LargeMarge
Well-known member
2003, my Very Significant Other got sick.
.
Immediately, we wrote our goals on a brown grocery bag.
Pretty high on the list -- 'holding hands while we watch the sun rise'.
.
Naturally, we acquired a 1997 Ford commercial truck to convert to our concept of an ExpeditionVehicle.
I quickly removed the roll-up rear door, and fabricated a steel wall with a steel door... with dual dead-bolts.
I wanted a Dutch door, so I built a small top opener... my concept of a Dutch door.
Within a week of diagnosis -- while selling everything -- we completed our conversion and hit the road from Oregon with the vague goal of 'south!'.
.
Twenty-four months twenty-four thousand miles around South America.
Alaska, Panama, multiple times all around north and central America.
Summers up rough logger tracks to remote mountain lakes.
Winters on isolated Baja beaches.
.
Our interior is three paces across by seven paces long, perfect for three RedHeelers and two adults (plus a frequent yummy third).
Why so 'small'?
We are inside to sleep.
We are outside exploring most of the day, we cook outside, we shower outside
For meals, we sit around the community campfire with our caravan chums.
.
Cooking:
We use induction hot-plates.
We can pull one or more from the cubby, and cook on the picnic-table or on our porch.
.
Bowels:
We use a newspaper.
Folded with its accompanying tissues, the proceeds go in a plastic grocery bag.
.
Bladder:
We use laundry detergent jugs.
From the factory, these usually have a spout insert, reducing the opening to barely an inch or so.
To pop the spout, we invert the jug -- lid set aside -- and bang the spout on a sidewalk.
The spout easily pops loose... leaving a two or three inch opening.
.
Water:
Instead of a yuge tank, instead of a pump, instead of plumbing...
...we use retired stainless-steel five-gallon Pepsi kegs.
We like these because:
* isolation -- if one goes sour, we can clean it while using the others
* loanable -- we can loan one to a caravan chum
* multiplication -- our usual load in the rig is seven kegs, a total of thirty-five gallons.
We can always add a few more for an extended stay.
* divisible -- a couple-three kegs can go to town to be re-filled while the others stay in camp
* a keg can sit near the campfire... because campfire.
.
These Pepsi kegs are engineered to be pressurized.
A quick puff from a 12vdc pump for bicycle tires, click a re-purposed sink sprayer from a stand-still house kitchen, and the five gallons are ready to dispense.
.
For showers, we use a dedicated three-gallon version of the Pepsi keg.
We heat the water using a kitchen 'sous vide' circulation heater.
.
Photovoltaic:
We have six (6) 305-Watt panels, a total of 1,830-Watts.
These feed our bank of Concorde Lifeline AGM batteries.
Nearly two decades in-service, they are holding-up just fine.
.
Grossly over-size for our needs, we rarely draw our bank more than a couple-three percent... leaving ninety percent plus in reserve.
.
Our power-train:
* Cummins 505ci mechanical
* Allison 3060
* air-locker axle
Our GVWR -- 29,000#.
Our weight across the scale -- 14,000#.
Our cargo capacity -- about seven ton.
.
2010, I fabricated a toy-hauler on a similar commercial chassis.
The box is 8x16, with a tuck-away lift.
.
To increase our range -- and avoid areas with high taxes on fuel -- I added a 140-gallon saddle-tank.
I acquired this from a heavy-truck dismantler ('wrecking-yard').
They had piles of dozens of different shape tanks in aluminum and steel.
The 140 supplements the factory 50-gallon tank, for a total of 190-gallons on the rig.
.
To supplement those tanks, I fabricated a mount on the poop-deck of the toy-hauler... an additional 120-gallon tank.
In theory, our range without re-fueling -- Anchorage-to-Acapulco.
.
In the toy-hauler, we have capacity to carry another couple-three dozen Pepsi kegs.
In theory, we could go about four months without re-filling our water.
.
Nearly two decades full-time live-aboard, we refined our needs to the minimum.
At no point are we 'doing without' or 'scrimping to get by'... we have everything we need, we just need less of it.
.
Early on, we realized we needed the mentoring of experienced travelers.
Accordingly, we hooked-up with a vast variety of caravans.
We learned about tools, equipment, planning... and the futility of plans.
We watched, we occasionally asked about a system or procedure, but mostly just absorbed information.
And we offered to do a grocery-run.
We offered to tag-along on a parts-run.
We just generally tried to stay out of the way while trying to be useful.
.
A couple-three years ago, we fell into a workkamp gig.
We operate a small organic teaching farm near the outskirts of Eugene, Oregon.
We share the acreage with a couple-three dozen folks in a wide variety of RecreationVehicles and home-made ExpeditionVehicles.
.
Our hx:
We converted busses, semi-trucks, pick-up campers.
Our latest conversion is a 40' semi-trailer.
.
My suggestions to folks considering going full-time:
* get more cargo capacity than you think you need.
* build on a commercial chassis using common components for your area
* prior to investing weeks/months/years in constructing ThePerfectRig©, gut it, toss in some car-camping gear, go have fun.
* join a caravan of experienced travelers
* walk a RecreationVehicle park or resort, talk with owners of rigs you are considering.
.
You may want a 40' bus, but need a 18' box-truck.
You may want a Class C RecreationVehicle, but need a semi-tractor.
You may want an ambulance, but need a sailboat.
You will grow, your needs will evolve.
Avoid believing in the trap of 'this rig is my forever rig'.
.
Immediately, we wrote our goals on a brown grocery bag.
Pretty high on the list -- 'holding hands while we watch the sun rise'.
.
Naturally, we acquired a 1997 Ford commercial truck to convert to our concept of an ExpeditionVehicle.
I quickly removed the roll-up rear door, and fabricated a steel wall with a steel door... with dual dead-bolts.
I wanted a Dutch door, so I built a small top opener... my concept of a Dutch door.
Within a week of diagnosis -- while selling everything -- we completed our conversion and hit the road from Oregon with the vague goal of 'south!'.
.
Twenty-four months twenty-four thousand miles around South America.
Alaska, Panama, multiple times all around north and central America.
Summers up rough logger tracks to remote mountain lakes.
Winters on isolated Baja beaches.
.
Our interior is three paces across by seven paces long, perfect for three RedHeelers and two adults (plus a frequent yummy third).
Why so 'small'?
We are inside to sleep.
We are outside exploring most of the day, we cook outside, we shower outside
For meals, we sit around the community campfire with our caravan chums.
.
Cooking:
We use induction hot-plates.
We can pull one or more from the cubby, and cook on the picnic-table or on our porch.
.
Bowels:
We use a newspaper.
Folded with its accompanying tissues, the proceeds go in a plastic grocery bag.
.
Bladder:
We use laundry detergent jugs.
From the factory, these usually have a spout insert, reducing the opening to barely an inch or so.
To pop the spout, we invert the jug -- lid set aside -- and bang the spout on a sidewalk.
The spout easily pops loose... leaving a two or three inch opening.
.
Water:
Instead of a yuge tank, instead of a pump, instead of plumbing...
...we use retired stainless-steel five-gallon Pepsi kegs.
We like these because:
* isolation -- if one goes sour, we can clean it while using the others
* loanable -- we can loan one to a caravan chum
* multiplication -- our usual load in the rig is seven kegs, a total of thirty-five gallons.
We can always add a few more for an extended stay.
* divisible -- a couple-three kegs can go to town to be re-filled while the others stay in camp
* a keg can sit near the campfire... because campfire.
.
These Pepsi kegs are engineered to be pressurized.
A quick puff from a 12vdc pump for bicycle tires, click a re-purposed sink sprayer from a stand-still house kitchen, and the five gallons are ready to dispense.
.
For showers, we use a dedicated three-gallon version of the Pepsi keg.
We heat the water using a kitchen 'sous vide' circulation heater.
.
Photovoltaic:
We have six (6) 305-Watt panels, a total of 1,830-Watts.
These feed our bank of Concorde Lifeline AGM batteries.
Nearly two decades in-service, they are holding-up just fine.
.
Grossly over-size for our needs, we rarely draw our bank more than a couple-three percent... leaving ninety percent plus in reserve.
.
Our power-train:
* Cummins 505ci mechanical
* Allison 3060
* air-locker axle
Our GVWR -- 29,000#.
Our weight across the scale -- 14,000#.
Our cargo capacity -- about seven ton.
.
2010, I fabricated a toy-hauler on a similar commercial chassis.
The box is 8x16, with a tuck-away lift.
.
To increase our range -- and avoid areas with high taxes on fuel -- I added a 140-gallon saddle-tank.
I acquired this from a heavy-truck dismantler ('wrecking-yard').
They had piles of dozens of different shape tanks in aluminum and steel.
The 140 supplements the factory 50-gallon tank, for a total of 190-gallons on the rig.
.
To supplement those tanks, I fabricated a mount on the poop-deck of the toy-hauler... an additional 120-gallon tank.
In theory, our range without re-fueling -- Anchorage-to-Acapulco.
.
In the toy-hauler, we have capacity to carry another couple-three dozen Pepsi kegs.
In theory, we could go about four months without re-filling our water.
.
Nearly two decades full-time live-aboard, we refined our needs to the minimum.
At no point are we 'doing without' or 'scrimping to get by'... we have everything we need, we just need less of it.
.
Early on, we realized we needed the mentoring of experienced travelers.
Accordingly, we hooked-up with a vast variety of caravans.
We learned about tools, equipment, planning... and the futility of plans.
We watched, we occasionally asked about a system or procedure, but mostly just absorbed information.
And we offered to do a grocery-run.
We offered to tag-along on a parts-run.
We just generally tried to stay out of the way while trying to be useful.
.
A couple-three years ago, we fell into a workkamp gig.
We operate a small organic teaching farm near the outskirts of Eugene, Oregon.
We share the acreage with a couple-three dozen folks in a wide variety of RecreationVehicles and home-made ExpeditionVehicles.
.
Our hx:
We converted busses, semi-trucks, pick-up campers.
Our latest conversion is a 40' semi-trailer.
.
My suggestions to folks considering going full-time:
* get more cargo capacity than you think you need.
* build on a commercial chassis using common components for your area
* prior to investing weeks/months/years in constructing ThePerfectRig©, gut it, toss in some car-camping gear, go have fun.
* join a caravan of experienced travelers
* walk a RecreationVehicle park or resort, talk with owners of rigs you are considering.
.
You may want a 40' bus, but need a 18' box-truck.
You may want a Class C RecreationVehicle, but need a semi-tractor.
You may want an ambulance, but need a sailboat.
You will grow, your needs will evolve.
Avoid believing in the trap of 'this rig is my forever rig'.
