Best Mobile Shelter?

[Twiceshy]

Assuming you have run through your modern tent fabrics, what sort of mobile shelter would you create?

Yurts are looking pretty good, but then Tepees were used by Native Americans. There must have been reasons behind the shape and construction of both types of shelters.

I like yurts more than Tepees but that is a personal preference and isn't based on anything related to the area they are used most often.

Which would you choose, and why?

I would prefer a tee pee because you can have a fire inside to keep warm. Yurts are expensive, for the money they cost you could build a regular stick built small cabin. My neighbor has a yurt and it is nothing but a mouse house. They chew right into it and are all over the place. I don't want rodents for room mates. I think a tee pee would be a lot faster to take down and move too. How would you heat your yurt? A small woodstove I suppose but that is more baggage if you need to relocate.

[Taggart]

My first impression is that a tee pee would be more mobile than a yurt.

I expect that the tee pee would be higher - I wonder if that would be more of a problem with wind?

I think I'd check out some of the tents available at places like Mountain Coop.

[riskey58]

I would all so check out the tents. They are very portable and are quick and easy to put up.

[Taggart]

What about camping trailers or recreational vehicles?

I realize that these wouldn't be able to go into the terrain that tents would, but on the other hand they do have more substance to their construction.

Trailers and such are very limited. What if you ran out of gas? Or propane? What if your vehicle broke down? What if you needed to go through terrain with no road? Flat tires? I think you have to abandon it after a while as you would probably be seeking better more remote living. For a short emergency it would be ok but not in the long run.

[Laughingmouse]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I would prefer a tee pee because you can have a fire inside to keep warm. Yurts are expensive, for the money they cost you could build a regular stick built small cabin. My neighbor has a yurt and it is nothing but a mouse house. They chew right into it and are all over the place. I don't want rodents for room mates. I think a tee pee would be a lot faster to take down and move too. How would you heat your yurt? A small woodstove I suppose but that is more baggage if you need to relocate.

Wow.

When I read the question I assumed we were talking about a shelter you made on your own and not one that was purchased.

How much more expensive is a Yurt, made with your own hands, compared to a Teepee, made with your own hands?

Which is easier to transport?

[tater03]

I would have to go with the teepee just because they have already been shown to stand the test of time. That and the fire you can have inside them is an added bonus.

tee pee prices http://earthworkstipis.proxy.calltod...iPriceList.pdf

Yurt prices http://www.coloradoyurt.proxy.callto...iceoutyurt.php

Actually a big tent would be easiest to transport but no fire and not very insulated.

[ZammaJannan]

I would have to go with the tee pee. You can make them quite large and they are warm and cozy.. I'd treat it like a tent and dig a ditch around it of course.

[Frankie]

Actually the yurt has been in use for at least as long as the Tepee among the nomads in central Asia.

I would still go with the Tepee for the simple fact that it's what I'm familiar with. If I have to become a nomad and the SHTF etc I'm going to need something that is somewhat familiar.

[ACCER]

That's true. Psychologically you will work better with something familiar and something you know how to handle. I assume of course that you have some idea on how to construct a tepee. If not, learn.

[DoomGuy]

True Accer, when it's bucketing down with rain and you just want to be out of it, the last thing you want to be doing is fumbling with the instructions. I suggest a simple tarp and some rope. Anyone can figure out how to string a tarp up to keep you out of the rain and a simple channel will divert the water away.

[Frankie]

I wonder about that.....I have a friend that went hiking and when it started raining SAT on the tarp in the rain.....So he wouldn't get muddy.

[DoomGuy]

LOL, that's one way I guess

[Laughingmouse]

Originally Posted by ACCER

That's true. Psychologically you will work better with something familiar and something you know how to handle. I assume of course that you have some idea on how to construct a tepee. If not, learn.

I assume one would familiarize themselves while cutting the wood, assembling the system, and all of the other things associated with creating the shelter, which is true of both Yurt and Tepee.

Few people, regardless of how long their families have been in the USA, are anymore familiar with a Teepee than the are the Yurt.

Even with commercially produced tents, you should try putting the tent together a couple of times before taking it out to the middle of nowhere.

[Laughingmouse]

Originally Posted by riskey58

I would all so check out the tents. They are very portable and are quick and easy to put up.

I think we are assuming that your tent fabric is gone or you don't have enough fabric to make clothing AND a tent.

[Laughingmouse]

Originally Posted by Taggart

My first impression is that a tee pee would be more mobile than a yurt.

I expect that the tee pee would be higher - I wonder if that would be more of a problem with wind?

I think I'd check out some of the tents available at places like Mountain Coop.

My impression that the poles for the Yurt are easier to manage because they aren't nearly as long as those for the Teepee.

Weren't we assuming there were no tents in the choice between Yurt and Teepee?

[Twiceshy]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

tee pee prices http://earthworkstipis.proxy.calltod...iPriceList.pdf

Yurt prices http://www.coloradoyurt.proxy.callto...iceoutyurt.php

Actually a big tent would be easiest to transport but no fire and not very insulated.

Um....

Oh well.

I am considering things that are made by the owner, not purchased, so the prices for Yurts vs Teepees wasn't part of my mental picture.

[CountryKitty]

The first two are links to how to make teepees--one includes a storm cover for the top. One design has a modified form using only 4 poles for maximum portability. If I recall correctly, most had a line running down from the place the poles crossed to a stake inside to anchor it. Most were made from tanned buffalo hide, though deer or moose or cow hides could be used.

As for portability, the poles could be used as traces for a travois behind a good horse or mule--invaluable as a pack animal--or better yet, a couple of big dogs to serve as hunting companions and protection (dogs are also edible, so they can be thought of trainable, self-defending livestock in dire straits). The third link is a pencil drawing of the design of a horsedrawn travois, the last is an article on dog travois', used by native americans before the coming of the Spanish mustang.

http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/www_teepee.html

http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/www_teepee.html

http://warriors.warren.k12.il.us/dmann/travios.jpg

http://www.womenofthefurtrade.com/wst_page16.html

Edited to add: another note in favor of big dogs--there are a few people out there that spin those big clumps of shed winter fur into yarn to knit into sweaters, hats and scarves. I'm having images of me with a rifle slung at the ready, hiking along with my german shepherd and his progeny trailing travois, eyeing the ditch for wild asparagus, working a drop spindle.