Adventures of an Imperfect Man In Search of a Handmade Life
Working away on a weekend day a little while back. Enjoying time on the prairie in my little rolling home; coffee, a banjo, and connection to a HotSpot so I can get some work done. The best of all worlds.
I don’t remember for sure but I suspect there is a dog or two laying on the floor or, more likely, under the wagon keeping an eye out for wildlife. I’m itching to get back out on the road.
Today, it’s sheep camps from Wyoming from the Wyoming Tales and Trails webpage. Great photos and some good information about Western history.
Note the important things; wood stove, wash pan hanging on the door, the big tub sitting outside, and a fiddle for company. I could spend a good chunk of my life like this!
Another sheep camp, dog included.
This camp is downright crowded with two wagons.
Although the site is a bit difficult to navigate, there is a lot of information about western history to be found there. Have a look around.
It was a lonely life on the range. “Even if a herder does not particularly care for reading, he will be driven to it in self-defense.” I wanted to re-share a good story about sheepherding life. Gilfillan was a shepherd for 20 years and went on to become a well-known humorist, author, and speaker.
“Archie Gilfillan was South Dakota’s sagebrush philosopher. His prairie wit entertained people in the ranching areas of Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and South Dakota through the Great Depression.”
As to why he never married,
“You profess sincere and unbounded admiration for the beauties of the opposite sex and you practically lay your heart at their collective feet; and then you meet some individual who combines the poorer qualities of a mama wildcat and a bitch wolf, with a voice like a buzz saw, the temper of a slapped hornet, and a disposition that would curdle the milk in four adjoining counties. And then you have to revise your opinion of the sex all over again –– and downward.” In short, he never met a woman he liked who would have him as a husband.
The full article can be found here in South Dakota magazine.
From the ingenuity of the Roaring 20s. Pack up with your favorite Flapper and head to the wide-open spaces!
Novel Camping Trailer Opens Into Comfortable Quarters
A NOVEL camping trailer has been produced in London which is hailed with delight by lovers of the outdoors because of the comfort it provides. The trailer, compact when closed, is attached to the rear of the automobile by a device which makes it ride easily with a minimum of side sway. But when camp is made the sides of the trailer let down to increase the available space and a door at the end provides access to the interior where there is ample headroom.
There are quite a few images from the Golden Age of the Gypsy Caravan* floating around the web, many without appellation. Still, they have much to offer the potential traveler or yearning nomad today.
I quite like seeing the nearly universal items one needs for living on the move such as the folding tables, water coolers, wash basins, buckets, and lanterns. If I were to guess, I’d say this one was taken in some muddy side-alley in southern England around the beginning of the 20th century.
And let’s not forget that a large market for the high-end and custom wagons was for professional showmen, another group living on the road. I have kept the above image in my stock because I really like the awning over the door.
I think one of the appealing aspects of these wagons is their almost timeless flavor. An image from the 1950s at the Appleby Fair looks much the same as one from 1985 or 1895 with the addition of an occasional automobile. The Open-Lot design above is out of favor with the modern American crowd due to the lack of security but I can see the advantages on a warm summer day.
Greetings from the great middle west of the United States, where I currently reside. The vardo is in the outbuilding awaiting some much anticipated upgrades and paint. I have projects and side-projects and unfinished work to complete in every direction I turn; not to mention the fun little things set aside to try on a rainy day. There’s a new energy happening here and I hope to share the good stuff when I can.
I have back-orders I let slide and half-finished items to put out for sale; three upcoming talks to write, an article collaboration, and more. I’ll catch up or die trying.
Be back soon…
I don’t really know anything about this beautiful rig but I like what I see. A converted mower in front as a tow vehicle and it’s pulling a little trailer of it’s own behind. If anyone knows any more about this one please let me know! I found it on Tumblr but was able to image search it back to this source:
http://www.archipanic.com/burning-man-exploring-black-rock-city/
I always enjoy hearing from others who have built their own caravans, especially when accompanied by photos and descriptions. If you follow this blog you probably saw Kevin’s original photos here recently with a short post about his build. If not, you can read about it HERE.
The promised follow-up is finally here as I have posted the images and text he sent. Honestly, this is my favorite kind of living wagon where old and new technologies are melded into a practical, yet affordable dwelling whether for long-term living or just overnight luxury travel. As shown here, there is a great use of fine woodworking and joinery combined with modern materials and hardware to create a rugged and practical living space that is road (and off-road) worthy.
Here is the rest of Kevin’s mighty fine vardo project (his original text in italics).
This shot offers a view of the short bench with built-in AC/Heat ducts, one for cooled/heated air (right), and one for return air (left). As well as accommodating air circulation, the bench provides handy storage. Also shown is a 110 volt outlet that provides power to the interior when the Vardo is attached to the generator or some other power supply. There are three interior outlets (the other two are hid pretty well), and three exterior outlets on the camper. There are also 12 volt power plugs inside the camper that are tied to the vardo’s battery. These are great for charging phones and running fans at night. It gets pretty hot along the Texas/Mexican border.
You can see a top view of the access doors to the under-bench storage provided in the long bench. You can also see the flip up section that turns this bench into a single bed. On the side of the door, if you look hard, you can see the hinged corbel that provides some of the support for the flip-up section. At the top of the photo you can catch a glimpse of the bungee net that provides overhead gear storage. This works very nice for carrying fishing poles and a broom.
This is how the “chuck box” (cooking box) is stowed when traveling, or when not in use. The small counter top is very handy when brushing your teeth and emptying your pockets at bed time. Underneath, as can be seen, typically is stored a pickers stool, a larger folding camp table, and a folding chair.
This wagon can haul a whole mess of Hunting gear. A trip to the desert requires a lot of ice and water. Everything is packed for travel, keeping the weight forward and the trailer stable on the road.
A photo of our south Texas hunting camp, with the Vardo set-up. We always get a bunch of comments and compliments along the way. The wagon provides comfortable accommodations for 1-3 hunters.
The chuck box gets unloaded and set up for use in camp.
This vardo looks very familiar to me and I think I’d be right at home in it. Thanks so much for sharing this with us and the community.
I always appreciate getting mail and comments on the blog; especially when someone is able to take information away and create something of their own. I recently received some fine photos from Kevin with his own Vardo build. I emailed back for more information but haven’t heard anything yet.
The wagon is a lovely and familiar design and it’s great to see it out in public alongside the more normal modern camp setting.
Kevin also builds beautiful coolers that I hope to see more of in the near future. One is visible next to the vardo in the image above. 
Here’s the email I received and I hope to hear (and see) more from Kevin soon:
George:Hello. I have been following your blog for a few years. I’m writing to you directly as I want to share some photos of the Vardo that I built, using yours (and a few others) for much of the inspiration. I wasn’t sure how to go about posting the photos to your blog, so I figured I would send them directly to you.I live near Houston and own property in Buffalo Wyoming, home to a historical population of Basque sheepherders, and many currently rolling sheep wagons. Living in two extremes, I have had some issues with changes in humidity affecting the performance of the wagon and would likely do a few things differently, if I were to do it all over again (but wouldn’t we all).I haven’t seen any updates on your Vardo-make-over in quite a while. Hopefully there’s more coming. I know the work on mine is never done. There are always items hanging around on the list of future improvements.Let me know if you have any questions about the construction and performance of the wagon. I’m happy to carry on a discussion if your interested, and willing to send more photos if you request. You’ll notice in the photos some glimpses of one of my hand made coolers. They’re marine fiberglass coated wood on the inside, and out; built sort of like a cedar strip canoe. I built the chuck-box in the first photo as well. It travels in the rear of the wagon to be set out for camp cooking. I figured these were both items that might interest you.Kevin
It looks great Kevin. I can’t wait to see more.
~GTC
(from the Paleotool vault)
A lonely life on the range. “Even if a herder does not particularly care for reading, he will be driven to it in self-defense”. This is a good story about sheepherding life. Gilfillan was a shepherd for 20 years and went on to become a humorist, author, and speaker.
“Archie Gilfillan was South Dakota’s sagebrush philosopher. His prairie wit entertained people in the ranching areas of Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and South Dakota through the Great Depression.” The full article can be found here.
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 