/out/ - Outdoors » Thread #517287

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Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 18:39:01 No.517287 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>517299 >>517310 >>517531 >>517617 >>518574 >>520392

How do I get into building my own cabin without any building experience? I don't want to head out tonight and start, I want to gradually pick up the skills that will lead me there.

pic related is Richard Proenneke's cabin, he was a WWI and WWII veteran who then built this beauty and lived of the land for 30 years.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 18:41:30 No.517288 Report

Quoted By: >>517312

the documentary "Alone in the wilderness" is about him, absolutely amazing how he builds that house. Carves out the logs so that they fit to the millimeter, even makes the door hinges and lock out of wood.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 18:42:19 No.517290 Report

Quoted By: >>517294 >>517295

He wasn't a WWI veteran, and, he routinely had supplies flown in by a friend of his.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 18:50:54 No.517294 Report

Quoted By: >>517305 >>517613

>>517290
what supplies?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 18:52:02 No.517295 Report

Quoted By: >>517296 >>517307

>>517290
This.
Not that it's impossible to live off the land. It's just not something you'd need to plan around for quite a while, maybe scout out an area you can do so in a year ahead and learn about all the wild edibles and utilities the area can offer. What plants make for good cordage? What might spice up a fish? It's doable, just very difficult.
As for the cabin, take tech center wood shop classes to learn about different joints and wood qualities. I'm not sure where you might learn to identify good trees and how to fell them, but I imagine nearly any Canadian might be able to help you on that quest.
Don't give up on your crazy mountain man dreams, OP!

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 18:53:02 No.517296 Report

Quoted By:

>>517295
Also that was still a great film

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 18:58:37 No.517299 Report

Quoted By:

>>517287
Go to local Habitat for Humanity builds if you're American and learn

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 19:07:51 No.517305 Report

Quoted By:

>>517294
Dry goods (sugar, flour, beans, etc), new clothes, books, notebooks and pencils/pens (he recorded volumes of natural data and donated it to the government when he left), mail for/from friends and family, ammunition, tools, fishing supplies etc. etc.

Thirty years is a long time, things get lost, break or wear out and need to be replaced.

He wasn't alone up there either. One of Navy buddies had a cabin on the lake as well (Dick stayed in it while building his own) and would spend his summers there as well.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 19:16:48 No.517307 Report

Quoted By: >>517309 >>517335 >>519135

>>517295

>What might spice up a fish?

Disaster log. Day 463.

Nearing the end. Winter food stocks long gone. The pass is still impenetrable. Doesn't matter, the cold killed Jeffreys team in hours. If only we had more lemon salt that could season the salmon fillets and really bring out their just caught flavour.

God have mercy on us.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 19:18:36 No.517309 Report

Quoted By:

>>517307
Lol. Obviously you need to worry about the weather of the place. Didn't think I had to say "remember, the outdoors get COLD!"

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 19:19:01 No.517310 Report

Quoted By: >>517336

>>517287
He was not a WW1 veteran.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 19:19:26 No.517312 Report

Quoted By: >>517338

>>517288
>Work in a lot of old barns
>Classic construction methods, not ritzy places
>Admire the most clever hinges/locks/handles/knobs on every door/gate
>Whole structural aspects of certain buildings made without nails

Seeing the simple mechanical devices these guys came up with is insanity. The things they accomplished without manufacturing a chunk of metal or going to a hardware store is sheerly epic.

OP, how little building experience do you have? Literally none, like you'd be lost in an ikea box? If so, this won't go well for you. If not that awful, do you have a sense for the types of skills required to do this? Do you like physics or know anything about the mechanics of a well functioning building? Are you crafty?

If you answered "No" to all these questions, you will not be building a cabin anytime soon (Atleast not one you'd want to live in..... or even feel safe standing in.) But with a little instruction and a bit of effort you'll be well on your way.

Also, building a cabin out of harvested timber and making a 2x4 frame are two totally different tasks entirely.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 20:00:00 No.517335 Report

Quoted By:

>>517307
kek

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 20:01:05 No.517336 Report

Quoted By:

>>517310
oops it was his dad, misread that part

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 20:02:52 No.517338 Report

Quoted By: >>517343

>>517312
well i have a master's degree in physics lol. but all those formulas aint gonna help me when i stand in front of a tree. I like making stuff, i'm just not very good at it so to say. need the practical experience.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 20:05:05 No.517340 Report

Quoted By:

Outsidefun1 has a good series on Youtube on how to build a log cabin you want to last. It took him a couple years as a warning.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 17 May 2015 20:06:28 No.517343 Report

Quoted By:

>>517338
At least you have the desire to. Don't let the lack of knowledge intimidate you, OP, you gotta start somewhere. I'm not sure where that somewhere I'd but it's out there!

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 18 May 2015 00:44:56 No.517531 Report

Quoted By:

>>517287
There are books dedicated to the construction of simple log cabins. The concept isn't very difficult, the labor is the hard part. Learn how to run and maintain a chainsaw.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 18 May 2015 00:53:06 No.517536 Report

Quoted By: >>521881

I learned by building a scale model the size of a dog house, then I made a out house using all the concepts I learned and then when I felt pretty confident I built my cabin.

It's not easy but it can be done.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 18 May 2015 00:54:10 No.517537 Report

Quoted By:

Use you're brain moran

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 18 May 2015 03:16:02 No.517613 Report

Quoted By:

>>517294
Everything from Dry beans (in his 2nd book he gripes about the really old navy beans he bought, as the supplier was dumping his old stock) to potatoes, gear, pen and paper (he was paid by the government to keep records) and so on.

His food mostly consisted of flown in beans and potatoes, foraged berries, fish, and taking the parts that hunters left behind.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 18 May 2015 03:19:13 No.517617 Report

Quoted By:

>>517287
I didn't know how to do woodworking when I started my cabin for the wife and I. So I bought a premade 20x12 shed, and learned how to reroof it, insulate it, then cover the insulation. Also learned how to install a wood stove.

It ended up a lot better then if I tried to build a log cabin. I don't have those skills (yet)

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 18 May 2015 03:23:17 No.517619 Report

Quoted By: >>517626

proenneke wasn't poor
he had been a sought after specialist diesel mechanic in Alaska and he built that cabin after he retired with a good chunk of change

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 18 May 2015 03:32:53 No.517626 Report

Quoted By: >>518581

>>517619
He used the money to live. The only things he shipped to make the cabin was the windows, tar-paper, plastic sheet to seal the roof, and a wood stove.

Now he did use the money to order the film, buy the cameras, and order food from Port Alsworth.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 19 May 2015 06:07:05 No.518378 Report

Quoted By:

you play with lincoln logs as a kid? play with those some.

Get a chainsaw and basically cut logs and cut notches to make big lincoln logs

pack between logs with cement, stucko, clay, mud, whatever

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 19 May 2015 07:05:40 No.518404 Report

Quoted By:

This website has PDF's of just about everything you would need to know.

>http://www.survivorlibrary.com/?page_id=1014

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 19 May 2015 15:35:19 No.518574 Report

Quoted By:

>>517287
Help someone else build a cabin, another back to lift logs is always useful, you'll learn a lot more from doing than reading.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 19 May 2015 15:47:12 No.518581 Report

Quoted By:

>>517626
And in order to have a seaplane landing twice a year with food.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 20 May 2015 04:16:39 No.518951 Report

Quoted By: >>520104

i have built a few custom homes but never a cabin. i have all the skills and some cash set aside.

Once my divorce is final I am going full MGTOW and building a rustic home in canada or alaska.
I will post coordinates here for anyone who wants an adventure for food and tent space only.
If I can teach mexicans to build I am pretty sure I can teach a few snot nosed gen y ers

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 20 May 2015 07:27:12 No.519012 Report

Quoted By: >>519121

The R-value of logs isn't great. You might want to consider some modern insulation materials if you're building it anywhere cold. Dick's cabin in the winter, with the fire going, was about the same temperature as an average refrigerator.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 20 May 2015 15:25:42 No.519121 Report

Quoted By: >>519423 >>520403

>>519012
What? Ive spent months in different log cabins. With fire in the stoves you can heat them so that they are basically saunas.
Or atleast Log cabins in Finland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3J5wkJFJzE <-- Click english subtitles on.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 20 May 2015 16:10:15 No.519135 Report

Quoted By:

>>517307
heh

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 21 May 2015 01:09:07 No.519340 Report

Quoted By: >>519342

OP, do not make a log cabin.

They are a huge pain in the ass especially if you have no idea what to do.

Instead, you have two choices that are dirt simple and far easier

Either
>A) buy untreated railroad ties and build with them (treated ties will give you cancer)
Or
>B) get lots of good rot resistant firewood and some concrete

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Cordwoodhouse.jpg, 24KiB, 381x411

Anonymous Thu 21 May 2015 01:11:33 No.519342 Report

Quoted By: >>519417

>>519340

Forgot pic.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 21 May 2015 02:20:40 No.519374 Report

Quoted By:

Start reading books by Larry Haun. You'll never find a better carpentry teacher.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 21 May 2015 04:33:26 No.519417 Report

Quoted By:

>>519342
just make sure you don't cover the ends of logs in concrete or they will rot fast

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 21 May 2015 05:04:40 No.519423 Report

Quoted By:

>>519121
Sure, except Dick didn't have a stove (or at least, not at first.) Using a fireplace instead, he could get the interior up to ~5C in mid-winter. So, OP, plan to get a stove!

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 22 May 2015 14:26:47 No.520104 Report

Quoted By: >>520109

>>518951
Sounds like a good way to end up in a shallow grave.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 22 May 2015 14:50:32 No.520109 Report

Quoted By: >>520277

>>520104
>said the gen x er

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 1394862651067.jpg, 132KiB, 720x480

Anonymous Fri 22 May 2015 15:11:31 No.520112 Report

Quoted By:

One guy from /out/ did it. I got a few more pics if interested... Pretty sure that nigga had a little experience though...

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 22 May 2015 22:32:24 No.520277 Report

Quoted By: >>520336

>>520109
So, were you like this before the divorce, or...

Because that could go a long way to explaining the attitude.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 23 May 2015 01:48:49 No.520336 Report

Quoted By: >>520359

>>520277
That was not me.
I am actually a really nice guy who has gotten screwed over yet again by a horrible woman.
They start out so sweet but then things change when they insist of having kids and you dont want them.
That bitch lied about birth control and got pregnant because I said no babies.
She admitted it and was unrepentant.
Thank god she miscarried or I would be on the hook for 18 years of child support.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 23 May 2015 02:52:25 No.520359 Report

Quoted By:

>>520336
Yikes. You might consider small town Yukon + hunting/fishing cabin instead of the full isolation treatment. People aren't so bad, really.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 23 May 2015 03:45:48 No.520392 Report

Quoted By:

>>517287
59,700 results, start watching and learn some shit

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=How+to+build+a+log+cabin

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 23 May 2015 03:59:43 No.520402 Report

Quoted By: >>520403 >>520438 >>521764 >>521815

Watch this for inspiration. It's in swedish but just watching it was really interesting for me, even without understanding the narration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3J5wkJFJzE

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 23 May 2015 04:00:43 No.520403 Report

Quoted By:

>>520402
>>519121
Oops didn't see it was already posted.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 23 May 2015 05:52:57 No.520438 Report

Quoted By: >>520702

>>520402
Well the phrase is watch and learn, not understand bilbulty boop and learn.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 23 May 2015 18:56:21 No.520702 Report

Quoted By:

>>520438
save the bark from the trees, smoke them over a fire, store in a dry place flat, use as shingles for the top and sides. May last just as long as the cabin and VERY LOW MAINTENANCE.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 25 May 2015 07:44:11 No.521764 Report

Quoted By:

>>520402
Dude. Thats Finnish. And you can click english subtitles on.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO tumblr_inline_nfil2cv0Ok1qhywlr.jpg, 52KiB, 499x499

Anonymous Mon 25 May 2015 09:58:28 No.521815 Report

Quoted By:

>>520402
>it literally says in the title that it's finnish
>"it's in Swedish"

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 25 May 2015 14:18:55 No.521881 Report

Quoted By:

>>517536
Could you post some photos of your builds?

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