THE PREPPER-SURVIVALIST-TEOTWAWKI FOLKS talk about bug out bags — the thing you grab when you need to flee in a hurry. It supposedly contains everything you need to survive for a while in case of a disaster or the collapse of society.
Ah, but we nomads do much better than that. We have bug out vehicles. We are pre-bugged out. We live in a nearly constant state of bugoutedness. We are pros at this stuff.
And I suspect we nomads are less paranoid, less pessimistic. Partly because we’re less engaged with the crazy-making world, and partly because being in nature calms us.
Truest words ever spoken Al.
Thank you ?
Great point! Best in the pleasing emotional state.
Life is a lot more relaxing if you just don’t watch the news. I try very hard not to worry about that which i have no control over.
Amen
I loved being a prepper survivalist. I felt like I was in-the-know. But my ex husband hated it. I even bought a bug out vehicle, an F150 with a cap.
The whole mess turned into hoarding. It got worse at the beginning of covid. My husband left. I became depressed by all the meaningless stuff and expired food filling my house. It’s taken me years to downsize and declutter my home. Downsizing feels better than prepping ever did.
I finally accept that’s it’s not emotionally healthy to be prepped for more than 1-3 months. I do NOT watch or read the news.
Instead I study history to understand how the world has ended up in this mess.
In keeping with the nomadic spirit of this newsletter, I’m converting my car for travel. Removing seats and making 2-sided blackout window covers.
I would also like to say that I’m interested in meeting intelligent conservative people who read. For friendship. ka.fransdotter@gmail.com
Thank you Karen, I appreciated hearing your story. I was a prepper in the 70’s when it was supposed to be a SHTF time. We know how that didn’t happen.
Similarly, I study, research, deeply value intelligent connections and am now “prepping” my car for a Spring departure.
I’d enjoy staying in touch:
alexa4grace@gmail.com
Karen, I’m with you. My x always made fun of me. successbeverly2000@yahoo.com would love
To converse with you.
Al, I LOVE this –>’Ah, but we nomads do much better than that. We have bug out vehicles. We are pre-bugged out. We live in a nearly constant state of bugoutedness. We are pros at this stuff.’
You guys are wayyy ahead of the regular earth population, ready to go at any time !! ??
I miss my bugout vehicle. I no longer even have a bugout bag. But, I know what I would grab if I needed to do so and it would take less than 5 minutes to do it. I just need to remember to grab the can opener. I used to have a p38 on my keychain but I no longer have a keychain. Maybe I need to buy a new Swiss Army knife since I lost that, too, then I’d always have a can opener in my pocket once again.
Hey Karen, Hey, I do think of myself as a conservative , intelligent person who reads and always needs a sincere friend! so there you go – nice to meet you! I am finally building my van. I bought a ford econoline that has windows all around – toooo many windows. So we are trying to find a way to wall up the drivers side of the van. But man, i have watched a thousand videos and cant find one person who is doing what i am doing. Do you know any? I tried to put metal tape over thinsulate on the windows and I couldnt believe it let go and fell off in one day. Glad I didnt get the paneling up! Are you making blackout curtains for temporary or permanent blocking of the sun? Good luck and let me know. – Becky
Becky,
Based on your description, I get the impression you are insulating then installing panel for a ‘finished’ appearance inside?
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Our insulation:
2003, for our ExpeditionVehicle, we installed:
* adhesive-back acoustic against the inside wall, a gap, then
* one-inch pink-board, another air-gap, then
* two-inch foil-side poly.
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Our interior of our box is three paces across by seven paces long, and seven feet high… about 600cf.
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Our windows:
We mounted 3010 (three feet wide by a foot tall) dual-pane sliders designed for a stand-still house.
We mounted these at our eye-level standing inside, about eight feet above pavement.
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To evacuate humidity and odors, we open two windows on opposite walls 24/7.
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Our heater:
During our conversion, we were terrorfied we would freeze an untimely demise if the weather got below 68°f.
Accordingly, we acquired three Wave 3 catalytic heaters.
With our obsessively excessive insulation, we use one Wave 3 on ‘LOW’.
The other two are new-in-the-box.
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Real-World:
We rarely use the heater above about 40°f.
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For more about our ExpeditionVehicle, we frequently comment on van-dwelling and CheapRVliving… we have an intro page with portraits of our rig.
Ask for ‘LargeMarge’.
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If I might make a suggestion:
* acquire a likely candidate
* toss in some car-camping gear
* go have fun.
Allow the conversion to evolve organically based on your use.
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On skoolie and other home-built forums, we see first-time builders investing thousands of dollars and hours into a conversion.
Building then using risks forcing the adventure to fit the rig.
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Another suggestion:
* avoid believing ‘this rig is my forever rig’.
You grow and evolve, your vehicle needs change.
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The only reason we are nearly two decades full-time live-aboard in our ExpeditionVehicle:
* a half-century of make-do camping in lesser rigs, plus
* a year and a hundred thousand miles delivering RecreateVehicles manufacturer-to-dealer and dealer-to-shows.
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We tried really hard to eliminate anything we could break or wear out… or forget while moving to a new boondock spot.
That category includes a stairs or steps into a side-entry.
Accordingly, we engineered our rig with a rear-entry, and use the existing structure to enter/exit.
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Becky,
Does your rig have standing headroom?
Crouching while dressing gets old quick…
what’s the best option for a campervan fridge?
It depends on several things.
https://wordpress.casacrm.io:8443/cheaprvliving//how-to-get-better-answers-and-make-better-choices-about-nomad-life/
Becky, the glass heats up as much or more that the metal. I mistakenly tried velcroing my window coverings to the glass. The glue on the velcro strips melts right off.
Are you working with a bare cargo van, or a passenger van with plastic interior panels? You’ll need to mechanically install some kind of non heat transfering framework to fasten the tape to. Think thin wood slats. Actually, then you could staple the insulation to that, then just use the tape for sealing gaps.
Interesting how a “Sunday Short” turns into other things…Maybe a call for fit-out articles. I remember discussing this with a van lifer, his use of magnets and my use (truck camper, wood) of bungees.