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- Written by: Brock Butterfield
You've prepared yourself for bus life and are ready to hit the open road but have you helped your dog prepare as well?
~Guest Blogger: Aurora James
We all know home is where the heart is, and for some, that home changes with each passing mile. For those that live on the road full-time, the beauty is in the fact that your home is where you lay your head each night, not your destination. Whether you travel by car, bus, or RV, there will be some days where you might set up camp to enjoy the fresh air and stretch your legs a bit. Your pooch will surely enjoy it, but there are some safety precautions that you need to be aware of to ensure your dog is happy and safe both on and off the road. Check out this infographic for helpful tips to keep your dog safe, then sit back and enjoy the ride.
Additional Resources:
Health:
How do I keep my dog safe while camping?
What if my dog sustains an injury on our trip?
How do I check for ticks on my pet?
Heatstroke and my pup: what do I need to know?
Preparation:
How do I locate dog-friendly campsites?
What are the potential camping-related dangers for my dog?
Gear:
What packing checklist should I follow?
What should I put in my dog’s first aid kit?
Is a collar or harness best for my dog during our camping trip?
The best part about traveling the open road with your dog is that he is always ready for an adventure, whether it is at the crack of dawn or when the stars are shining bright. Keep your companion safe with these helpful tips so that the two of you can enjoy many more adventures to come.
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- Written by: Brock Butterfield
~ 4 Tips for Buying Land in Alaska ~
Article and Images By: Ryan Tollefsen ~
Buying land in Alaska is the ideal location for those interested in living off the grid. Clean air, an abundance of natural resources and untamed land as far as the eye can see are just a few of the many advantages that Alaska holds for adventures like this. The following tips can help focus the search for land that is likely to meet the goals of those who want to live off the grid.
1. Check the Local Zoning and Planning Ordinances
Depending on where in Alaska the land is located, there might be certain restrictions that dictate what the owner can do with and on the property. For example, some localities require that homes measure a certain square footage. If a tiny house is desired, the county could prohibit it. The same thing applies if the owner wants to camp on the property on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. Many jurisdictions restrict the amount of time that a person can camp on their own property. They often tie the occurrence to an event such as the building of a permanent home.
2. Research for Covenants
Covenants and other restrictions are often put into place by the land developers to ensure that the property follows the same rules that were originally intended. Some examples of common covenants include those that restrict the size and type of structures and other buildings that can be placed there as well as those that limit or prohibit gardening or raising livestock.
3. Double Check for Access
The right parcel of land allows the owner to enjoy access to everything that is desired and needed. The following are just a few necessities:
- Property access
A property can have what appears to be all the right features at an attractive price but it might not allow the owner to easily access it. If there is no way to legally access the property -- by foot, four-wheeler, snowmobile, vehicle or some other method -- it's going to be useless to someone who wants to live off the grid. Consider, too, whether the property is accessible year round. Does the snow cut off access during the winter?
- Access to solar power
Access to solar power is considered a vital component of their success to many people who want to live off the grid. A parcel of land should provide a location that is large enough and positioned well to allow southern exposure after allowing for the slope of the land, shade and the land's other natural elements. This is a bit more difficult as far north as Alaska, but it is still extremely viable.
- Water access
As beautiful and remote as a property might be, if it lacks a nearby source of potable water, it could make living off the grid difficult. A clean and natural source of water that is dependable year round and located within a reasonable distance ensures that the land is sustainable. Too much energy, time and fuel is required in order to haul water in from afar for daily use.
- Access to natural materials
A property that has a natural source of trees, stone, clay, rock and other building materials helps make a life of living off the grid more smooth and sustainable. Ideally, a parcel of land should contain any building materials that are necessary for living off the grid in order to save time and money.
4. Consider Agricultural Land
Land that is zoned for agricultural use in Alaska is likely going to support all the ventures that a person living off the grid would require. Depending on how off the grid you plan to live, being able to raise animals or put in a suitable garden can help immensely.
Alaska offers a plethora of opportunities for those who want to live off the grid. By following the above tips, those interested in property in Alaska can find expansive plots of land with access to numerous natural resources that meet their needs.
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- Written by: Brock Butterfield
~Dreaming of the perfect floor plan for your bus conversion can be the most exciting part of the build. Here are a few ways other skoolies have accomplished the task.
~Written by: Brock Butterfield
Like most good and fun ideas it starts as a simple sketch on a napkin or scratch piece of paper. In this article I'll touch on a few methods skoolie owners used to plan their school bus conversion floor plan.
Hand Sketching
There's just something about drawing a tiny living space that takes me back to being a kid and drawing tree houses when I was supposed to be paying attention in class. Suzie Moreland sent us a hand sketched pencil drawing on graph paper, all drawn to scale (except for her 6 yr olds additions), erased and rearranged many times, rained on, milk spilled on, torn, and now cut by scissors (the 6 yr old again).
Beth Hodges from @the198bus demonstrates the use of graph paper for their floor plans in their 35 foot long school bus conversion.
Emily Sehl of @ineffablestitch shows that you can also accomplish the same task without graph paper. These are the floor plans for her 5 window short school bus.
3D Modeling Software
A simple but complex 3D modeling software, Sketch Up is free to download for "personal" use. If you take measurements of everything, and I mean everything in your bus then you can recreate the interior or exterior of your bus and start building the floor plan by adding walls, sinks, wood stoves, beds, etc. It takes time to learn and lots of time to measure every little thing from the wheel wells to the curve of the ceiling but it can get you a very precise floor plan to build off of.
Below we have a great example of a school bus conversion floor plan from Andy Yauger of @burlbus
Another method I just learned about is using Grid in Notability on an iPad so that you can hand sketch and alter as needed. Ronni Hall from @artfulfaithjournaling sent us her bus conversion floor plan sketch for an example.
Daniel and Lauren Lipschitz have art degrees and found that a combination of drawing up the layout in Solidworks and making notes in Adobe Illustrator came in hand for their @baihubus floor plan.
I personally used a combination of hand sketch on grid paper and then took measurements and laid out the floor plans for my second school bus conversion in Adobe Photoshop as I'm more familiar with that program and was already paying for it.
There is no right or wrong way for laying out the floor plans for your skoolie. Realistically it's going to change many times before and during the build as you start to get a feel for the space. One pro tip I can offer is once you have a floor plan that you're pretty set on, grab some masking tape (see below) and use it to mimic the lines of your floor plan to get a feel it. With my first bus conversion I had totally forgot about the wheel wells and had to start over to work around them. In my second skoolie I realized my door to my bathroom was way too small to fit through even sideways so that forced me to rethink my kitchen in order to gain four more inches.
Remember to have fun in the process! Got a floor plan you want to share? Email us:
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- Written by: Brock Butterfield
~ Solar panel mounting and installation tips for school bus conversions. ~
Guest Blogger: Troy Dickens – @WhiteWhaleSkoolie ~
Tilt Concept - Mounting solar panels in a stationary location such as on the roof of a house or in a field is fairly straightforward. Here in the Northern Hemisphere the basic concept for stationary panels is to tilt them toward the south at a certain angle relative to one’s latitude. By tilting panels toward the sun optimal energy is captured. But mounting panels on the roof a RV or Bus Conversion is a different story. The fact that buses and RVs are not typically stationary makes optimal panel tilt a bit of a challenge. There are however a few different options for dealing with this problem.
Flat Mount - The simplest of ways to mount solar panels to the roof of your bus or RV is to mount them directly to the roof. For some RVs the roof may be relatively flat, providing less than optimal but consistently flat panel orientation. The roof of a bus however is typically curved, which may cause panels to actually be pointed in the opposite direction of the sun at times. Some folks have added legs or racks to create a flat mounting surface. Though flat mounted panels are less efficient than properly tilted panels, this can be compensated for by simply adding more panels to your system. The nice thing about permanently mounted flat panels is that you don’t have to worry much about sun direction each time you park in a new spot, and solar gain will always be relatively the same.
Tiltable – A second option is to install tiltable racks to mount your panels to. These can be homemade or purchased from various solar dealers. The racks typically consist of hinged brackets that mount to your roof, which you can leave flat during travel, or tilt in a single direction once parked. If you are able to park in the ideal orientation where your panels can be tilted to the south, you can significantly increase your solar energy input. However, since these racks only tilt in one direction, you may often find yourself having to leave them flat. Another consideration is that manufactured tiltable racks are typically designed for one single panel. If you have six or eight panels on your roof, getting up there to tilt each one can be cumbersome.
The Best of Both Worlds – For our Bus Conversion we found a multidirectional adjustable system to be best for various conditions. We started with six 100w panels and separated them into two three panel arrays. We bolted each array of three panels together and mounted them on respective sides of the roof (one set on driver’s side, one set on passenger side). The panels are mounted to hinges along the center of the roof, and secured to brackets with finger nuts at the outer edge of the roof. Due to the natural curve of a school bus roof, when the panels are in the down position each array sits at a slight angle, in opposite directions. When traveling, keeping the panels close to the roof like this decreases the risk of damage from low hanging tree branches, and still ensures that at least half of the system receives good sunlight.
Once parked, either of the two arrays can be tilted up to match the directional tilt of the other. This means that the entire solar system can be adjusted to tilt toward either side of the bus at any given time, giving twice the flexibility of a standard single direction tilt rack. By simply removing the finger nuts that hold down the outer edge of an array, gas struts effortlessly lift the three panels into the appropriate position. By properly sizing the struts to the size and weight of the panels, the array can be held up without any further effort. To lower the array, simply pull down on the panels to compress the gas struts and reconnect finger nuts to brackets.
When configuring panels in such a way, one should also consider the way in which panels are wired. Because our panels are mounted in two separate arrays that may receive differing amounts of sunlight depending on orientation and sun direction, they must be wired appropriately in order to maximize efficiency. The three panels that makeup the driver’s side array are wired together in series, and the three panels that makeup the passenger side array are also wired together in series. The two arrays are then wired together in parallel to the charge controller. This allows each array to act somewhat as its own 300w system, without being adversely effected if the other array is shaded. When the two arrays both receive sunlight, additional amperage is generated.
What Works for You – When planning your system you can go as crazy or as basic as you like. You can just bolt a bunch of panels down and be done with it, or you can come up with fancy mechanized ways to tilt the panels at the push of a button. You should take into account things like; How much power do you need? How much available roof space do you have? How much money do you want to spend? How often do you want to have to climb up on the roof? At the end of the day you need to install a solar system that works for you. So think it through, ask around, research, and consider all the pros and cons of different options. And most of all, be creative!
