Would you spend a Manitoba winter in this?

[bb07]

The news calls it a 'teepee'. I don't. Call it what you will, I wouldn't want to spend a winter in such a shelter. I believe this is west of Winnipeg Manitoba, which can get very cold during the winter, although it is unseasonably mild right now and without snow yet.
I think they're in for a bit of a surprise. It's going to be a loooong winter...

http://globalnews.ca/video/968463/couple-to-spend-manitoba-winter-in-a-teepee

 

[Imagedude]

The dog doesn't look too happy about his plight!

 

[rik_uk3]

The shelter is fine but the inside could do with a clean, it looks minging.

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

good sized stove by the look of it so they will be fine down to minus silly

 

[Toddy]

I know folk who live like that; so long as they have sufficient good health and food stored or available, they'll be fine. They sleep in a pile of people and pets

Would I do it ?? No, I'm with Richard on that one, and that's at the very least. Put some effort in and make it a bit more civilized and comfortable.

atb,
M

 

[Niels]

Doesn't that guy have to go to work so he can buy food and everything? Other than that it beats living in a city.

 

[Uilleachan]

Plenty of firewood and they'll be fine, wouldn't work round my way as it's too windy, but that location and type of country looks sheltered enough. It would be interesting to see how they get on......

 

[bb07]

Plenty of firewood and they'll be fine, wouldn't work round my way as it's too windy, but that location and type of country looks sheltered enough. It would be interesting to see how they get on......

I too would like to see how they're doing several months from now. Winters there can see temperatures dipping to the -40's, plus wind chill. And the wind does blow at times on the prairies.
I wish more details would have been provided, such as where they're getting water, how far from the nearest town to resupply, what sort of toilet facilities and so on. They will be needing a lot more clothing than whats on their backs when winter arrives.

There is no chance that they're actually walking across Canada with all that gear, or that they're self sufficient. It's simply not possible given their location and circumstances.
I'm going to assume that the local people have provided them with much of what they have and their success depends entirely on the goodwill and charity of those people.

This story is being talked about here. Not one person believes that they'll make it through the winter. Everyone is in agreement that they will fail, simply because knowing how brutal the winters can be. I hope they prove all of us naysayers wrong.
I would also like to know where in Ontario they came from, because it does have a direct bearing on their chances of success. If they came from southern Ontario, the temperatures are much milder than those experienced in the west or north.
I wish them well but think they are very naive to say the least.

 

[ozzy1977]

Personally I think that they are just a little bit mad, but with balls.

 

[Jared]

Hopefully they have stock piles of fire wood, and food by the time winter hits and makes things more difficult.

 

[Toddy]

I more than suspect that you're likely correct about how difficult they're going to find it in your climate, bb07. Thing is though, people obviously do manage to live in such areas through Winter; how did the native Canadians do it ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[santaman2000]

I more than suspect that you're likely correct about how difficult they're going to find it in your climate, bb07. Thing is though, people obviously do manage to live in such areas through Winter; how did the native Canadians do it ?

cheers,
Toddy

In much larger, proper teepees. And in communal groups.

 

[bb07]

how did the native Canadians do it ?

In much larger, proper teepees. And in communal groups.

I would agree with santaman, especially about the communal part. Whether a small group/tribe/band, or large, people had to work together to survive, and being banished from the group was often a death sentence, or so I understand.

Today it's very different. An individual or a couple can easily get through any winter with no problems, if they're prepared, which these two people clearly are not.
And I think that most people of today have neither the skills or fortitude to survive as our ancestors did. We're simply not conditioned in the same way. In short, I think we're pretty soft compared even to our grandparents. All this is merely my opinion of course

 

[Toddy]

I know that those bender type tipis have a very, very long provenance in Europe. Even the Neanderthals built them. They used mammoth bones for the supports.
I have friends who live in nothing but benders all year round. In our sodden wet climate though they use tarps over the hazel poles.
I don't know if they'd take the weight of snow however, but the archaeology and anthropology shows that they managed in the past.

Still some very hard people out there; not all though, I do agree. If they're not well prepared though......

M

 

[santaman2000]

The larger more proper teepees of the native Canadians (long lodgepole pins and buffalo hides) would have been more structurally sound, both to take the snow loads and the wind loads common on the prairie. But just as importantly, the increased size of the native ones allowed them enough freedom of movement when the weather kept them inside for long periods.

The communal groups working together for survival also had the benefit (a necessity in my mind) of staving off madness and monotony by providing company (another reason for larger teepees; to allow a small group to share an evening's company) Granted, it sounds like this couple is going to heve company of strangers on occasional trips here and there for resupply, but I don't think they're going to make it.

 

[Uilleachan]

I too would like to see how they're doing several months from now. Winters there can see temperatures dipping to the -40's, plus wind chill. And the wind does blow at times on the prairies.
I wish more details would have been provided, such as where they're getting water, how far from the nearest town to resupply, what sort of toilet facilities and so on. They will be needing a lot more clothing than whats on their backs when winter arrives.

There is no chance that they're actually walking across Canada with all that gear, or that they're self sufficient. It's simply not possible given their location and circumstances.
I'm going to assume that the local people have provided them with much of what they have and their success depends entirely on the goodwill and charity of those people.

This story is being talked about here. Not one person believes that they'll make it through the winter. Everyone is in agreement that they will fail, simply because knowing how brutal the winters can be. I hope they prove all of us naysayers wrong.
I would also like to know where in Ontario they came from, because it does have a direct bearing on their chances of success. If they came from southern Ontario, the temperatures are much milder than those experienced in the west or north.
I wish them well but think they are very naive to say the least.

From what I gleaned from the footage it seems they are being hosted by the couple on who's land they've set up home, so it's not a wilderness challenge. In those circumstances I'd say it's more down to the mindset of the teepee/bender-ists than the nature of the shelter. I can see them having to firm up the shelter, as it looked decidedly rickety in the footage, but as the onset of winter approaches that would be a natural reaction, plugging the odd gap here and there, covering the cut wood etc.

Travelers over winter almost exclusively in caravans these days but in my time I've seen more than a few over winter in the more traditional Bender. I'm sure there are some of the older travelers who'll still set up and make use of a Bender these days. Also there were plenty New Age travelers back in the late 80's and 90's over wintering here in Benders and rickety Teepees, they all survived all be it those who stayed are now all housed. Just like those who went barefoot, now wear shoes, but then thats frost nip for you

For hundreds if not thousands of years the population here lived in creel houses, and went barefoot most of the year, vertical staves knocked into the ground with thinner material (hurdles) interwoven between comprising a stout wicker inner frame the outer walls constructed of cut turfs, roof were of thatch, heather, dochan, lee, turf or rashes etc. Roof timbers were reused over the life of several such houses and much prized family heirlooms.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forestry.nsf/byunique/infd-8byfqs

The practice died out post clearances as main dwellings but temporary high pasture herding shelters or "shielings" as they were known, were used in upland areas where there was a shortage of building stone down to the end of the 1800's, by some townships and estates, by then for deer watching rather than tending stock.

Not saying it was an ideal lifestyle, as life in these types of dwelling tended to be hard and short, but people got by. There are a few places near me where the faint outline of this type of building can be discerned on the ground in winter, in among presumably later stone ruins.

 

[santaman2000]

.....For hundreds if not thousands of years the population here lived in creel houses, and went barefoot most of the year, vertical staves knocked into the ground with thinner material (hurdles) interwoven between comprising a stout wicker inner frame the outer walls constructed of cut turfs, roof were of thatch, heather, dochan, lee, turf or rashes etc. Roof timbers were reused over the life of several such houses and much prized family heirlooms......

The white prairie dwellers here often lived in "soddies" too. TBH they were much better insulation than much modern construction. Nothing near as thin, flimsy, and small as the makeshift tent in the OP. The walls were cut from the topsoil and were at least a couple of feet thick, as was the roof.

 

[Hagrid]

beats living in an overcrowded city.

 

[Toddy]

We don't really do sod houses like that here Santaman2000, it's too wet for the most part. The long turfs (besags) are used on the roofs drapped over rafter rails. Sometime some down the walls (as Willie said) but not the footings. They're cut just to the root depth and are about a foot wide by over a yard long. By the time folks were making houses instead of benders they were using cruckframes for the roof supports.
The other issue is that where fuel poverty really struck, then the root rich sods were actually used on the fire, and since most of Scotland was glacial until well into the advent of Homo S.S. then soil depth was often an issue too.
Double hurdles packed with bracken and heather were more commonly used walls in some areas. Further south where it's drier then the wattle and daub, and cob were used.
Where there was usable stone then that too was used, but stone needs a lot of work, and that means able well fed labour with sufficient time away from food production to create, and a stone building isn't transportable. The roof timbers, the crucks, though, those are and were.

The stone black houses had a close fitting roof, not overhanging and rain water was channeled down through the wall stones. The wind is a huge issue in many of our areas so the beautifully made straw thatched roofs of the south just are not feasible. With all the rain a turf roof like the one you show just leaked muddy drops over everything.
Peat (or turf) fires inside keep a level of comfort but its not a hot fire like a wood fire or a coal fire. It's a baking fire, it's a microclimate inside the house fire for a people who mostly worked and lived outdoors.

cheers,
M

 

[Tengu]

The place is mucky, skimpy and they have a dog in their bed.

Cant they get a yurt?