A few months ago I found a nice shady spot near my tent that I
began setting up as a living area. It started with just a few camp chairs and a tiki torch. Then I added a hammock, which was a huge improvement. I've spent many hours in that hammock already. Next came a picnic table. Then a camp stove and a fire ring. And finally I built a frame and added a wooden swing.
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| My "living room" |
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| The hammock gets a lot of use |
I love this space. I often have friends over for dinner and drinks and we spend most of our time down here. I keep a cooler at the picnic table and fill it with ice when I entertain. This area is about 20 yards from my tent and I've made a path and lined it with tiki torches. It's so nice at night. I'll bring down
my CD player and do some outdoor cooking. Grilled sweet corn, fish, or steaks. Fresh vegetables. Goat cheese and bread warmed on the coals. I've even brought down the camp oven and made grilled steak nachos with fresh guacamole. And always plenty of beer on ice. And a hammock calling out my name. It's my favorite "room".
Love it Dave! You are out there kicking butt!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Melissa! I'm lovin life that's for sure!
DeleteHave you gone through winter yet while in the tent? I've read your entire blog but can't remember lol. If so, what is the coldest that it's gotten? I live in CO right now (originally from WA) and i hear it can get below 0dg. How do you deal with 'winter-proofing'? Sorry for all the Q's, I'm contemplating If my family could survive a winter in a tent or if we should wait til after :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I went through a mild Virginia winter last year. There were a few nights in the teens. Never below zero.
DeleteIn the winter, I heat with a wood stove. If you plan to do the same, then I'm confident that you will be able to find the right wood stove for your tent and stay very confortable, even in zero-degree weather in CO.
Something to keep in mind with a wood stove is the amount of floor space that it consumes. In my case, I needed a 2-foot clearance all the way around the wood stove. That took about 18 sqft of space in a 12 x 14 tent. That's a lot of space! So do your homework before you acquire your tent and allow for that space.
In order to stay comfortable in the winter, you will have to tend carefully to your stove. For example, if you let the stove burn too hot, you will quickly heat the small space of your tent to 90 or 100 degrees! It happended to me on several occasions. More than once I had to open my door and let freezing winter air into my small tent space to cool it down. On the other hand, if you let the stove burn too cool, then the outside air will very quickly make its way inside due to lack of insulation.
You've heard the old saying, "Keep the home fires burning!" Well, that's how it is when you winter in a tent. If someone isn't there to keep the stove burning as it should, then it's gonna get cold in a hurry!
The other challenge is keeping things from freezing during those times when you do let the fire go out. For example, since I still work a 9-to-5 job, I would routinely come home to a cold tent in the evenings. It gets cold enough to freeze even your canned goods! And definately your water supply will partially freeze.
And finally, there is the problem of wind. I had a few nights when the wind was really blowing, maybe 30-40 mph. And the temps were in the low-20s or teens. Under those conditions, it's really tough to regulate the wood stove properly and keep things comfortable. Try as I might, I would either draft the stove down too much which allowed the wind to carry the heat out of the tent, or I would open the draft too much and bring the tent into the 90s! It's just a real challenge to regulate the stove in windy conditions.
But in general, I was able to stay pretty comfortable throughout the winter last year. It takes some getting used to, but it's also a very cozy feeling to be snuggled in at night in a snow storm with a pot of coffee on the wood stove while you're making dinner by candle light. Winter is a beautiful time!
Thanks so much for all the info, that's really helpful!! Since we're a family of 4, we're thinking of getting an army tent to live in.. about 16x32, that way we have a little bit more room. But then we would probably have to get 2 stoves on each end to keep it warm. We're looking for land right now to set up on and have been contemplating working a deal out at a campground & stay there that way we're around other people too. Our goal to start tent living is sometime between next march through june, although i'm a little too excited to do it right away but we have a lot of work & research to do :) Your blog has given me a bunch of ideas, so thanks so much for keeping a blog!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you find the blog useful. You and your family are on quite a journey, so please keep us all posted on what you're up to. (Maybe it's time to start *your* blog!)
DeleteI do have a blog that i've started: http://matzatnomadic.blogspot.com/
DeleteThough it's more of a mixture about what's going on in our lives rather than focusing just on tenting! People do seem to be really intrigued by this lifestyle. More positive responses than I expected.
Look forward to getting more ideas from you as we venture into this new lifestyle! :)
I've had this itch for the past few years to simplify my life and actually start "living" more. Reading your blog has been inspirational and very informative. I know I'm not crazy now :) Thanks for sharing your experience.
ReplyDeleteDon't jump to conclusions, maybe you and I are *both* crazy :) All I can say is, if you get a chance sometime to "scratch that itch" without screwing up your life too badly or hurting others around you, then give it a try. Even for just a few months. I never imagined it could be so nice.
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