Live in a tent or caravan all year round

[gunnix]

Hi,

Me and my girl are considering to live in a caravan or a tent for some years.

Some questions:

Which one would be easier to keep warm in winter, a tent or a caravan? My guess is that a round tent with a stove in the middle would be warmest...

Which tent models would be best to live in year round in Belgian (almost same as english..) climate?

I found the venor tents to be interesting (and quite expensive): http://www.mamut.com/venor
In particular the Venor ovnslavvu and venor-gammen seem good.
Anyone know if these are of good quality and would be livable on a permanent basis?

Are there any other tent models, manufacturers, shops which are interesting or cheaper?

Anyone lives (or lived) in a caravan or tent? What is your experience?

I'd like to build my own tent, a round one, maybe tipi like. Any good plans to build one myself?

greetings,
gunnix

 

[Pignut]

never lived in one long term but cant fault Tentipi

A google search should throw them up

 

[led]

I'd probably favour a yurt, particularly one with a 'window' cover for the central hole. Certainly they would suit a central fire/stove, and can even be joined together if you need to expand your living space. You can buy canvas-based yurts quite easily.

 

[Abbe Osram]

Hi,

Me and my girl are considering to live in a caravan or a tent for some years.

Some questions:

Which one would be easier to keep warm in winter, a tent or a caravan? My guess is that a round tent with a stove in the middle would be warmest...

Which tent models would be best to live in year round in Belgian (almost same as english..) climate?

I found the venor tents to be interesting (and quite expensive): http://www.mamut.com/venor
In particular the Venor ovnslavvu and venor-gammen seem good.
Anyone know if these are of good quality and would be livable on a permanent basis?

Are there any other tent models, manufacturers, shops which are interesting or cheaper?

Anyone lives (or lived) in a caravan or tent? What is your experience?

I'd like to build my own tent, a round one, maybe tipi like. Any good plans to build one myself?

greetings,
gunnix

Hi mate,
I don’t want to depress you but the tents you picked there in your link are quite bad. This tipi type of tents should at least have a inner lining. Without them they are nothing but a damp shelter. They don’t have smoke flaps so you cant regulate the smoke. One of the tents you showed is similar to the Swedish army tent; they are warm but dark and depressing if you want to live in it for some years.

I hope your girl will not rush off to the next best guy with a house. LOL

Well, at least get a very good tipi. Do you have access to a good and peace full place? If not, forget about living in a tent or you will have wired people looking in to your tipi stealing your stuff. If you have a wooded area, quite and access to lots of wood, you will use up lots of it, then a tipi is fine. Otherwise I would choose a caravan or cabin.

Here is a link to good tipi´s:


wolf tipis

nomadic

cheers
Abbe

 

[Spacemonkey]

My dad has spent two years living in a small towable caravan with his wife while they have built their house. It is in Spain, but in the mountains so winter is very cold, but they were fairly comfy. If you can get a 30+ foot caravan (9metre??) you will be very comfy and won't nead a house. Just make sure you have reliable heating and power. Don't forget to allow for water supply and waste removal. My dad built a seperate shower/toilet building to keep it seperate from the caravan with a 2mx2m covered soakaway pit for the waste (which I planted tomatoes on top to take advantage of the water. Best tomatoes ever!!). The shower water storage was a cistern like you have in your loft in your house and it was made form black plastic to absorb heat from the sun but apart from when it was very hot, the shower could best be described as 'invigorating' and in winter 'character building'...

Go for it!!

 

[useless]

I'd go for a caravan, to be honest. However, I guess it depends on where you are intending to stay. A tent is a nice idea, but far more vulnerable to the elements. However, you could get a tent into woodland (with permission), which is likely to be more difficult in a van.


Our van is great for holidays, with a small water heater, probably ineffective shower, very usable cassette toilet, oven etc... It is 4 birth, and I suspect 2 of us could live in it for a year if we really had to. But it would be a squeeze.


However, good luck with the plans. Why not try it out, have you anything much to loose? At least you will be able to say you've done it!

 

[Shambling Shaman]

I figure that once sited its staying put? what ever you go for (yurt or tipi gets my vote) Very good pegs / lasting is a must caravan + awnings are a nightmare in high winds. And suck eggs time when the wethers good get all you mainanace carried out - reprof tent check lasings and pegs - caraven get heaters surviced pipes checked clean the guttering type rail that runs allong the edge. If you are remote as well stock up on esensals before you are snowed in. Cant stress how important Peging/lashing is - if you tent blows away on a weekend trip you lose some gear if your home blows away.............................................
But Im shore you know that.

 

[gunnix]

Yea Abbe, I hope she won't run away
Thanks that you pointed out that those tents I mentioned aren't really good.

Thanks all for the comments.
I'm thinking now a caravan or big van might be the better choice, since you can lock it better. It's not that safe around here. It's also easier and cheaper to find a second hand caravan.

It would be fun to hear of some more stories of people living in tents or caravans

 

[william#]

i have seriously considered it but with fuel costs and the hassle of finding places to park coupled with the constant worry of the thing getting broken into
have decided against a motor home option .
ive met a couple who did it for a few years and they seemed very happy for a while though i think they keep it to strictly summer affair now .
it really suited there "spirituality" and musical ways .
i just can not see the merit in it - just hassle - not that i particularly like living in a house either
best bet is just get tons of cash and go where ever yu like
lol
ps
go half on the mobile home she will think twice about running away

 

[Spacemonkey]

Or get a boat to live on! Bit more expensive though...

 

[EdS]

you can small wood burning stoves that are designed for narrow (canal) boats and carvans - supposed to really good and you can keep the kettle hot on them.

 

[Spacemonkey]

Yep, and they work so well that in winter you have to have a door open. It's a shame i don't have any permanent residential moorings near me or else I'd be afloat in no time.

 

[Kirruth]

I know a number of people who live on long boats and they are a great solution for those who want mobility without sacrificing creature comforts. But you do have to like tinkering with engines and metal things.

 

[Rebel]

I lived in a caravan for around a year, with two kids.

Much better than a tent for long term living. Remember you're going to have more than just the cold to deal with. Strong winds, heavy rain, possible flooding, to name a few.

Caravans are like a mobile house in a way. You can have gas heating in them, plug them into the mains if you are lucky enough to be near an outdoor socket you can use. Run them off the battery if not. You can even get a solar recharger for the battery if you've got the money.

If you've also got a vehicle to pull it with then packing up and moving on is quick and easy compared to a tent.

A mobile home is okay but not much fun for doing the shopping or driving into town unless it's no bigger than a Transit van.

I also lived in a tent, with two kids. That was fun and a challenge. Having a tent you can stand up is luxury worth having if you're going to spend months in it. IMO tents are not recommended for long-term living but I was homeless at the time. Still its worth a try if you feel up to it - builds character.

 

[gunnix]

IMO tents are not recommended for long-term living but I was homeless at the time. Still its worth a try if you feel up to it - builds character.

Character is just what we need in these times!

These people are pretty cool, they squat a space and build yurts there (and live in them):
http://www.grensgeval.org/
http://www.nooitmeerhaast.nl/

I promise myself to visit them sometime in the next few months.
See how they live in yurts, and maybe learn to build one.

Living in a boat is a nice idea as well, certainly since I followed a sailing course of a half year in Denmark (skoleskibetdanmark.dk) and I'll follow a boat building course starting in September. But something tells me I'd rather have my base on the land

 

[Rebel]

My older son lived in a "bender " in the woods for a while.

There was a commune of them living together. They'd bought the land and lived on it. Problem was they didn't have permission to live on it and there were quite a few of them.

The argument was that because benders are not permanent and they had built no permanent structures then it was okay (or something like that). Anyway they were having constant visits from officials trying to get rid of them.

It was a great way to live though and my son had a fantastic time while he was there. I was tempted too but it just didn't seem to be the right thing for me to be doing at the time.

 

[william#]

what happen with the legal arguement in the end ?

 

[Rebel]

I don't know. I no longer live in Somerset and it's many years since I visited them.

It was pretty bad with the authorities when I last saw them, they had to leave for a while. They kept on fighting though and went back. I think they've been in and out of the courts for years now. AFAIK (and I could be wrong) they are back and doing okay.

If I'm ever back in Somerset I'll pay them a visit - if they are there still. They probably won't remember me after all these years though. I reckon a lot of them won't be the original crew either.

If anybody lives around there it would be worth paying them a visit. When I was there it was early days and they were still learning but I reckon they're probably really experienced and together by now.

 

[KIMBOKO]

Please don't write off the teepee and the yurt just yet. I was speaking to a someone about teepees last weekend. Apparently during winter the an inner tent was suspended from the poles and the gap between filled with insulation grss etc. that is in addition to the normal dew cloth. Thereby giving a lot more insulation.
Yurts are typically for cold dry windy places, and being covered in many layers of felt the are in fact well insulated. There are styles of yurts with quite a steep roof that is well able to shed rain and a good canvas cover will keep it watertight.
If you feel like making a yurt or teepee, just have a go they arn't too expensive to make and if it doesn't work out, sell it or give it away and have a go at something else.

 

[maddave]

I'd PM Spikey da Pikey. He's lived in a caravan for a while (hence his nickname) and did quite well.