The tiny house movement has been growing steadily for years now. And I feel that using a tiny house for survival has not been fully realized. Check out the article below to learn more.
The 7 Survival Benefits of a Tiny House
The tiny house movement has been growing steadily for years now. And I feel that using a tiny house for survival has not been fully realized. Tiny houses are usually between 100 and 400 square feet. This is in huge contrast to the American average in 2015 which was 2,600 square feet.
Many tiny homes are built on trailers. This, in many areas, bypasses local building laws. As a survivalist, any chance to not involve the government is great. Some tiny homes are modified sheds. These are easier to get up and ready but less legal. As a disclaimer, check your area for laws so the department making you sad doesn't come to evict you.
How I Built My Tiny House
For my project, I wanted the best bang for my buck. I also wanted it to be quick. The route I went with was to buy a custom-built shed. With this, I had a base to build upon. I was able to take care of other things while a professional shed builder built the frame. After price-checking materials to build vs buy, there was little difference.
I paid 4k for a 12×20 shed delivered over almost 2 hours away. This way I had a warranty. After receiving the shell of a home, I began to do the finished work. First up was to put in the windows. By retrieving salvaged windows, a lot of money was saved. Insulation, electric,it, and the beautiful stained plywood walls were next. My house has a few interior walls. A bathroom, pantry, and tiny closet.
For the living room floor, I went with a DIY option. I used the paper bag flooring technique. You get brown craft paper and tear strips. Using diluted school glue, you glue them to the floor. When the paper has dried, you place several coats of polyurethane on the floor. Don't skimp out on the polyurethane. Five coats are recommended and when I went with three coats, I had issues around the year-and-a-half mark.
I still have some things left to finish in my tiny house for survival, but I love my tiny home. I would say a rough estimate of the cost to date is about 9k.
Tiny House For Survival
Tiny houses for survival is a great idea. Many think that having a small house would be terrible because you have less room to store things. Yeah, you do have less room, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice what's important. If you make food preps and survival gear a priority, then it won't be a problem. I have three months of food storage in my tiny house with room for more still.
Being creative also helps. Putting nice tablecloths over boxes of food to make end tables. Hide canned food behind the books on your shelves and so on.
Benefit #1: Movable
One of the things I like best about a tiny house for survival is that it is movable. Many tiny houses are built on trailers so they are easily transported around. Others are built like sheds on blocks. Even these are moved easily.
I went with the latter when building my tiny house. When I had to move it off the land I was on, it was not difficult. I emptied my house out, mostly, and had a shed mover move my house. The cost was around 2k to pick up and move to another city.
For survival, being able to move is huge. Your house could be a bug-out tiny house. A “BOTH” if you like acronyms. If a disaster hits your area just move your home. If the economy tanks in your city, pick up and move.
Benefit #2: Live Mortgage Free
Once you are living in a tiny house, your bills quickly reduce. No more throwing away rent or a mortgage. This is either a bill you would normally pay for life that is gone. You are a homeowner right away.
Rent or mortgages are a huge portion of our monthly income. Think of all the things you could do with that money not being wasted anymore. Heck, you could build an apocalypse bunker under your garden like Colin Furze.
Benefit #3: Get Out Of Debt Fast
No one likes being in debt. I hated it. I knew that a tiny house for survival was right for me. Paying off your debt quickly is a lot easier in a tiny house. Once I got into my tiny house, I was able to become debt-free in no time.
Debt is slavery to your work, your car, and the bankers. If you choose a tiny house for survival, you are choosing freedom. Without debt, you can work less and enjoy life more. You are not tied to a location. With a tiny house on wheels, you could move around the country. You can spend more time with your family and friends. Be able to spend more time honing your bushcraft skills.
Benefit #4: More Money For Preps
When you live in a tiny house, you have more money for preps and survival gear. I know buying long-term storage food is expensive. And finding it at a reasonable price can be tough. You can make your own camping meals like I have in the past.
Living in a tiny house for survival, you have more time and money to buy these expensive foods.
With all the extra cash, you can buy some of the best survival and camping gear on the market. Camping gear is expensive. Especially the light stuff. You will be able to afford that new ultralight sill nylon tarp finally.
Besides just buying food and gear, you can invest in your skills. You can find a bushcraft or survival course near you and go take it. You will have time, money, and the ability to travel.
Benefit #5: Build Food Storage Into The Design
With a tiny house, you can build food storage into the design. There are lots of design tricks you can do to vastly increase your storage space. Interior walls can have tinned cans hidden in them.
Most tiny houses have the underside of the loft exposed. If you look online, you can find a ton of inventive ways to use rafters for storage. There are a lot of ideas for space-challenged preppers. Like I said earlier, you can hide tins behind books on a bookshelf. The pantry shelves I built are really deep. I can store a lot of food in my pantry. It takes some prior planning, but you can design your home around food and gear storage.
Also, you minimize junk. We all have junk lying around that we never use. Clothes that don't fit. Kitchen gadgets we have never used. Purge all that and make room for what's important.
Benefit #6: Focus On Land
With a tiny house for survival, you can focus on the land around you and less on the space you sleep in. Why spend tons of money on something that won't ever pay you back?
When you live in a tiny house, you have the time and money to build sustainable and productive land. With permaculture, you can have food security. You can have a huge garden and edible hedgerows. With land, you can build a great food forest to provide you with food for life. You can put in ponds and stock them with fish. And you can hunt for food.
Benefit #7: Frees Up Time By Working Less
Are you killing yourself at your job? I was. I was stressed, overweight and miserable. Most of my time was spent away from home working than home. With the move to a tiny house, I have much more time.
Since the bills are less, I didn't need to have my stressful job anymore. I downsized my job to one closer and less stressful. You can now focus on what's important to you and your family. Learn a new skill. Find out what wild edibles you have in your area and in which season. Go fishing more. Get out in the woods and build shelters.
In a traditional house, you have to work long hours at a job you may hate. With a tiny house for survival, you don't.
Challenges
In conclusion, I feel that nothing beats a tiny house for survival. You have more time, money and location freedom. It's not all perfect and I have had some struggles. I would not trade it for anything, though. The decision to build and move into a tiny house has been the most rewarding decision in my life.
In need of some independent living survival tools for your tiny house? Don't miss out on these useful products:
- Water is a vital necessity. Always stay prepared with this Aquastiq portable water filter!
- Hone your hunting skills with this Compound Bow.
- For all the odds and ends that arise, this Hoffman Richter HR100 is a specially engineered Multi-Tool.
James Burnette is the creator of the Survivalpunk blog and podcast. He takes a rational and creative approach to Survival with a punk attitude. He takes On DIY projects, survival, and nutrition.
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Editor’s Note – This post was originally published on November 23, 2016, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
this was a good article, I had not thought about a tiny house till now. Thanks