Greetings, On Mon, 2009-05-11 at 17:31 -0700, lance95 wrote: > Thanks to all who have responded. > > Obviously, if one has sufficient resources, one can simply buy a fully > equipped retreat that is complete with provisions.
Were you to do that, I'd recommend an underground retreat, with a very small, defensible top-side foot-print, seal-able, and with sufficient truck-garden to help the air, and give you food. Power from a sterling engine, and geo-thermal boost to heating/cooling, water purification plant, and perhaps a loose herd, and some wild-farming on top. But that's just me. > But I’m choosing to focus upon an average, North American citizen who > may have to abandon his or her home in the middle of the night-- > possibly with children and pets. In gentle climates, one needs little > more than a tarp and a wool blanket for protection against the > elements. Actually, with a decent sized, and thickness tarp, and wool blanket, and some sticks, that is all you need to protect yourself from the elements. > But when the temperatures drop and the snow begins to fly, a good warm > shelter is of paramount importance. This is especially true for the > very young and old, along with those who are either sick or injured. > The northern latitudes can be very cruel in the winter. It can be, but, to add foreshadowing, I'll point out that a number of folks used to make their lives the way you are describing, without much of a problem. > The hexayurt has a lot going for it, but the basic units have to be > heated in the winter. And at this juncture, I’m not sure how to do > that. The hesayurts as currently designed, are not necessarily as portable as you are imagining. The 4x8 sheets are somewhat prone to damage, when they aren't in the yurt configuration, well taped. Dragging, or driving them around makes them both impact and edge-vulnerable. > That causes me to, once again, look at yurts/ gers. I’m speaking of > the convention kinds. Some nice ones can be bought from a number of > sources. And they are both beautiful and functional—often complete > with electricity, plumbing and woodstove. Yes, very useful, but, perhaps, not as portable as you would like. Granted, my 12' in diameter one fits nicely on a roof-rack, but it is, indeed, all pre-built, so I don't need to look for anything except for gas outside of my own resources. > But those kinds of yurts probably aren’t going to be an option for the > person who must evacuate in the middle of the night. So I’m looking > for something that can be built with easily obtainable materials—such > as odds and ends from local hardware stores, or salvaged from > demolished buildings. One key part you need when building a yurt is a > good “roof ring.” Indeed, at this juncture, I'd delight in pointing out another structure that you should be looking at. That of a TeePee. It is made of said tarp (preferably canvas) and wool (the liner) and held up by either poles you pull from wrecked buildings, or harvest from trees, and a bit of rope. You have to make your tarp and your liner special, but ... they don't have to be that big and bulky, and you can harvest the poles from wherever you end up, most likely. The Native Americans lived in them, in the harshest New England winters that I know of, and have read of others in the northern mid-west. Some of the Aluet tribes still live in them in the Canadian Nonavit territory, which is quite harsh winter conditions. > One of the major challenges is designing a “roof ring” that can easily > be made from common materials. At one time, I had a decent home > workshop that featured a good table-saw, circular saw, router and > drill press. With those tools, I was able to do some pretty fancy > work. Certainly, building a good, “roof ring” would have been a simple > job. The roof ring, and the edge connector are the most important parts of the ger, and they are not something simple or necessarily easily garnered in an urban or even suburban wasteland. Even the Khana is difficult to reproduce at a moment's notice. Having one, and having it ready, if you need to evacuate, due to imminent weather, or fire does make it possible, and even, somewhat, easy. Of course, setting up a ger is a specialized skill, and one that has to be done by more than one able-bodied person. On the other hand, I've seen TeePees put up by one, very pregnant woman, on her own. (We offered to help her, as soon as our ger was set up, but she, alone got the TeePee up and in place, by herself, without straining, before we were done with our ger setup. > Now I have nothing but a couple of hand saws, a small saber saw and a > portable drill. Most of the roof rings I have seen can’t be created as > quickly and as easily as I would like. Yes……………personally, I could > build one even with my paltry selection of tools, but I have the > advantage of a lot of experience. You would need a hand-saw, and maybe a hammer (to break away the urban pieces that you would need to break away, to get at what you would need for your spars) and some rope, once you have sewn the tarp and liner into the right shapes. (Or bought them. They are not that expensive. Matter of fact, I've seen some kids video-game budget to be larger than the cost of a pre-made set.) Just have them in a (or two, depending on who is going to carry them) backpack by the door, on a shelf, along with potable water, your camp-stove, some spare clothing, spare foot-gear and cash, and you can pretty much just grab it and go in an emergency. Even if the roads are closed, you can go on foot. > A good friend of mine is endeavoring to design a new sort of “roof > ring”, we shall see what he comes up with. Many designs have been made over time. Some have failed spectacularly, others have become more and more commonly adopted, depending. > Many of the experienced yurt people I have talked to concede that > there’s a problem; unfortunately, they are vague about possible > solutions. It's not a problem, it's a function of the structure. If you choose that structure, that is part of the function. If you choose, say, a hexayurt structure, you have to deal with the taping/untaping. It's one of the functions of the structure. A TeePee has other functional limits. For example, it's really hard to have connected TeePees, unless you are building on a platform, or burrowing under ground. Every structure contains the choices you make. I wouldn't for example want to end up in a desert, and expecting to scrounge the poles. > Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not looking for a personal solution. I > have the time and resources to either buy or rent what I need to build > a roof ring. Hell………….I can afford to buy a complete kit. That’s not > the issue. What I want to do is to come up with solutions for others. If you aren't looking for yourself, than whatever solution you might find, will probably not suit your intended audience. Because if you don't plan on using it, living it, and testing it, before saying to someone else "this works" ... well ... I, for one, would not trust your advice. The Hexayurt folks have done that, and their design improvements come from that. > As a final note, keep in mind that those who don’t own property might > have to move their yurt/ger frequently. Again, it's much easier to move a TeePee than a ger, or a Hexayurt. > Anyway, there are a lot of issues to confront. Indeed. > Sincerely, > Royce Percival --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. 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