I've been digesting the latest news of various Occupy sites being shut down or even trashed by the police. How do we deal with this? Among several possibilities, I see two plans of action that seem to hold the most promise.
>Occupiers in some cities will elect to make the local cops play whack-a-mole. Close one site down, we pop up at another.
>Other G.A.'s will decide to stick it out in one place, essentially daring the cops to keep coming back in a test of wills.
Both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. I will leave that discussion for other Kossacks to hash out. Under either plan, the need for portable shelter remains. With the cold coming on, the need for winter-ready shelter becomes imperative. At present, Occupy Camps are irregular groups of small dome tents, provided by individual occupiers. When these sites were selected little, if any, thought was given to wind direction. We are victims of our own success. Our powers of endurance have led us to a confrontation with Ma Nature. We need to come to an understanding with Mom. Let's do that below the curly orange thingie.
I don't know Drew Jacob, but I like him. He has wise things to say about locating and arranging an urban campsite:
Wind and shelter are two of your biggest considerations. In most areas, winter winds come from the north, but be aware of your local weather patterns. An ideal location (in a city) will be a low-lying area with taller buildings on all sides, especially the side the winter wind comes from. Hedges and evergreen trees provide surprisingly effective wind blocks; fences do not. Scout your location on foot and pay attention to whether it seems less windy than the surrounding streets.
He also has this to say about tents.
Most people associate camping with tents and sleeping bags. Tents are a horrible choice in wintertime. This doesn’t mean you should refuse donated tents, but be aware of their drawbacks. Tents do very little to keep the wind out, and nothing at all to insulate you against the ground.
There's a lot of chatter on the Occupy Together Field Manual about ground insulation.
Folks are suggesting elevating tents on pallets and using hay, stacks of cardboard, etc.
Cardboard and newspaper are fine but they get wet. Pallets (usually 48" by 48") may be plentiful in the city. The slats will need to be covered with pricey plywood, one sheet per two pallets. Four or five layers of cardboard will do, but how many pallets and refrigerator boxes can we find? The pallet will keep you off the heat sucking ground, but you still need a pad to fight the ground chill. What if there were a substance that would insulate and keep a sleeper elevated? Hmmm...What do you think, Drew?
There are a variety of ways to get off the ground, and the absolute best is a bed of pine boughs. I know, where are you going to get pine boughs in the middle of the city? Don’t strip your city parks. Most Occupation sites are supported by a network of volunteers and donors. If even just one supporter lives on a farm or owns a section of woods, you can get a huge amount of fresh pine boughs without killing any trees. Reach out to your network and ask; one pickup truck load of fresh branches will keep dozens of people cozy all winter.
Acquiring straw or boughs is where rural 99%ers can help. A pickup truck load of evergreen boughs will insulate perhaps 10 or 20 sleepers from the ground. Straw is not as good as pine boughs but if you have to use it, figure one 2 foot by 4 foot bale for two sleepers. Larger, round bales will sleep up to six people. Save the twine from the bales! You will need it if you go with my proposal to build a lodge to shelter a large group of Occupiers. I've provided a plan for the Occupy Lodge below.
Why an Occupy Lodge? Think about it. The lodge is preferable to rows of individual tents. Large groups of people huddled together is warmer than two or three in a small tent. A yurt, teepee or Sibley tent would serve the same purpose, but these structures are generally the product of skilled labor with relatively expensive materials. Not something you want to risk to tear gas and flash-bangs. The Occupy-Lodge is easily built with readily available stuff. With the necessary materials on hand, it can be built quickly and cheaply.
If the cops suddenly decide to clear out an occupy site on short notice, we lose a tarp, some pine boughs, a pail, a stick and a tennis ball - nothing that can’t be replaced. On the other hand, if protesters have brought their own gear and the cops suddenly start clearing off rows of individual tents, some of them are naturally going to want to preserve their stuff. People who lose a tent, an air mattress and a sleeping bag may go away discouraged and it may be hard to get them back. If we have to lock arms and protect our lodge, nobody will be tempted to look backward worrying about expensive gear. If we end up losing the lodge, we build another one tomorrow. Building the lodge is the activity that will draw us back together.
How to build an Occupy Lodge
You will need:
> At least one heaping pick-up truck load of pine branches. If no branches are available, use 3 loads of straw If you can get both, great!
>A large tarp, at least 20’ by 20’, bigger is better.
> a stake or weight for each grommet on the tarp.
>Fifty feet of nylon rope.
>A four to six-foot pole (a mop handle will work, a piece of 2”by 2” is better.)
>A five gallon plastic pail full of bricks, rocks or sand.
> A tennis ball
>A roll of duct tape
*(One look at the first item on the above list will tell you that smoking in a lodge of this type is a very bad idea.)
Pick a space to set up your sleep lodge. One corner of the lodge should point north/northwest, into the prevailing wind.
Place the pail in the center of the space.
Put the pole in the pail. Use the contents of the pail to hold the pole as nearly vertical as possible. Poke a hole in the tennis ball and jam it down on the top of the pole and secure it with duct tape. This will keep the pole from ripping the tarp.
Arrange the evergreen boughs or straw in a square around the pole for ground insulation.
Pile it deep enough to keep a sleeper off the ground, at least a 12 inches. The pine boughs and/or straw will give you an insulating “mattress”. The area of this mattress should be about half the area of the tarp. If your tarp is 20’ by 30’, the mattress should be 10’ by 15’.
Cover the mattress of boughs with blankets, rugs mats, etc. The individual sleepers can hunker down on the mattress in their own bedrolls or sleeping bags.
The entire mattress should be sheltered with the tarp. The two upwind edges of this tarp should be securely staked or weighted directly to the ground. The other two sides should be pulled taught and secured with rope or bungee cords to stakes or weights. This will allow sleepers to crawl in and out of the shelter. The body heat and breath of a group of people in the lodge will contribute to the warmth of the whole. If branches and straw are both available, pack loose straw around the edges and on top of the mattress.
*Freshly cut evergreen boughs don't burn readily. If they were cut before the weather turned cold, they're already dry and dangerous. Ditto for old X-mas trees or wreaths that have been kept indoors. Eventually, the fresh, cold-cut boughs will dry out and you'll need to replace them. Fire safety is the first of several good reasons why smoking or any type of open flame in this lodge should be strictly prohibited.
Finally, a word for city dwellers about straw. Straw is not hay. Hay is not straw. Hay is cut green and stored to feed cattle and horses. If you have to buy it, you will find that it's more expensive than straw. Straw is golden-yellow. It is left over when the grain has been harvested. Farmers use it for bedding in stables and cowsheds. The animals sleep on it and defecate in it. It soaks up a lot of the liquid waste and gets raked and shoveled along with the poop into a manure spreader. Sleeping in a pile of clean straw is warm and comfy. The downside of straw is that it can be itchy and if you have allergies, forget about it.
Sleep well, Occupiers!
Update: nyceve has published an excellent diary related to this topic. The soul-force moved her and I to post these diaries at the very same minute.