| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| dpack |
and in my tent i need a ...?the basics of good tent , water heating stove and insulation are in handi have a good wood chair and will get bed frame and mattress what else is useful ? i recon table and free range kitchen cupboard thing are good . wardrobe?draws?(behave),coat rack ? what would you put in a live in tent ? |
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| sean |
Depends how big it is. | ||||
| Jamanda |
Waterproof plastic boxes for food/clothes/books
double up as seating for guests. |
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| welsh veg grower |
fridge for beer 
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| gil |
What's the floor covering, if any ? | ||||
| dpack |
5m bell
half inner tent so space is tight (and semicircle shaped ) i recon i maybe need to feed 6 sometimes and live tidy in mud and ice and make life uncomplicated by survival issues |
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| dpack |
floor is zip on groundsheet ,i have a big wool rug that should prevent spark damage especially if i get the big stone slab
my last roundhouse had a stone floor ,with a cold well and semi open fire ,this one is a bit of a new style to me and im not sure what will be best |
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| Gervase |
Agree that rugs are excellent for comfort. | ||||
| dpack |
the word yurt is ringing in me ears
ta rug collection 
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| Jonnyboy |
Somewhere (maybe outside) to put wet boots and clothes without exposing them to the elements even more. Same for dirty cookware that isn't being washed until the morning. | ||||
| dpack |
porch ?umm | ||||
| Drewsephine |
Serving wench
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| Behemoth |
Good Lord, what's happened to Huddersfield? | ||||
| Slim |
One of these
(my brother and sister-in-law lived in a yurt for a year) |
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| sally_in_wales |
convenient place to stash the guzunder if you ae stuck indoors for any length of time in bad weather and can't get out to the privy. Nothing worse than tripping over a half full po... | ||||
| Chez |
Fantastic, Slim, thank you for that! Dpack - where did you get your tent from? We are debating having a bell-tent/small static caravan set-up, joined by an awning. Can you get full-size liners, rather than just half ones? |
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| Bebo |
This the sort of thing you are after Chez. I nearly bought one earlier this year but then realised that I would probably only have used it once.
Short link Sorry about the long link 
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| Chez |
Hmm. *thinks* | ||||
| JB |
Of course when you said tent I was think more along the lines of ...
in which case the answer is you and no room for anything else. |
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| Slim |
They sure know how to get the most out of a wide angle lens! 
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| vegplot |
Tardis tent.
The only thing missing so far is a woman (or whatever one's preference is) |
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| dpack |
chez it is from belltent uk ,as reccomended by ixy
we have a septic tank/reedbed but composters are ace i had last winter in a caravan and never again ,the space use in vans is wrong ,trying to have too much house in a box is messy and even with electricty and a heater i dont like it . i found my round house which was dug into the top of a mound very practical with dogs ,mud and weather i just remebered the helicopter net for a hanging rack over the inside of the roof |
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| Chez |
You are making it sound better and better ... we could use the caravan we've been offered as storage ... | ||||
| dpack |
i recon tt may visit more than once if it is cosy but this is my workplace house so a chick or several may well be housemates ,last winter there was the occasional piglet and i recon next to the stove will get use warming small critters
if the stew pan is on the burner and the hot water is there too the storage/seating thing is a good idea |
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| Effie |
I'd love to live in a tent. I grew up on boats, and I don't like boats now. I don't like houses very much either though. I find them a bit big, I prefer snug spaces. | ||||
| dpack |
i recon i need a layer of straw or better still chipped wood under the groundsheet to give a smoothish floor and need to dig a drain (moat)a few feet out from the walls as even the dry bits are quite prone to puddles | ||||
| Rob R |
electric fence 
and good luck |
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| Slim |
good on ya!
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| vegplot |
The bell tents are nice. Had a party in a tepee once and that was cosy especially with rugs and a fire in the centre. Only slept in 'normal' tents and not that keen for more than a few days but the bell tent gives you room. Like the stove as well. | ||||
| dpack |
i think i need to put it up and then sort sizes of simple furniture | ||||
| dpack |
but the local wood chip supplier is the cheapest
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| Rob R |
mushy furniture, nice
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| gom |
I have a campsite on which we have tents pitched all season for renting out. We find that it gets very squishy wherever there is heavy foot traffic, so now we lay terram on the pitch first, with pine bark laid over that, with pallets laid on the tent footprint and outside the tent entrance (good quality printers pallets with the legs knocked off, screwed onto round fence posts to keep them off the ground thus avoiding rotting). It all works a treat. |
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| Chez |
gom, what sort of tent do you use, for all year occupation? And do you have a stove in them?
(I am just ASKING, okay, Judith, Pookie, Mochyn!) |
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| Fee |
A bookshelf. | ||||
| gom |
The season isn't all year, just April to end Sept. Using polyester tents at the mo but they are not up to it, the UV is doing them in after 3 months - tears appear etc. Crap really. So now I am buying canvas, which should hold up much better, including a rather nice Lavvu, a Bison Tundra 4, which has a cotton/polyester mix. The Lavvu is my personal tent and I do have open fires in it, it will take a stove but I transport my kit on a motorcycle so no space for that. Check out the Bison range, the Tundra 8 and above would be perfect for 'permanent occupation. I don't let the punters have stoves in tent, but I do give them fire pits for outside use. A bell tent will take a stove no problem (but not an open fire), Canvas and Cast look to have some quite superior models. Bell Tent UK is the same tent as Obelink. |
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| Chez |
Thank you, I will go and do some googling. | ||||
| dpack |
the earth from the moat leveled the footprint ,i covered that with 4inches of bark chips and put it up ,woodland scrim to blend in .
ok.next for fitting out . i recon an 8x4 ply under the 6'x3'x4"sandstone slab will make a good burner stand and storage heater (chick warmer ),rugs/ carpet will protect the zip on ground sheet from sparks n sharps the porch floor needs thought but pallets are my friends and i have a big rubber mud mat for outside im knackered but happy so far ps the electric fence is up but needs adjustments to make it dog friendly and easy for me to get through but im moo resistant ,i recon moos and tents gets messy |
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| dpack |
oak bed with legs (underspace ) and 2 draw units or pine bed with under draws buit in ?
im daft ,no contest
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| dpack |
bed ,big rug ,big cast iron pan ,sit on 250 ltre storage boxes ,chopping board ,led light strips and inverter for pooter
from stores nice axe ,toasting fork ,poker ,ash pan what have i missed for winter |
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| gil |
More rugs / blankets; hot water bottles [or dogs, I guess].
How about insulation / curtains round the bed [fourposter / box bed stylee] ? I'm a wimp these days....
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| dpack |
blankets got for low level lining of inner tent
the hottie bottle thing made me think warming pan ,thanks maybe a granite stone would be safer but hot thing in the bed would be good wood pile is next major job planning for winter is odd in summer but needs must |
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| gil |
When I say hot water bottle, I mean a china pig, not a rubber thing. Though you probably haven't got an oven to heat one up in.
Safer than a warming pan. Woodpile is essential 
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| dpack |
i know the fella ,solid pottery with a bung
that would work well with the water heater on the woodburner rug sorted
storage boxes with seat cushions sorted as are materials for fence agin chooks pigs n moos ,im not worried bout burglers but 13c piglets could be messy
fry pan ,big pan ,chopping board, toasting fork ,axe done it is hard to predict what is really needed but so far im trying to cover the essentials 12v/inverter and dongle for interweb thing and 2 12v led strips for light it gets odd ,what do i need to keep the 12v batteries full (got 240 charger but off grid would be ace) .we have wind ,the local water is static ,we have enough sun to run a small leccy fence on about a foot square of pv panels but pooter ,lights and recharge 1.5 v for torches etc is a bit hungry there is mains but |
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| dpack |
ordered a 3 pint one from ebay ,pnp was 150% of price though but warm feet for 16 quid seems good
thanks gil |
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| Chez |
One of these?
http://www.navitron.org.uk/product.php?proID=69 |
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| dpack |
ordered a 3 pint one from ebay ,pnp was 150% of price though but warm feet for 16 quid seems good
thanks gil i went for the hotwater type rather than a solid but warm toes is nice thanks |
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| dpack |
the thing with wind is the best spot would be in front of the caravan afaik ,dpack corner is very sheltered
i have been aware of wind for many years and i cant ever get the maths to work is 300w (their estimate of peak output)a good deal for the price ,however assessed ,and would it give me more than a greenwashers amount of energy ? when i did rough maths wind might be good for pumping ditches on a direct drive but im not convinced it will do a few hours of pooter a day even if that is half time use |
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| Rob R |
The solar electric fence puts out a fair kick in full sun
Edit: Didn't touch it, but my trousers were bleeping furiously |
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| Chez |
I have a spreadsheet somewhere, but I'm not entirely sober atm. They are supposed to be good value compared to competitors - the chap who owns the company is a bit of an evangelist rather than just in it for the cash. When I worked out the numbers, the 'bang for buck' was much better for wind than sun - partly because you have 24 hour potential rather than just daylight hours.
HWH is your Wind Woman, though - I think she has two or three turbines? |
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| dpack |
at tree top level it may be a goer 
i dont need much electric but i do need enough a wood burning steam engine would be super does anyone make micro generation steam power ? |
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| dpack |
if i got one could i put it up a tree ?
they need wind and up seems good |
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| Pilsbury |
a guy i know made miniture steam locos for use on the old 9" tracks for running kids round, I would guess its possable to have one made to run a turbine but it wont b cheap and I think the annual boiler inspection was a few hundred quid | ||||
| Pilsbury |
aparently not as they need clean wind and the tree would break up the flow resulting in a much lower force, it would theoretically be possable to mount a mast on tree and the blades on that but that makes for a very flexible mast |
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| dpack |
gulp,i only use a few hundred quid electric each year with 3 freezers and part time everything else
i need off grid for pooter and led lights and radio and head torch charging and ting but not kettle ,oven ,heating, washing machine ,and ting maybe steam is a bigger scale or invisible |
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| gil |
There was a previous thread on just this subject.... |
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| dpack |
pv may be good for me ,fairly constant in but i need loads of area to give enough for pooter
i need to do maths on energy use |
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| Pilsbury |
Giant hampster wheel, saves having to walk the dogs as well
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| gil |
Here is that thread | ||||
| dpack |
thanks that clears that up
pv may be the way forward or piglets in a wheel
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| Helen_A |
Is that few hundred KwH or few hundred ££s?
Pooter-wise - what are you running? The £90 solar briefcase from Maplins is currently keeping a few peeps I know running small macbooks (13" and 15" ones) quite happily for a few hours a day (the battery life on these is 4 to 7 hours from full charge) whilst their (LED) lights are running of batt. charged with very small wind turbines (as in *tiny* ones as usually seen on garden sheds etc). |
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| Fee |
we met a guy who lived in a yurt near bath. He had, some low stools and a low table, a bed, a wood burning stove and a bench arrangement for cooking. Lots of rugs and animal skins adorned the place. It was absolutely wonderful and he said he had everything he needed. I don't recall if he had electrickery hooked up though. | ||||
| Calli |
Ahem...I want one of these!!
pod |
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| dpack |
this is online via dongle and 12v to 240v inverter
the kitchen is sorted with a farm sized cast iron enamelled stew pan ,fry pan and butcher block chopping board as a work surface the bell tent and stove seem fine so far ,the french club armchairs are sleek and comfy and small enough to be tidy i await carpet and bed but the 15 tog down duvet is ace with the stone pig hot water bottle the moat works living with a mole under the floor is amusing so far i hope we can share nicely but hills under the groundsheet should be less bother than the excavations into the moat leading to subsidence
recom i will screw planks ,ski style,to the bed legs to spread the wieght and avoid surprising the mole |
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| Drewsephine |
I have this ace mental image of dpack in his pj's in bed cuddling up to a hot water bottle peacefully snoozing, Then being woken up as the wind whistles through his hair as the bed goes flying downhill on ski's |
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| ros |
I slept on a mole run for a wk once, not conducive to a good night's sleep and even worse when no-one believes you that there is something wriggling the ground underneath 
excavations into the moat sounds like a potentially serious problem - and does the moat mean the mole can't get away - I don't know how deep they can dig 
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| dpack |
the mole has dug under the one spit moat to reoccupy it's further tunnels so seems ok with that
we dont have downhill round here just flat in any direction as far as one can walk in a day
the under floor rummage is quite amusing i really do hope we can co reside |
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| Anura |
What sort of a tent? | ||||
| Anura |
Love that POD!!! | ||||
| Rob R |
It's a 5m Bell tent |
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| dpack |
the rug arrived
about a dozen sheep hand knotted after the veg dye thing i hope the folk who made it in uzbecistan feel they got a good price ,i got a bargain ( from a shop in new york who had had it for a while and needed to sell)the quality of the thing for the price is ace even after paying hmg for getting a carpet from the usa 
it seems like a good kit buy ,it fits with a bit of an upstand to the centre pole and an undertuck,which is nice to sit on ,made for the job i would have got a local rug to do the job but none seemed available ,might be cos this one looks like a years work for a family how difficult is big felt ? |
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| quixoticgeek |
Something I have found useful when camping is ammunition boxes. In good condition they are waterproof and pretty pest proof. Ideal for storing food and the like in. Also, with a plank of wood beteen 2 or 3 of them you get a half reasonable bench, I have a variety of them in different sizes, but the bigger ones are abit unwieldy weight wise. Oh, and they stack quite well too.
Julia |