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any tips for indefinite camping?

Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
I am heading out to the desert in March (don't want to start in the winter) and am meticulously prepping everything I can.
Bought new clothes, washed them in vinegar and put them straight in the car, never bringing them inside. I did this for all of my things, even washing my car upholstery with vinegar and borax.

My concern is sleeping set up. Pretty much all camping mats are made with polyurethane foam and all tents have polyurethane coatings. I know that the coating is worse than the foam...

All sleeping bags have polyester filling. I may remedy this with a wool blanket but even so, when the cold months hit..

I made my own pillow out of organic cotton filled with natural latex. Really taking all precautions I can here. But what about the tent, mat and sleeping bag? Can you avoid that? What about putting everything outside and off-gassing it for several months before using it?

Also, I heard many say that once they start to detox they become more sensitive to things- what do you do around the tent and things then? And how long would this typically last?

Thanks for any help!
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
I am heading out to the desert in March (don't want to start in the winter) and am meticulously prepping everything I can.
Bought new clothes, washed them in vinegar and put them straight in the car, never bringing them inside. I did this for all of my things, even washing my car upholstery with vinegar and borax.

My concern is sleeping set up. Pretty much all camping mats are made with polyurethane foam and all tents have polyurethane coatings. I know that the coating is worse than the foam...

All sleeping bags have polyester filling. I may remedy this with a wool blanket but even so, when the cold months hit..

I made my own pillow out of organic cotton filled with natural latex. Really taking all precautions I can here. But what about the tent, mat and sleeping bag? Can you avoid that? What about putting everything outside and off-gassing it for several months before using it?

Also, I heard many say that once they start to detox they become more sensitive to things- what do you do around the tent and things then? And how long would this typically last?

Thanks for any help!


Is this for mold de tox?
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
Yup

I'm going to take Phosphatidylcholine and methylation stuff with me. My doctor also wants me to take binders once I'm out there.

Oh dang, so you are planning on being out there indefinitely too? What happens when you come into contact with a moldy place again? Is the idea that once you de tox and practice good avoidance then incidence exposures won't cause much harm? I always wondered if it was a cumulative effect kind of thing.
 

Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
That's what I'm hoping. I hope once I detox and give my body a chance to get a leg up on the game, future contact won't be a hassle. Who knows though. I would also like to find a relatively clean place once I leave, though. At least cleaner than where I am now.
 

Jarod

Senior Member
Messages
784
Location
planet earth
Camping.

Definitely need Matches, water filter, survival knife, ax, tarp, twine, pot/pan, candles, portable stove and lantern(dual fuel), solar panel and rechargable batteries, radio? Maybe a telescope to look at the stars? Really amazing to get away from the city where you can actually see how many stars there are.

Hope you get some relief. Good luck!

Environment is definitely a factor in my health. Should make a difference if your current location is bad. Where you living now?
 

Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
Hey Jarod

I have all the outdoor living necessities- I've spent many weeks camping away from civilization before. This time is different tho as I have to make my exposire to toxins the first priority.

I'm currently in Connecticut
 

Jarod

Senior Member
Messages
784
Location
planet earth
I guess my post was a little dry ;).

No help here on extreme avoidance techniques. But I'm heading in the same general avoidance direction on my health without the camping.

A nice lady runs a few forums on locations and mold avoidance techniques. You may find more info there too. more info about that...

Edit: @Martial

Here is the "main" website page. All the different links to their info sources are in the right hand column.
 
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Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
I guess my post was a little dry ;).

No help here on extreme avoidance techniques. But I'm heading in the same general avoidance direction on my health without the camping.

A nice lady runs a few forums on locations and mold avoidance techniques. You may find more info there too. more info about that...

thanks for the link very helpful! This is helpful for those of us still in housing environments. It sounds like an awesome adventure and will definitely help de tox, I hear most people actually get relief from a lot of symptoms while camping and in the wilderness. Have fun man and remember to watch for things like ticks, mosquitos, etc..
 

Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
Yah that's for sure! Hopefully the ticks will be at a minimum in the desert but I'm going to research all that more.

How r u doing lately, man?

Thanks for the link, jarod. That helps
 

NilaJones

Senior Member
Messages
647
Hi Aerose :)

I have a lot of desert camping experience. Where will you be?

The only time you need a tent is if it is raining (or for privacy if there are people around). Otherwise you can just sleep under the stars.

If you are not backpacking (not concerned with weight) you can just use ordinary sheets and blankets -- you don't need a sleeping bag. If it is cold and you are not using a tent, you need a LOT -- down comforter, wool sweater and long underwear, etc. A hat and neckscarf help a lot, while sleeping.

You can wash a down comforter if you don't add soap to it OR the previous load in the washer. Run it through several times to get rid of dust mites, etc. You can put it in the dryer.

Used blankets, sleeping bags, tent, etc. from the goodwill have already done a lot of outgassing, so they may be better than new ones. Just launder thoroughly.

If you are strong (they are heavy) and staying in one place for a while, you could bring an all-cotton futon for sleeping on. You would need a frame to keep it above the ground, otherwise it would get moldy.

HTH :).
 
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Strawberry

Senior Member
Messages
2,100
Location
Seattle, WA USA
If you are concerned about off gassing, you might want to look into teepees? Use skins and hides for cover and blankets and bedding like the natives did.

I have no idea if you can find them anymore...
 

slayadragon

Senior Member
Messages
1,122
Location
twitpic.com/photos/SlayaDragon
I am heading out to the desert in March (don't want to start in the winter) and am meticulously prepping everything I can.
Bought new clothes, washed them in vinegar and put them straight in the car, never bringing them inside. I did this for all of my things, even washing my car upholstery with vinegar and borax.

My concern is sleeping set up. Pretty much all camping mats are made with polyurethane foam and all tents have polyurethane coatings. I know that the coating is worse than the foam...

All sleeping bags have polyester filling. I may remedy this with a wool blanket but even so, when the cold months hit..

I made my own pillow out of organic cotton filled with natural latex. Really taking all precautions I can here. But what about the tent, mat and sleeping bag? Can you avoid that? What about putting everything outside and off-gassing it for several months before using it?

Also, I heard many say that once they start to detox they become more sensitive to things- what do you do around the tent and things then? And how long would this typically last?

Thanks for any help!


I have heard of very few mold avoiders who have been unable to tolerate the self-inflating sleeping pads from Thermarest. Some people who have been unable to find other kinds of beds that they were able to tolerate have used them for extended periods of time, indoors. They do have waterproof coatings but to my understanding they don't have fire retardants, and that may make a difference.

Tents do bother some people. That may be fire retardants or possibly cross-contamination from moldy Asian factories. When I was at my most reactive, it took a month or more of baking in the desert sun before they felt really good to me. And some people have issues with other chemicals being triggers for them as well, with some brands.

Camping (and especially mold avoidance camping) really lends itself more to synthetics rather than natural fabrics, unfortunately. They are warmer and much easier to wash.

Letting things off-gas outside would be a good idea, depending on the quality of the air. In a bad place (like Ann Arbor), even short exposure to the air can result in things being cross-contaminated to the point where it takes them a long time to be remediated. Checking out the Locations Effect site for information about the place where you are living now might be a good idea.

Lisa
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Hi @Aerose91

I'm not sure if this will help but I needed a temporary bed last year so I bought a fleece sleeping bag at Walmart that doesn't have any fill. I checked and they just happen to be on sale right now.

Then I bought 5 extra firm, allergen free 28" pillows and a full or queen size thick cotton, open weave blanket to stuff it with. I wrapped the pillows together with the blanket so they couldn't slide. You'll know it's good if you can barely zip it closed.

The upside was that everything could be tossed in the washer or dryer. The downside was that the zipper broke. I may have killed it in the dryer. I'm not sure.

And it was only 28" wide. By the time I realized I could just join the 2 sleeping bags together via their zippers to make a bigger bed I didn't need it anymore.

Having 5 pillows allowed me to change out the flattened ones in the middle for the ones that weren't as needed. Taking it apart and putting it back together took me about 10 minutes.

At one point I had 2 of these on top of each other. That was definitely softer. The cheapo foam sleeping pad I bought didn't help.

I feel better outdoors but can't imagine camping in anything that doesn't have the basics, toilet, kitchen, etc. I enjoyed tent camping for decades tho before getting sick.

Good luck. X

Eta. If you google diy beds you'll see more suggestions.
 
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Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
Thanks for all the tips, everyone.

@slayadragon. Locations Effect was great, I never knew that existed. Helped a lot.

@NilaJones & @Strawberry I'm a big outdoorsman and am thinking of making a tent/shelter out of canvas. I know there's very little rain in Utah area so that's not my top priority. That will solve my synthetics problem.

@xchocoholic. That's a great idea. I toyed around with making my own pad but wasn't sure if the polyester would be a problem (foam or batting). It doesn't seem to be too big of a deal for most people here. That's good, and I don't recall it ever giving me problems to this point. I layed on a regular air mattress recently for all of 2 minutes and I was tripping out the entire rest of the day from the PVC.
 

manna

Senior Member
Messages
392
If you want to remediate chemicals and molds then owning a high output ozone machine is very handy. You could even do your current property with it. I have MCS so avoiding chemicals is very necessary. I deodorised a car, that was new to me, in 3-4 days. You could easily put onbe inside a tent that is closed up, I have. It could potentially make any, or most, tent(s) viable as it deconstructs chemical compounds rapidly. Use with caution though...anything that can age plastic in days, the equvalent of many years, is gonna be bad for humans.

I'd probably still go for a canvas tent. Really, I'd go for a caravan if I could, provided it had been remediated. Maybe a wooden camp bed is better than a mat. I know some MCS folk can tolerate some inflatable beds. I'd be trying to keep it as natural as possible with cotton duvet and felted wool futon. Would a little counter-oroductive to use synthetics after all that effort to get there. I have found a huge difference using natural bedding. I'd love to live in a yurt personally. There was on fella on the documentary "Allergic to the 21st Century"...who claimed recovery following living in a tent. Theres alot to be said for being safely more outdoors and connected to the earth.
 

Forebearance

Senior Member
Messages
568
Location
Great Plains, US
Best wishes with your camping trip, Aerose91.
I would have to say that my most valuble item while camping was a polyester fleece blanket from Target. It could be washed by hand and it would dry quickly when hung up on a portable drying rack. Be prepared to do a lot of laundry by hand, because it's rare to find a good washing machine at a campground. Most of them are super moldy.
 
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Aerose91

Senior Member
Messages
1,400
Thanks Forebearance.

Speaking of polyester, has anyone ever had problems with that? Like, polyester filling in a sleeping bag or blankets?
 

Forebearance

Senior Member
Messages
568
Location
Great Plains, US
I haven't had any problems with polyester, as long as the store or online store where it was from was okay.
One other idea, if you can afford it. Silk is great at drying fast. I used silk long underwear and nightshirt to sleep in.
 

antares4141

Senior Member
Messages
576
Location
Truth or consequences, nm
Yah that's for sure! Hopefully the ticks will be at a minimum in the desert but I'm going to research all that more.

How r u doing lately, man?

Thanks for the link, jarod. That helps
Got to look out for kissing bugs they cause chagas disease. They seem to be attracted to light and like to hide in your belongings during the day and feed on your blood at night. They scare the crap out of me even though the last time I read about them only the ones across the border in Mexico cause the disease. The reasoning was ridiculous, ones in Mexico like to take a big dump on the sight they fed on while those in the US do not. The Protozoa (no cure) that cause chagas gain access to your blood stream from there. I suspect if it's true at all has to do more with the reservoir that harbors the parasite. Rats, mice, dogs, cats, coyotes, cattle, horses, other people etc. If that's the reason a remote location should be safer should you get bit.

Been bit a couple of times. They leave a red welt that is super itchy for a couple of days. That might be only when they are greedy though for all I know if they eat less the size of the welt might be much less noticible. Scratching supposedly increases chances of infection by the parasite. I leave decoy lights on at my place and try to always remember to shut my screen door in my building and turn off the lights when not in use but still end up with them inside occasionally.