Survival Wagon Idea - Recreation Or Reality TV

[freeztar]

What a cool thread!
What's the status of the wagon Turtle?

It reminds me of a good friend who now lives in Alaska, in a remote cabin. He lives about 5 miles from town (small town, can't remember the name) and the only way to town is via an ATV path. He rides a bicycle with a trailer attached to the back. He rides to the ocean everyday and fishes with a net while wading. It's not really a survival wagon for him because he's in a good place already. I don't know exactly what he carries in it, besides fish and net (and probably a rifle), but I do know that he gets strange looks from the 4-wheelin folks passing along the trail.

Suggestions for items to add:
Fishing net
Fishing pole (collapsible preferred)
Iodine tablets (or bleach)
Metal File (for sharpening the machete)

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by freeztar

What a cool thread!
What's the status of the wagon Turtle?

...
Suggestions for items to add:
Fishing net
Fishing pole (collapsible preferred)
Iodine tablets (or bleach)
Metal File (for sharpening the machete)

the wagon is empty as i use it once a week to haul the trash down to the pickup spot. i recently added some cut-off plastic milkcrates underneath & between the wheels to hold the deep-cell battery and some of the heavy weatherproof gear. i did gain some space by this, but mainly i wanted the battery where it wouldn't leak & corrode the wagon as well as to lower the wagon's center of gravity. all the other gear is laying about & all can be put together as a kit in a couple of hours.

i have a file in the kit, but no fishing gear or bleach. will add some hooks, make a pole when I need it, and add small bottle of bleach for when i can't boil my water.

here's the best source i've found yet to purchase your wagon(s) and wagon parts. >> wagons from Northern Tool + Equipment

the race will include some required stops/obstacles and there is a $100 prize for first place. we need at least 2 other teams besides mine before i firmly commit and start solidifying the details. tentatively, the start & finish is Sunset Falls State Park on the forest's Western boundary & making a circuit along roads FR#41 , FR #4220 & FR #42.

PS a cursory check of the map finds this circuit about 27 miles long.

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Turtle

the wagon is empty as i use it once a week to haul the trash down to the pickup spot. i recently added some cut-off plastic milkcrates underneath & between the wheels to hold the deep-cell battery and some of the heavy weatherproof gear. i did gain some space by this, but mainly i wanted the battery where it wouldn't leak & corrode the wagon as well as to lower the wagon's center of gravity. all the other gear is laying about & all can be put together as a kit in a couple of hours.

i have a file in the kit, but no fishing gear or bleach. will add some hooks, make a pole when I need it, and add small bottle of bleach for when i can't boil my water.

here's the best source i've found yet to purchase your wagon(s) and wagon parts. >> wagons from Northern Tool + Equipment

the race will include some required stops/obstacles and there is a $100 prize for first place. we need at least 2 other teams besides mine before i firmly commit and start solidifying the details. tentatively, the start & finish is Sunset Falls State Park on the forest's Western boundary & making a circuit along roads FR#41 , FR #4220 & FR #42.

PS a cursory check of the map finds this circuit about 27 miles long.

If I still lived in WA, the race would be on! It still might be, but it wouldn't be for quite a while for me, unfortunately.

I'll ponder this wagon idea some more and see if I can come up with anything. My spending budget is very small.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by freeztar

If I still lived in WA, the race would be on! It still might be, but it wouldn't be for quite a while for me, unfortunately.

I'll ponder this wagon idea some more and see if I can come up with anything. My spending budget is very small.

no worries. it has taken me several years to put things as they are & i will express great surprise if any enties other than myself show up this first year.

on the better hand, i am anxious for any input on setting up rules, requirements, entry fees, contests, etcetera. i was thinking of crossing over a 2 to 3 foot log as an obstacle contest?

anyway, the route i chose has major elevation changes with some steep inclines so i better get busy on designing a brake 'cause we're gonna need it!

[Turtle]

Time to start planning the 2nd Great Independence Day Handcart & Wagon Rally/Race through Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Tentative 3 day ~30 mile mountain rally on or about July 4th 2008.

Map & other stuff to follow.

PS Maps added. Yellow line is proposed route & measured 28 miles using Google Earth ruler.

[Turtle]

Perspective view looking North across course terrain. Strato-volcanoes Adams, Rainier, & St. Helens marked.

[Turtle]

Originally I bought a 750 Watt electric hot-plate to cook with, but the 800 Watt inverter chokes on it. Plan B, a 380 Watt rice-cooker. I figure to put sand in it to use it as a tent heater when not using it to cook. Here's a vid of the system check.

YouTube - Camp Cookin' Electric Style

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Time to start planning the 2nd Great Independence Day Handcart & Wagon Rally/Race through Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Tentative 3 day ~30 mile mountain rally on or about July 4th 2008.

Map & other stuff to follow.

PS Maps added. Yellow line is proposed route & measured 28 miles using Google Earth ruler.

Can I make a suggestion? In many developing countries they use human powered carts to carry very heavy loads, these carts are all two wheeled. wheels are usually as large as car tires to make them easier to pull and the pull is done by the operator pushing on a bar connected to the cart by long ples. this set up allows the weight to be balanced on the two wheels and if you have to slow it down you just drop the bar and it digs into the ground. This type of cart has been in use for centurys. these guys use them everyday of thier lives from childhood, could be they have hit on the optimal way to do this.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Can I make a suggestion? In many developing countries they use human powered carts to carry very heavy loads, these carts are all two wheeled. wheels are usually as large as car tires to make them easier to pull and the pull is done by the operator pushing on a bar connected to the cart by long ples. this set up allows the weight to be balanced on the two wheels and if you have to slow it down you just drop the bar and it digs into the ground. This type of cart has been in use for centurys. these guys use them everyday of thier lives from childhood, could be they have hit on the optimal way to do this.

Agreed. I settled for what the circumstances allowed. Here's an interesting story of the Mormans' use of handcarts; I thought I posted it in the thread but I don't find it on review.

Whatever style you choose, by all means get yourself a human powered wheeled cart or wagon and get campin' in style. Race ya!!

Originally Posted by Wiki

Outfitting
Emigrants departed from an English port (generally Liverpool) and travelled by ship to New York or Boston, then by railroad to Iowa City, Iowa, the western terminus of the rail line, where they would be outfitted with handcarts and other supplies.[7]

Built to Young's design, the handcarts resembled a large wheelbarrow, with two wheels five feet (1.5 m) in diameter and a single axle four and 1/2 feet (1.4 m) wide, and weighing 60 pounds (27 kg). Running along each side of the bed were seven-foot (2.1 m) pull shafts ending with a three-foot (0.9 m) crossbar at the front. The crossbar allowed the carts to be pushed or pulled. Cargo was carried in a box about three feet by four feet (0.9 m by 1.2 m), with 8 inch (0.2 m) walls. The handcarts generally carried up to 250 pounds (110 kg) of supplies and luggage, though they were capable of handling loads as heavy as 500 pounds (230 kg). Carts used in the first year's migration were made entirely of wood ("Iowa hickory or oak"); in later years a stronger design was substituted, which included metal elements.[8]

The handcart companies were organized using the handcarts and sleeping tents as the primary units. Five persons were assigned per handcart, with each individual limited to 17 pounds (7.7 kg) of clothing and bedding. ...

Mormon handcart pioneers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Turtle]

I scanned the thread & honestly thought we had more here.

Anyway, here's the chase. A person can pull a weight in a wagon that is easily 3 to 6 times as great as what they could carry in a pack on their back.

Taking it from there, and whether you get/build a wagon or not, design and describe your idea of the ideal cart or wagon that gets you darn near anywhere you can hike but with a lot more cargo. Ready...set...gedanken Ladies & Germs.