Camp welfare

[Tughill Tamer]

I'm in the early stages of trying to get a hunting camp organized on the cheap for next Deer season. Not that I'm loaded but the guys that I'm organizing with have been hit pretty hard by the Covid crunch. We have a friend of ours who has offered up a spot in the back of his property that borders 5500 acres of state land so we have a spot to get started. I'm considering all options as far as a trailer or maybe a omish build shed something we can add on to in the future. Something I have also been considering is one of those outfitter heavy duty all weather canvas wall tents with wood stove capability. For the money it's prably the cheapest way to go to get the most room. Has anyone ever had any experience with these tents? I'm open ears to any ideas, experiences or suggestions. Ohh by the way none of us are carpenters in any stretch of the imagination so I would hate to see anything that we built.

 

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[Swamp_bucks]

If you can get it back to the spot and can swing it I would go the amish shed route.  Some come with a loft and porch all ready to go.  

[Tughill Tamer]

If you can get it back to the spot and can swing it I would go the amish shed route.  Some come with a loft and porch all ready to go.  

Yeah the ones I've seen have been very well built not sure how pricey they are something I plan to look into.

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[rachunter]

20-40' shipping contaners are cheap. Check out youtube.

[Tughill Tamer]

20-40' shipping contaners are cheap. Check out youtube.

That's an option I haven't thought about. My first thought is it might be hard to heat but maybe not if you insulated it well enough. I'll check it out.

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[sbuff]

How easily can you get to the back of your friends property to the location?

[Tughill Tamer]

How easily can you get to the back of your friends property to the location?

Pretty easy where we plan to put the camp is only about a 100 yrds of a secondary rd with the property all being cleared and somewhat flat.

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[DirtTime]

If you're putting it on someone else's land I would go with the canvas tent and a good wood stove. Even just on here you can read some horror stories of people losing land that was even being leased. If something were to go wrong you can use/move a tent elsewhere a lot easier then a building.

 

Then you have to look at how a building will effect the owners taxes. Unless it's on wheels like a travel trailer and considered readily moveable there's going to be taxes.

[Tughill Tamer]

If you're putting it on someone else's land I would go with the canvas tent and a good wood stove. Even just on here you can read some horror stories of people losing land that was even being leased. If something were to go wrong you can use/move a tent elsewhere a lot easier then a building.
 
Then you have to look at how a building will effect the owners taxes. Unless it's on wheels like a travel trailer and considered readily moveable there's going to be taxes.

Good points some things I hadn't yet considerd.

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[phade]

Sounds crazy but you can go cheap and with a little work, get started. Garage in a box. We used it as a base camp for our out of state trip and it was perfect. Open floor, similar to alot of wall texts and cheaper. It withstood not one but two massive windstorms. We added ground anchors and ratchets, but in large it worked well. Way better than any tent set-up (short of an actual wall tent). You can set up a floor off the ground with pallets and rubber mats, etc. We had an electric hook up and ran one of those little fireplace heaters and also had a propane space heater to warm things up in the AM or evening and then the electric heater did fine. I wouldn't have a concern with rigging up a stove, with some ingenuity.

Will it be your long-term solution? Probably not, but heck, you could cost justify buying a new one every year and be money ahead.

I think we spent $250 all in on LED lights, the garage, the tie downs and ratchets, etc. That is cheap...

Edited January 5, 2021 by phade

[Farflung]

Phades idea is pretty good. I had one of those (actually from Harbor Freight), that I used for  outside storage. Lasted 3 years. Before I bought it, I was pretty skeptical about it, but I asked a bunch of folks that had them for a number of years and they had lasted them pretty good. In the fourth year, mine started leaking and I  covered it with a tarp which worked o.k. Some guys with wall tents used to bring bales of straw in to keep the floor clean. I would still make sure it so the floor area was raised for drainage. Lots of guys with wall tents string a heavy duty plastic tarp suspended over their tent to keep snow off. you would need a careful way of putting a stovepipe flange or thimble through if you are putting a little woodstove. You will get some condensation on the inside from people, wet clothes and cooking.

This year, I looked at Amish built storage sheds.  They seemed to be well built, but the floor, joists and skids were native hemlock, which isn't rot resistant. I talked about getting Pressure treated plywood, joists and 6x6, but this year there was a big materials shortage. Wound up with a 10x12 gambrel roofed shed that I  put on a gravel pad. In our town and the adjoining town, If they are less than 120 square foot and on skids, they are not considered real property and therefore not taxable. It is very wind tight and would make a good camp. 

I might know where there is a larger one, that a guy and his wife equivilent lived in last winter. I think he wanted around $3000 for it. Almost bought it but my wife did not care for the color (beige stain with red metal roof).

 

[Red]

In the WNY area you can get an amish built shed/cabin 16x36 with a 16x6 porch for. $7K

[Tughill Tamer]

Sounds crazy but you can go cheap and with a little work, get started. Garage in a box. We used it as a base camp for our out of state trip and it was perfect. Open floor, similar to alot of wall texts and cheaper. It withstood not one but two massive windstorms. We added ground anchors and ratchets, but in large it worked well. Way better than any tent set-up (short of an actual wall tent). You can set up a floor off the ground with pallets and rubber mats, etc. We had an electric hook up and ran one of those little fireplace heaters and also had a propane space heater to warm things up in the AM or evening and then the electric heater did fine. I wouldn't have a concern with rigging up a stove, with some ingenuity.
Will it be your long-term solution? Probably not, but heck, you could cost justify buying a new one every year and be money ahead.
I think we spent $250 all in on LED lights, the garage, the tie downs and ratchets, etc. That is cheap...

It would be difficult to get any cheaper than that. That is definitely something to talk to the guys about.

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[Tughill Tamer]

Phades idea is pretty good. I had one of those (actually from Harbor Freight), that I used for  outside storage. Lasted 3 years. Before I bought it, I was pretty skeptical about it, but I asked a bunch of folks that had them for a number of years and they had lasted them pretty good. In the fourth year, mine started leaking and I  covered it with a tarp which worked o.k. Some guys with wall tents used to bring bales of straw in to keep the floor clean. I would still make sure it so the floor area was raised for drainage. Lots of guys with wall tents string a heavy duty plastic tarp suspended over their tent to keep snow off. you would need a careful way of putting a stovepipe flange or thimble through if you are putting a little woodstove. You will get some condensation on the inside from people, wet clothes and cooking.
This year, I looked at Amish built storage sheds.  They seemed to be well built, but the floor, joists and skids were native hemlock, which isn't rot resistant. I talked about getting Pressure treated plywood, joists and 6x6, but this year there was a big materials shortage. Wound up with a 10x12 gambrel roofed shed that I  put on a gravel pad. In our town and the adjoining town, If they are less than 120 square foot and on skids, they are not considered real property and therefore not taxable. It is very wind tight and would make a good camp. 
I might know where there is a larger one, that a guy and his wife equivilent lived in last winter. I think he wanted around $3000 for it. Almost bought it but my wife did not care for the color (beige stain with red metal roof).
 

I wouldn't care what color it was, I'm going to have to talk to the guy and see what he says about the whole building idea. Like I said above l hadn't considered the whole tax thing. When we first talked to him we started out talking about a trailer setup. We need to get some more info.

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[BizCT]

7 hours ago, phade said:

Sounds crazy but you can go cheap and with a little work, get started. Garage in a box. We used it as a base camp for our out of state trip and it was perfect. Open floor, similar to alot of wall texts and cheaper. It withstood not one but two massive windstorms. We added ground anchors and ratchets, but in large it worked well. Way better than any tent set-up (short of an actual wall tent). You can set up a floor off the ground with pallets and rubber mats, etc. We had an electric hook up and ran one of those little fireplace heaters and also had a propane space heater to warm things up in the AM or evening and then the electric heater did fine. I wouldn't have a concern with rigging up a stove, with some ingenuity.

Will it be your long-term solution? Probably not, but heck, you could cost justify buying a new one every year and be money ahead.

I think we spent $250 all in on LED lights, the garage, the tie downs and ratchets, etc. That is cheap...

That looks great. Could be a great idea for people will large tracts of land where they can set this type of tent up on the property and walk the reverse way into stands.

[Daveboone]

My first thought....is always camp security. Being able to leave what you want at the camp...stoves, lanterns, bedding, cookware etc. makes it homey, as opposed to the work bringing up everything, setting it up and taking it down when you leave. It may be private property, but thieves will find it. Quick. I love the idea of the pop up garages for short term answer. You may consider puttiing down a slab that could be used for a garage base, then replaced with  a building. I have seen alot of the Amish built sheds /barns/ garages, which would make a great camp for a relatively small output. Finish them over time. Just be sure to include plans for security bars on the windows and a solid door with deadbolts. 

If one of you have a torch or power tools...saws all, etc. a shipping container for 2-3 thousand bucks could be a great camp. Cut holes for regular doors and windows, apply sheet insulation inside. You also would probably want to put it on a slab, but level ground with some timbers work well too.

[mlammerhirt]

In the WNY area you can get an amish built shed/cabin 16x36 with a 16x6 porch for. $7K

I got a quote last spring on an Amish built 14x30....with 8' walls, siding, two windows and a roll up garage door for a little over 9000. That included delivery and assembly on site.

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[Red]

That's not bad at all with all of the extras. The amish style on skids are nice because if you ever need it moved or need a new one brought in ages down the road the delivery guy can move it for a few hundred dollars.

[phade]

Those amish sheds are nice but they do require upkeep to prevent rot and moisture issues unless you get into rot-resistant options and price goes up.

I have a 10x16 gambrel amish shed and I have been less than impressed with it's aging. The roof got another layer, and the door areas are rotting around the frame. It sits on a gravel pad and the concrete foundation blocks. It's ten years old  and we've had this house since '17. I'd be hesitant to get another without improved materials.

[hunter]

If you go with a shed I'd at least get pressure treated floor, my neighbor's shed floor rotted real fast near door. Whatever you do make sure you have a secondary means of egress in case of emergency like fire. Good luck.

[Farflung]

Regarding the pressure treated floors that Hunter, mentioned, the one I bought from Catskill Shed Company had regular pressure treated plywood floors, joists and skids. BUT.... they had lots where they had substituted a composite decking, that they swore was as good as pressure treated plywood for rot resistance and longevity. And maybe it is, but maybe not. So I finally found one with PT plywood. Put it on a thick gravel pad plus 4" thick solid blocks for good air drainage. I'm 71 so I'm not worried, It will be still solid when I'm graveyard dead.

[DirtTime]

On 1/5/2021 at 8:10 AM, phade said:

Sounds crazy but you can go cheap and with a little work, get started. Garage in a box. We used it as a base camp for our out of state trip and it was perfect. Open floor, similar to alot of wall texts and cheaper. It withstood not one but two massive windstorms. We added ground anchors and ratchets, but in large it worked well. Way better than any tent set-up (short of an actual wall tent). You can set up a floor off the ground with pallets and rubber mats, etc. We had an electric hook up and ran one of those little fireplace heaters and also had a propane space heater to warm things up in the AM or evening and then the electric heater did fine. I wouldn't have a concern with rigging up a stove, with some ingenuity.

Will it be your long-term solution? Probably not, but heck, you could cost justify buying a new one every year and be money ahead.

I think we spent $250 all in on LED lights, the garage, the tie downs and ratchets, etc. That is cheap...

The great thing with these are it's like a canvas wall tent, you don't need the poles. You can make them from small diameter downed trees and some good cordage as your frame.

[phade]

2 hours ago, DirtTime said:

The great thing with these are it's like a canvas wall tent, you don't need the poles. You can make them from small diameter downed trees and some good cordage as your frame.

I guess - that's too hardcore for me. I'm not at the level to break out the loin cloth and sinew. I'd rather take the $250 box and put it together in about 35 minutes start to finish, lol.

[DirtTime]

15 minutes ago, phade said:

I guess - that's too hardcore for me. I'm not at the level to break out the loin cloth and sinew. I'd rather take the $250 box and put it together in about 35 minutes start to finish, lol.

 

 

[Nomad]

25 minutes ago, phade said:

I guess - that's too hardcore for me. I'm not at the level to break out the loin cloth and sinew. I'd rather take the $250 box and put it together in about 35 minutes start to finish, lol.

That’s a really good set up you have there. I’ve thought of having a moving POD dropped off where I hunt , and building a framed in wall with door behind the swing out doors . Never looked into the cost though .