this is my next project , rv look perfect for me ....
i found very interesting cernunnos comment because i know these vehicule are not adapted to winter
im cruious to know more of ur experience cernunnos .
is it possible to be selfsuffient whit some solar panel for an eletectric fridge the only thing i dont like from rv is all rely on propane ...

I've known one person that did. Very expensive. Roof full of panels for a small specialised fridge. Not the cheap panels from Canadian Tire. During the cold part of the year, I just put the stuff that needed refrigeration on the floor...and hoped it didn't freeze. I only got to eat cheese or milk or mayonnaise for half the year. A large amount of things we put in our fridge don't need to be in there like eggs and many vegies

In the winter, we often make ice boxes with the snow at trappers shacks and cabins(this is so if animals smell the food, they don't wreck your shack getting to it.. We use a square of plywood for the lid. Just add some water to formed snow....too easy!

I bought solar cells and am going to make my own panels. I got 300 cells for $300 and free shipping. Should make 8 panels. I was going to just use heavy glass I already have from old windows with a good backing. I'd be using lexan though if I was doing the bus route. Be neat to design a roof rack that tilts so you could store them on the underside when traveling, and stand it up when stationary. I know I could rig it but fastening it to the RV might be tricky. A bus is heavy duty in comparison, hmmm, Now look what you started! :ugeek:

Picked our sour cherries today followed by our tiny two bushes of blue berries and moved on to Saskatoon's. Got me thinking about telling you all about my first day going full nomad.

My first rolling home was simple to the max. A simple window van. A single bed. Fully curtained so it seemed like living in a tent. Storage under the bed. a wood box as a table to cook on with a wisperlight stove. I basically set myself adrift on a permanent camping trip. Good buy rent. Good buy room mates. I don't know when it hit me that it was also, Good buy society. I had just left the matrix. As I spent my first evening parking in public, the reality began to hit me like a wallop. The survival reality questions set in fast. OMG. What the hell did I just do? Where will I get water. Where can I take a sh!t? How will I wash? Where will I get rid of my garbage? Its the west coast but can I handle the winter? Where will I be safe? WHERE WILL I GET MAIL? How can I renew my insurance? Heck, even my ID and Drivers Licence. Is it even valid anymore because of the address. I don't have an address any more... and then it really set in. I AM ILLEGAL simply by being. Sleeping in this van means I am breaking the law. That was one wake up call. Do you notice how all of those questions I asked are the basic survival questions of prepping. What happens when society stops...and we have to suddenly figure this sh!t out on our own, independent of a functioning system. I thought I had some survival training before...But this was like going off to Survivalist University. I had a lot to learn. I was frightened and I was alone and the reality set in. It was like I had just gone through a break up or divorce. I'm sure you all know what that feeling is like. Only this time it was a divorce from most of the privileges and safety of society. Oh why didn't I just take the blue pill?

More on this subject later

A true junkie would ask something like "what if I take both the red and blue pill together" , "Will I have a foot in each world"? 😆

I can't say that I faced it that way. I hid in a tent at the edge of a park and camped in the bushes for about 6 weeks once. I hid my bike with a green tarp and ate cold canned food alot because I thought a fire would give me away. I was saving money for a down payment on rent and utilities and such and never knew anybody back then to go in halves with. I would cruise around the campsites every evening on foot and talk with folks but never saying where my site was. I felt often like a low life bum half the time and the other half like I was beating the system by saving a nickel at every turn. I'd often get by on a can of creamed corn and a couple pieces of bread a day.

When I first bought a bus, the seller had collected an RV toilet, fridge,stove tanks, etc, already and that is as far as he got. Half the seats were ripped out and all this crap was piled inside. I thought it was a gold mine and did a straight trade for a 73 Satellite I bought for $500 a year before. I took alot of ribbing at first because it didn't even run and I had to tow it to my first spot. The dude had the firing order mixed up on the plugs is all that was wrong in the end. I never let the ribbing get me down as I figured I already knew tougher times than most of them and this was heaven in comparison to shivering in a tent in the wet cold rain. I think those I partied with often thought of me as poor yet I think I owned more than most of them back then. City bikers always tagged me as a country hillbilly and I didn't mind a bit cause they still paid me to fix their crap.

I left the isle straight down the middle in my first floor plan to allow up to 3 bikes to be stored inside for a road trip in bad weather. This proved to be a waste of space as I learned later. The Ford's walls were not insulated so I learned the hard way that was not the way to go as I was insulating the whole winter in stages. I had it all figured out by summer. 😳
In the 2nd bus I built the isle off to one side. This allowed a better kitchen nook(converted to a double bed)with cupboards along the opposing side. It also allowed a decent sized washroom with built in shower that you could sit on the toilet and do both if you wanted at the same time 😮 😉 . (did I mention the dual purpose thing yet?). 🙄 Then I had the master bedroom at the back with a queen size bed(with bus suspension if we bounced too much). If you design a bus,offset isle is the way to go! I put an insulated wall with a sliding insulated door at the front behind the drivers seat so as not to lose heat thru all the front windows and door. This becomes a porch area and a place for the dog to park to keep him from being underfoot in cramped quarters.

The inside of both buses was nicer than the outside, so folks were often pleasantly surprised when they first entered. I did everything in bright colors in the 2nd bus, white and tan with oak trim. I chose a dark blue RV fabric for with grey specked design for cushions and sewed them with grey cord edging. It's funny how I used to wait for their comments as I often never clued them in otherwise. In this way one gets to see the approval even if they don't say it! Keeping it bright keeps the spirits higher too!

I should have gone lighter colours

That looks roomy but is that the whole bus in 1 room? No toilet? That must be your short bus. It's not very dark and not near as dark as my first bus. Your roof seems higher than either of mine were....optical? I had too many David Mann pictures everywhere(from Easyriders mag as you likely already know)and they darkened the space the most. Figured that one out when I removed them to paint 😕 . My last bus was longer but I think it was a 48 seater originally. We even stopped another owner of it driving by one day and told him I built it and took pictures of it so I finally even had some for awhile. They got misplaced when I moved east and all I can do now is tell a story with no proof. You'll just have to take my word that it was nice 🙄 😎

Yes, You called that right. I raised the roof a few feet for the psychological factor. One of the hardest things I ever did. It helped in giving it 6 inches of insolation. I was 6'4 though probably reaching shrinking age. It made it high centered. that same problem associated with campers on trucks. A few places I took it, I really worried about flipping it. The toilet tucked away under the table. I only used it for female visitors, or incase I was too sick or in a city. I'll give my reasons for rejecting the holding tank system later. I'll Give a hint. Same reason the other RV don't work for living in it....

But Today... I am hopping on the motorcycle to get away from the farm. I haven't been riding enough this year...and I need to get away.

Interesting read.. no comments yet, everytime I think about writing in regards to camper-trailer living, I end up deleting it as I am getting to personal..

C'mon Farmgal.... he showed you his...now show us yours! 😯 🙄 😆

C'mon Farmgal.... he showed you his...now show us yours! 😯 🙄 😆

Funny you mentioned that. The reason I have these photos is that I was starting to write a book a few years back- Surviving Pandora's Box- When the Zombies Raise From The Grave, Stick With Me If You Want To Live....Where I intended to tell the whole story...and use each womans story as an introduction to a lesson on survival. lol

Once I realised I was actually going to live and it wasn't my testament....I realised it was too personal and didn't finish it. On the plus side, while writing it, I finally came out of, off grid, untraceable, secret prepper mode and decided to share what I knew to the Young uns...and build a group...and that brought me here...where I stay for my own reasons.

The funny part is that I have a fantastic picture I planned on using for the cover, under the heading "Finally. Survivalism Exposed"...and it is me. Buck naked in the cowboy hat and shades in front of the bus. Luckily, It wasn't too cold that day. I have a more modest side view sitting in a chair for the back cover...but it makes me look old and flabby. LOL

I always figured I would get kicked off this board eventually...but some how, they like me ....and no use sending neekd picks to speed that banning along 😯 😆

Hey, Farmgal. I know I still owe you a part two to the Haying post. I'm working on it...in-between haydoodles

Sorry for the delay. A few days on the motorcycle helped clear my head.

I was recently looking into someone new for my survival group. He had a few admirable qualities but what made attention peak was that he had once, put in a year living in a van. That told me a lot about his endurance and that he had already gone though the teaching that will give. There is a type of asceticism that goes with it that will really show you what is really important in life and for life....and just what things we are absolutely convinced we need to survive but don't. Something that happens in small space living is that you start getting rid of a lot of stuff. Some of that is that is just for the psychological need for space. Breathing room or walking room so you don't feel like a crazy hoarder bag lady with broken toasters, shiny pieces tinfoil, and cat pictures in stacks of magazines. Especially for the mobile, as apposed to the stationary parked RVs. You are always trying to cut out an extra hundred pounds. If you bring something new in, you have to get rid of something to make space. After a few years, life sure gets stripped down as you meditate on the importance of each item, each book, each tool, each useless piece of electronic scrap. People learned to be very selective with Christmas gifts and other Hallmark conned-sumerism because they learned I would just throw it away, sell it or re gift it. I lost all interest in all of the "Man Toys" they purchased on credit and were slaves, now, because of it. Oh, I could go on and on about that but the point I am trying to make is about how much of the coolest of cool conveniences in RVs are really a detriment.

Everybody poops. Food goes in, poop goes out. Beer goes in.........So, why is a holding tank a big problem for those actually living in an rv. Lets start with, If you want to dump it, you actually have to pack up and move the awkward, gas dependent, and perfectly parked thing, to a proper disposal dumping station...or have to build your own, proper septic tank and field... or carry that splashing, fermenting, disease spreading stuff in buckets by hand. Been their, done that, divorced her.

The next is that those tanks are also often place in the exact place that you will ding them and crack them while moving any place that isn't paved. The disposal valves will leak as they age and that can mean having to leave a perfect area because the sight is now unlivable...and they are really only designed to be used for a few days without dumping or the fermenting stuff will come back up your toilet to smell up your home. Most important to full timers...is that they system WILL FREEZE!. At best, it clogs up. At worst, your tanks crack...and once again create a big mess. That's enough one finger typing for the moment. I'll get back, later, to how I handled this...and it wont be comfortable to most North American sensibilities.

Lets start with your grey water. Sink and shower. You will want to detach that as they will fill up your holding tanks the fastest. Run a pipe away from your place to drain by a tree. I do that at my house at the moment for the kitchen sink so it doesn't overwork the septic. Eventually, I gave up on sinks altogether. Instead, I went with 2 canning pots and a plastic basket for dirty dishes. Water was heated buy placing the pot on the propane cooker which also folded away. As a bonus, if the washing water cooled, I could just heat it back up again, lessening the water I had to haul in or out. The dirty water, I simply dumped near a tree that would be happy for the extra nutrition...or simply pored down a storm gutter in the middle of the night. My water came in the form of those blue camping containers. I could bring potable water in strapped to the back of my motorcycle, Bicycle trailer, and occasionally in my backpack, (Smaller 4 liter hard plastic juice containers work better for that job but it could fit the big version). I caught rain off the roof for washing porpoises. Sometimes dishes just had to wait. I kept extras, especially, utensils. To this day, my dogs always do the pre rinse. No need to soak.

Time for the Shit to hit the fan. Lets Get'er Done...so to speak...so I can ignore this thread for a while.

Most people don't give much thought to waist disposal. The garbage man hauls it away...until he doesn't. We are used to flushing away our problems and don't give it much of a thought...until it doesn't flush away. Few people really examine what comes out of them until they have to haul it by hand. A composting toilet is a bit cumbersome in a mobile home so lets put that in a different category. One of the things I learned is that the percentage of urine greatly out weighs the amount of feces. We produce a lot of pee. Sometimes, its easy to just go outside. That's a bit problematic if you are parked on a city street or someones back yard. That means having a suitable PEE BOTTLE...or several of them, I found. Did I mention, we produce a LOT of pee. First off, you need to find something with a wide opening. Some folks will need wider than others. I,...Um...had to do a lot of hunting. And it has to have a Tight Seal. A milk jug just wont do. 4 liter cranberry containers are quality enough and easy to carry away in a daypack...but a bit small for me with the occasionally awkward splashback. I think I would use a gas can now with a reworked cap. The new ones with no second hole. I kept a two part portapotty. I tried never to use it. Just go somewhere else. I kept it for guests. Primarily, female guests, or for that emergency middle of the night run, or if I took an illness and was puking or squirting my guts out. I used that same dish water mentioned above by the cup to flush. Either way, It needed to be disposed of soon after. I picked a portipotti where the bottom half could be carried in a large backpack, to a public toilet to be dumped (bring a sutable cup as well to get water from the sink to rinse it...and some paper matches where the sulfur will neutralise the smell) or a shallow hole in the woods. When in the woods, I had a toilet seat that could be put on a few 2 by 4 built box platform. The hole was rarely deeper than a foot and a half if that. Sometimes a small roof over that. Its nice to sit in nature with a view. Very perspective giving and a short meditation to your day . A can was kept nearby to burn the toilet paper in. Without the toilet paper, Your crap will be consumed by the bug life as fast as you can put it in. Yum. If you can find one of those toilet seat, with folding legs like a stool, Grab a couple of them. You can keep them indoors nice and warm and dry.

Now, I assume, at this point a few of you girls will be bug eyed with horror, squeezed up tighter than a nun in your panties. You are just going to have to deal with your own shit.(LOL) 😯 I have a few unusual rules of what I consider a "Good woman". My rules are... #1- a woman that can pee anywhere. #2 a woman that will back me up in a machete fight...taking the exact same risks and living with the same consequence...and #3- a woman that watches Sex And The City with absolute disgust and realising none of those women deserve any man.

I'm not trying to be disrespectful here. I know many women have body issues or grew up with guilt issues from their parents...and it is a bit more awkward than just whipping it out...but you just have to cover that yourself so no one else is put in danger by modesty rules. Men have seen your VaJayJay before and several like it. Maybe even me. 😉 If you want to be a strong empowered woman, you have to let the short and curlies fly in nature. I've had to dodge splashes from female friends before. I've only had a few that would not break conversation, while looking me in the eye... while squatting three feet away. Its not a turn on.

That's enough for now and I can finally get on to other subjects and life in general. Feel free to ask any other questions on the subject of living in your RV

I will now go off to pee. Three pees, one flush. We have no shortage of well water but it's the principal of it that stays with me. I'm even thinking of re-introducing some larger version of the pee bottle into my home. Watered down, my garden plants will thank me for the added nitrates.

Perhaps you could get one of those home water distilleries and run your pee through it for potable water.
There was a seminar on that device recently.