Simple living

With some googling, you should be able to find a canvas tent that I have seen with an included woodstove. It has an opening in the roof for a chimney and everything. That way, you can heat and cook inside without fear of CO poisoning. Not sure what your budget is, but it is rugged and temporary, and would probably cost no more than a typical month's rent, maybe two (though I have no idea what it actually costs).

Here is Ray Mears using such a tent:

Star Forge wrote: Here's my question: can anybody think of an affordable DIY home that would be better (IE more airtight, sanitary) than a tent?

If you don't mind building it out of PVC and billboard tarp and a bit of sewing, yurts go together pretty cheaply. While traditional ones use canvas that gets really expensive, an inexpensive used billboard tarp can be had for around $100 US, the last time I checked, and PVC pipe is sturdy and cheap, so long as it doesn't get UV damaged. It's still a tent, but it doesn't feel like one.

In addition, whatever structure you use can be insulated like mad if you make windbreaks out of straw bales. Straw traps a lot of air, is very insulative, yadda, yadda, so building "camp walls" of it will cut down on wind, and placing it directly against the structure will help keep heat where you want it.

rugadd wrote: Oh, a quick latrine can be made...and you don't have to squat as much.

I thought squatting was healthier?

steamboat28 wrote:

Star Forge wrote: Here's my question: can anybody think of an affordable DIY home that would be better (IE more airtight, sanitary) than a tent?

If you don't mind building it out of PVC and billboard tarp and a bit of sewing, yurts go together pretty cheaply. While traditional ones use canvas that gets really expensive, an inexpensive used billboard tarp can be had for around $100 US, the last time I checked, and PVC pipe is sturdy and cheap, so long as it doesn't get UV damaged. It's still a tent, but it doesn't feel like one.

PVC Yurt brilliant!

http://www.instructables.com/id/PVC-Yurt/

Thanks to everybody for their advice.

I've decided to use the tent for the time being, because I already have it. I think that this discussion has done a great service in pointing out the difference between simple living and camping.

Living simply, and therefore cheaply, means making due with what you have, which in my case, is (Sam's bank account<crap). Camping is an expensive activity done by white people who cannot stand being in their own homes, and fork out inordinate amounts of money on tents, portable stoves, iceboxes, and other crap that they will barely use.

Never looked into the healthiest ways to poop.

Maybe I should given how much I do! :woohoo:

Star Forge wrote: Camping is an expensive activity done by white people who cannot stand being in their own homes, and fork out inordinate amounts of money on tents, portable stoves, iceboxes, and other crap that they will barely use.

Not necessarily.

http://www.undergroundhousing.com/book.html

There's a lot of interesting ideas using earth bags (the kinds used to build bunkers), to build partially or totally underground shelter.