A little about myself
My name is Paul Elkins. I live in the farmlands of northwestern Washington, USA with my lovely girlfriend Mary and our 2 dogs Sally and Lucy. In my spare time I play in my shop creating a host of toys and things that roll, mostly. They all start as and idea that gets transfered to paper. I've been doing this idea hatching thing since I was a kid. I recieving my first serious sketch pad on Christmas morning when I was 8 years old. Each day I'd think of something weird and sketch it out, and every year another book would appear under the tree. I have at least 26 of these sketch books now, filled with hours and hours of figuring and redrawing, making lists of pros and cons on an idea.Many hours were spent drawing cartoons and the human figure. These sketches led to paintings and other forms of art, but that's for another future blog. My real passion was and is design, with subject matter varying from bicycles, trikes, cars, boats helicopters, submarines, home design or whatever happens to cross my mind. Each idea has to be original, or an elaboration of something I''ve seen or read about.At 16 I built my first recumbent bicycle which was never photographed or completed. Several other recumbents were made as time went by. It wasn't until I was divorced and started to enter my 40's that most of what you'll see here really started to materialize. Some of these ideas have miraculously worked out great! and I've spent many hours enjoying them, while others have not. For the ones that did, I have pride in knowing that my mind and hands had a part in their creation and existense. For the ones that didn't, I chaulk them up as a lesson.I've inserted extra pictures and details on some of these for anyone who's crazy enought to want to build one of the items listed. If you're one of these individuals and have any further questions my E-mail address is below, or if you'de just like to leave a comment please do so. I'd love to hear from you.Thanks again for visiting my site and enjoy!paulwelkins@yahoo.com

Enclosed motorized delta tricycle

I had purchased a used lawn edger for $45. It came equipped with a healthy 2 hp, 4 stroke, under 49cc briggs motor. My original intent was to mount it on a bicycle. This idea somehow evolved into what you see here. The imagination can be a dangerous thing....

This is the same 6 speed drive train design that I've successfully used on past rigs, eccept for the centrifical clutch upgrade. Twist and go.

The free wheeling front wheel assembly was purchased new from 'Triton' tricycle company for $35. A few chuncks of steel were used to mount the assembly onto the bmx fork. I may upgrade to suspension forks soon. One has to be attentive hitting a bump at 23 mph.

The whole frame is made of various wall thicknesses of square steel tubing. This way I was able to do all the fabricating myself. Some thin wall tubing, taken from a collapsed gazibo, was used on non-supporting parts of the frame. Bending the thicker wall tubing was achieved using plywood forms skrewed onto my work bench, then blocking the part down on one end and push the part around the form. It's a workout! Thin wall will collapse during bending, except for minor bows.

This view shows where I can rest my feet while under way, but doing this required fabricating a trustworthy stop-lever to keep the pedals from spinning with the wheel, thus preventing the scary wabbles.

Detail of the underside.

The skinning begins. 3 sheets of 4mm coroplast and a lot of aluminum pop-rivets.

The auto muffler does quiet things down a bit, but added 7 pounds and still is loud inside. I might yet add some sort of insulation around the walls where the engine resides. At least there are no fumes coming in and the engine stays cool.

The top opens up for venilation and storage access. The bottom door folds up in case I want to carry something tall.

The storage wall above the seat actually acts as a nice upper back support. The $14 wal-mart seat slides up 6 more inches in 2 inch increments. I wish I could afford a disk brake set-up. Oh well, It's a prototype.

I leaned the rear wheels in a bit to help in cornering. Width is 31".

Foam was double-back taped to the roll cage. I'm probably gonna tip this puppy some day.

There are still things to add as of this printing: Seat belt, a digital speedo computer, a better door latch, turning blinkers or an opening for my left arm, a horn, safety windshield and wiper.

All in all I'm happy with the way this little guy came out. I'm naming it PAVO B2B (back to basics)

MPG has yet to be determined, but I'd say around 120.

No insurance is required, and I might be able to perswade the first cop who pulls me over that It's technically a motorized tricycle. If not they'll make me register it as a moped which will costing me $35 a year.

Fuel efficient car

My 1988 honda CRX daily commuter. It almost has 150.000 miles on the odometer. When I bought it 2 years ago it averaged 38 mpg, but currently it averages 46 mpg.
Here's what I did:
Coroplast belly pan, (lasted up till recent heavy snowfall) coroplast hubcaps, removed the side mirrors (tried a big interior mirror but was a head banger, took it out and reinstalled drivers side mirror), block the air inlet except for summer time, semi-synthetic oil, bigger air cleaner, 45 psi in tires and an HF (High Fuel efficiency) transmission swap. These gears a TAAAAALL! I also coast alot without being a nusence to the people behind me. I tried adding Acetone to my gas but didn't notice any difference. I still drive from 65 to 72 mph on the freeway.
Hybrid my Ass! The Datsun B210 boasted 50 mpg new, and the Honda CRX HF boasted about the same, and this was more than 20 years ago! And when they're trashed only One battery will be recycled.

I use cardboard as a template and installed 1" flat bar here and there as panel attachment points. Notice how I went around the exhaust system. This was good thinking.

This rear section didn't make it very long. Besides melting somewhat around the tail pipe, it dragged too low. I'll redo it all someday. There definitely was some benifit with the belly pan.

I still havn't installed these skirts in the rear tire well. I was thinking of really going all out with the aero mods like Basjoos. Now there's a man with no pride, but he gets great gas mileage!

For the skirt mounting tab I pre-drilled the hole in wheel well lip, hit it with the cut-off grinder and bent down.

82 ft.Tree perch

My tree perch finally gets built. The 180 degree view of the valley 150 feet below is breathtaking.
There were definitely design issues with this one, being that I want to put a small 3 foot square enclosure on the platform some day.

It started with curiosity. 'I wonder what the view is like up there...' I kept climbing higher and higher trying to get away from the adjoining tree tops. At 82 feet I stopped.

The rope, pulley and bucket allows easier transport of tools and hardware.

After my butt got sore from sitting on this branch I came up with this...

No one but me has dared climb this tree. It's my little slice of heaven.

Survival tent in hiking staff

I had an idea of cramming survival stuff into a hiking staff, including this 36" square foil 'survival blanket' tent and the 3/16" diameter fiberglass poles. Other such survival goodies were planned to fit into this 1-1/2" diameter by 5 foot long aluminum tube too, but I lost interest.

Mail box wood stove

This was an exercise in swiftly constructing a very cheap yet usefull semi airtight stove, with minimal tools: a skrewdriver and rock to punch out the vent hole and a hack saw to cutting the electrical conduit.
I saw two others on the web but none had a top cooking surface. Smoke escapes better when it's tilted up in the rear.

The conduit was bent into a 'U' shape, shoved into the ground and wired to the mail box. The other length holds up the 2" gutter flue. I did add some wood skrews along the bottom edges to help seal up air leaks. Total cost was about $35 dollars.

High Mileage Trike

This is probably the only photoshop rendering in this blog. It's of a future trike that I plan to put together one of these days when I'm not so busy. A fellow named Jory Squibb inspired me for this idea. He created the 'Moon Beam'. A small utilitarian vehicle using the same scooter that this will be made from. I'm hoping this will go 55 mph and be stable at speeds.

It's a simpler and lighter version of the yellow reverse trike posted below.
The rear end will be from a Honda Elite 150 scooter. These are water cooled and have an automatic transmission.

I'm trying to create a spring suspention for the front wheels similar to the Morgan 3 wheeler. This will enable for a simple 'T' frame design. The body may be of colored 4mm coroplast or 1/4" mohogany plywood.

Here she sits on my work table waiting for the hack saw.



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Reverse Trike

Since gas prices went thru the roof I regained new interest in the old trike. It's time to finish this beast.
This is the rear storage trunk lid. It may look strange but works such that if I get into a frontal accident, all the stuff behind my head will not come rushing forward. Ipod speakers will go on both sides.
There is still lots to do, but I must say, I'm enjoying the challenge of figuring out all the details.

Because of the extra weight of the VW front end I had to think of ways to keep the weight down. I decided on coroplast. This I've used before on other projects and, although it won't last many years, It still is unbeatable for weight, time and money savings. It also comes in a variety of neat colors. I chose Yellow for safety. The most eye catching of all colors.

Aluminum threshhold trim was used to secure the ends of the panels down to the frame. This is a little tacky looking but makes removing the panels a breeze. Each hole was marked and pre-tapped a little undersized. This was done to safeguard against marring up the panel, which inevitably would have happened had I relied on the wobbly self tapping skrew bit to drill the hole. The shock towers were cut down to accept a motorcycle shock absorber. These aren't as stiff as the original shocks. I'm hoping for a smoother ride.

Those are hot air vent holes. Engine ducting will come later.

This is the second version of my first attempt at creating a safe enclosed trike for commuting.




It started with a 1972 Honda CB 350 that someone had given me. The base frame is 1.5" square tubing bent by hand on a brake made from plywood.

Most of the frame is 1" square tubing for ease of welding and body panel attachment. These were also bent using plywood brakes. ( hanging on the wall in picture)

This view shows the 'Flintstone Reverse' door, also good for future ventilation, and the double seat belt set-up.

The gear shifter was made from the old handlebar. Both electrical controls are mounted on both sides of the handle including the clutch lever.

I wanted a narrow teardrop body and a roadster looking front end. An ATV suspension was chosen for its durability and light weight components. I used a sandrail rack and pinion steering box along with the old front hydrolic brake off the bike. A single brake pedal was made for the rear wheel. Honda tires from the first civic model proved to be the best fit for the little 10" ATV wheels.

The trike was popular at the first car show, but not as popular at the DMV. There is a law I hadn't been aware of that simply stated "No off road intended vehicle's chasis components can be used on a road vehicle," hence the whole front-end came off and was replaced with a 1967 Karmann Ghia front beam. It gained better steering control and braking power as I didn't need the rear brake anymore, but it also gained an extra 120 pounds.

This is what I made to figure out how to construct the body. A G.I. Joe 1/6th scale doll made the perfect model.





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The Wheel

The wheel is a load of fun. It's basically a 4' diameter circle jigsawed out and edges routered from a half sheet of 3/4" plywood. 1.25" rubber hose (split on the inside of the coil) was used for the tread and skrewed down every foot. For the seat I used 1/4" plastic sheeting and doubleback taped dense foam to it. 6-6" shelf brackets were used to attach the seat to the wheel, and an old lap seat belt was bolted on to hold the rider in.

First you take a few steps forward

and do a somersault...

If you still feel in balance continue by pushing off with your feet. If you manage to do 15 consecutive rolls before tipping over then CONGRATULATIONS! You have beaten my record!



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Recumbent Electric Scooter

This was my first attempt at making a recumbent scooter. The chair was mounted with 2 verticlal metal braces welded on the foot pad in back and another horizontal brace in front. The scooter was quiet and fun at speeds of 7 mph. My only complaint was the steering geometry was a bit off, and the distance was only 4-5 miles at the most before you'd start to slow down.

Look at that smile!



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Recumbent Scooter

Test run on my second recumbent scooter. This one started out as a Goped. It's loud and belches smoke, but I like the performance and range much better than the electric scooter. It's much faster too.

My friend Wayno giving you a visual demonstration of a happy man enjoying a comfortable, light weight, foldable, affordable, license and insurance free ride.

I extended the frame 11 inches, added an adjustable and removable foot rest, installed a removable plastic seat (scalped from 1st scooter) and storage box, modified the front fork, stearing handle and moved the diskbrake to the rear wheel.



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Recumbent Moped

My recumbent moped, all gassed up and snowing outside...

The original idea for this project was intended for a Honda cub, but a friend offered me a great deal on a 49cc Tomos moped. (above pic taken from internet)

The seat was made of 1/8" aluminum plate bent to fit. The original foam was sliced and cut to fit. The foam was then attached with double back tape. A seat cover that was made wraps around the back and is laced down.

The first foot pegs were attached to the steering fork. This proved to be a bit nerve racking as my legs would stiffen and fight my arms for steering control.

The foot pegs instead were mounted on the frame. My feet are more kicked now, similar to the the position of a crotch rocket, except I'm leaning back and alot more comfortable.

The welding spots were intended to stay away from the fuel tank. This is an older pic. but the new foot pegs are welded onto this seat bracket and also to the fork stop. More gussets will be added and probably a front fairing in the future.

Simple milk crate mounts using 1/2" square tubing. The seat-back rests against the crate.
Some of the original seat mount was cut away to make room for the new seating position.





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Rear Steering Recumbent

This was my second attempt at building a recumbent back in 1981. It was a rear steer no less. The idea came from a Popular Mechanics article. I figured hey, if someone else did it, so could I. After all, I'd be saving weight having a short chain. Bad idea, It took me 2 hours to get both feet on the pedals. But it was a lesson learned; Just because you saw it in Popular Mechanics does not necessarily make it a wonderful idea.

Like I said, it was a bit difficult to steer but that didn't stop me from using it as a daily commuter for a while.

Recumbent Bicycle

An enthusiastic neighbor kid talked me into building him this little one speed rig after seeing the recumbent bicycle below.

Recumbent bicycle/boat

This was the most successful recumbent I built, or at least the one that got the most use.
It started as a one speed but was later upgraded to a three speed, including a front hub brake. I wanted to enter a kinetic race in Bolder Colorado so pontoons were attached. The picture above was launch day, and notice the smile. I was not smiling a minute later when the tape holding the pontoons broke loose and sent the bike and almost me to the bottom of this freezing cold lake. It was recovered and design improvements were made, but unfortunately the bike never made it to the race.

This too was launch day. I was so eager to try it out that vise grips were used as a steering handle.
The bike is basically a bmx rear frame. 1" tubing make up for the top and bottom bar. The front end is off of a 20" wheel bike. This same bike had the crank cut off leaving a little of the seat and lower tube to make a secure attachment to the steering tube. The bottom of the front chain ring resides very close to the top of the narrow steering fork. The narrow fork allows the pedals to miss them when pedaling. I liked the simplicity of this mid wheelbase triangulated design. the crank was positioned as low as possible for reasons of better handling and comfort.


My first discovery of the versitility of a plastic injected kitchen chair.

Mid-Steering Recumbent

This little guy was probably the only bike I put together that was unridable.
I saw one mid steering bike and thought I'd figured out the steering geometry but got it wrong. Looking back I kinda wished I hadn't given up so soon because minor tweaking would have solved the control issue. As it was the bike was disassembled and the little kids bike reassembled for a money refund
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25 pound recumbent bicycle

This was the last recumbent I built. The frame was aluminum and titanium was used for seat supports. The seat mounts were right behind the steering tube and over the rear wheel axle, enabling for a light weight frame. It had some flex but not much. This bike handled well, but if I were to build another it would be a long wheelbase so the crank could be lowered.
You gain frontal area by doing this but you get so much more control the lower your feet are.
The latest recumbent design that some manufacturers have adopted where the seat tube is raked back and the horizontal rear fork extended is very similar to what I had in mind 10 years ago. The bike was cut and ready to weld together, but then my last marriage fell apart. Needless to say it was never completed, but It's good to know that it was a good idea.

Frame ready to go to the local welder.



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Bicycle Fairing

I wanted a fast bicycle, something that could sustain cross winds and keep me dry in the rain. This was the goal. I'd never worked with fiberglass and had no prior experience making a plug but I was determined to try.

Thick steel wire was strung through holes drilled on the outer edges of the 1/2" plywood frame. The frame was actually attached to the 10 speed bicycle. Chicken wire was put over this, then paper mache'ed with newspaper.

I was a drywaller at the time, so I applied drywall mud over the paper mache.
A bubble repair job shows where I added thicker and stiffer square wire mesh for the tail section.

This is as far along as the project went. After applying tons of drywall mud it became too heavy to move. It was built in a 10'x10' extra bedroom in my apartment back in 1990, hence the crappy picture. I'd come so far with the plug and it was looking so good. I almost cried when I took the hammer to it. If I had to do it over again I'd definitely carve on foam.

Dirt Skates

I only had two wheels to play with so a pair of skates was never made. I have seen ones similar to this using ski boots instead of my rear drawer slide leg support. I was on the right track anyway...

Wooden Kayak

The Sea horse used two 10' 1x12 boards for the sides that were clamped at the ends and bowed out to 24" in the middle. A 1x12x23" seatback bulkhead was tilted and installed. Before installing, an oval hole was jigsawed out. The cut-out piece was hinged in place creating an access door for the trunk. The top and bottom are made from one 1/4" sheet of mohogany plywood glued and nailed into the side boards. The bow and stern pie pieces that the side ends were nailed to were cut from a 4x4 post. Round pipe insulation was cut length wise into half moon sections. The flat sides were epoxied to the floor to make a comfortable, weatherproof cheap seat. Foam pipe insulation was also used around the edges of the opening.

Electric Boat

The wave hopper uses a detachable 35lb thrust minkota trolling motor, chopped down and wires routed to the dashboard where the forward and reverse speed control resides. A 4 prong trialer jack was used for connecting power from motor to boat. For steering I looped a cable around a 1.5" diameter steering axle attached to my wooden steering wheel. This goes back to the motor and has a simple attachment. The motor is tilted up before beaching the boat.

Unlike my other boats this one is made of 1/4" mahogany plywood nailed and glued to 1x1's. The rear bulkhead is a 1x8 for motor mount durability. The outside was covered with fiberglass. It's 8'x28"x14" sides. the upper trunk uses 1x6 for the sides and plywood for the top. On the dashboard are the amp meter, horn, light switch, forward and reverse control knob and a small storage compartment. The battery I used was a 60 pound minkota trolling motor that would last almost 4 hours. The boat's dry weigh is 65 pounds.

The front bulkhead was filled with foam before the top was nailed on.

This is my favorite boat. Because of the steep dory style arc it handles waves great and the low center of gravity makes it very stable, but because of the arc shape the boat plows through the water and will only go 5 knots no matter how much power you have.



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Sail/Electric Boat

The launch of the Libery. This was an exercise in minimal materials, building skills, tools and money. The boat cost me about $100 and a few weekends. It measures 8' long, 2' wide and 1' high and weighs 60 pounds. The sides were made from 2- 1x12 pine boards each 12' long, cut down to 8' lengths and jigsawed sweeps. the extra material went for bulkheads. The top and bottom are from one sheet of 1/4" marine plywood. A person could use 1/4" mahogany, but if you were to do this I would recommend fiberglassing because mohogany paneling is only 3 ply whereas marine plywood has 5. I got away with no glass, just epoxy and it's held up for many years.
The boat was joined using gorilla glue and brass ring-shank nails spaced about 3-4" apart. For ease of transport a 1/2" aluminum axle was installed. Removabel plastic lawnmower wheels slide on the portruding ends. Once on the water I pull the cable secured pins, remove the wheels and store them inside.
I love this boat. Many hours have been spent paddling, sailing or trolling along on the local lakes. Getting out on the water is a great perspective and very liberating, hence the name, Liberty.


In this picture you see the aluminum dagger board on the side that swings down.

Two small 12 volt batteries reside in the trunk. An oval was cut in the tilted rear 1x12x23" bulkhead that I rest my back on, then an access door was added, padding from an old hiking sleep mat was double-back taped to the wood. I even have a 4" removable back support extender. It's removed so when exiting you can sit on the back trunk.


A simple spinnaker sail was made from light weight nylon sheeting. The mast is from a 1 1/2" wooden closet rod. I hold the knotted ends of the nylon line by hand in case of a sudden wind gust.

The slotted mast hole is located just behind the foot bulkhead. The last foot of the mast has one side shaved flat. this side rests against the foot bulkhead. A metal loop is attached to the lower part of the bulkhead to accept the mast end.

I have a 1881 silver dollar embedded in the bow with miss Liberty facing up.



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Victorian Mail Box

My X wife wanted a victorian home, so I built her one. :) I got off cheap!



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Camper Bird House

My girlfriend's sister owns a 1953 Bell camper. I made this little replica for her in appriciation of her wonderful, kind and giving heart. Thanks Marian.

This was made using 1/2" plywood for the sides and bottom. It was then wrapped with aluminum sheeting. The door window is the entry hole for the little birdies. Removing two skrews in the back allows the rear end to come up for seasonal cleaning.



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Racing Push Scooter

This is my version of a push scooter resembling some serious handmade racing European scoots that I stumbled onto while surfing the internet back in 1999. There version utilized 12" ballon tires. They would tuck and lean there whole body's over the front handlebar with one leg in the air while coasting. A very scary pose, but I tried it and it works! The pnumatic wheels I used came off of a wheel chair. The foot rest is wide enough for one foot.



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Hands Free Phone

I have talkers in my family circle, and this little gem has given me the freedom to carry on with whatever I was doing before the call. From a 2" thick chunk of cell foam I wittled out the side profile of my phone and head. I ask the caller to wait a moment, insert the phone and talk away.



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FWD Trike

Another Burningman rig. The little briggs motor had a 4" long knerled pipe jammed onto the output shaft. Pressing down on the motor with your left foot engaged the spinndle to the front tire. I also made a sail, but was never photographed or tried out. This rig putted along at 6 mph.



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Pick-up Shell Camper

I took a 7 week coast to coast road trip after being laid off from Boeing. I didn't have a camper but realized that being able to pull off the road at a rest or truck stop was the way to go to make the trip affordable. With a few sheets of 1/2" plywood and misc. hardware this is what I came up with. The effort was well worth the time and materials.


A hot wire was routed from a spare battery in back to the engine battery for recharging. An ac-dc converter then powered the radio, television, light, fan, and cell phone. The spare battery was also used to powered the electric boat.

Two plywood 'L's were made and screwed down on each side of the bed. This is the view of the tiny kitchen.

Holes were cut in the sides so clothes and misc. supplies could be stored. A wide board was my table when seated and stored on the side when not in use. Not visible was a small cloths closet on the front drivers side.

The futon laid on a section of plywood that hinged up into a sitting position. A camping propane burner and wash tub were mounted in the counter and a 2.5 gallon water jug was positioned over the wash tub. Curtains where also added for privacy.



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Home-in-a-Box

This was my hangout for a week at Burningman. It was basically a 4'x4'x4' coroplastic box.
The flutted plastic sheeting was nailed to 2x2's in each corner. The large door swung up to serve as a sun shade, and sealed tight to keep the dust storms at bay. When this happened I'd watch things blow by through the bubble window.


Inside was the cooler, lights and shelves for the radio, fan, books and misc. amenities. I slept in the back of my truck. Yes, that's a real recliner in there. My nick name was Jack. I was Jack in the box.
This design led to the development of my bicycle camper that I built the following year.



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Tree House

I have the coolest cedar tree in my back yard that begged for a tree house. This platform is 40 feet up, measures 7' by 7' by 7', just enough to house 2 lawn chairs. It is my pie in the sky, a little slice of heaven. The view of the Stillaguamish farm valley is fantastic. I built this several years ago after being laid off from my job. What else do you do after working for 14 years? That's right, do the things you didn't get a chance to do, because you were too busy working!

The rope was used to haul everything as the stairs where built last.



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My First Trike

The trike in retirement. I have many fond memories of this little gelopy.

When I heard about this creative festival called 'Burningman' the ideas came pouring onto my sketch book. I'd made about 5 recumbent bicycles in the past, but this was my first motorized attempt, and a trike no less. It was powered by a 3.5 briggs motor. It was able to carry three people on the flat. It now resides under a tree overlooking the farm valley below.

Wheelchair wheels were used the first year.

It had a lever in the middle for engaging the belt drive, an engine pull rope at the feet and all of the five gears on the rear wheel cluster worked. During a wind storm two friends and I attached a 5x7 tarp on the top. We must have reached 25 mph easily, which prompted a real sail/shade cover the following year. Unfortunately during testing the front wheel collapsed from too much side pressure.

Ready for the playa.

That year the motor pooped out.



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Motorized Bicycle

This fun little vehicle has taken on many shapes and still remains my favorite sunny day ride.

This was the original bike, yet another Burningman toy.

Why the barbies? The DMV (department of mutant vehicles) thought my home-made rig looked too much like a motorcycle and not a parade vehicle, so no permit was permitted, hence the barbies to parade it up. I still didn't get a pass issued. I rode it around anyway. Screw em...

Years later it was drug out of a corner in my shop and made into a somewhat more utilitarian vehicle. It first took on a real chopper look, but proved to be a bit uncomfortable for long distances.


It was changed further for a more relaxed ride. The new handlebars now made it look more like the first motorcycles. I had a 1940's produce box kicking around my shop from the previous home owner that came from a local frozen pea factory that's still running today. It went with the theme.
I'd call it a rat bike now as the butchering was quick and dirty, and I'm too lazy to put anymore time into it. The two HP engine delivers ample speed (30 mph) to the rear 6 speed cluster. Mileage? It's a tired motor, maybe 100 mpg.


You may think I was too cheap to buy a centrifical clutch but I like the belt tensioner lever. It may not be located in a safe place but it adds to the look and the gadgetry it takes to get this thing rolling.



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Bicycle Camper

TURTLEMAN (as I was dubbed) is blasting his stereo, sipping a cool beer and lounging on the playa at Burningman.

This was built for the burningman event that happens every year in Nevada. Near the end of August about 35,000 people from all around the country and world for that matter, gather and camp at this spot. Why? To express themselfs in a way that normal society may frown on. This is the place of almost pure freedom. A place where you bring whatever creative idea you may have, and share it, being wordrobe, mode of transportation, attitude, camp layout whatever.

Google 'Burningman' for more information. Everyone needs to go at least once.

I chose to live the nomad life for the week. The camper was not designed for road use, that's another version in a drawing below. This unit had to endure winds of 60 mph, heat of 100+ degrees. The idea hatched from that particular years theme, (they have a yearly theme). It was fear of the future. My thoughts at the time were fixated on the bird flu. what if.. This was an attempt to show how one might survive a post apocalyptic life.
The camper is about 100 pounds dry weight. The skin is 1/4" flutted plastic like whats used for election signs. This was riveted and screwed onto 3/4" square aluminum tubing salvaged from an old satellite dish. The base was made of 2x2 fir. The 30" square door frame, made of 1x2's was skrewed to the side panel, cut on the sides and bottom. The upper part was left uncut to act as a hinge. The bed hinges in a lounge attitude. On the outside resides an herb flower box, a urinal funnel (sanicans were a ways off) and 13" wheel barrel wheels on a 1/2" axle mounted with 1/2" square tubing made up the running gear. I used 3/4" steel for the tow bar, A recycled card table for the corner camper supports, and misc this and that. It's whatever I had kicking around at the time, and that's how anyone would have to do it if worst came to worst.

Wayno tries out the new bicycle camper. He looks like a happy camper doesn't he?

Bed arranged in the lounge position. All the comforts of home, except for a number 2 toilet.

Solar food dehydrator screens. (It actually worked!)

I created a wind generator. I used a bicycle generator and crammed a wooden blade on the drive wheel. The large shroud on the rear is for strong winds. It bends the pvc pole (it use to be taller) thus changing the plane of attack on the prop and thus keeping the prop bearing from becoming fried. It worked, but the generator I found is actually an alternator. It would need diodes to get it to work but I didn't bother. It looked nice though spinning in the wind.

The urinal funnel came in handy. Water from Solar shower was also routed to the kitchen sink.

Sleeping bag storage box is below, and a book/magazine rack are above on the wall. Bubble door opens also for Cross ventilation. The black square on the roof is a hot air collector for the food dehydrator.

Swinging up the table extension support leg.

Right to left: battery storage, ice box, dirty laundry hamper. Above, storage shelf, the small hole, white clothes storage. big hole, other clothes. 12v lights on either side, mister bottle for cooling off.
Right to left: light switches, food storage bin, underneath resides the table extension, fan, butane stove, storage drawers. Underneath, pee jug, trash bucket battery storage (barely seen) sink, hot water spout, 2.5 gallon water supply.

Why the bubble? So I can look up at the stars at night.


This is one rendition of a road camper. The drawer on the right is actually an extension for the legs when sleeping. The camper would be 50" long by 30" wide using similar materials as my camper but shooting for 50 pounds dry weight.



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