Adventures of an Imperfect Man In Search of a Handmade Life
The Lady-Go-Lightly. It’s difficult to get a real feel for the caravans without a glimpse inside. This image isn’t very detailed but shows the essentials; kettle, mirror, some basic utensils, and folding chair. All standard fare for the early caravaners.
The ladies having lunch outside the Tally Ho! ca. 1910. A fine little wagon with mollycroft and Persienne shutters.
Home-built camper fans will probably really appreciate this remarkable future-retro monstrosity. Conceived, designed, and built by Bill Guernsey while recovering from a broken back, it took two years to complete. Follow the link below to the short write-up on the Makezine Blog or click here to straight to the Instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Rocket-Camper-Revealed/
A true micro vardo created by Ia visual artist, musician, film maker and more. The video below is a stop-action of him setting up and taking down his moped powered one man caravan. A very clever contraption I would love to see on the road.
Interesting, if nothing else.
Even on the Southern High Plains of New Mexico, we get some snow. Real winter seldom lasts for more than a couple weeks here but it can become extreme at times. With occasional swings of 60 degrees Fahrenheit up or down in a matter of a couple hours, the inconsistency makes it difficult to plan. Unseasonable warmth has now turned to single digit temperatures at night and 6-10 inches of snow around the property.
A little snow on the wagon this morning as we head into Twelfth Night and back to the work grind next week.
And their exceptional caravan:
Maybe one rides in the van while on the road? What an awesome base camp.
We live in an age of motor vehicles. Few of us could consider, for safety if nothing else, taking to the roads in a horse drawn vehicle. When the automobile seemed here to stay, caravanners in Europe adapted to the new technology.
The earliest models look essentially like their horse-drawn cousins, just stuck onto a truck chassis. In this era, I suspect they were topping out at 35 mph.
This is the earliest side-door design I have found which changes the dynamics of the interior layout. Note that in the vehicles above, the driver is still fully exposed to the elements. A far cry from our modern experience. Note the “driving coat” worn by the pilot of this beauty.
This French innovation has boxed-in the driver’s compartment making it suitable for foul weather. Still, I would be worried about those huge, non-safety glass windows.
And finally, a very practical little design; the AEROPLANE. A cute little beast. I could not find the floor plan for this one but there is a section profile to help the would-be builder:
This style fold down seat/bed is exactly what I had in my first Ford pickup camper. Simple and practical. Maybe these early designs will inspire more modern builders to dive in and get their build on. Keep it simple, keep it light.
Peter at Casual Turtle Campers has come up with a great new design in a minimalist caravan. I have posted his earlier work here a couple times and this new design is worth a look.. This model looks like it would work well as a base camp for one or two people who don’t need a substantial kitchen or keep the cooking gear in the tow vehicle. The low profile will certainly appeal to people who drive lower vehicles as well.
It has his signature roof-line as found on his other designs. The compound curved roof is a nice, artistic touch.
I wouldn’t be able to do it justice so here’s the description that Peter sent along:
The Hatchling – Here’s a new model that I’ve been wanting to build for a while. It’s sort of in the size and tradition of a teardrop, but in Casual Turtle Campers style – dead simple, cedar, domed roof, lots of windows, etc. In fact, it’s quite a bit roomier than most teardrops – and by leaving the entire trailer area as living space, the cabin feels damn near palatial! Not really, but it is a nice little space that two people and a couple dogs could be perfectly comfortable in.
As an unsolicited build, I had planned to insulate and finish out the interior myself – but then I thought it might appeal to someone looking for either a dead simple, lightweight little camper, or someone looking for a project. One could add nothing to it and have a very comfortable, capable, simple camper – or features could easily be added to their desires – storage, gear hooks, bed platform, etc. And I’m perfectly happy to discuss building out an interior for someone.
Here are some of details… It’s built on a very nice, custom 5’x8′, fully boxed trailer frame with 13″ tires from a great manufacturer here in northern Colorado. The cabin’s frame is mostly western Hemlock, with Western red cedar siding. The bottom of the cabin has a 90 mil PVC membrane covering, and the roofing is a fully adhered, 60 mil, ivory-colored TPO membrane – thermally welded at the seams. It has four opening windows with screens, and two large fixed windows (forward bulkhead and door) for pretty good through-visibility. It weighs 840 lbs, with about 110 lbs of tongue weight. There are more specifications/details on the website –casualturtlecampers.com.
I really like this camper, and I can see using it just as it is – or with a more developed interior. Either way, its a great platform for someone looking to get into a very easily towed, comfortable, unique little camper. At 840 lbs, this model could work with a wide variety of tow vehicles. The forward bulkhead is short enough (66″) to tuck in well behind most crossover and small SUVs. I even towed it around town with our little Subaru Impreza.
I’m 6’2″ and 195 lbs, for scale. As a shell version, the walls and roof assembly are left open, showing the OSB roof deck’s bottom side – though it could easily be insulated and closed in. If anyone has any thoughts/ideas/questions please email me at casualturtlecampers@gmail.com. I’d be happy to discuss this camper or something similar/different that you might be interested in. And I’m also happy to discuss full or partial delivery from Fort Collins, CO for a rather nominal, mileage-based fee.
Thanks for having a look – and please share it with anyone you think might find it interesting. I’m tentatively calling this model the Hatchling, but any other ideas for a model name would be welcome, too!
Price – $6,250
And he obviously has good taste in literature:
“I had to go alone…a kind of casual turtle carrying his house on his back.” – John Steinbeck, from Travels With Charley.
It seems only natural that evangelical ministers would take to the caravan as a way to bring the Gospel to the people. Christianity is a missionary religion after all. The caravan served as a sort of home base for missionaries and a vicarage for ministers, even being outfitted with a harmonium (pump organ) in some cases.
Anyway, here’s another aspect of the caravan life we don’t often see.
Finally, the FORTS. A concept of the Salvation Army to travel the countryside, gathering pledges of abstinence and converting the destitute. Definitely the forerunner of the modern fifth-wheel camper.
Here’s a great design from the late nineteenth century. I could not find an associated photo for the finished caravan but there are a couple of innovations I will want to include in the future. I believe this wagon was about 12 feet long overall and is a nice setup for 1-2 people. The flap table makes for added floorspace when needed and there is ample storage both inside and out. The tunnel locker under the bed is also a great idea that I thought was a recent invention.
This isn’t the same caravan but similar in size and design. I really like the enormous opening at the front for ventilation. Another innovation for the future. Also, it’s good to keep in mind that there were normally a tent or two pitched with the van when parked for storage, dogs, kids, etc. I thought this was a cop-out of mine but it seems I’m not the first to notice the extra space is a godsend on extended trips with more than one person.
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 