La Salle Explorers

[hedge]

That's funny...

[Bklyn]

That was.

On an ancillary note, Naked and Afraid is actually pretty good TV. I stopped by for the "Naked" part, but it's pretty compelling stuff to watch these people conquer (or not) the mental aspects of their environment.

[hedge]

So when are we going to have a backwoods Goat Pen party at eCat's cabin?

[Jungle Rat]

We already have.

[hedge]

I'm not talking about the party where they hung you from the rafters and used your ass as a pinata...

[Jungle Rat]

I enjoyed that though.

[AlabamAlum]

eCat,

Also, would love to see pics when you get it set-up. My hunting cabin has a generator and no running water. We had a well dug - which I recommend - and an outdoor toilet.

[AlabamAlum]

We bought a log cabin kit, though.

[hedge]

Would you consider yourself a log cabin republican?

[AlabamAlum]

No. I'm not a Republican and I'm not gay.

[Bklyn]

Surrrre you're not...

[AlabamAlum]

Projection.

[Owlman]

Surrrre you're not...

That was 20 years ago. AA's has since cut his hair.

[Bklyn]

Well, that shot was obviously from circa 1987. It was his prime, before the fall...

[eCat]

eCat,

Also, would love to see pics when you get it set-up. My hunting cabin has a generator and no running water. We had a well dug - which I recommend - and an outdoor toilet.

a well may happen later on but it costs a small fortune to get electricity run there (even though we have power lines next to the property so for now - rainwater collection, solar panels and a generator for A/C.

you telling me of getting broken into made me think about whether our doors were standard size and easily replaceable on the loft cabin we picked out.

[AlabamAlum]

We don't have power either, other than the gen. We had the well capped and use a manual hand pump - a Bison brand - works great. We did pay to have it drilled, though. Hit water on the third hole at 18 feet.

We also use rain barrels, but found that to be inadequate. Your mileage may vary.

[sardis]

Didn't remember DS saying he was vacationing in London this year...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ewers.html

[AlabamAlum]

eCat,

Also, if it doesn't come with it, put skylights on your building. We put in 6, and it really lights up the place during the day without running the gen.

You said you were doing solar? Let me know how that works out. We've considered it; just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

We have a fireplace for heat. And since the majority of our time there is late fall and winter, we don't have AC but do have a ceiling fan and a couple of box fans for the windows.

We have a fridge\freezer but rarely use it. Everyone brings a Yeti of beer, bacon, steak, and eggs. We used to bring separate Yetis with dry ice for the kill, but found a local butcher who will clean, section, wrap, pack and ship.

When you get yours fixed up, maybe we can start a timeshare of off-the-grid cabins. Heh.

[eCat]

eCat,

Also, if it doesn't come with it, put skylights on your building. We put in 6, and it really lights up the place during the day without running the gen.

You said you were doing solar? Let me know how that works out. We've considered it; just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

We have a fireplace for heat. And since the majority of our time there is late fall and winter, we don't have AC but do have a ceiling fan and a couple of box fans for the windows.

We have a fridge\freezer but rarely use it. Everyone brings a Yeti of beer, bacon, steak, and eggs. We used to bring separate Yetis with dry ice for the kill, but found a local butcher who will clean, section, wrap, pack and ship.

When you get yours fixed up, maybe we can start a timeshare of off-the-grid cabins. Heh.

Right now with 2 100W solar panels feeding into separate marine batteries, we can run 2 fans, 6 LED lights ,a 22" LCD TV and 300gph water pump without much concern if were just using it in the evenings. If we stay more than a week it might be a concern. You can buy the solar panels with inverter for $150 a piece, and then I'll need to spend another $200 on deep cycle marine batteries.

I bought a Mr. Heater Big Buddy propane heater today which is a high efficiency heater that can heat the entire cabin given our open floor plan. With a propane heater, external grill and tankless hot water system, I'm thinking about getting a couple of 100 pound propane tanks delivered. I called the place today and they said they'd run 50 feet of copper tubing and we'd connect from that. You can also get a gas powered fridge but they are so high dollar I'm probably going to go with a Yeti as well.
Since we'll probably go with the A/C and perhaps an electric fridge, a propane powered generator is where I'm leaning as well.

We already plan to put in 2 sky lights, the kind that have the blinds built in since we'll more than likely have to cut a hole for the A/C. Instead of mounting the solar on the roof as we originally planned, we'll build a frame away from the building and run wire so the cabin can stay in the shade to help keep it cool in the summer.

If we could live without the A/C we wouldn't even need the generator but having the generator also gives us a fridge for the summer months.

All this for a place I'll use 20 days out of the year.

I'm not sure if we're going to hold off on the cabin until next year or not - as soon as we can get that damn camper moved off, we''ll probably get started setting the place up.

As for the well, since we have a creek on the place that has running water most of the year (although the source of that water might be a concern) I suspect we could hit water at less than 25 feet, but it wouldn't be drinkable, then again, neither would the rainwater we collect.( 1) 55 gallon drum provides you with 36 flushes and the remaining 2 should support low flow showers. If we find that we don't have enough rainfall to keep the barrels full between visits, another option is to dam up the creek with a 3 foot wall . Worst case we could pull water from the creek on an as need basis. Since I have a truck now, I could also fill up a barrel from the house and carry it with us.

Getting a well dug is going to be a pretty major cost, although that would be an immediate $$$ improvement on the land.

[AlabamAlum]

I love the solar idea. Just copied that paragraph of yours and emailed it to the other three in my club.

Yeah, a propane gen and delivery is what you need. Eventually plan to build your own bbq. We had a flat of bricks delivered cheap. If you leave a portable grill out, it will be the first thing stolen.

We don't use an electric water pump. We can hook a hose to the hand pump and run water anywhere. Including the reservoir for the outside shower - or the inside sink. If you do the well, pay the money to have the water tested.