Life in North Dakota "Man Camps"?

I worked for 8 months last year for MBI out of the Ross yard and lived in the 8'X10' 'Olympic housing' style mancamps. I had to clean the bathroom/showers and the lunch room on a daily basis, just to be able to use them. The entire time I was there, if I did not empty the trash (large, open trash can) in the lunch room, guys would just keep throwing food and related trash in a pile on the floor. I kept my private room clean, but the rest of the place was constantly filthy.

 

I have watched a lot of videos too. The short answer is "it depends".

I've seen man camps that consisted of several guys living in a single wide trailer, to full blown dorm style campuses with recreation rooms and cafeteria's.

Personally, neither scenario looked appealing to me. I would choose Texas, and sleep in a van (or bigger) at an RV park with full hook-ups.

 

I totally agree. From what I've seen and read in the paper, fights, stabbings and such...no way in heck I'd live in one of those man camps.

On the other hand, if you're a real bad *### maybe you could be a "man camp kingpin" or something like that. You could become a legend, someone will write a book about you and some Hollywood producer will make a movie about you and you will live on forever in infamy...

 

I'm no expert on the "Man Camp" issue. But what I've heard is that the best thing to do is buy a trailer that you can afford and find someplace to park it. I know in northeast MT (around Sidney and Fairfield) and around Williston, many farmers lease/rent out a corner of their lot's to campers.

 

What y'all need is one of these babies. This here is the Stray Goose. She's a 1987 Gran Ville motorhome on a Toyota Hilux pickup chassis. Shes' 21 feet long and fully self-contained, except for the generator. She's got the 22re four cyl. motor and she get a whopping 15 mpgs., which doesn't sound like much until you realize that your basic Class C motorhome with a Ford 460 or a Chevy 454 gets about 7-8mpg.

She is one great little motorhome, and I spend eight months a year on the road working out of her. I'm betting when I make the move out to the oilfield she will be perfect for avoiding the man-camps. Hell, if necessary I can park her at the local WalMart and live in the parking lot.

Ignore the Ravens helmet on the back door. Previous owner. It's gone now. I'm not a football fan, so don't even ask.



BTW, they aren't as rare as people think. You can find some good ones on CraigsList, and for good prices. Just be careful and do some research before you buy. I looked at about 30 others before I settled on the Goose.

 

I paid $2600 for the Goose. That's way below her street value (around $6-8K), but just sayin'....

There are deals out there and you don't have to pay a mint for a good used motorhome. Remember, most of these things are owned by old, retired couples who baby them and never drive them anywhere. You can get a nice 20 year old unit with sometimes less than 50K on it for only a few thousand.

BTW, she makes a nice, albeit very large mini-van, for trips to the grocery store and wherever.

 

It sounds like you've got your eyes wide open, you'll be fine.

As far as stuff, I'd say take what you'd take if you were going on the road. After you get settled in you can worry about bringing the rest. Don't be surprised if you have to move a couple times before you find what you're looking for, as far as lodging. I personally wouldn't bring any more than I thought necessary at first, it'd just be stuff you'll be moving around or worrying about coming up missing.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Life-on-an-oil-field-man-camp-apf-296011104.html

 

Just don't buy anything up around Williston. More than likely, you'll pay too much.

Are you up there now?

 

LOL! I just passed one of those last week on I-94. I hadn't seen one in a while and took a good look at it while I was passing it.