Survival Wagon Idea - Recreation Or Reality TV

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

I think winching is the 'easier' method, as well as the simplest in terms of equipment. A 6% grade is one thing, but what about the 50% grade? Or the sheer cliff?

LMAO!(sorry but the mental picture is tooo friggin funny!)

I mentioned 6% because it's really rather steep (6 vertical feet for every hundred traveled I think...) Anyway it's very common to encounter 6-12% grades on the road here and they stretch for miles and miles. Off road inclines encountered range all the way up to 89Deg. (no idea what percent) so while a winch is invaluable for the super steep over a short distance... But winching for miles?

[modest]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Pedal power good! Not only to propel/pull the wagon, but also with a generator setup to recharge the battery in addition to a solar panel. If the generator setup is well enough generalized, you could pedal crank, hand crank, wind crank, or water crank it too.

Pedals!?! Is the idea to ride the thing? Where's the video? If you're pushing the wagon, I'd think the generator would be best attached to the wheels / axle. How has it contended with sand - has it seen any?

Also, I have a few of these - they're very nice. Lightweight and easily last out the night after cloudy day. Or, do you have a lighting system already?

-modest

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by modest

Pedals!?! Is the idea to ride the thing? Where's the video? If you're pushing the wagon, I'd think the generator would be best attached to the wheels / axle. How has it contended with sand - has it seen any?

Also, I have a few of these - they're very nice. Lightweight and easily last out the night after cloudy day. Or, do you have a lighting system already?

-modest

No; my idea is definitely to not pedal the thing, or even ride it. Part me trying to encourage participation, any participation , and part allowing that a wagon as a trailer on a bike is both allowable under 'human powered' clause, and practical in terms of effort in particular situations.

I haven't had it in sand, or snow, but I suspect some ski-like runners or solid tobogan-esque attachment to the wheels and skid it without sinking. My bridging boards might even work for this? Speaking of which, I have completed some detail work on my bridge and will have a short video soon of its assembly & use to cross a foot high barrier.

Those solar lights look cool, and I have priced some of them before in the garden shops. So far, I have only a household clamp light with a CF bulb that runs off the inverter. I'm thinking of buying a couple auto headlamps and direct wiring them to plug into my 12V pigtail sockets. Lots o' light, and heat too if used in a tent. Also I'm thinking to get some auto tail-light sockets of the type for the standard #57 brake bulb and using those for ambient light.

Concentration laggggiiiiinggg....that's all I got for now.

PS

Originally Posted by DblD

LMAO!(sorry but the mental picture is tooo friggin funny!)

I mentioned 6% because it's really rather steep (6 vertical feet for every hundred traveled I think...) Anyway it's very common to encounter 6-12% grades on the road here and they stretch for miles and miles. Off road inclines encountered range all the way up to 89Deg. (no idea what percent) so while a winch is invaluable for the super steep over a short distance... But winching for miles?

Not only is the mental picture funny, it is scary as hell. Imagine my last video is a shot from the tripod as my 400 pound wagon breaks loose form its mooring and drags me thumpity-bump over a precipice. This ain't wagoneering for weanies. I was even thinking how easy it would be to winch the whole wagon up under a tree branch to keep it away from the critters.

I do not intend to winch unless I can't pull or push. Keep thinking how heavy a pack you carry in the wilderness and the kind of terrain you cross. Now, take off the pack, put it in the wagon along with 300 pounds of other gear of your choice that you couldn't carry in a pack to save your soul, and then start crossing the same terrain gedanken style.

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Pedals!?! Is the idea to ride the thing?

Turtle pulls/pushes his
I'm still in the design phase for mine. Mine will most definitly be pedal powered via bicycle sprockets and chain with ratios ranging from rediculously low (for hilly terain to reasonably quick for flats and downhils. It will most likely be fitted with cheapy mountainbike disks for stopping. A 500watt scooter motor mounted to provide assistance. As well as a PVA for a roof and charging duties and some sort of generator with it's own dedicated sprockets, derailers and chain linked to the pedals...pedalbackwards you power the generator forwards you're driving the wheels and generator...the only problem is tracking down the crank that has the freewheel right at the sprocket they used to make them but they're hard to come by these days.

Bulk storage will be below a flat locking deck which will double as a comfy bed and snap on canvas sides will help keep wet weather and bugs out while lexan windows will allow driving with the sides on. I figure 3' wide by 5' long by 4' high to be reasonable dimentions. (granted I'm 6'2" but there should be enough room to curl up in there comfortably.

[Ahmabeliever]

Evolution has begun, trikes and quads battle for dominance, pneumatic tyres become filled with water, bamboo frames replace steel

the age of the aquatic rickshaw begins.

[modest]

Originally Posted by Turtle

So far, I have only a household clamp light with a CF bulb that runs off the inverter. I'm thinking of buying a couple auto headlamps and direct wiring them to plug into my 12V pigtail sockets. Lots o' light, and heat too if used in a tent. Also I'm thinking to get some auto tail-light sockets of the type for the standard #57 brake bulb and using those for ambient light.

So it's all electric? Have you considered propane? I recently built a water heater for an outdoor koi pond that's propane based - a little propane goes a long way. If you want to be heated or cook food that, I believe, would be the way to go. Of course, you can't fill up a propane tank in the wild

I think if I were doing this I would have looked at some of the historical or other-cultural inspirations like:



kind of a rickshaw type thing:



I realize that's not currently helpful to your design. Just a passing thought. I do think larger wheels are very important.

Your idea is really cool Turtle.

-modest

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Awesome pics!!!!!! Where'd you find em?
I'm particularly fond of the upper one....thats one coool cart! would look even cooler modified to be and hitched to an old (19teens vintage or so) indian of the same somewhat decrepet state

[modest]

Originally Posted by DFINITLYDISTRUBD

Awesome pics!!!!!! Where'd you find em?
I'm particularly fond of the upper one....thats one coool cart! would look even cooler modified to be and hitched to an old (19teens vintage or so) indian of the same somewhat decrepet state

Oh yeah, I forgot to source them:

Trogpint

Malawi Handcart Project

I share your appreciation for vintage Indians, my grandpa had one that I rode with him when I must have been about five. Scared out of my mind. He sold it before I had the chance to ride it myself

But now, every time I see one... well, it's a fond memory.

-modest

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Ahmabeliever

Evolution has begun, trikes and quads battle for dominance, pneumatic tyres become filled with water, bamboo frames replace steel

the age of the aquatic rickshaw begins.

Yes and the living fossils of two wheeled carts being pushed or pulled by a man will still be around when the fancy things are extinct!

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by modest

Oh yeah, I forgot to source them:

Trogpint

Malawi Handcart Project

I share your appreciation for vintage Indians, my grandpa had one that I rode with him when I must have been about five. Scared out of my mind. He sold it before I had the chance to ride it myself

But now, every time I see one... well, it's a fond memory.

-modest

Since motorcycles have been brought into this, when I was a kid we went camping from dirt bikes. Often we would carry a few gallons of fuel with us and use back packs and luggage racks on our bikes. Small dirt bikes get fantastic gas milage, you can go much further in one day than a man can walk in several days. Riding at night was my favorite but then again scuba diving at night was my fav also. I guess I'm just a night person!