Yurt vs Travel Trailer - Cost & Comfort Considerations

[johnny b]

Yurts are awesome, I am very familiar with them as I check them out and help assemble some at Burning Man every year.  A yurt is way more efficient than any trailer as far as staying cool or warming, but a Yurt is going to fall apart if it is taken down and reassembled every two weeks. They are truly a engineering marvel, but really only good for occasional setups/teardowns or more permanent use, not constant nomadic traveling. A real pain in the ass to set up and tape.

Are you talking about "Hexayurts" made from foam board and strapping tape like these:



I think this thread is about portable tent type "yurts" like this:



While both of the above "yurts" have their uses, I just don't see them in a mobile lifestyle.

As to the original post, I'm all for trailers...but that could just be the 'lazy' in me.  

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Having spent a lot of time in tents, from tiny 2 man mountaineering tents to big insulated hunting tents.  Here are some random thoughts:

 - The bigger the tent the more people you need to set it up in the wind.  Setting up a tent in the wind sucks, the bigger the tent the bigger the suck.  High wind=exponential suck.
      Sometimes packing a tent up in the wind is more difficult.  Always hated packing a wet tent.
 - You need a fairly flat area with good drainage to set up a tent.  A van/trailer can be leveled; difficult with a tent.
 - Almost no noise attenuation in a tent.  Almost like being outside (good and bad).
 - The 70 lbs is for the shell, now add a floor and all the other stuff you need to live.  How much weight and volume?  How big a truck (or trailer) to haul it?
      I didn't see a packed size; a 12' X 20' hunting tent is a big package (~22 cu. ft. packed).
 - The yurt you link to has 3 year full sun exposure protection (1.5 year guarantee).  Plan on spending your time in the desert or forest?
 - I don't understand 'better temperature control'.
 - A hard shell just feels more comfortable to me in windy or driving rain conditions (or when heffalumps are out and about   ).
 - No Walmart, truck stop, rest area, or city street overnight camping (it is sometimes necessary or convenient to do).

Just what us van-dwellers need is a good push-button automatic Yurt with 800 watts of solar and a composting toilet. 
Oh, and a built-in Truck-Fridge. Jacuzzi 

 

[rvwandering]

Please stay on topic and stop arguing about semantics. All posts drifting into those areas will be deleted.

 

[geogentry]

No towing
More MPG with your tow vehicle (i.e. 20' yurt is about 70 pounds)
More square feet per dollar (i.e. 20' yurt can cost as little as $1,100 for 314 sqft)
More flexibility with the interior design
Better temperature control

I am a bit confused here with what you say.


I am unable to find a yurt that is 20' in diameter for that type of pricing.  The best I was able to find - with no extras was right around $8,000.   May I ask where you would buy such an inexpensive yurt?

What is your yurt made out of?  For that type of weight it has to be some type of polyester.  In a yurt desigh I think it would be a lot more than 70 pounds.  With a yurt you have a lot of rafter memebers and side wall poles. Even aluminum is going to add up.  

If it is made of polyester you are going to have a LOT of factors to take into consideration.  Weather is going to be a huge factor.  IF you follow the seasons and migrate to keep from all the snow you still must consider rain storms where the wind will become a factor.  Although a Yurt is roundish in form it will still present a pretty big wall of resistance to a storm level wind.

How exactly did you plan on controlling temperature?  You will need some form of heat.  Whatever you decide on as a form of heat it is not going to be small or light.  That yurt has around 3,000 cubic feet of space to heat.  Nothing your gonna heat with a buddy heater.  So factor in the weight of your heating appliance.
And are you going to cool it in the summer?

Setting up a Yurt with the type of roof it has is not going to be anything even close to easy.  I dont really know you or your situation but unless you have some help I dont see how you will erect such a dwelling.  Even with two people your looking at hours to set it up.  And then there is taking it back down when you relocate. 

If I may suggest you talk with HighDesertRanger.  He is VERY familiar with setting up large tents. Yes I know your talking a Yurt but Yurts are vastly more complex.  He has a lot of experience in setting up huge fabric dwellings, comfort, and considerations you need to know about to make a sound decision.

 

[RVTravel]

He listed the website. You have not read that far yet.

 

[RVTravel]

That's why it isn't called a Yurt, because it's a YurtDome.