Monday, January 7, 2008

HexaYurts - Easy Survival Structures

I don't know why I didn't think of this. It solves several problems for me; a warm sleeping structure on the ridge and an easily moved, insulated greenhouse.

This construction method utilizes four by eight foot foam panels and allows you to easily and cheaply build a small survival cabin. For a few hundred bucks you have a structure that, they claim, will last for twenty years. It would be warm in the winter and cool in the hot deserts. With proper venting you could use a military style wood fired tent stove for supplemental heat and a simper mister would "air condition" your summers days.

HexaYurts use foam insulation panels from Home Depot or Lowes taped together with six inch wide strapping tape. They would be water proof and have a high R value built right into the construction material. Foam panels are light enough to easily haul by hand into remote cabin sites. They could be reconfigured or moved and quickly disassembled and stored if necessary.

These yurts can be stored unassembled and quickly erected in an emergency. With some paint they can be camouflaged giving you a warm, invisible retreat.

Over the next couple of months I will construct a small sleep cabin on top of Bear Ridge. The only problem I can see is with strong winds. Proper anchoring and binding should eliminate this issue.

HexaYurts

5 comments:

The Urban Survivalist said...

Thanks for the link. That's exactly the type of thing that I've been looking for. I've been looking more and more closely at the San Luis Valley for retreat land myself. The price is certainly right.

BigBear said...

Urban Survivalist,

Yea, this would work great if you didn't have a trailer or you were not ready to move it to your land. I really think this is a clever idea.

The San Luis Valley is great. Reasonably price land, good water, fairly nice climate. Very cold this winter and last but summers are good. This is a high desert climate so growing season are touchy.

Jobs are very hard to find. This is one of the reasons I have fully relocated yet but I am working on that.

Try Costilla County, very very low population density 5 acre plots on the valley floor are really cheap best solar and wind power in the country.

Ryan said...

Yurts are great but trailers can be had aweful cheap.

BigBear said...

The trailers would also feel more secure. Psychologically we are wired for finished homes, the trailer would best fit that. I price them on craigslist every now and then and you can pick up older models for under a thousand.

I am going to build one of the hexayurts on the ridge where you can't get any trucks.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I'm a professor at Columbia University in New York City. I'm starting a new book project on sustainable living and would love to talk with you by phone. . . I have read through your blog and you are dealing with a lot of the same issues as me. (I have a keen personal interest in this project. . . I live half the year in an off the grid home in California.) It's hard transitioning and that is why I'd love to talk with you.

Best,

Dale Maharidge
dm2021@columbia.edu
212-854-3854