Essays Contents
Camping Off Grid
June 9, 2023
I'd live outside... if I could.
Well, maybe when I was younger...
now... I'd settle for a shady cabin with a grand screen porch.
I could sleep outside... and still have a secure door at night.
But... there was a time when I had a great camping set up.
Camping in established campgrounds... costs money.
Free camping is out there... some on federal land. I've done both.
Clean your area when arriving... rake, sweep, wash...
leave it better than you found it... rake, sweep, wash.
Here are some of my favorite saves from my experiences.
Water is a priority, wherever you land.
I've lived on an old farmstead where we had to haul water.
Every few days we'd take four 5-gallon buckets to town
and fill them at a gas station or 7-11... which filters its water, I'm told.
Had our own hose.
But... if I didn't have a man with muscles to haul those buckets
then I'd opt for 1-gallon jugs... eight or ten, maybe. Those can be
filled with filtered water on the cheap... put the jugs in a shopping
cart and fill at the dispenser. There are also 2.5 gallon water containers
that serve very nicely as a faucet set up on a table... if it's too heavy,
just fill it from the gallon jugs at the sink. Remember to make a
hole in the top for air pressure relief.
Try to figure what your daily water needs will be.
The trick is to make the most of the water... and heating fuel.
I kinda go by the rule... if someone is attempting privacy, I give it to them.
It's best if the sun isn't shining through the flimsy tent.
If you don't have a fancy set up for privacy... you could get by
with a couple of shower curtains, three trees, and a rope. Set rocks
on the bottom to prevent the wind blowing the curtains.
One-gallon jugs are easy to carry to a sunny area to heat the
water up for an hour or two before showering. A good shower is
possible with just one gallon of water... but have a back up jug.
Have a small table or chair with soaps, jugs, washcloth, and a drinking glass
for small amounts of water.
Once the jug is lighter weight you can skip the glass, but mainly...
don't use more than needed.
First, wet the hair... just enough. Lather the shampoo... rinse with
two glassfuls of water... add conditioner... rinse with two glassfuls.
Now... the body is wet... put water and soap on a washcloth and
lather down your body in this order... face, belly, arms, legs, private parts,
and then feet last. Rinse the cloth if necessary. Now that you're all
soaped down... rinse from top of your head down, using the remainder
of the gallon jug.
A quicker shower up... is just a washcloth soap-down... and rinse-off.
Use minimal soap... rinse the cloth... soapless wet cloth to wipe/rinse off.
Once upon a time I had a pedestal hibachi grill. I kept it in a box in the
trunk of the car. It was easy to bring
out and put away, and didn't need a table. I'd use breakable sticks of
wood which burned through quickly after a meal was cooked... with
not a lot of hot coals to mess with afterwards. The hibachi in this
picture is great... allowing different temperatures and distance
from the flames. Always know what your fire is doing.
Depending on how many dishes needed washing... I'd have some
water boiling on the grill's last cooking heat. First, I rinsed things
in a small dish of cold water just to remove food debris. Then in
another small container I'd have a little soapy water and sponge
to use for washing the dishes. Then I'd rinse the soap off in another
little container... before ever rolling them around in the steamy water for
sanitizing. Before the water cools, wash and rinse the sponge and washcloths.
I think all this process used was about 1/2 gallon water.
Washcloths are always handy for quick rinse offs... and wipe ups.
Standing wood on its end... inside a car tire... how cool is that...?
This is such a great idea that you want to give credit where it is due...
and although this is not the exact video I first found years ago...
I'd found a retired guy homesteading before homesteading was cool...
and he had stood two tires up on top of a tree stump
which gave some height and stability.
If you camp in the wild... always figure your survival options.
Most animals follow their noses... insects and mosquitoes follow scents...
so consider a strategy of hanging a rag with ammonia or pine oil
around the camp area to deter them. Never leave anything out.
Shoes will get eaten, nets will get ripped. Keep it tight. Have two
tents if necessary for your gear, or a large tent you can move
around in... in the rain if necessary.
Screen tents are great when the flies are buzzing.
Mosquito trap:
1. add a few drops of detergent in a container of water outside,
when the mosquito lands it can't push off the surface and drowns
2. attach a fine screen fabric to the front of a strong fan --
the fan draws the fragile mosquito into the wind current
and forces it against the screen to dry out; kill with alcohol;
clean the screen with rubbing alcohol
And... although it is common... don't pee in a campsite.
Dig a hole 12 inches deep... use the facilities... or carry it out.
Compost food and waste with pine shavings.
Yeah...
it's nicer to have a cabin with a decent set up
than to try to live in the wilds for any length of time.
With a cabin, you can be off grid... minimally...
without a fancy set up or solar array for energy.
Lighting can be done very efficiently.
But... hey... there's a fridge... and washing machine...
that sure come in handy...
maybe an old wringer wash machine.
... and a computer...
and maybe a television... and radio...
