Gimme Shelter

Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Rape, murder!
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

The floods is threat'ning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
It's just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

Gimme Shelter
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)

If you frequent Craigslist as any wily prepper does, you will be astounded by what you can find in the Free listing. My main interest lies in the free campers and travel trailers that are posted there. Some have no titles, or they have water damage that needs repaired.

Even if the camper is not repairable, the fixtures and wiring are worth salvaging as well as the aluminum skin, which can be recycled for cash or saved for outdoor projects. Goodies include sinks, water pumps, trickle chargers, propane heaters, propane lights, propane ranges, propane water heaters, copper propane gas lines, water tanks, 2 and 3 way power refrigerators, iceboxes, 12v light fixtures and so on.

All of these salvaged items can be easily transported to a remote location and incorporated into a cabin or appropriately engineered underground shelter. Being able to store the 20 lb propane cylinders indefinitely is a big plus in grid down SHTF situation, allowing you time to ride out the crisis if short term, or give you time to rig up a more long term solution while the die off is in progress.

As for the campers which are still in good shape, they should be set on timbers off the ground and a small peaked roof built over them to prevent any future leaks. Depending on your location, build the roof with enough rise so that snow will slide off. Put on gutters and direct the runoff into food grade 50 gallon plastic drums.

Underneath the sleeping area that hangs over the truck cab is a great storage area for chairs and other supplies once enclosed. It could house your battery bank and generator, galvanized trash cans with food stuffs, or just misc gear. If you do use it for housing your batteries, be sure to build a battery box that has a vent to the outside to allow hydrogen gas to escape as the batteries are charged. Store your fuels and propane away from your shelter for safetys sake.

Now campers at best are poorly insulated, so you will want to improve this. Under the camper, you can use Styrofoam panels, bubble wrap, garbage bags stuffed with styrofoam peanuts or Thermax insulation panels from a building supply company.

To insulate the walls of the camper, you will need to frame up a shell that will allow you to use either fiberglass batting or some other form of insulation, such as what you used under the floor. Insulating the roof is important also. Create a plywood box to surround the ceiling vents to keep the insulation from interfering with their operation.

For siding, you will reuse the aluminum skin which you salvaged from those free travel trailers or campers. You did keep it, didn’t you? Now paint your structure in subdued earth tones such as brown, tan, gray and olive drab. If you want to be really creative, use vegetation to create a camouflage pattern to help blend in to your surroundings.

You now have a very inexpensive retreat shelter and while it may be cramped for more than 2 people in a camper, it will keep you warm, dry and safe during nasty weather. The travel trailer will have more room inside and will accommodate a family in more comfort. It will also require skirting to keep the wind from blowing cold air under the trailer.

We will look at living in this small space in a later post.