A Man and a Van

Some shots of the tiny cabin we stayed in while we were out running tech for Bonetone Festival last week. I could totally see myself living in something this sized. Just replace the queen size on the ground floor with a kitchenette and I would be totally set. This cabin comfortably housed 4 of us for the weekend. 

So we just got back from Bonetone festival 2013, where Brandon and I handled Visuals. Serenity functioned as both our cargo vehicle for the trek and our tech booth for the duration. It was fantastic at the end of the night we were able to just pull our home runs for cables, and lock up the rig not having to worry about leaving thousands of dollars of equipment outside. I propped up a futon over one of the wheel wells and that became a quick and dirty (quite literally after about 48hrs) couch for the weekend. Everything we took out there looks like it's been to the playa as far as dust factor. The rig is going to need a good blowing out and Serenity is going to need a nice long washing. She started burning oil pretty heavily on the way up there and was doing it again on the way back. I did have a ton of gear in her and it's way more than I have ever hauled but I'm a bit concerned. I'm going to have to really start poking around under the hood and figuring out what all needs to be replaced before we head out on the road. In her current condition I don't think I would want to undertake such a long trek.

Outside shot of the tech booth for Bonetone. Serenity is doing a bang up job of being a tech booth for this gig. More photos to follow.

Serenity is all loaded up for her first big trip. Its up to the Tahoe forest for the weekend. Lux Systems (my company) is running visuals for Bonetone Fantasy Island drum and bass festival. She's going to serve as our tech booth for the weekend.

I'm feeling pretty good about this. I wish I could scale a bit more but I can't frankly. I do too many things right now to be able to. I have to have dress clothes for when I tech corporate shows, and I have to have beaten up shop clothes for when I'm just working in my shop fabricating things. I'm planning on putting a bunch of this in storage while I'm out on the road but for now it's a start. It feels really good to be actively taking steps towards a simpler life. I've started baking all my own bread instead of buying it and I've got to say it's saving money and everyone in the house is happier for it. I'm not sure what to work on scaling down next, thinking about starting to packup the books and find digital copies of them to stick on my tablet instead. It's not like I re-read most of them and I don't have the same affinity that most do to physical objects so not having them anymore doesn't really bother me. Most of my "book" library is already digital anyways. Anything that I can't find that I know I'm going to want to read again I suppose I could always scan or put into storage. 

GOT THE CAMP CHEF OVEN TODAY! Super stoked on this. I got it "used" on ebay but its basically brand new. The oven hasn't ever had anything cooked in it it came with the racks still wrapped in the original paper from the factory. It came in the original box for that matter. I'm pretty sure someone just bought it, decided they didn't want it, and dumped it for cheap on ebay. She's gonna be going in Serenity for now for while we're on the road, and ultimately in the Tiny Home. Supposedly I can get 7hrs at 350° off of one, 1lb propane tank. I have a fresh tank that I hooked up to it and I will be trying this tomorrow in 1hr increments. Report to follow.

Haven't done much on Serenity recently been focusing more on making capital at home with which to purchase the items needed for the build out. I did manage to find a camp chef oven/stove combo (in cherry red might I add) and a Coleman instantaneous water heater for under $300 including shipping so I'm super stoked on that right now. Water heater should be here tomorrow and the oven should be here today.

-7FT HOSE! I'm a tall dude measuring in at 6'3" I have difficulty with some road showers. NEVER HAVE THAT ISSUE AGAIN!

Another good one for all you vanners out there. Solve your hot water issues without a fuss. You can get 40 gallons of hot water off one single 16oz propane tank with this little beauty. Can your propane stove say that? I have one going in Serenity that will ultimately be put in the tiny home. 

Out for the day on some handyman style jobs off task rabbit. Chilling in the back of Serenity between jobs, got the hammock up and everything.

I don't know how many of you vanners know about the new camp oven/stove from Coleman but I've heard nothing but good things about it. I'm planning on sticking one in Serenity and then ultimately pulling it out of her and putting it in the tiny home. 

So I have hit something of a standstill on Serenity again. I'm going to cut a few inches off the legs of the bed platform today as it's a little too high right now and being as I'm a tall ass mother fucker any extra head room on top of the bed platform is worth while. I've determined I need at least 17" of clearance under it for the miter saw, the welder only needs 12". Taking into account the 1" clearance that I plan on building into the box. The box concept may be a little confusing to some still. Just think of a drawer that fits under the bed platform. Instead of drawer rails though it's going to have 360° crazy casters under it, recessed up 4 inches into the box so I don't lose any space to wheel clearance. I'll whip something up in sketchup real quick and upload it later today for anyone who's interested in what I'm talking about. 

On a gig for Google. Standby time in the back of the van. Good thing I have my trusty eagles nest outfitters hammock handy!

Spent the weekend building a subwoofer for a renegade soundsystem with Alan Rager of Autonomous Sound Tribe, and framing out some monkeyhut shade structures for an upcoming festival in the Sierra Nevadas. The Monkey Hut structures are super simple and can be complete in a day with simple tools. They stand up to 40-50 mph winds just fine (they're playa tested) and a basic 10x12 costs about $115 to build. Quite happy with how they turned out, I'm thinking of building a set to be able to throw over the van for harsh weather when out on the road.  

Got quite a bit of work done today. Finished out the insulation and plywood skin on the driver side. Started and finished the bed platform, it's entirely made out of up-cycled wood from pallets. Next project is either going to be the storage shelves for behind the drivers side seat at the foot of the bed, or the lowered chest storage to the right of the bed platform from this perspective. 

Next is the final wall then bed platform then sliding storage bins for underneith the bed platform. 

So I've got 4 the panels done thus far, I'm debating about panels 6 on. I'm going to have to cut out some metal framing on the passenger side wall at the rear in order to skin it all the way back on that side. I'll also have to run a metal or wooden stud up the wall (I'll probably go with metal as it's easier to curve) in order to skin it. I'm debating about chopping out the metal just because I don't want it at head height next to the bed. Anyone know of any good reasons why I shouldn't? It's also preventing me from running the insulation back there that I need to in order to be fully insulated.