emergency housing

[Wulf202]

Well, here's my thoughts and experiences.

RV's are prohibitively expensive and then you have to insure a vehicle engine maintenance etc.

Travel trailers and 5th wheels are the best if you want a house on wheels.

Popups blow, they're just basically a tow-able tent.

Truck campers are useful but cramped and limit your ability to use the truck.

Car living is probably the most readily available and isn't all that bad if you've got some camping gear. I did this in the worst winter possible while holding a full time job. A suburban is incredibly roomy and not very expensive. You can also park many places in the city and sleep without too much difficulty. Out of the way spots in an apartment complex that doesn't have reserve parking were my favorite. There's books and websites dedicated to the subject.

Staying in a shed is also very do able, you can insulate it and even have a stove.

Really if you have a car you can make due without too much problems in tough times.

Army tents are just expensive, heavy and hardly mobile. Haven't used one since I was a kid.

Once again, based on my experience. Since I've never lived in a Tee Pee or yurt I can't say for a fact.

[ChunkyMonkey]

+1 on the fifth wheel.

[hurley842002]

That was a good post Wulf. I've often thought about different things for emergency living quarters, and every time I think i've come up with what I feel is a good solution, I think to myself "I can do that in my Jeep", now granted i've got a fairly large power inverter and some other goodies installed in it. As much as i'd love to have a fifth wheel, or even a smaller camper, I just can't justify the cost at this time. I'd really like to find an old carburated Suburban, and deck it out.

The shed is also a good solution, just not mobile obviously. Our mountain property has one of the LARGE tough sheds on it, and it is excellent for low cost low maintenance living. Has a nice stove inside, that keeps the place toasty, I plan to insulate it soon enough, as that will make night and day difference. While it may not be what some are looking for, http://www.expeditionportal.com/ is a very good resource for being self sufficient on wheels. Covers everything from rooftop tents to trailers.

[Wulf202]

Yeah I'd been designing my suburban to live out of when I had a major family emergency and then changed jobs shortly after.

An isolated battery was in the works to run the inverters along with removable curtains for the back.

One key is to keep prying eyes out and reducing the heat loss of windows. You also section off the space your not using to keep the heat for the area you are using. I used 3 tent halves since I had some lying around and the grommets were perfectly spaced for the coat hooks. You have to learn to move slow otherwise you're vehicle will rock.

You'd be amazed at the amount of spare time you have when you don't have a home or TV. I just kept my laptop and picked up free wifi from businesses. 24hr fitness membership kept the showers coming and all of my belongings were at a 24hr storage facility (do not sleep in the storage or in their parking lot) all mail went to a UPS store box (i still do this for OPSEC).

Total bills each month were cellphone, gas, insurance, 2 storage units, and food.

You end up lying to everyone who asks where you live though. My cover story was I was renting a room with a friend but his wife and I didn't get along and I kept my distance so that I only slept there. The friend was real and he knew I used him as a cover story, his wife is actually quite nice.

There's a whole group of people into van living, which is much more useful but the suburban was paid for.

[Broadsword]

I spent a lot of time in the military tents and I gotta tell ya they can be down right homey. Nice and warm with the old pot belly going. The squad tents and arctic hex tents are nowhere near as tough as the GP series so I would stay away from them. We spent some damn windy and cold nights down range on Ft. Carson in the GP's and they held up very well. I can't remember a single time one had a serious problem. They are heavy but if you could work some sort of bug out trailer into your preps I think that would be the way to go. Kifaru makes some lightweight teepee's but they aren't very cost effective. They do seem to be lightweight though. Here's a link to the site. Judge for yourself on these as I have no experience with them.
https://kifaru.net/tipi24man.html
Good thread. Hope this helps.
Broadsword

[jerrymrc]

One of my thoughts has been the overall size of everything. I have a 24' trailer that (for a trailer) is well insulated. The best are the Artic Fox and Nash series.

Tag trailers leave room in the bed for all the other stuff. I have taken mine into some pretty tight spaces and 24' is as about as big as I would want. You also need ground clearance but need to keep the overall height down.

I have put allot of thought into this subject. Our trailer is set up to dry camp with solar power and other features like LED's for the lights. Two things one must think about is that without power your furnace and AC are non players.

I do have a few inverters for some items and backups. The one big one was the 1500W one to run the microwave. Many may think this out of line but when you have solar and battery power the overall drain using the microwave is small compared to having propane or other fuels.

Some ideas.

[86k10]

when i first posted this i didnt think about being moblile or discreet. i think that a van or or suburban would be the best if you staying in the city and dont want to drag a trailer around town to work and so.

saying that if you cant afford a travel trailer and dont have a van or suburban, a canvas tent/teepee would work, but i think you would be harassed by the police. people dont like tents popping up on vacant lots unless you have someone that will let you post up.

i think i am going to try for another travel trailer. i have had a couple before but they are a pain in the ass to store on a small property. i will look for a small single axle for about $500. or even a shell for the truck.

[Lex_Luthor]

I had a Tacoma with an insulated topper and BedRug bedliner. That thing was DURABLE! I hauled rock, wood, logs, moved a couple times, even camped a few times in there and it was actually quite comfortable. The bedliner was carpeted and padded. Just hose it off and run a stiff push broom and it was good as new.

[flan7211]

If your staying urban go with the car living. Easy to do. Sadly did it in a Jeep wrangler before (sorest body parts ever, suggest an explorer or suburban.) If your going rural or into the hills the yurt kicks an extraordinary amount of ass if you can hold up a certain amount of time.