Cost of chasing per day

[Greg Campbell]

I've got the worst of both worlds this year.

Tucson is ~1000 miles (~$85 at 3$/gal, ~35MPG) from the edge of Tornado Alley.
A February bout of Flu burned way too much PTO time, so I'll be limited to 3~4 day dashes to the western plains, or a single ~1 week trip. (I'd hoped to take two weeks in mid May and do it right.) Weekends and holidays help greatly - storms willing!

For a 4 day trip I estimate (a SWAG at best) $140 a day.

Gas at $35/day (x2) + $180 to get there and back. = $250
3 or 4 nights at a mid-level room with 'net. $130~200+
(May camp a night or two if weather is good and a clean park presents itself. Save $30+/night.)
Food $15/day (this may be completely unrealistic, even with a cooler full of groceries) x4 = $60.
Film, drinks, tourist stuff, a big steak dinner (I can hope!) etc. will add another $150+.


Like Robert, I don't count my camera equpment. It's all film, so wasn't too spendy to begin with: If I sold the whole mess (two bodies, ~10 lenses, tripod, head) on *bay, I'd be lucky to get $700.

My "Laptop" = a 600MHz P3 mini-tower stashed behind the passenger seat. :blink: (Run what ya brung!), 15" LCD on the passenger dash, wireless card with remote antennae, inverter and deep cycle battery. Total expense ~$350.

Will soon buy Tim's D.A. weather prog. +$80

Remote chance of swinging a cheapo mini-DV vidcam by May. $400.

$40 weather radio.

$30 garage sale scanner.

$30 homebuilt wet bulb psychrometer.

That's about it.

-Greg

 

[Chad Ringley]

Myself and three NC State chasing partners are going to attempt to chase in May or June, and we also have been crunching numbers when it comes to gas. It ain't pretty. Some of the figures I've seen posted in this thread are about what we are figuring...plus the cost of actually driving there from Raleigh. Dividing the cost of gas and rental car 4 ways makes it a lot easier..if it were just 3 of us, I don't think we could do it.

We are avoiding hotel costs by staying with folks, but that assumes that we can be within range time/driving wise. Looks like the entire chase is going to consist of PBJ & Ham Sandwiches, chips, and .99 mini frozen pizzas

 

[Oscar van der Velde]

Google says: 1.50 (Euro per liter) = 6.87506491 U.S. dollars per US gallon
Anyone in for sharing a chase with me in Europe?

Oscar

 

[David Drummond]

Just be glad your chase vehicle does not run on Evian!

 

[bill mudd]

lets not forget "catching a tube".....................................................PRICELESS :blink:

 

[Dave Nelson]

ohhh you guys have it so easy !!

living in tornado alley and with gas prices 1/2 that of ours

here in Australia regular unleaded petrol is AU$1.35 = $5.40 / gallon take in a bit of exchange rate AU$-US$ say ~ US$5.00 / gallon its does hurt to do storm chasing.

but this season will be even more expensive with a trip to the US mid-west to check out some of your storms land in the USA 29Apr will be storm chasing from ~ 5 May to the 25 May

so by time we pay for airfares, car rental accomodation and food ..... an expensive but hopefuly successful chase season.

will have 2m and 70cm amateur radio my callsign VK2TDN are there any particular freq's to listen on?
can anyone recommend a mobile phone company that does mobile internet access for laptops
I use vodaphone in Oz (this is dialup internet access from laptop using the cellphone coverage)
I understand a lot of Macca's stores have wifi access ? what do they charge for access ?
I will also have a wifi card in laptop as an alternative

cheers
have a safe and exciting chase season

Dave N
Sydney,
Australia

 

[Matthew Havin]

Home base for almost all chasing is Saint Louis.....so that generally sucks as I look west.

I have personally worn out sections of I-70 and I-44 by driving to Oklahoma/Kansas to get to chase territory.

Over the past 5 years chasing, I have driven no less than 3,000 miles in a year...other than maybe 2002.

I have never spent more than $500 a year....... including equipment.
With equipment....I have followed the rule of diminishing returns and buy what helps me the most for the least $$$. Over the years, I try not to "anticipate" problems, instead I go out and chase and realize through a hard lesson that I need more batteries, better ham antenna, new laptop, better software. THEN I buy what I need. This has allowed me to realize that most of the crap a lot of chasers buy and bring is either rarely used or not actually worth the $$$.

Since I am a total cheapskate..... I try to make LONG one day chase trips instead of getting a hotel. If it is a 2 day outbreak and I don't end up close to home, I'll car camp or sleep in the car if I have to.

I almost never chase alone.

My average cost this year is rising due to gas $$$..... ends up in the $30-50 range for average 800-1000 mile trips.

Next year I figure it will end up even higher....which will make me pick and choose events closely.
It sucks to miss a tornado, but there will always be tornadoes....where on the other hand bills are due this month!

 

[David Drummond]

My average cost this year is rising due to gas $$$..... ends up in the $30-50 range for average 800-1000 mile trips.
[/b]

Holy crap! What are you chasing on, a motorcycle? Averaging only $2.50 a gallon that is still like 50 mpg! Even more on the price of gas today! :blink:

 

[Matthew Havin]

I ride a bicycle. The rest of the $$ I spend on beef jerkey and strip clubs on I-70 on the long 400 mile trek back home.

No....... I forgot to say that was $30-50 per person.........total cost for 2 people comes up to $100. Driving a junker Corolla has its benefits.

 

[David Drummond]

Darn, I thought you found the secret to great fuel economy when chasing! If I didn't need to carry so much crap, I would get a Saturn ION to chase in. Tremendous gas mileage and they have a deceptively HUGE amount of room in them.

 

[Mike Gauldin]

Yeah, I'm getting screwed this season. I spend (at current prices) about $45/tank and get around 16mpg; '91 Pathfinder 4x4. But my transmission is started to go, last chase I sprung a sizable oil leak (which knowing my luck is the rear main seal, no biggie, gotta pull the tranny anyways now), my A/C quit working and my back two windows won't roll down, my camera just broke, and I work in EMS. So with gas and electric what it is now, I can barely pay my bills. I still have some equipment I would like to buy, like a data card, but that's looking dim this year.

For equipment so far, as of last year, I've only spent:

HAM Radio - $250 (this was two years ago)
Laptop - $100
GPS - $100
Camera - borrowed
Scanner - $50
Misc Other - $70

I really can't afford to chase farther than about an hour out unless I have partners. So you guys that can get away with $50/chase are lucky since that's what I spend on gas alone for one tank. I don't even know how much it cost me when I chased down in SW OK (500 mile round trip). That was about 3 tanks, so $150 in gas plus Mickey-Ds for two. I just want to know how much everyone makes and what they spend on bills every month :blink:

 

[Matthew Havin]

In response to Mike's post..... I will not say what I make but I will try to paint a picture.

Chasing in the last 3 years has been increasingly expensive each season due to gasoline prices, increasing heating/cooling costs (natural gas electric plants....gotta love em), increasing college costs, health care, credit card debt blah blah blah. The Feds Cost of Living index and inflation estimates aint worth crap, because it doesn't account for half of that stuff. The REAL inflation rates over the past 5 years have exceeded 5-10% in most locations year to year for the average American.

I have very little money on an annual basis to spend on chasing after all the bills. I also have savings guidlines that I will not break.....so in my mind that is a "cost" as well. However, saving large amounts at my age is a little tough anyways.

So this is what I do.......the only way I can "make" the money for chasing is to cut corners during the year. Cook at home more, eat out less. One big move I made was to cut out the automobile lifestyle in my day-to-day life.....I now live 3 miles from my workplace (only to drive thousands of miles in chase season). Other that work, every store I need is within a mile. I know not everyone can afford to live close to work, but I rent for the time being and renting is fairly cheap close to work. The real costs of commuting more than 30 miles to work is quickly increasing anyways when you figure gas costs, auto depreciation, interest on the auto loan etc. The last thing I did was buy my chase car straight up with cash (which my wife uses to drive otherwise).....saved money there on the interest if I were to get a loan. Oh, and I never rack up interest on credit cards......that will screw you to no end if you get caught up doing that to pay bills.

So Mike, I guess I DONT have money to chase...... I consider myself a very fiscally focused person and have long-term financial goals on future big purchases such as a house and automobiles. Chasing falls to the bottom of the list when I look at my budget. If I am successful sticking to my budget.....then chasing is a wonderful gift to myself that is paid for!

Oh and if anyone else is renting now......SAVE! The housing market is starting to hit the skids and you will be amazed how much you will save on a house (despite increased interest rates) after 2008 when foreclosures and consumer bankruptcies will hit all-time records.

 

[Mike Gauldin]

Good tips there Matt. I've been trying to work on things along those lines. I tried to incorporate work and chasing, but the director of operations won't let me chase in the ambulance, so that's out.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

Well, my figures (approx) are as follows for this season's chasecation:

digital camera and accessories: $1100
camcorder and accessories: $1300
2 week chase trip cost (includes motel stays, gas, not incl. food): $2500
medical insurance: no idea, probably around $100 or something.

Me catching a tornado: priceless. For everything else, there's mastercard.

Hahaha ok so I couldn't resist throwing that extra line in there. But seriously, I am looking at more than $4000 for the gear and trip costs. Not cheap for sure. But then again, I want to enjoy my trip to the fullest extent. I need a good night's sleep and won't be caught sleeping in a car because that is just uncomfortable.

 

[Doug_Kiesling]

Oh and if anyone else is renting now......SAVE! The housing market is starting to hit the skids and you will be amazed how much you will save on a house (despite increased interest rates) after 2008 when foreclosures and consumer bankruptcies will hit all-time records.
[/b]

Yes, I am actually taking your advice here. I have rented but I love where I'm at because I have the best view in the south metro making lightning chasing (when there is lightning) seem like a 15 foot chase to walk out on my deck.

But with $50 a tank to fill up and about 3 tanks to chase on in an average day. This season is going to be very expensive. But it is mid April and Texas already has the working of a death ridge in place so it looks like IA, KS, NE, MO and IL are going to be the tornado alley for this year.

After chasing with my Nephew last month and high gas prices, I'm actually looking for someone to chase with from the MN area now for the longer chases just to cut down on fuel costs.

Oh and the chase with my nephew, did not see anything but he got his license the day before and my brother wanted me to get the driving out of his system. I made him drive from Minneapolis to the start of the Kansas Turnpike with only stopping once for gas. I took over with the chase started but after the chase, he drove most of the way home until we got into heavy rain. Yeah, um, yeah, um first day of having your license and your uncle makes you drive over 700 miles, um yeah. My brother said it did the trick because my nephew really does not care to drive now. The best part, my bro paid for the gas.