtains in my car
which is how I came upon this. Your idea isn't bad if you have the
supplies alright lying around, but not so great if you have to go out and buy the clips.

The main thought I've had is to
use velcro to stick up and take down curtains. I can find an old dark
color sheet at a thrift store and cut it down into smaller pieces for
putting up as curtains in the car when I stop for the night. Dark is
better than light because it doesn't stand out as badly from a distance
at night. Plus I already have a big roll of self-sick velcro. I can
easily sew one side of it to the fabric of my choice to keep it on and
the other side will stick to the hard plastic trim in the car. Less muss
and fuss than with the clips. reaching back and dropping clips on the
floor etc.

Some might not want bits of velcro stuck up in their car when they aren't on a trip, though.

You can get some half-way privacy cheap car curtains on ebay from China for under $4/set that uses suction cups but then you end up with smudgy windows and the suction cups might come loose in the night.

[waynemanor]

I really like this idea. I added one thing to make it a quicker put up and take down: Magnets. I added one of those super strong rare earth magnets to each clip, so that all you have to is slide the magnet off, put the edge of the sheet in front of the clip and then put the magnet back over it. This way you don't have to fumble with insterting the sheet into each clip, and you can just yank the sheet down when you're ready to go. The magnets will stay with the clips. I found this works really well on longer trips when you'd leave the clips in place. I also attached with double sided tape, a couple of large washers to the back corners of the rear "dashboard" so that the sheet covers the rear window really well

[josh]

Brilliant! I'm going to stop by the shop and get some little magnets tonight!