THE PEDAL INN, A HOMEMADE INSULATED CAMPER (NOMAD LIVING)

The Pedal Inn

Over the last few years I have seen pictures of quite a few bicycle campers people have built. This is the most recent one I have come across. It is unique in that it is low cost and highly insulated … so much so he reports that his body heat alone will raise the temperature inside by 30 degrees when the temperature is 20 to 30 degrees outside. Using an alcohol heater set on it’s lowest setting he says it will raise the temperature to 70 degrees in only 10 minutes. There is one problem he reports that he needs to work on … condensation … he needs some additional ventilation.

HERE is a link to his blog where you can read about this camper. (I purposely chose this url in case anyone is interested in reading what he has written beyond this camper and about his recumbent bike and trike writings.)

Black Gorilla tape holds the 1 inch thick insulation boards together. Here is a closeup look at the insulation board.

He says it is amazingly strong and light weight. He guesses it weighs somewhere between 20 – 30 pounds total. That is very light considering its dimensions.

14 square feet ain’t much, but when you are pulling this rig with a bike or trike ya’ gotta’ keep it to a minimum. The over all length is 7′. The first 4′ it is 2′ wide, 38″ at the highest and 33″at the lowest. The last 3′ is 22″ wide by 26″ high. The two windows are each 8″x15″ and are scavenged plexiglass.

There are 2 shelves for storage of clothes, canned goods, toiletries and a folding chair, among other things. All in a space that he wouldn’t be using anyway, as it’s too small for any other part of him other than his legs.

He has a fold down shelf for a cookstove.

The door is simply hinged using Gorilla tape and the latch is made out of a metal clothes hanger.

Sleeping inside of a sleeping bag I am sure he is toasty warm protected from the external elements in his motorless camper. And come summertime the insulation should help keep it somewhat comfortable since it will reflect the sun’s rays as well as insulate. All he needs to do is make some screened windows so air can flow thru it (which he mentions on his blog).

I have previously written an article about nomad living and the various trailers folks have come up with. Unfortunately that was back on my first endeavor with this blog which I decided to close and delete so it is gone forever dreadful sorry Clementine. I can’t say WordPress didn’t warn me. It was just a bad decision on my part which I will probably always regret. Anyway, I thought I would post some pictures here of some other camper trailers. Most of them are homebuilt, but one or two are factory made. Please remember that when viewing images on WordPress blogs you can place your cursor on the images and left click your mouse to have the images open up in their own window and usually appear larger. To return to this page just use your browser’s BACK BUTTON.

   

   

  

 

For those who are interested in a “micro camper nomad life” check out this video  by Paul Elkins:

And here is another one of his videos about another micro camper he made:

He sells plans for some of the stuff he has come up with. Visit his website for the plans HERE.

And HERE is his main website.

Here is a video he made showing some of the various things he has made.

Paul has made other micro campers which he features in videos. Check out his YouTube channel.