Outside of rummaging up some fuel somewhere this is something that could theoretically be made most anywhere. A couple of old cans, a knife, a pin and whole lot of patience. Presto! A stove!

The can stove from PCThiker.com

I’ve been reading up a bit more on backpacking. Their sparse, light gearing makes me a bit envious as my van is getting cramped again so it’s time to condense and eliminate some more. The backpackers have a bigger problem with this, but they also do better at the job.

When I woke this morning the van was 84 degrees and plenty humid, well outside the comfort zone already and it’s barely summer yet. I was largely outside of the sun at that time yet I was still 14 degrees higher than the outside temperature. This is a problem I’ll have to solve soon as I’ll not be sleeping much in the sweat lodge regardless of how many hours I lay in there and I can’t imagine it’d be at all healthy for me. Both from the heat and what that warmth might breed in all the moisture and warmth.

Perhaps it’s a sign that I need to start moving North for the summer! Or maybe I just need to get some air movement in the van with a roof vent. I don’t have windows to open so I’m pretty limited there and I don’t wish to leave doors open as that looks a bit obvious that something is going on. Not to mention the lack of security that presents.

And as a full-fledged whine let me just take this opportunity to say that I hate climate extremes, and what I consider to be the breaking point is fairly conservative here. Anything over 80 degrees is getting too warm to me and humidity makes this increasingly unbearable while under 50 degrees is pushing the cold side. Though living in my van has taught me I can sleep comfortably when it’s 40 degrees, that’s not necessarily a temperature I’d want to live in continuously. The bulk of clothing necessarily to keep warm while not under a dozen blankets is a bit burdensome. And above 80 I start getting sweaty, requiring more showers to feel clean and there’s only so much clothing that I can legally remove to keep cool.

So waking up to 84 degrees, plus sleeping in the 70s, just isn’t going to work as summer has only begun. The bed is a shortened queen size so the width and length is fine, but the height is tight. There’s only a little space between the bed surface and the roof. And at 80-something degrees with high humidity and absolutely zero effective air movement I start feeling like a claustrophobic, sweaty little sardine in my big oven on wheels.

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed