I like writing survival related posts based in Maine, because … well, because I like Maine. You fellow prepper peeps will probably appreciate this preparedness newspaper piece. Maine’s Bangor Daily News (BDN) ran an article on a young couple that just moved to the coast of Maine will dreams of “minimizing cost of living, but maximizing standard of living.” The BDN article on the couple states (some of the comments on the news article are good):
They are not the first to move to rural Maine from a more heavily populated part of the East Coast — Pennsylvania in their case — with dreams of homesteading in the woods.
But there aren’t many who do so while living inside former marine shipping containers. Seip and Sansosti, both in their late 20s, have two, each about 20 feet long and eight feet wide and high, that they have modified into living units, complete with electricity and running water. They have spent much of the past year modifying the containers, which they bought on eBay for a total of $1,500, in Stroudsburg, Pa.
Inside one of the two containers, which they insulated, plumbed and wired themselves, is a table and bed that fold up against the wall, a cushioned bench seat, a sink, a camp stove, a wall-mounted propane heater, and a bathroom complete with composting toilet and full-sized shower. In the other is a large storage closet and a folding futon that converts into a couch. Each has one or two windows and conventional residential doors.
Shipping containers get discussed often in survival circles. These people are putting them to the test. But more than just wanting to live inexpensively, they’re hoping to teach others about sustainability and self-reliance. They’re prepper people:
Seip and Sansosti designed their living units to exist off the grid. They installed energy-efficient LED lights, which they power off batteries, and they collect and then filter their water from the nearby stream or from a rain barrel they have on the roof. They already own electricity-producing solar panels, but are waiting to have the containers mounted on frost-proof concrete posts but they install and connect them. They also hope to erect a residential wind turbine at some point.
Naturally, they’ve set up their own blog so people can follow the developments and learn with them as they go. Their blog is ArkHaus – go check it out.
What would you rather use as survival housing, a dugout shelter or a shipping container?
